Page 1046 of One More Kiss
Chapter8
Jett tookClara and I to one of the guest rooms and left us to make the beds and settle in for the night. There were several spare rooms but we’d decided to share. Safety in numbers and all that.
I had no idea if Jett lived here or not. I assumed he’d be staying somewhere close by but he hadn’t said.
I grabbed a fitted sheet and flipped it open then started shoving the elasticized sheet corners over the edges of the mattress.
“You’re going to sneak out, aren’t you?” Clara unfolded her own bottom sheet and put it neatly onto her bed, her movements quick and efficient.
I laughed, looking at the mess I’d made of my own bed. “What makes you say that?” I tried to smooth out the creases where the sheet had twisted somehow. I gestured towards Clara’s, now fully made. “How did you do that so fast?”
“Here, let me.” She straightened out my bottom sheet and made short work of the top one. “I saw the look on your face when Jett told you to stay put. That and the fact that you haven’t taken off your jacket or boots.” She glanced down at her own bare feet. “I couldn’t wait to get out of my shoes.”
“You got me.” I passed her a pillowcase. “I’ve got to go and check on Mom.”
“Is she sick?” Clara fluffed up the pillow, placing it neatly on my bed.
“She’s not great. Her knees make it hard for her to get around and Aunt Joey is away.” I started wrangling the quilt cover onto the quilt.
“You can’t just call her?” Clara grinned at me as she caught sight of my attempt to insert the quilt into its cover. “You know there’s an easier way to do that, right?”
“I messaged her earlier and she said she’s fine. But I want to see her for myself.” I also had some questions for her, but I couldn’t tell Clara that. I put my hands together and bowed, bending deep at the waist. “Show me your secrets, oh wise one.”
“You start with the cover inside out. Then you line up the corners.” She stuck her hands inside her own quilt cover and matched the corners of the cover with the corners of the quilt, grabbing hold. “Then you just give it a good shake, and voila.” She shook it vigorously and the cover slid down over the quilt, turning in the right way as it went.
“That’s genius.” I attempted to do my own, only managing to get even more tangled up.
Clara laughed. “It takes some practice. You can do it.” She returned my hands together, bowing movement. “I believe in you.”
There was a knock on the door, then it swung open. Jett stuck his head in. “Everything all right in here?”
I lashed out with my half put together quilt, snaring him somehow between the cover and the quilt. “Jett! You don’t just open the door to a lady’s bedroom. We could have been naked in here!”
He flailed around, trying to get out. “Sorry! I won’t do it again. I thought you might need help with the beds.” His head popped out but his arms were still tangled up. “Turns out it’s me who needs rescuing.”
“Never fear, I’ll save you.” I put on my best superhero voice. Clara was giggling and Jett’s eyes were alight with humor. I tugged on the quilt, freeing him. “Don’t worry, you can do the saving next time.”
“I’ll hold you to that. Here.” He threw the other end of quilt to me. “So you don’t need help?”
He glanced dubiously at the tangled mess of quilt in my arms.
I shook my head. “Nope. Clara says I need to practice.”
“I’ll leave you to it then. If you need anything I’m just down the hall.” He left, shutting our door quietly behind him.
“Good work,” said Clara. “All that flailing with the bedding distracted him from your boots.”
I grinned. “Not planned, but it worked out well. Now if only I could figure out this quilt cover.”
Eventually, with some pointers from Clara, I got the cover situated on the quilt and my bed was made. I flopped down on top of the bed and covered my eyes with my hands. “I’m going to wait a while until things quiet down before I leave. You can say you didn’t hear me, if you’re asked.”
Clara turned off the light and hopped into her bed. “Just be careful. There’s still a shooter out there, and he might want to use you to get to me. Just because he wasn’t shooting to kill doesn’t mean he’s not dangerous.”
“Didn’t you say you rescued Fin and that’s how you ended up pregnant?” I glanced over at her. “I want to hear that story.”
She rolled onto her side to face me, propping her head onto her hand. “He’d wandered into quicksand on the edge of the swamp near the Midnight gate. Of course, I didn’t know about the gate at that stage. I was out gathering herbs for my potions and found him stuck up to his waist and sinking fast. He was trying desperately to get out, but of course with quicksand that’s the worst thing you can do.”
I rolled toward her, mirroring her position. “What did you do?”
