Chapter 2 #2
Lila Mae set down her plate. “Thanks. I’m going to run and grab a drink.”
“I’m going to get a drink right now,” a man a couple down and across the table from her said. “What do you want?”
“Oh, um, just some lemonade,” she said, and the sandy-haired man got up and left.
“That’s Alex,” Trap said. “His wife, Nikki, and their boys.”
Lila Mae nodded to the kids directly across from her. They couldn’t be more than eight or nine years old, and they only seemed to have sandwiches and potato chips on their plates.
“You got some of the chicken pot pie casserole,” Trap said, and he gave her a rare smile.
“Yeah,” she said. “It looked pretty rich, and it was almost gone, so I only took half.”
He nodded and put another spoonful of mac and cheese in his mouth.
“Oh, shoot. There’s not a chair here anymore?”
Lila Mae looked up at the cool female tone, the tension doubling as a brunette came to a standstill only a few feet from him.
“Oh, sorry,” the man next to Trap said, but he didn’t sound sorry at all.
“Yeah, sorry.” Trap looked up. “Jessa, Lila Mae’s new in town, and she needed somewhere to sit.”
Lila Mae looked up at the dark-haired woman, who wore daggers in her expression. The last thing Lila Mae needed in town was enemies, and she swallowed quickly. “I can find—”
“No, it’s fine,” Trap practically yelled over her.
She swung her attention back to his and found his eyes a little bit wider and filled with more urgency, clearly trying to convey something to her nonverbally.
“I see Jessa’s brother right over there,” Trap said. “Jessa, he’s got a seat for you. Sorry.” He actually did sound a little bit sorry, but Lila Mae didn’t think he truly was.
“You’ll call me about game night, right?” Jessa asked. When no one answered, she added, “Colt?”
“Yeah,” Colt said, but he didn’t even look at her.
She huffed and walked away, taking all the horrible tension with her.
“I didn’t mean to take someone’s seat,” Lila Mae said.
“You didn’t,” Trap said.
“She seemed to think it was for her.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t.”
Lila Mae frowned. “You don’t like her.”
“I like her just fine,” Trap said. “But she’s Colt’s ex who doesn’t seem to think they’ve broken up yet.”
She leaned forward and looked past Trap to the cowboy on his other side. He nodded at her. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Colt Franklin. I own the apple orchards in town.”
A smile sprang to Lila Mae’s face. “I love those apple orchards. I come every Monday and get your fresh cider. The cats love it.”
Colt grinned at her, and even Trap snickered. “You feed cider to cats?”
“Apple cider has a lot of health qualities,” she said. “And not just for humans.”
She looked at Travis, and she thought his smile looked a little bit wicked.
“Are you making fun of me?” she asked. “Maybe I don’t want to sit by you.”
“You can’t leave,” he said, his smile drying right up with the words.
“Why not?” Lila Mae suddenly wanted nothing more than to do exactly that.
Colt leaned forward and said, “Because that is Trap’s ex-girlfriend, and he doesn’t want to sit by her.” He pointed his plastic fork out into the crowd. “And if you thought I didn’t want to sit by Jessa, he doesn’t want to sit by Chelle times ten.”
“She’s not my ex,” Trap said at the same time Lila Mae turned to see a beautiful, honey-haired woman looking for a place to sit. “We went out one time,” he muttered. “And it was torture.”
“Yeah, but she wants to go out with him again,” Colt said.
Lila Mae scoffed. “You cowboys seem to have a lot of women who want to go out with you that you don’t want to give the time of day to.” She gave them both a cocked-eyebrow glare. “Seems to me like you’d be happy for someone to go out with.”
Colt’s mouth hung open for a moment, and then he started to laugh. Trap simply blinked at her, his frown deepening by the moment. Lila Mae had half a mind to pick up her plate, claim she was finished, and offer her seat to Chelle.
She had the words formulated in her head too, and the whole scenario played out in her mind. Then she remembered she needed this man on her side, and that he had dozens of construction projects still to do at Feline Friends.
So she shut her mouth and picked up her fork to try her first bite of chicken pot pie casserole. As the creamy, salty sauce exploded across her tongue, Lila Mae moaned.
Trap laughed. “It’s good, right?”
“We do not have food like this in Maryland,” she said.
“I thought you were from Atlanta.”
“Our corporate headquarters are in Atlanta,” she said. “But I grew up in Maryland and worked out of the social media office there.”
“I don’t even know what a social media office is,” Trap said.
“Oh, yes, you do,” she fired back. “You post on social media for your business. I’ve seen your videos. It’s how I found you.”
He turned toward her. “Is it? Tell me more.”
Lila Mae wasn’t sure if Trap was quiet and shy or cocky and arrogant, but she wanted to find out. She put a bite of chocolate cake in her mouth and picked up her phone.
“Let me find the first video I saw,” she said. “I saved it. It’s what made me come back and look you up online.” It only took her a few seconds, as Lila Mae had been doing social media marketing for a very long time and knew her way around a mobile device.
“Here it is,” she said. “You’re even in it.”
He practically yanked her phone out of her hand, and she peered over his forearm at the video, where none other than Trap Walker himself said, “Hi, I’m Trap Walker, and welcome to Three Rivers and MS Designs, a family construction and interior design firm that can meet any needs, big or small.
Come with me as I show you everything from a new barndominium build, to an old farmhouse kitchen remodel. ”
“I’ve got to say,” Lila Mae said as the video continued. “You’re a lot more personable online than you are in person.”
That caused Alex, Nikki, and Colt to all start laughing. Lila Mae took her lemonade from Alex. “Thank you.”
“Well, she’s got you pegged, Trap,” Alex said.
“I hate this video.” Trap handed her phone back. “I shot that thing like a thousand times.”
“Well, you’re very good,” she said. “It made me want to work with you.”
“My daddy will be thrilled,” Trap deadpanned. “But let’s not tell him, okay?”
Lila Mae grinned at him. “I think I’ll drive straight to Seven Sons and hunt him down.” She’d met his father, and she could do it too. Trap looked mortified, as if he’d never been teased before, and Lila Mae sighed and shook her head.
“You Texans don’t have as good a sense of humor as I thought you would.”
“That’s just Trap,” Colt said. “He takes a while to warm up.”
“Does he?” Lila Mae said. “I feel like I’ve been talking to him for about a year now.”
“It’s been six months,” Trap said. “And trust me, it feels like six years.”
A sting of hurt moved through Lila Mae. She lifted her chin slightly. “Well, I’m sorry if my project has put you out.”
“He loves your project,” Colt said. “Don’t listen to him at all.”
She looked at Trap. “Is he right? Do you love my project?”
“It’s fine,” Trap said.
“You’re going to be out later this week, right?” she said. “I believe Thursday.”
“Yeah, Thursday morning.”
“Great,” Lila Mae said, something new and slightly sinister entering her mind. “I’ll give you until then to figure out why you dislike me so much and what I’ve done to offend you.”
She picked up her napkin and her plate and stood. “I won’t torture you with my presence any longer.”
“Come on, Lila Mae,” he said.
Lila Mae gazed at him. “If we can’t get along, Mister Walker, I’ll simply hire someone else.”
“Don’t go,” he said, but Lila Mae walked away, thinking maybe these Texas cowboys had a different sense of humor than she had, but if that were true, she didn’t like it.
She didn’t want to be ridiculed or have to wonder if every word out of Trap’s mouth was a joke or meant to genuinely hurt her.
She’d give him one more chance to explain on Thursday, and if he couldn’t, Lila Mae knew Three Rivers offered plenty of other construction firms to choose from.
Oh, boy. What will happen this Thursday with Trap and Lila Mae? Find out in WHERE PROMISES STAY, coming soon!