I turned to smile at Bud. “Thank you. Pamela says Kristina’s going to be okay. She just needs some rest and quiet.”
“Why don’t Pamela and Kristina ride with us?” Hayden suggested. “That way Kristina could stretch out in the backseat. We could keep things a lot quieter for her there. And Pamela could be there in case she has another seizure.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll ask Pamela.” I turned and made my way down the aisle, having to wait a few times for the others to get back in their seats and clear the path. Behind me, I sensed Hayden following.
Kristina now lay half draped across Pamela’s lap and the neighboring seat, which was too short, forcing Kristina’s legs to hang over the edge. Her little body was twisted awkwardly.
Pamela immediately agreed to the idea. But her husband wasn’t happy about it.
“What about our little girl?” Steve hissed. “Cassie needs her mother too.”
Pamela’s eyes widened then narrowed. “She’ll be with her father, of course. And it’s only for a few hours.”
Hayden surprised me, ignoring the little marital tiff completely as he eased past me and bent down to carefully gather Kristina into his arms. Pamela gave her daughter a quick kiss on the top of her sleepy head, then followed us out of the bus and into the truck. We got Kristina settled in the backseat and were still trying to decide where Pamela should sit when Hayden took off without a word back towards the bus.
Pamela looked at me with eyebrows raised. I shrugged. I might know Hayden well enough to read his body behavior and facial expressions in general. But I wasn’t a mind reader.
“Maybe I should sit with Kristina,” Pamela muttered, rubbing her upper arms through the sleeves of her sweatshirt as she studied the sleeping child. “She’s going to be out of it for hours. She might need someone to keep her from rolling off the seat.”
“I could move some stuff out of the way for your feet.” We’d already pushed the pile of books and hoodies, CDs and laptop and duffle bag onto the floor. But I thought I might be able to condense it all into a pile at one end of the floorboard with a few good shoves.
I was just finishing exactly that while marveling at how messy some guys could be, when Pamela tapped my shoulder. “Um, Tarah? Hayden’s coming.”
I straightened up, turned my head to look, and my jaw dropped. Hayden was helping Kristina’s mother off the bus.
Again, I felt my eyes burn and fill with tears as the two slowly made their way over to the truck, Hayden guiding her by her elbow but letting her move as slowly as she needed to despite the group’s need to get to South Dakota. Again and again, he continued to amaze me. How had he known Kristina should have her mother with her? Most guys would never even think of this, much less go to such effort to see the right thing done.
Pamela and I stood there in teary silence until they reached us. Then we jumped into action again, Pamela helping the mother into the backseat while I leaned over the seat and held up Kristina’s head for her mother to get settled in beneath. Once Kristina’s head rested in her mother’s lap, Hayden unfolded one of three blankets he’d also brought from the bus and covered Kristina with it. The second blanket he draped over the mother, repositioning Kristina’s head on top of it. The third blanket he rolled up and used as extra padding between the mother’s head and neck and the unyielding head rest.
“I think I’d better ride in front with you guys,” Pamela murmured as we watched Hayden ease the back door shut beside the mother. “If they need me, I’ll just lean over the seat to help them.”
I nodded, and we both walked quickly around the truck. Pamela waited for me to get in first, and it was only as I climbed in that I realized I would be sitting right beside Hayden now. I tried not to react but could feel my cheeks growing warm as I put on my seatbelt. Then Hayden got in, his thigh brushing my hand on the seat. I jumped, mumbled an apology and clasped my hands out of the way in my lap, looking everywhere but at him.
What was wrong with me? Just because Hayden had grown up and become a total hottie didn’t change who he was. This was my long time best friend here. Just because I’d always secretly imagined us becoming more didn’t mean Hayden thought of me as anything other than a friend. And besides, how could I possibly still be wishing for more when we’d only just repaired our friendship?
Thankfully he didn’t seem to notice my awkwardness as he checked that Pamela and I were both ready before he started the engine. A quick confirmation on the walkie talkie with Bud to be sure the bus was ready to get going again, and then we were on our way once more.
Only this time I couldn’t seem to relax no matter how much I told my muscles to. Every cell in my body kept alternating between a crazy, wild joy at our physical closeness, followed immediately by a terrible longing for more. My left hand itched to slide over from my lap onto his thigh so I could feel the muscles bunching and relaxing beneath that worn denim as the traffic forced him to ignore the cruise control button and manually speed up then slow down. Every bump in the road that caused my shoulder to nudge against his made me yearn to nestle more fully against his side and rest my head on that shoulder’s hard muscles, muscles I had watched in action from a distance way too many times at countless basketball games over the years.
Being this close to him was both wonderful and torture all at the same time.
But at least some of the truck’s passengers had no problem with the new arrangement. Some combination of stress and maybe the act of healing too had worn Pamela out. She started softly snoring in seconds. I couldn’t see Kristina’s mother to see if she was sleeping too.
“If you get sleepy, feel free to take a nap if you want,” Hayden murmured suddenly, making me jump.
But there was no headrest for the center of the seat. My only pillow would have to be the top of the seat itself, and resting my head on it would only result in a bad crick in my neck. “It’s okay. I’ll just wait till we get to your grandma’s.”
One thick eyebrow rose. “If you need a headrest, my right shoulder’s not hurt, you know.”
“Oh. Right. Thanks.” I swallowed hard.
“You okay?” He glancing at me with a frown.
“Uh, sure, why wouldn’t I be?” My smile felt stupid and overly bright even to me. I was acting like an idiot.
It’s just Hayden, I reminded myself.