“What’s wrong?” Wes asked.
“It’s Wyatt. Tori called me at class, said when he woke, his lower legs were very swollen, twice the normal size. ”
Rubi didn’t know what that meant, but it seemed like Wes did. “He needs to go back to the hospital. ”
“Your dad’s still in St. Louis, and Wyatt isn’t moving well enough for Tori to—”
“I can handle him,” Wes said. “I’ll just put him in the truck and take him back. ”
His mother darted a glance at Rubi. “Hi, sweetheart. Did you enjoy the drive?”
“Very much. ” She swung her legs off the bed, feeling awkward and helpless. “Can I…do anything?”
She seemed to think about that for a moment, then returned her gaze to Wes. “Tori will want to go with him, but you know how she gets. It would be better if I were there to keep her together. But we have the girls, and Mom… I called Claudia to help, but she’s in Kansas visiting her sister. ”
Rubi had to bite her lip not to volunteer. She really did like to help people, but little kids and crazy grandmothers were waaaaaay the hell out of her spectrum of knowledge.
Only, when Susie’s gaze turned back to Rubi, she was pretty sure she was going to get a crash course in both. “I hate to ask, Rubi. ” She paused with a tortured expression that conveyed the truth of her statement. “But, do you think…”
“Of course. ” What the hell else was she going to say to this lovely woman who’d made her feel instantly at home? “I can’t promise to be good at any of it, but I can try. ”
Susie stepped over to Rubi and hugged her. “Oh, thank you. ”
Rubi gazed over her shoulder at Wes. He had that God-I-love-you look in his eyes again, but all Rubi could do was make a dramatic face of what-the-fuck-did-I-just-get-myself-into terror at him before his mother pulled back.
Wes’s grin spread across his face, and his shoulders shook with silent laughter.
A shriek drifted up the stairs, then a fight broke out between the girls somewhere in the house.
“Oh dear. ” Susie pulled away but kept her hands on Rubi’s shoulders. “Emma was very upset that I interrupted her painting to come home. ” She glanced at Wes. “You know how she is. ”
“You go get them settled, have a talk with Grams, and I’ll give Rubi a few guidelines. ”
Susie kissed Rubi’s cheek. “Thank you so much, sweetheart. ”
As soon as she left the room, she called, “Girls, no fighting. ”
Rubi dropped her head into her hands on a groaned “Oh my God. ”
Wes’s laughter bubbled over as he sat down next to her on the bed. With an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close to his side. “Hey, it’s not that bad. Just put Abby in front of a Dora the Explorer marathon, set up Emma in a separate room with the shitload of Legos, and lock Grams in her room. Cake. ”
Rubi lifted her head with a horrified expression. “Lock her in her room? And what the hell is Dora the…whatever you said?”
“Dora is a who. And I was kidding about locking Grams in her room, but I would suggest locking her in the house. She likes to wander. ”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake. What did I just commit myself to?”
He turned her face toward him, his grin soft. “Family, Rubi. You’ve just committed yourself to taking care of family the way only another family member can. An intensely noble effort. ”
Wes’s suggestions worked—but only for the first two hours. Then the relative calm turned to shit.
Actually, if she were truthful, she’d have to say the trouble started fifteen minutes after Wes and his mother walked out of the house in the form of Birdie deciding she needed—needed—to make holiday pies. In October. Then the trouble escalated in increments made up of spilled cranberry juice on Susie’s cream carpet, Abby’s laughter instigating a screaming fit from Emma, and Birdie’s cyclonic methods in the kitchen.
“Rubi,” Abby called from the family room for the twentieth time in two hours. “Dora’s over. ”
Rubi looked up from the dustpan she maneuvered to sweep up the flour Birdie kept scattering all over the kitchen floor.
“I’m coming. ”