“Where’d Howie go?” he asked one of the male students who had come into the kitchen for more food.
“He took off. Said he was tired and wanted to get some shut-eye.”
Hmm. So the sound of someone coming or going had been Howard leaving. Good riddance to bad F-ing rubbish.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Rose was talking into her phone as he reentered his office, panic lilting her voice. She waited as the person on the other end replied, a muffled sound of a man speaking. “Of course I will.” She grabbed her backpack now, making sure the zippers were closed, and slung it over her shoulder. Toby furrowed his brow. “Si.” She rattled off something hasty he didn’t understand, slipping back and forth between Spanish and English seamlessly. “¿Esta bien? Papi, have you talked to her? Do I need to come with you?” More talking on the other end. Toby walked to her and rubbed his hands up and down her arms, feeling her trembling beneath his touch. Whatever had just happened, the white sheen that had paled Rose’s face told him she was frightened. “Okay. When do you need to leave?” More waiting. “Okay, give me a few hours to get there. Love you.”
She hung up and fished for her keys for the university van.
“What’s wrong?” Toby asked.
She began shaking her head. “My mother. I have to go get Sage.” She kept shaking her head, at a loss for words.
“What’s going on? Anything I can do?”
Still shaking her head, she brought the back of her hand to her mouth. “No. There’s nothing anyone can do.”
“Is she okay? Did she get in an accident? Get sick?”
Damn, but tears were flooding her eyes and hopelessness was bending her face. “No. Her house was robbed. They ransacked everything, and when she chased them out, they knocked her over and she hit her head.”
“Jesus,” Toby breathed, gripping her arms now.
“This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. But there’s no reliable law enforcement where she lives. Living here was safer, which was why she came to the US in the first place. But now… I try not to worry. She’s always been so tough and capable. I try to count my blessings that I can visit her and video chat with her, and it’s only burglary and at least she’s not dead. But I worry every day that something worse will eventually happen.”
Toby pulled Rose to his chest and clenched his arms around her, when she said something that tore at his heart.
“I know your mother died, Toby. But I can’t tell you how lucky you were to have had her to yourself your whole life. You didn’t have that all stripped from you.”
No. He hadn’t. He’d been such a baby about facing her urn. Facing his memories when he knew he hadn’t yet done anything to make her proud.
“So you need to pick up your boy?”
She nodded. “My dad is going to pick her up from the hospital and stay with her for a couple weeks to make sure she’s okay. I see in his eyes sometimes that he wishes he could move there, so he could be with her and keep her safe, but he stays here for me and for my son. My mother would never let him hear the end of it if he abandoned us for her, but…I wish there was something I could do, even though I know there’s nothing. I wish, if she can’t be here with us, that he could be there with her instead. ’Cause I can take care of myself.”
Toby’s rough caresses became a mindless reaction to her distress as his mind began to churn with questions. Tyler had practiced family law, and many of his cases had involved immigration components, considering how close they were to the border. Maybe he ought to give Tyler a call and see if there were any resources Rose could consult.
“I’m probably going to get in trouble,” Rose said, finally pulling away from him. “The university vehicles are supposed to be used for sanctioned work only. But it’s all I have. I’ll need to talk to Howie—”
God, just hearing that bastard’s name chafed.
“He’ll have to take over the project since Sage can’t come down to the rock shelter with me. Our insurance won’t cover a minor on these trips, only registered students who’ve completed all the waivers.”
She shook her head and strode toward the door, but Toby jumped in front of her, fishing through his pockets and pulling out a set of keys. “Here. Take the Beast. Got full coverage.”
“I can’t take your car,” she said, trying to bypass him.
He smirked. “Truck, woman, not car, and don’t you forget it.”
A wan smile thinned her lips at his attempt at humor. “Toby, I can’t ask for this sort of help. It’s too much.”
“I didn’t wait for you to ask.” He shoved the key into her hand, but she still refused, so he jammed it crudely down her tank top. Her eyes widened, but he only grinned. “And I ain’t taking no for an answer. If it drives you so crazy to accept a little help, then bring the tank back full, and we’ll call it even. Deal?”
She pulled the key out from between her breasts, and he couldn’t help but keep grin. Too bad the circumstances were so dire because any other day of the week she’d look hot behind the wheel of his Bronco, her tank top stretched over her petite waist and generous chest, her tatted arm propped on the open window with the wind blowing errant curls around her eyes, maybe his Stetson cocked all cute on her head again.
She shook her head once more.
He raised his eyes heavenward and sighed obnoxiously. “Honest to God, baby, get lost already. I’ll be up waitin’ for you to get back.” He watched her roll the key over in her hand, examining it, but clearly lost in thought, and he gentled, swallowing hard and lifting her chin. “I got rid of the bra. And believe what you will, but…” He brushed back her hair as she gazed up at him, then planted his lips to her forehead. “You met me on a bad morning. But it wasn’t because I’d just gotten laid. I haven’t been with anyone…in a long time. I just spun out of control that night. Because…” He inhaled sharply, then exhaled just as hard. “Because I’d left my momma’s ashes at the funeral home for a year, and they finally made me sign for them. I wasn’t ready.” He finally said it. And it was damned cathartic to put those raw wounds out in the open. “You’ve put a lot in perspective for me, whether you know that or not. I was damn lucky to have the family I had, and I’ve spent too much time being bitter. I’m sorry that sort of upbringing was stolen from you. And yet you’ve turned into this amazing person who makes me feel so high when I’m around you. I want to help you.”
“Ah, a man’s pity. It’s what every woman wants for dinner,” she said like a 1950s jingle.
He shook his head. She couldn’t take a compliment. Could it be that she really couldn’t see what a wonderful woman she truly was? He knew she was attempting to lighten the heaviness of the mood, too, but it fell hard and flat. He ran the ball of a knuckle down her cheek.
“Naw, baby. It ain’t pity. It’s what someone wants to do for another they’re—they’re startin’ to care for.” She gazed up at him. “I want to help.” He swallowed. “Because I want you…” God, he sounded like a fool and quickly amended his statement. “To give me a chance. Now, get your ass in gear,” he teased and swiveled her toward the door, slapping her rear as he did so.
She cast a devious glare back at him. “You’re so going to pay for this demeaning treatment.”
He grinned. He liked the bantering Rose a helluva lot and was glad to see a trace of her shining through her distress.
“I sure hope I pay good and hard,” he laughed, walking her out.