Chapter Eight #2
Every time the front door opened at the Stockyard, a band stretched between her shoulder blades. Every loud laugh from the bar made her glance up. Every shadow she spotted from the corner of her eye commanded her attention before she could stop herself.
Then she would see Gray Malone sitting at the bar and scanning the room with his calm watchfulness, and her pulse would stabilize.
She was safe—at least from physical threats.
But her body still hadn’t recovered from Vander’s hands all over her a few hours ago.
Between hypervigilance and loss of focus, by the time her shift ended she felt emotionally wrung out. When she finished, she moved behind the bar to store her apron and notepad for the next day.
She inched closer to Gray still seated there.
He gave her a passing nod. “Quiet lunch hour,” he said quietly enough to keep their conversation private.
“Yes.”
“Pope’s outside.”
Her stomach tingled at the name everyone else used for him. A hot name. As if just the thought of seeing her lover wasn’t enough to turn her on.
Right now, she only had to worry about him making a scene again about bad security when they picked up Ben from school.
She offered Gray a grateful smile and pushed through the door into the bright sunshine. Vander was parked a few feet away, leaning on his truck. Her gut gripped as their gazes locked for a throbbing beat.
“I’ll follow you home.”
With a nod, she turned and walked to her vehicle. Just as they planned, she drove home with him tailing her, which made her insides warm and uneasy at the same time.
She pulled into her driveway a few minutes later, and he parked on the street. She was aware of his every move as he climbed out, extending his long legs to the ground and walking up to her car.
When he got into the passenger seat, the scent of fresh shampoo hit her. He’d showered at the ranch.
“Good shift?” he asked as she backed out of the driveway and headed to the school.
“Made fifty-two dollars.”
The brim of his cowboy hat concealed his eyes from her, so all she could see was how he compressed his lips. “You deserve a lot more.”
Emotions poured through her, and she spent the next few minutes talking herself out of more bad decisions, like pulling over and jumping him again.
The school came into view, parents already lined up along the curb as kids spilled out through the front doors bundled in jackets and backpacks.
She looked over at Vander. “We should probably get our stories straight.”
One corner of his hard lips lifted. “Stories?”
“In seven years I’ve never brought a guy around Ben.”
He nodded. “We’ll tell him the truth—I’m watching out for you both.”
“Yes, but Ben is seven and observant.”
“Dangerous combination.”
She sighed and leaned back against the seat. “He’s gonna ask questions.”
Vander’s expression softened slightly. “Then we answer them.”
Easy for him to say.
Ben noticed everything. He noticed moods and routines and tiny changes most adults overlooked. There was no universe where he wasn’t going to realize Vander had suddenly become a constant presence around them.
The passenger door behind her jerked open a few minutes later.
“Mom!”
Ben climbed into the back seat in a whirlwind of backpack straps and energy before spotting Vander.
Then his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Oh no.
Ben buckled himself in, looking between them. “Why is Vander picking me up too?”
“We’re all going back to the house,” Summer said carefully.
“Together?”
Vander made a quiet sound beside her that resembled amusement. “What do you two say about stopping for some ice cream?”
She sent him a sideways look, but Ben bounced up and down in the back like popcorn in a popper.
“Yes! Ice cream! Can we please, Mom?”
“All right.” The place wasn’t far, just a small pull-off along the main road. A few vehicles were parked in front, and she pulled in beside them.
The three of them climbed out of the car and walked up to the window. Ben started to order, but Vander stopped him.
“Ladies go first. That’s the rule.”
Ben blinked up at him. “Oh. Okay. Go ahead, Mom.”
Suppressing a smile and an internal voice reminding her that her son actually needed a man to teach him these things, she stepped up to the window and ordered a twist cone. Vander looked to Ben, and her son waved a hand.
“You can go next, Vander.”
“Thank you.” He ordered a banana split for himself, which of course Ben wanted too after he heard Vander ordering one.
They found a table in a small beam of sunlight that made the day feel more like springtime. And the ice cream helped too.
Ben launched into a detailed explanation of the correct way to eat a banana split, even though Summer laughed and asked if he’d ever eaten one before. Ben said he hadn’t, and both of them laughed. Pope joined in, watching the families around them too.
Kids laughing. Parents smiling. Ordinary moments most people took for granted.
He always noticed those things, maybe because he knew not every kid got to keep the people they loved.
Ben leaned forward, scooping a huge bite into his mouth. “Are you guys dating?”
So much for easing into anything.
Summer nearly choked on air. “Ben—”
“What?” He looked genuinely confused. “Jeremiah McCauley’s mom dates now.”
Summer blinked. “What does Jeremiah McCauley know about dating?”
Ben settled back dramatically against the seat. “His mom and dad got divorced and now she’s dating a guy from the lumber mill.”
Vander coughed suddenly like he was trying not to laugh.
Ben continued seriously, “They go on dates and Jeremiah says he hates it, but I don’t think I’d mind if you and Vander are.”
Silence surrounded them. Summer honestly didn’t know what to do with that.
She’d spent years assuming Ben would hate the idea of another man around. That he’d feel protective or territorial or confused. The possibility that he might actually want her to have somebody had never crossed her mind.
Vander glanced at her before twisting to look at Ben.
“We’re not dating,” he said calmly. “But I would like to date your mom.”
Summer’s heart forgot how to function for a second.