“I agree, but I’m going to need to borrow your shirt again,” she said.
“This time you can even keep it.” He washed up at the sink while she stripped out of her muddy clothing, then went to his bedroom and put on clean clothes. He still had her undergarments that they had washed when she had gotten into the ant pile, so he put them on the vanity in the bathroom, along with the shirt she’d asked for.
April and Flynn looked like they’d just lost their best friend when he made it to the living room. “I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done tonight,” said Jackson.
“No thanks necessary,” April sighed. “But if you could help Nessa through the next couple of days, that would be great. We thought we were all fine over at our place, but then we looked at the quilting shed. The roof is completely gone, and everything that was in it is gone except for the three filing cabinets.”
“She’s going to be devastated,” Flynn said. “I’m just glad we got that quilt done before the tornado hit us.”
Jackson grinned. “I’ve already offered her the use of one of my bedrooms as a quilting room if she needed it, and she offered me the quilting shed if my shop had gotten blown away.”
“Thank you,” Flynn said. “She wants so badly to make this quilting business work out. You can’t imagine how much that helps.”
“We can get a quilting frame ready and hung before the week is out. Did any of the stuff in the garage get water damaged?” Jackson asked.
“No, the tornado left that alone.” April heaved a sigh of relief. “Flynn and I have found jobs, but Nessa . . .”
“Don’t worry.” Jackson sat down in the rocking chair. “We’ll have a nice quilting room put together for her real soon.”
“Did I hear something about a room?” Nessa came down the hall wearing jeans and his shirt, which hung to her thighs. “How bad is it really over at our place? Are y’all keeping something from me?”
“No, but . . . ,” Flynn started.
“The quilting shed is practically gone,” April spit out.
Nessa stopped in her tracks. “Nanny Lucy’s frame. Is it still there?”
“It’s gone,” April answered. “The file cabinets are still standing, but we didn’t check to see about water damage to the stuff inside them. I’m so sorry, Nessa.”
“But I’ve already told you that you can have a room here,” Jackson assured her. “Two rooms, if you want to live with me and let April have her own room instead of sleeping on the sofa. One for the quilting business, one for you to sleep in. Tex and I wouldn’t mind the company.”
“Are you asking Nessa to move in with you?” April asked.
“I’ll take you up on that quilting room, and maybe later, when April is ready to reclaim her trundle bed, we’ll talk about the other room,” Nessa said before Jackson could answer.
“Yes,” Jackson said as he locked eyes with Nessa. “I’m asking Nessa to move in with me.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Nessa woke up at five o’clock, eased out of bed, got dressed, and walked home before the sun was even a tiny orange thread on the eastern horizon. This had been her regular routine for the past several weeks—ever since the night of the tornado. She was surprised to see the yellow glow of light flowing through the living room window and even more shocked to smell coffee brewing when she opened the door. But neither of those shocks compared to the adrenaline rush she got when she saw Flynn and April sitting at the table having pancakes and bacon. Bad news was the only thing that would make them get up that early and cook. Was it about one of her parents?
“Good mornin’.” April smiled.
How could she be happy when something was so terribly wrong? Nessa glanced around the room to see four boxes sitting in the middle of the floor. The sofa had been put to rights, but the coat-closet door was open, and there was nothing in it.
“What’s going on?” Nessa whispered.
Flynn motioned to the chair where she always sat. “This is an intervention. Come on in here, sit down, and have some breakfast.”
“I’m not addicted to anything.” She walked around the boxes and eased down into her chair.
“We beg to differ,” Flynn chuckled. “You are addicted to Jackson.”
“And he’s addicted to you,” April told her. “I packed your things last night. That’s what’s in the boxes over there, and I put all my stuff in my old bedroom. The ghosts are gone. I slept like a tired toddler last night. No nightmares, and the bad memories are fading. I think my mother and Nanny Lucy are finally resting in peace. And so am I, because the past is finally fading away, and the future is looking brighter every day.”
“What has all that got to do with me and Jackson?” Nessa asked.
Flynn forked two pancakes over onto Nessa’s plate and then slipped four pieces of bacon beside them. “You have been going over there every day to work on your quilts for the past few weeks. Then you rush home early in the morning to make breakfast for us, then come back again in the evening to cook supper for all of us, and most of the time, Jackson comes with you. We are cutting the apron strings.”
“You are what?” Nessa picked up a piece of bacon and bit off the end. “What about our pact to be home for supper and have a visit over the meal?”
“You said the night the tornado demolished the quilting shed that you would think about moving over there into Jackson’s spare bedroom when I was able to sleep in my own room,” April reminded her.
“It’s time you have your own life and quit worrying about taking care of us,” Flynn told her. “As you can see, we can make our own breakfast, and we aren’t going to starve when suppertime rolls around. We’re both working, and we’ve already worked up a plan for groceries and the electric bill to be divided in half rather than three ways. We’re going to be all right, and we’ll have our little visits most every day anyway. I, for one, need them still.”
April laid a hand on Nessa’s arm. “We’re kicking you out, but not permanently. This is still your place as much as ours, and you will always have a key.”
“But your place right now is with Jackson. He’s ready for you to move in with him,” Flynn added. “But only if you are ready, Nessa. We can see things from our viewpoint, but what does your heart say?”
“To trust it, and I’m ready, even if it has only been a couple of months since the tornado.” Nessa smiled. “And it says to tell you both thank you and to admit that I’m in love with Jackson.”
Jackson was awake when Nessa slipped out of bed that morning. He gave her enough time to get out of the house before he kicked off the covers and slung his legs over the side of his king-size bed. He dressed for work in a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt, pulled on his steel-toed boots, and laced them up.
He hoped he’d given Flynn and April enough time for their intervention when he got in his pickup truck and drove over to the O’Riley place. The guys who worked for the county had finally cleared the tree that had blocked the road. He parked in front of the house and took a deep breath as he walked up the steps. If he’d learned anything the past couple of months, it was that Nessa did not take to having decisions made for her.