Page 101 of Midnight

They drove out of the parking lot and into the city traffic, with Jacob talking nonstop and Ash listening and nodding in all the right places. But Jacob’s energy swiftly waned, and he was asleep before they passed through Tulia, and still asleep when Ash reached the Tumbleweed Bar.

There was a blue Volvo parked in the lot and a man sitting behind the wheel. He drove up to where Ash had stopped and rolled down the window.

“I’m Benny Armstrong,” he said.

“Follow me,” Asher said, and led the way around the bar to the house behind it.

Jacob woke up at the sound of Asher’s voice, and when he saw that they were home, all he felt was relief.

“Sit tight, Dad,” Asher said. “I need to unlock the door first, and then we’ll get you inside, okay?”

Jacob nodded. He was already longing to stretch out and couldn’t wait to get in his own bed, and then the door opened beside him, and a big burly man with a bald head and a smile wider than Dallas leaned in and unbuckled his seat belt.

“Good morning, Mr. Kingston. I’m your nurse, Benny Armstrong. I’m going to help you out and you lean on me. Let me do all the work and you follow my lead, okay?”

“Okay, and it’s Jacob, not mister.”

Ash came running back, and together they walked Jacob in, closed the door to keep out the cold, and started walking him past the utility area into the kitchen.

“What a homecoming! My house hasn’t been this neat and clean in years,” Jacob said.

“Do you want to go to the living room or to your bedroom?” Asher asked.

“Bed, please,” Jacob said, and down the hall they went.

They removed his coat and shoes, then stopped. “Dad, do you want to change into pajamas or sweats to rest in?”

“Pajamas, I think. You get them out for Benny. He can help me change. May as well start this partnership off right and strip me down to my altogether.”

Benny laughed. “I’ve seen twenty years’ worth of altogethers in my nursing career. One more isn’t going to faze me.”

Asher was laughing as he left to bring in a quilt and pillow and the duffel bag. He found the doctor’s instructions, laid them out on the table, and then stowed the quilt and extra pillow back in one of the spare rooms.

When he got back to Jacob’s room, Benny had him in pajamas and tucked neatly into bed, and he’d brought his own bag of tricks, too. Two-way radios, one for each of them for easy communication from anywhere in the house.

“Okay, Jacob. I’ll be in the kitchen for a while, learning where everything is. You know how to call for me.”

“Yes, I do. Asher, as soon as you get Benny settled, you get yourself back to Amarillo. I don’t want to think about you night-flying in that chopper, okay?”

Benny walked out of the room to give them privacy.

Asher sat down on the side of the bed. “Yes, I will, I promise. I’m already packed, and the chopper is serviced and waiting. I wish I didn’t have to leave you like this, but you’re in good hands. I checked him out twenty ways to Sunday before I even called to see if he was free.”

“I would have expected nothing less,” Jacob said.

“I am calling Pearl to let her know that you are home, and who’s taking care of you, so be prepared for her to show up unannounced to inspect him on her own,” Ash said. “And if you ever get a chance, you need to come clean with her, if for no other reason than to clear your conscience there, too. As you once told me, what happened between Nora and me was a shame. A damn shame. The same goes for you and Pearl. Love you, Dad. Be good. Get well, and expect many calls to get updates on your recovery.” Then he leaned over and kissed the top of Jacob’s head and ruffled his hair.

Jacob grinned. “Safe flight, Asher. I’m going to be fine.”

Asher straightened the covers on Jacob’s bed, and walked out.

Benny was sitting at the kitchen table reading the doctor’s instruction sheets. “I see there were two prescriptions called in.”

“I’ll pick them up and drop them off before I leave,” Ash said. “Now let me run through the rest of the stuff with youand anything you don’t know, ask Dad. He raised all three of us in this house. He knows it inside out.”

A few minutes later, Asher was out the door and headed to Belker’s to get the meds, and when he went in to pick them up, found them ready and waiting.

“Does this mean Jacob is home?” the pharmacist asked.