“I remember you running home from the diner after hanging out because you had to feed the horses or mow the side lawn or some other terrible chore,” Jack said.
I laughed out loud, covering my mouth at how loud it sounded in the mostly quiet restaurant. “It’s good honest work. That’s all I’m after.”
“That’s fair,” he replied. “I work hard as a fireman, too, just in a different way.” He puffed out his muscular chest. I couldn’t get over him not being the gangly teenager I remembered. I was sure I hadn’t changed even half as much as he had.
The waitress brought us our meals, setting a steaming plate of what looked like lumpy gravy in front of Jack and a burger and fries in front of me.
Jack took a good long whiff of his food, his eyes rolling dramatically back in his head. “Damn, I missed this.” He cut a big hunk of his fried steak while I bit into my burger. No place I’d ever gone outside of this diner made a hamburger this good.
“We have to do this more often,” I said. “Do you come home much?”
He had to get through a nearly overflowing mouthful of steak and potatoes to answer. At least that much hadn’t changed. The boy could still eat. “More than I did before. Being so close helps. You can come out to see me too whenever you like.”
“Pete gets out to Austin pretty often for rodeos and other ranch-related business. I’m sure I could tag along with him.” I didn’t care much for driving long distances and never had. I could ride a horse for hours, though.
Jack’s dark eyes were shining, and I knew that look from hours spent staring into them. He was about to jump on me about something, teasing until I yelled at him to stop. But as soon as he finished what was in his mouth, he said something that brought tears to my eyes.
“I’m happy for you, Emma. You seem to be doing exactly what you love. And, it really looks like you care about this Pete guy.”
I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face at hearing that. I hadn’t meant to bring Pete up quite so much tonight. But when I talked about my life now, most of it involved him. We worked together all day and spent most nights together, either out or at home. I’d ev
en spent a few full nights with him, waking early to the sounds of him frying up eggs and bacon in the kitchen as he hummed and slid around on the linoleum.
“I really couldn’t be happier right now,” I told Jack. “My work, my love life, things with Daddy and Kasey. It’s all perfect.”
He lifted his water glass. “Cheers to perfection, however it comes.”
Grinning, I lifted my glass to clink the rim with his.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Pete
Friday
I’d barely rested my ass in my seat on the porch before Emma’s cute little sedan turned off the main road and came tooling down the driveway. It wasn’t even five thirty. What in hell had gotten into her this morning? I knew she was an early riser, but damn. I was grinning by the time she walked up, always just so glad to see her. Half of me kept expecting her to disappear just as unexpectedly as she’d arrived, but she kept turning up every day.
“Howdy, pretty lady,” I said, and she smiled. I loved that. Making her smile.
“Howdy, yourself.” Instead of climbing the steps up to the porch, she rested her booted foot on the first step. “How does breakfast at the Texan sound?”
I slapped my empty belly. Well, mostly empty. I’d had a mug of coffee right after I dragged my ass out of bed. “Sounds damned good.”
She tilted her pretty head, her grin getting even wider so it was the brightest thing in the dark. I swear to God she glowed with some inner light I still didn’t understand but was happy to bask in.
“I thought you might say that.”
We took my truck into town, the windows rolled down so we could enjoy the coolest part of the day before the sun rose. Emma went straight for the old timers’ table in the corner, where we sat down side by side. I liked how easy she was with them. The waitress came over with some fresh mugs of steaming black coffee for us.
“I’m usually the one who picks the number,” Big Tom said, his dark eyes on Emma. “But I’d like to let the lady have the honor.”
A hush fell over the table. I wondered if Emma knew how big of an honor this was. The only time any of the other guys had been able to choose the number was if Big Tom had somewhere else to be that morning. I’d never chosen it. My chest swelled with pride at how well they’d welcomed her into the fold. I’d never brought a woman I was interested into the Texan. Most of them didn’t get up this early.
“I’d be happy to,” Emma said with a smile. After a moment, she nodded. “I’ve got it.”
We went around the table, starting with me, picking numbers while she told us lower or higher. I tended towards being unlucky and this morning was no different. It came down to me and Winston. I picked the second to last number.
Emma grinned, her green eyes teasing me so I knew before she even opened her mouth how this was going to go. “You lose, Pete.” She bumped me a little with her shoulder as the table erupted in laughter, the guys cheering her and poking fun at me, the way they had been my whole life. Being around them made me miss my daddy a lot less.