“Yep. Really.”
The fire in his eyes slid right to her core.
Kerry shook her head, hoping she misread his look. Timing was everything in life, and this was not the time to become infatuated with a handsome, virile, please-don’t-flash-me-that-smile-again, man.
He rested one arm along the back of the car seat and drummed his fingers in time with the music. “Tell me more about Albuquerque. Why you’re so all fired up about it. You have friends there? Family?”
She gazed out the window for a minute. “My husband died in an airplane accident a little over a year ago. We dated in high school and got married as soon as we graduated.” Kerry shifted so she faced him. “His parents are wonderful people, and I love them. But they panicked every time I mentioned starting to date again.” She sighed, and picked at a thread in her jeans. “I really feel I’m ready to move on with my life. I mean, I loved Cody, but he’s dead, and…well, I’m not.” She winced. “I’ll bet that sounds awful.”
Damian shook his head and reached over to take her hand, stilling her movements. “What about your family?”
“My parents are divorced. I seldom see them. They each started new families, and I always seemed to be the outsider, so I considered Cody’s parents a substitute.”
After a few minutes of silence, Damian asked, “Why Albuquerque?”
“It’s far enough away so I won’t feel smothered, but close enough that I can visit them once in a while.”
“And what happens when you meet someone else and re-marry?”
She sighed. “If I’m fortunate enough to have children, they would be an extra set of grandparents. I have no intention of cutting them out of my life. They’re too important to me.”
Kerry became lost in her thoughts as silence descended in the truck cab. She and Cody had put off starting a family until it was too late. They’d argued about that only a few weeks before he died. She had been more than ready to be a mother, but Cody insisted they wait longer. She suspected his parents had something to do with that. Laura Mackenzie, with her lithe body, blonde-streaked brown, stylish hairdo, and youthful clothes, was not ready to answer to grandma. Now the woman expected Kerry to bury herself with her husband. So inconsistent.
She fiddled with the radio, too far from Amarillo now to pick up its stations. Hitting on a favorite country and western oldie, she settled back and glanced at Damian.
He lip-synced the song. His eyes shifted back and forth as the traffic grew heavier. There was a lot of energy hidden in the slow moving, slow talking cowboy he presented. And a sharp mind, too.
“How about we stop for lunch?” Damian’s deep voice broke into her thoughts.
“Sure. Now that you mention it, I am hungry.”
Kerry studied him from underneath half-closed eyelids. Damian Greer had certainly snagged her interest. Had things been different, she might have enjoyed getting to know him better. As much as she liked to deny it, there was an attraction between them. But a sane, mature woman didn’t change major plans because she passed through a town and met a sexy cowboy. That was stuff for romance novels.
Chapter Five
Kerry crossed her legs and settled against the high backed, wooden booth at Smokey Joe’s—The Best Barbeque in Texas. “Now you know all about me. What’s your story?”
Damian reached for two plastic menus stuck between the metal clips on the napkin holder. He handed one over and signaled the waitress.
“A beer for me, please.” He glanced in her direction. “Pop?”
She nodded, and the waitress left.
No point in studying the menu. There didn’t seem to be any point in coming to Smokey Joe’s and getting anything but barbeque. They both laid their menus down as the waitress slapped the drinks in front of them, took their order, and left.
“Well?” Kerry asked, pulling the paper off her straw.
“My story?”
She nodded.
“Okay. Raised on a ranch, and a twin.” He took a deep breath and sat back. “Don and I are the tail end of six kids. He’s a minute and a half older than me—and never lets me forget it. I swear the old man kept trying until my mama presented him with a boy. Only I don’t think he counted on two of us at once.”
Kerry’s eyebrows rose. “Twins, huh? And four sisters?”
“Yep. And every one of them bossier than the one before her. Anyway, Pa sent me off to Texas A&M, where I learned all sorts of new ways to breed animals. But it took about two years after I graduated to convince him to try things my way. Don and school were never great friends, so he stayed at the ranch while I was in college.” He took a large gulp of beer and set the icy mug down. “Once we changed methods, the stock improved, and now we’re probably one of the biggest ranches in Texas.”
“Interesting,” Kerry said as she nodded to the waitress who set plates piled high with barbeque, dripping sauce, and fat French fries in front of them.