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She lifted a shoulder. “Anything.”

He turned his hand over and caught her fingers.

“Why do you do it?”

Jodie frowned. “Do what?”

“Take care of everybody before they can ask.”

She went absolutely still.

Mac watched her reach for the easy answer—watched it arrive, even, the shrug already starting, the deflection loaded and ready the way it always was with her.

Then she stopped.

“I know why,” she said. “And I’ll tell you.”

NINETEEN

Jodie stared down at Mac’s fingers wrapped around hers. For a second, she wished she hadn’t offered her story.

But he trusted you enough to share his. The least you can do is reciprocate.

“I have a sister.” She kept her voice light as she glanced up at him.

Mac’s eyebrows lifted slightly.

“Her name is Shelby. She’s two years older than me. I guess I don’t talk about her much.”

That sounds terrible to admit.

“I love her,” Jodie added quickly with a smile. “A lot. That’s not why.”

“I didn’t think it was.”

Of course he didn’t. Mac didn’t immediately assume the worst about people.

One of the many reasons I love him.

Jodie took a breath and squeezed his hand. This isn’t going to be easy.

Keeping her voice as light as possible, she continued. “Shelby had her first seizure when she was a baby. My dad still tells the story about driving her to the ER. The ranch was nearly an hour from the nearest hospital back then, and he figured he could get her there faster than an ambulance could get to the ranch and back. He always says the tires barely touched the road.” She laughed the way she always did when her father told it.

Mac didn’t laugh. He moved his thumb across the side of her hand and he smiled softly. “I can believe that.”

“Yeah.” She shifted on the sleeping bag, drawing one leg beneath her. “The doctors never figured out exactly why she was having them. Sometimes they were controlled, sometimes they weren’t. She was in and out of hospitals for years. When Mom got pregnant with me, they were terrified I’d have them, too.”

He looked alarmed. “Did you?”

“No. Never. Apparently, I came out stupidly healthy.” She laughed again.

Again, Mac didn’t join her laughter. His smile looked uncomfortable, and his gaze softened.

I can’t do this if he looks sorry for me. Luckily, her story was about to get happier.

“When Shelby turned fourteen, her seizures just…stopped. Pretty much as mysteriously as they started, and she hasn’t had one since.” Jodie gave him a bright smile.

Mac exhaled. “I’m glad for her. Your poor parents. Fourteen years is a long time to be afraid.”