by Elle James
RJ planted her fists on her hips. “As far as I’m concerned, we should shut down the Watering Hole for the rest of the day.”
Gunny shook his head. “I’m not going to do that. We’ll be fine. We have everything ready as we do every day of the week.”
“We haven’t used the conference room in a month. It probably has a layer of dust and needs to have tables and chairs set out to accommodate whatever the guests might need. And a public barbecue will take a lot more planning than just a few days. I don’t think we bought nearly enough food to feed who knows how many people might show up.”
“I ordered plenty of food, and we have enough paper plates to feed an army.” He sliced a club sandwich in half and laid the two halves on a plate. “And I had you pick up enough trash bags to clean up after that army.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “We haven’t had this big an event here since…well, since I can’t remember.”
JoJo stuck her head through the swinging door. “Got some hungry guys out here. Are you gonna bring those plates out, or do you need me to take them? And I need you back behind the bar, RJ. Got an order for two bottles of Guinness, a double whiskey on the rocks and ginger ale for the designated driver.”
“Got it. I’ll be right out. Wait, JoJo. Did you know that we’re having a big public barbecue on Friday, and that we’re hosting a politician and his campaign staff for the rest of the week?”
JoJo nodded. “Yeah, and you and I are taking the campaign staff on an ATV tour on Saturday.”
“What?” RJ said.
“Here, let me get that tray.” JoJo crossed the kitchen floor, scooped up the tray, balanced it on her shoulder and pushed through the swinging door out into the dining room.
RJ planted a fist on her hips. “Why is it I’m the last one to know?”
Gunny grinned. “Sometimes, you just get a little bit too wound up with planning, girl. Besides, you operate better under pressure.”
Max had to clamp down hard on his teeth to keep from smiling at the look of disgust on RJ’s face.
“What would you do if I walked out of here right now and quit?” she demanded.
Gunny grinned. “You won’t. You love me too much.”
She glared at her father for another second, and then the frown slipped, and her forehead smoothed. “It’s a damn good thing I do love you. I also know why you haven’t remarried since Mama died. No other woman would put up with this.”
Gunny wadded up a dish towel and threw it at RJ. “Go back to work, girl.”
RJ gave her father a stern look. “We’re talking later.”
“I’d planned on it. I thought we’d talk through the event at dinner and lay out plans.”
RJ pointed a finger at her father. “I’m taking away your phone privileges.”
“Ha,” he said.
RJ spun and left the room.
Max chuckled. “You two have a special relationship.”
Gunny’s grin faded. “Yes, we do. I love my daughter more than life itself, but there are days when she looks so much like her mother that it hurts. After her mother died, I didn’t think I could love anyone as much as RJ. Then JoJo came along. She’s like a second daughter to me. I love that little spitfire and would hate to see anyone hurt her.”
“The two of them are very capable young women. I know they make you proud.”
Gunny nodded, and then pinned Max with a hard stare. “You two seemed to have hit it off at the Sadie Hawkins dance the other night.”
Max’s brow dipped. “I don’t know about hit it off. I might have stepped on her toes a couple times during the dance. She doesn’t seem too interested. In fact, I’d said she’s a little skittish around men.” Max rubbed the back of his head where a knot was forming from his altercation with the feisty JoJo.
“That JoJo. Something bad happened to her while she was on active duty.” Gunny’s lips pressed together. “She won’t talk about it. While she was deployed, she used to call often, whenever she could get internet access. Then she went a couple weeks without contact. I was getting worried. I was about to call the Red Cross to see if they could get in touch with her unit and find out what was going on. I tried text messaging her. I tried e-mailing her, even RJ tried both and nothing. And then we got a call from a doctor at Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany. He said that one of his patients wanted to talk to me and RJ. She had been in the hospital, and we didn’t even know it. Because we weren’t family, they wouldn’t release any of the details to us. All we were told was that she had sustained a head injury, and she might have some troubles with her memory, but that she’d remembered enough to call us when she came to.”
Max’s chest tightened.
“They medically discharged her from the Army with TBI, traumatic brain injury. When they shipped her home, we picked her up from the airport. We’re pretty much the only family she has. Her father deserted her family when she was just a baby. Her mother died before she graduated from high school.” Gunny shook his head. “Why she entered the Army, I don’t know. She should have gone into the Marines.”
Max scowled. “Hey.”
He held up his hands. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
“You damn Army pukes are too sensitive.” Gunny grinned. “But you make one hell of a sandwich. Why don’t you take those two plates out to JoJo and let her serve her customers? Maybe if you talk to her enough, she’ll open up about what happened to her. She sure hasn’t opened up to me or to RJ, but she’s seeing a friend of ours at the VA Hospital. A therapist. I really hope it helps. In the meantime, go easy on her. She must have gone through hell.”
Max scooped up the plates of sandwiches and carried them out to the dining room, almost bumping into JoJo who was heading into the kitchen.
“Oh good,” she said. “I was looking for those.” When she took the sandwiches from his hands, their fingers touched.
A jolt of electricity shot up his arms and spread warmth throughout his chest.
JoJo’s eyes widened, and her pupils flared. If Max hadn’t still been holding onto the plates, she would’ve dropped them. Her hands fell to her sides.
“Are you okay?” Max asked.
She looked down at her hands, and then back up at him. “I—I’m fine.” Then she carefully took the plates from his hands without touching his fingers, turned and hurried away without another word.
“Max,” RJ called out, “can you carry this tray of drinks over to table five?”
“Are you sure you want me to?” he asked.
RJ grinned. “It takes practice.”
He shook his head. “It’ll be your loss if it all ends up on the floor.”
“I’ll take my chances,” she said. “You’ve got this.”
He lifted the heavy tray off the counter and limped across the room to table five, proud of himself when he delivered the drinks without spilling the contents, dropping the tray or making an idiot of himself.
JoJo collected empties off a table with five rowdy men seated around it. Just when she laid the last bottle on the tray and was about to pick it up, a big, booted foot swept out and clipped her ankle. JoJo toppled onto one of the men’s laps.
“Hey, JoJo, didn’t know you cared,” the man with the big foot said. “Come give ol’ Roy some sugar.”
Max stiffened as JoJo’s eyes widened, and her face blanched white. “Let me up,” she said. “Let me up.” She struggled against the meaty hands holding her down.
Roy wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. “Hey, sweetheart, all I want’s a little sugar.”
Max flew across the room, yanked the man’s hands away from JoJo and pulled her off his lap. He let go of her immediately, and she ran past the bar through the swinging door and into the kitchen. And from the way a door slammed in the kitchen, she was headed out the back exit.
Max pointed to the man seated in the chair. “Out.”
Roy’s eyebrows rose. “What? I didn’t do nothin’. She fell into my lap.�
�
“The hell she did.” Max glared at the man. “You tripped her and made her fall into your lap. Get out.”
The man pushed to his feet. He must have been at least six-feet-seven. He towered over Max’s six-feet-three inches and weighed at least twice as much as Max.
Max didn’t give a rat’s ass how big the guy was. The man had been an asshole to JoJo. Max pushed his shoulders back and squared off with Roy. He wasn’t backing down.
Roy’s lip curled up on one corner. “You gonna make me leave?”
Max’s eyes narrowed. “If I have to.”
“You and what army?” he sneered.
“I don’t need anybody else. I am the Army.”
“And if he needs any more help, he has the Marines with him,” Gunny said beside him. “Get out, Roy.”
“And I’m the Marines’ back-up.” RJ appeared beside Gunny, carrying a shotgun.
Roy eyed the shotgun. “I’ll bet you don’t even know how to shoot that.”
Gunny’s bark of laughter made all the heads turn in the dining room. “Then you don’t know my daughter. She’s a better shot than I ever dreamed of being. And I was a sniper. A damn good one. You telling me you want to test her skills?”
Roy stood for another second or two, and then shook his head. “I don’t have to take this crap from anybody, and the food wasn’t that great either. I ain’t payin’ for it.” He turned and pushed past Gunny and stalked out the front door of the bar. The men sitting at the table all looked away, their cheeks red.
“Sorry about that, Gunny. Didn’t know he was going to be such a jerk,” one of them said. He threw a couple of twenties on the table. “That should cover his and ours. Don’t worry. We won’t bring him back again.”
“Good, because he’s not welcome here. Thank you for understanding.” Gunny smiled. “Stay for a while. Have a drink on the house.”
The man grinned. “Thanks, Gunny.”
Gunny turned to RJ, meeting her gaze.
RJ nodded. “I’ll go check on her.”
Max wanted to go with RJ to find JoJo. He was worried about her. He suspected whatever had happened to her had to do with men, and that would explain why she’d flipped him in the barn and lost it when Roy grabbed her.
“Think you could handle making sandwiches?” Gunny asked.
Max nodded. “I think I can figure that out.”
“Good.” Gunny grabbed the tray full of empty mugs. “I’ll take care of the bar and wait the tables.”
Max wished that Jake hadn’t gone into Colorado Springs to talk with contractors about the renovation plans. They could sure use his help now.
Soon enough, the lunch crowd thinned. Eventually all of them left. Max helped Gunny clean the tables, the floors and the kitchen before he headed for the lodge. He found himself looking for JoJo, skipping the lodge and going out to the barn. As he approached the door to the barn, he whistled a tune just to make sure she knew someone was coming. He met RJ coming out as he entered the barn.
RJ shook her head. “I wouldn’t go in. I think she needs some time alone.”
Max wanted to go in and at least talk to JoJo. He wanted to tell her that things had worked out and the guy had left, but he took RJ’s advice and didn’t go inside. Instead, he leaned against the door all casual like and stared into the shadowy interior of the barn.
JoJo was on her knees beside an ATV, tinkering with the engine.
“Do you go out on the ATVs much?” he asked.
For a long moment she didn’t respond, but her hand stilled on the socket wrench she was holding. Then she quickly tightened a bolt. When she finished, she pushed to her feet and turned to face him. “Yes, I’ve been out on the ATVs a lot since I’ve been here. Don’t you have anything better to do than lurk around the barn?”
He chuckled. “I was hoping you’d give me a lesson on that move you performed on me that flipped me over your back and landed me on mine.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m betting you know a few of your own.”
“I do,” he said, dipping his head. “But I was impressed with yours.”
“I can give you the number of the woman who taught it to me.”
“I’d appreciate that.” Still leaning against the door, he tipped his head toward the ATV. “I wouldn’t mind taking one of these for a spin.”
JoJo wiped her hands on a rag. “I’m sure Gunny wouldn’t mind if you took one out.”
“I don’t suppose you have a map of the trails out here, do you?”
She shook her head. “Now, I suppose you’re gonna ask me if I’d take you out and show you the trails?”
He grinned. “That would be nice, but I can ask RJ if you’d rather not.”
Her lips twisted. “I guess I could tomorrow. I need to plan a route for the ATV tour on Saturday.”
“And I’d love to go along for the ride.”
She nodded. “I suppose I owe it to you after I flipped you.”
Max rubbed the back of his neck. “You really don’t owe me anything, but I would appreciate it if you’d take me along for the ride.”
She walked past him out into the sunshine. “Tomorrow morning. Ten o’clock.” She kept walking, heading for the lodge.
Max gave her the space she needed and didn’t follow until a few minutes later. He was sure he’d see her again that night at the Watering Hole, if it was as busy as it was today with the lunch crowd. They could use all the help they could get to take care of the patrons.
He watched as JoJo climbed the steps and entered the lodge. Max liked how fierce she was, and he found himself looking forward to every time he saw her.
Chapter 3
“Anybody else need coffee?” RJ asked from the swinging door of the kitchen in the lodge.
JoJo raised a hand. “I’ll take some but let me come help.”
“I’d like some coffee, but I don’t mind making it.” Max started toward the kitchen.
“You can make it next time,” RJ said. “I haven’t had a chance to talk with JoJo all day.”
Max nodded and turned back to Jake.
Gunny entered the dining room as JoJo reached the swinging door to the kitchen. “Oh good, we’re all here. We can start our meeting.”
“Give us a second, Gunny,” RJ said. “We’ll be right back with coffee.”
“Let me make the coffee,” Gunny said.
“Good grief.” RJ rolled her eyes. “With everyone offering to make coffee, I’m beginning to think you don’t like the way I make it.”
“On the contrary,” Gunny said, “you make a better cup of coffee than I’ve ever managed.”
“In that case, we’ve got this,” RJ said. “Come on, JoJo.”
JoJo chuckled and followed RJ into the kitchen.
“So, tell me what’s been going on today. What have I missed?” RJ poured water into the coffeemaker and scooped grinds into the filter.
“Same old, same old,” JoJo said. “Got the tractor running, and the snowblower now works. Although why we should care about the snow, I don’t know. It’s still fall, and the temperatures haven’t gotten below forty at night.”
“It’s a little different up here in the mountains than it is in Colorado Springs,” RJ said. “We get snow here sooner than they do in the Springs. I’ve known it to snow in July.”
“I’d believe it,” JoJo said. “It gets really cold up here at night.”
“Thanks for getting the machinery up and running. What I really want to know is how are you?”
JoJo nodded. “I’m okay.”
RJ faced her, a frown puckering her brow. “Look, JoJo, I’m sorry about what happened with Roy. You know you can file charges against him, don’t you?”
“I don’t think I’ll have any more problems with him,” JoJo said. “From what Gunny said, he’s not welcome at the Watering Hole anymore.”
“How are your sessions going with Emily?” RJ asked.
JoJo shrugged. “About the same.”
RJ shot her a
twisted smile as she pulled cups out of the cabinet. “That tells me a lot.”
“It’s not something I like to talk about.”
RJ pressed her lips together. “I’ve been your friend for a long time. You can tell me anything. I won’t judge, and I’m a pretty good listener.”
JoJo crossed the room and hugged her friend. “I know that, and I hope someday that I can talk to you about this. It’s just not today.”
RJ squeezed her friend hard. “I know you’re hurting. When you hurt, I hurt. Something happened while you were in Afghanistan, and I wished the hell I knew what it was. But if you’re not ready to talk about it, I’ll respect your wishes.”
“Thank you, RJ.”
RJ set her at arm’s length. “You know I love you. You’re the sister I always wanted.”
“And Gunny’s like a father to me,” JoJo said. “Without you two, I don’t know what I would’ve done when I came off active duty.”
“You’re still welcome to move into the lodge with us.” RJ stared down at her friend. “I really wish you would.”
JoJo stood back and nodded. “I know. I’m just not ready, and I don’t want to bring my troubles to you.”
“You know we’d do anything for you,” RJ insisted. “Slay dragons…throw bullies out of the bar…you know. Anything.”
JoJo gave a crooked smile. “I know, and I would do the same for you.” She drew in a deep breath and let it out. Then she pasted a smile on her face. “Let’s talk about something else, like how we’re going to support the event this politician wants to throw this weekend.”
“That’s why Gunny’s got us all gathered—so we can work out some of the details,” RJ said. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me. I’m sure there were other supplies I could’ve picked up while I was in the Springs.” RJ smiled. “Although I’m sure, if I asked, Jake would run in and find what we need. He’s always going back and forth. I think he’s got a new lead on a guy they want to hire for the Brotherhood Protectors.”
JoJo’s brow twisted. “Seems like they’d want work before they started hiring more people.”
“His boss, Hank, thinks it’s only a matter of time before they’re inundated with work.” RJ sighed. “I hope so, because I’d like to see them stay.”