“The librarian about chewed us the hell out and walked our asses straight to the front office,” Jack said. “We had to miss the rest of our classes and stay that night putting things away until the mess was cleaned up. Took damned near five hours, mostly because we couldn’t stop laughing every time we looked at each other.”
The waitress arrived with our burgers, laying them down on the table in front of us. Pete asked for refills on our beers. In between bites, we talked about the good old days. He couldn’t get enough of the stories of me and Jack in school, and boy, did Jack love to tell them. Nothing was as funny as the incident in the library — Daddy hadn’t been too pleased to have to pick me up after school at well past nine at night, but he hadn’t said another word about it when I said nothing had been broken and I’d learned my lesson.
“Y’all staying in town tonight?” Jack asked after we finished our burgers and beers.
I shook my head. “We got work on the farm tomorrow morning first thing.”
“I have a twenty-four hour shift starting in the morning,” he replied. “I should probably get home.”
Pete snatched up the tab when the waitress came by with it, sending her on her way with some cash before Jack could say anything about it.
“You can treat Emma the next time you see her,” he said, grinning that deep grin I loved, the sexy one that got me going just about every time.
“You got it,” he said.
After the boys shook hands, I gave Jack a hug.
“We’ll walk out with you,” I said. “Just let me say goodbye to Kase.” I caught her running by and told her goodnight. The three of us — Jack, Pete, and I — walked out together and said our goodbyes on the street where it was a little quieter, then, since we were parked in opposite directions, we went our separate ways.
Pete held my door open, and I gave him a kiss before climbing into the truck. We drove off, rolling the windows down while we were still in the city because I loved to stick my hand out in the wind.
“I’m glad we went out,” he said. “That was fun. Jack’s a good guy.”
I agreed.
We rolled to a stop at a red light, and he reached to take my hand, squeezing my fingers. I looked over at him, smiling as I met his light eyes.
“I love you, Emma,” he said, a sheepish grin curling the corners of his mouth.
My heart beat a little faster as a warm feeling started in my chest and spread out, tingling over my skin. I felt that need for him again, but it was different, sweeter. I squeezed his fingers.
“I love you, too, Pete.” And, I did.
His smile expanded to swallow the whole bottom half of his face, and he turned his eyes back to the road when the light turned green. That warm feeling stayed with me the whole way home, and I didn’t let go of his hand again until we were back on the ranch.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Pete
Six Months Later
I’d just stepped out of the house onto the porch when Emma came tooling up the country road and turned into the driveway. It wasn’t even six yet.
“What’s gotten into our girl, Riley?” I asked, but the dog just went on sleeping, completely ignoring me, as usual. I set my cup of lukewarm coffee on the porch railing and walked down to the driveway to greet her. She just rolled her window down and ordered me to get in.
“We have to get to the Texan,” she said. “Get in and let’s go!”
“You’re damned bossy this morning,” I replied, smiling as I got into her tiny little car, my legs cramped nearly up to my chest. “We’ve got to get you into a pickup, Em.”
“I like my car,” she said. “It gets good gas mileage.”
We drove over to the Texan, getting one of the good spots up front. There were a few more cars out here than usual. When we went inside, I was surprised to see Mr. Flowers sitting at the table with the old timers. He was probably a good ten solid years younger than they were, but he seemed to be getting along with them just fine.
“When did your daddy start coming to the Texan?” I asked as we moseyed over.
She grinned at me, her emerald eyes shining in that pretty way they had. “I talked him into coming a few weeks ago just to meet the guys. Now he comes damned near every morning, whether I’m here or not.”
I pulled up a chair next to the only empty one at the table, letting Emma sit down next to her daddy before I got in on the other side of her. “Morning,” I said to everyone.