Chapter 29: Better Late Than Never

Jebb got back home late after leaving the hospital in Alabama hours earlier. His parents and his sisters were all asleep so he did his best to creep up to his room without making any noise. When he slipped into his room he glanced over at the spare bed and saw one of the twins sound asleep; likely Emily. The girls have been sneaking into his room ever since they could walk. Now at six years old, it was just a bit too common to find one or both of them in his room from time to time.

Carefully so that he wouldn't wake his sister, Jebb got ready for bed knowing that he'd have to come up with an explanation about why he was home late from his trip to Mobile. Not to mention, he'd have to inform his parents that he planned to go back in the not so distant future. Far too quickly it was time to get up and take care of the farm chores. Jebb began to muck out the stalls as his father joined him for the morning chores and began to milk the goats. Meanwhile the twins were feeding the chickens out in the yard.

"You got home later than we thought you would last night. You have any trouble on the way back from Alabama?"

"No. I just got started back later than I'd planned." Jebb said as he put a little elbow-grease into scraping the stall. Cleaning out the stalls was always a dirty job but seemed to be more so after being away for a while.

"Why is that?"

Jebb leaned against the pitchfork for a moment. He didn't know why but he wasn't ready to tell anyone about Kira being back in his life again. It was like he was afraid that he'd jinx it all if he said anything. He couldn't really put it into words but he'd never been comfortable with telling his folks about Kira. Not really. Years ago when he'd gone into Atlanta on a regular basis when Kira lived there he knew that he could have saved himself from his mother's matchmaking if she knew that he already had a girl in his life but he liked having that secret from his folks. Now that he had a second chance with Kira he was even less willing let anyone in on the goings on of his love life.

"Do you remember my old friend Kyle? The friend from Atlanta?" There. That was a start. He'd always referred to Kira by her last name in front of his parents. At first it had been from habit since many of the riders in his troop did so with each other. Later, it had been to avoid any unwanted questions about his relationship with her from his parents; especially his mother.

"You used to hang out with him quite a bit, if I recall. I haven't heard you talking about him in quite a while though. Ya'll kind of grew apart when he went off to college. Didn't you?"

"Yea, well, Kyle was in Alabama. There was an accident and well-"

"An accident? Was it serious?"

"Serious enough to require a week or two in the hospital. It'll take months to heal up. I've offered to help out a little. I hope you don't mind. You know, go help pack up Kyle's place, give a lift back to Atlanta. Stuff like that."

John knew that his son, like most Dukes, just couldn't walk away from a friend in need. That was something that he was proud of; even if it did make running the farm just a bit difficult at times. Even so, his son was still young and there was no reason to not allow him to enjoy his youth. At least for a while yet. In time Jebb would settle down and take care of the business of running a farm of his own. Or at least he hoped. There was no reason to keep him from finding his own path.

"Well, I suppose that we could do without you for a couple of days when you head back. Just a word of warning, your mother won't like it. You know she always frets when you are off with your friends. Particularly when you are off racing."

"She'd fret if I was just in town at the diner drinking a milkshake with any of them. In any case, would help or hurt to tell her that the accident wasn't from a race at all, rather from being part of a stunt show?"

John paused in his milking as he furled his brow. He knew that his son, like most of the men in his family, liked to push his luck while on wheels. In fact, Jebb probably did his most sedate riding on his motorcycle while racing. If his son's friend was hurt while doing a stunt then it would reinforce to John that so long as his son wasn't foolish while riding that he was relatively safe while racing. For Pauline, however, any accident while riding would only serve to prove her argument that all motorcycles were deathtraps and that their son would be better off just as soon as he realized that.

"Probably not. Of course she still isn't happy about your cousins racing, neither. Just know what you'll be up against for a while." John finished milking the goats before setting the milk aside to be strained later. He then helped Jebb freshen up the bedding in the stalls before heading inside with his son for breakfast.

In the kitchen Pauline had a hearty breakfast ready for her family as they all returned from the barn and chicken coops after the early morning chores were finished. She was glad to see her son had made it home safe and sound. She had expected him home before she'd gone to bed the night before and she hadn't been happy going to sleep without knowing if he would be home when she woke up.

At times she worried about her son. He'd been out of school for a few years now and it was time for him to start thinking about finding some nice girl to settle down with and maybe start a family of his own. Unfortunately, none of the young women who were obviously interested in Jebb ever really seemed to catch his attention. He'd be polite, even do a little bit of flirting (more out of habit than anything else), when he was set up on dates but it just never seemed that it went further than that. Something that was completely different than the young man he'd been when he was younger. Why, in his high school days it had seemed that her son had a new girl every other week or so. There hadn't seemed to have been many of the girls in his class that he didn't have a fancy for at one time or another. In fact, Pauline had seriously begun to worry about his son's reputation at the time. Then within a year of graduation he had done an about face in how he behaved toward the idea of dating in general. If he wasn't off with his racing friends both at races nearby or in other states he would instead hang out with his cousins or local friends. The lack of female companionship always laid heavily on Pauline's mind and she hoped that her son would find someone soon who not only would pique his interest but also keep it.

"Jebb, you got in awfully late last night. I was expecting you home for supper."

"Yes'm. I was tellin' Pop that I just got a late start on gettin' back. I'm sorry for makin' you worry. I was visitin' a friend in the hospital."

"Hospital? Who? Is everything alright?" Pauline knew that it was dangerous for her son to race in motocross. If only she could get him and her son to see that.

"It wasn't a rider in the race, Pauline," John said since he'd been married to his wife long enough to guess at her thoughts in regards to what she'd heard. "Remember Jebb's friend who went off to college? Kyle? He's the one that's in the hospital after an accident. He just so happened to be in the same town as the race."

"Oh. Well, is he alright?"

Jebb squirmed just a bit since he knew that he wasn't being fully truthful with is parents. But then again, he'd yet to outright lie, either. "Will be. Eventually. It's going to take a while to heal up, though. I told Pop that I volunteered to give a ride back to Atlanta after being released from the hospital in about another week or two."

Pauline got the feeling that neither her husband nor son were being fully honest with her in regards to just how Jebb's friend ended up in the hospital. Plus, she never liked it when her family wasn't all together but she knew that her son wouldn't be able to walk away from a friend in need. Something that, while it was an inconvenience at times, she was actually proud of. She supposed that at least she could be glad that it wasn't her son in the hospital instead. After all, she knew far too well that her husband and his family's influence had caused Jebb to have more than a slight adventurous streak while riding around on two wheels.

"Well, I suppose we'll be able to get along here at the farm while you're away. Just see to it that you don't end up joining Kyle as a patient in the hospital."

"Yes'm." Jebb muttered while breathing a sigh of relief. Later he'd call the hospital to check on how Kira was doing today. After learning more about her abandonment issues and her fears of being forgotten the last thing that he wanted was to give her time to believe that he wasn't going to return.

Nearly two weeks later Jebb climbed off of his bike in front of an old trailer that looked as if it had seen much better days. Confused, he knew that Kira could have afforded to have lived anywhere in the city. Why would she have chosen to live in such a rundown thing like this trailer?

Kira was set to be released from the hospital later in the afternoon and he'd promised that he'd pack up her place and take her stuff back to Atlanta for her. He had even offered to drive her back to Georgia. Ben's old law partners Tom and Michelle had arranged a place for her to stay while she healed from her injuries from the accident during the stunt show more than two weeks ago. Jebb hoped that with her closer to home that they would be able to get back to where they had been as a couple before Ben's death; when everything fell apart.

Jebb walked around to the door of the trailer and carefully made his way up the half-rotten porch steps. When he tested the door knob he found the door unlocked so he went inside and was surprised at what he found. He'd expected to have to figure out a way to haul furniture and a mountain of clothes out to Kira's truck on his own. Instead what he found was a room that didn't have any furniture at all. In the corner Jebb saw that Kira had a sleeping bag and a couple of stacks of clothes near a duffel bag as well as a pair of hiking boots. Off to the side was a small radio resting on a suitcase.

It was hard to imagine that Kira had been living in this trailer for about a year. Instead of being lived in, the place looked like it would if someone was squatting in an old abandoned home. In fact, it looked as if Kira was living just as she would have if Ben had never been a part of her life. She had returned to living like the street kid she had been years before.

Jebb wandered into the small kitchen area and started to poke around to see what he could find in there. In one cabinet he found canned soups of various kinds. On the counter sat a hotplate with a small pot that he assumed that she'd used to warm up her meals. After checking the nearly empty refrigerator Jebb poured the soured milk down the drain. He then opened another cabinet, one that hung crooked on its hinges, only to find an opossum munching her way through a box of Cheerios. After a brief moment of surprise interrupted by the animal's hissing in annoyance Jebb closed the door once more. In the dish drain he saw Kira's entire set of dishes.

One spoon.

One fork.

One knife.

One cup.

One bowl.

One plate.

Jebb supposed that she hadn't expected any company. He doubted that any of the individuals that Kira raced with had ever come to her place with the exception of dropping off her truck and motorcycle after the accident.

Getting to work, Jebb had Kira's meager belongings packed up and in the back of the truck along with both his and Kira's motorcycles in no time. He then left the depressing looking trailer where Kira had been living behind as he headed toward the hospital. When he got there he found Kira in the middle of one last visit with with a therapist to make sure that she knew just how much and how little she should expect to do on her own until her injuries were healed up. With her right arm in a sling-like contraption, her whole left leg in a cast, and her right leg in a brace, mobility was definitely going to be an issue. Jebb knew that having to depend on anyone for anything went against Kira's very nature; however, that was something that she'd have to learn to do for the foreseeable future.

One thing that caught Jebb's attention was the outfit that Kira was wearing. He couldn't remember ever seeing Kira wearing a dress at all but the one she had on clearly was worn for its ease of wear ability rather than style. It was obviously something that the nurses had found for her out of the lost and found. It was an over-sized dress that looked as if it would have fit Lulu Hogg much better. But considering the fact that Kira had both legs as well as one arm incapacitated Jebb supposed that the dress would be easier for her to wear than a pair of jeans and tee shirt.

After the therapist was finished a nurse gave Kira a shot to help with the pain before she left despite her protest that she didn't want to be doped up. Still, the nurse insisted that she couldn't leave until she'd been given all of her medication.

Once Kira was discharged she was quick to realize just how helpless she was while being transferred from the wheelchair to the passenger's seat of her truck. Just being lifted up, despite the fact that Jebb was being as careful as he could, sent immense pain through her shoulder where her broken collarbone was. Jebb wondered just how badly the pain would have been for her if Kira hadn't been given the medicine to help with the pain.

With Kira loaded into the truck Jebb hopped into the driver's seat anxious to spend the five hour drive talking to Kira. Before the two made it out of Mobile Jebb glanced over at Kira only to find her beginning to drift in and out of consciousness. He supposed that the medication that the nurse had given her was strong enough to knock her completely out. He guessed that talking would have to wait for a while.