Erik (Arizona Vengeance 2)

“I can imagine.” It’s an automatic response but I really have no clue what it’s like for Billy.

“To me the most difficult thing is his speech. He can form a few basic words but his dysarthria—the difficulty to form words because his muscles are weak—is pretty severe. So while he understands what others say perfectly well, he can’t really communicate back with words.”

“Then how does he make his needs known?”

Blue gives me a bright smile as if pleased by my question and desire to know more about her brother. “He uses some sign language. A lot of times it’s me taking a guess and asking a question that he can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to. Again, he can form some basic words but he can’t use them in a complete sentence because he just doesn’t have the muscle strength or coordination.”

“And I assume he gets speech therapy at the Cresson for these things?”

“He does,” she says with a regretful sigh. “But it’s not as good as his prior home. He’s only been at the Cresson for a few months and their staff isn’t as good as where he was before.”

“Why did you move him?”

Blue shakes her head and waves a dismissive hand. “You don’t need to hear all about this. We’ve talked enough about—”

“I want to know,” I cut in on her. “You’re right…I don’t need to know but I really want to.”

She studies me a moment, her gaze drilling hard into mine to see if what I’m saying is the truth. Seemingly satisfied with what she sees, she takes in a breath and lets it out slowly. “When my parents were alive, they were able to afford better accommodations. My dad made good money and had great insurance and my mom worked part time. They both had excellent life insurance policies too so that Billy could continue to get good care, but I’m having some problems with the policies so I had to move him in the interim to something that was more affordable.”

Something weird happens to me. I had merely been deeply interested in Blue and that includes an interest in her life as a whole, which in turn includes Billy. But as it’s becoming clear to me that Blue has some really heavy burdens in her life, my interest takes on a different sort of feeling. I feel protective of her for some reason, which means she’s only the second woman in my life to cause that within me.

The first being my own mother, which is only natural between a mom and her boy.

“What are the problems with the insurance?” I try to keep the question light and conversational, but my brain is already trying to calculate exactly how I can help her.

Blue stares at me, fork poised in the air to take a bite of her au gratin potatoes. I can see the question in her eyes.

Why in the hell would someone like me—a known player and user of women—even care about that stuff. I merely hold her gaze and wait her out.

She finally puts the potatoes in her mouth and chews silently. I enjoy watching her eat because her lips are sexy and so is her throat when she swallows. After a sip of wine, she asks, “Do you know how my parents died?”

“A car accident,” I tell her, as she had mentioned it one night when we were all out to dinner on that extended road trip.

“My dad was driving and had a heart attack. His car went into the other lane and was hit by a tractor trailer.”

Before I can stop myself, I reach my hand across the table and take hers. She blinks in surprise and stares at them a moment before looking back at me.

“Jesus. I’m really sorry, Blue,” I tell her. “There’s never a good way to lose your parents, but that’s really horrific.”

She swallows hard and nods. Her voice is thick with emotion. “Yeah. It was a shock to say the least. At any rate, the life insurance company says my father had a preexisting heart condition he failed to disclose on his application and they denied his pay out. My mom’s policy has paid out but it’s barely enough with some wise investing to keep Billy at the Cresson.”

“Do you have an attorney?” I ask her.

She shakes her head and pulls her hand away from mine. “Can’t afford one.”

“I’ll call mine tomorrow and have him look at it.”

“Erik,” she exclaims with a hard shake of her head. “Just…no. You can’t do that.”

This refusal doesn’t surprise me. Blue seems like a proud woman. I could steamroll over her if I wanted, but instead I ask, “Will you go out on another date with me?”

I have to force myself not to laugh when her eyes fill with confusion and her mouth drops open. “What?”