The Road Back Home by Jean Brashear

Author:Jean Brashear
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Jean Brashear Literary Trust
Published: 2019-02-05T16:00:00+00:00

She was faltering, but the stubborn woman would not give up. Sandor tightened a screw in the last gutter strap and peered over the roof at Ria. “You are not drinking enough water.” Though it was September, the day was quite warm. He wondered if fall would ever make an appearance.

“I’m fine.” She released the death grip she had on the metal, and one of his too-large gloves slipped off her hand and landed in the dirt. She bent, then straightened, and swayed slightly.

Sandor glanced at his watch and swore. Nearly two o’clock, and they had not taken a lunch break yet. He was accustomed to going all day without eating if he was too busy, but she should not. She was much too thin to be holding on from anything but sheer will.

“Move—” he ordered. “I am ready to climb down.”

She stepped aside without an argument, so he was certain that she was truly exhausted. At the bottom of the ladder, he clasped her arm. “Come with me.”

“Where?”

He stopped long enough to grab the cooler and pour her some water. “Drink.” Her normally porcelain skin held an unhealthy tinge. The absence of sweat worried him nearly as much as her torpor. “Why did you not tell me you felt ill?” He jerked the bandanna holding back his hair and soaked it, then began to sponge her skin. “Sit down.”

She raised glazed eyes to his, and he swore again and lifted her into his arms.

“You can’t keep hauling me around like a sack of feed.”

He wanted to feel relief that she was able to joke, but he was too busy cursing himself for not paying more attention. He concentrated on climbing the stairs to his apartment.

“Where are you taking me?”

He remained silent, balancing her in one arm while he probed his pocket for the key. He managed to unlock the door, then regretted bringing her up here because he had, as usual, refused to leave the one small window air conditioner running to save money. It was hotter in here than outside.

He made a quick decision and crossed to the bathroom, then turned on the shower. Disregarding his own clothes and sparing but an instant for regret at the toll to his shoes, he paused only long enough to unbuckle his tool belt, then stepped into the small metal shower stall with her.

Ria’s eyes flew open. She shrieked. “What are you doing? This water’s freezing!” She struggled against him, but Sandor simply tightened his hold and dunked her head under the spray.

She came up hissing like a wet cat. “You bastard—” She slammed a fist into his chest, her green eyes spitting.

Relief swept through him. She was completely alert now, if furious. “Be still. You will injure yourself.”

“No way—I’m saving my strength to hurt you—” she spluttered.

Then she stopped. Stared.

Threw back her head and began to laugh.

The merriment made her appear so young that Sandor abruptly wished he could have known her as a girl. Before life—and her own mistakes—had fractured her fragile sense of herself.

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