by Leah Atwood
To his surprise, the service was exceptional and their food was out with a minimal wait. When a sizzling steak was set in front of him, he breathed in the aromatic spice and beef scent. He held his knife and fork, slicing into the pink centered ribeye. Stabbing the piece he’d cut off, he brought it to his mouth, biting into it, savoring the taste.
He sighed with pleasure. Either he was that hungry, or the steak was that good. He took another bite. Oh yeah, it wasn’t just the hunger.
“This is some good food.” Adam echoed his sentiments exactly. “I had my doubts when we pulled in, but this is amazing.”
“I don’t think even I could grill a steak to this perfection.” Bryce took another bite of his.
After eating sixteen ounces of the best meat he’d ever tasted, Rob looked at his potato with scorn. It just wasn’t going to measure up to the steak, even if he had room for it, which he didn’t. He washed the meal down with a glass of sweet tea. “I was ticked at Saffron Brothers earlier, but I have to say, this worked out well.”
Jay took the last bite of his meal and nodded. “Yes, it did.”
“Too bad Elle and Sophie missed out.” Bryce wiped his mouth with a paper napkin.
“Elle wouldn’t have enjoyed the steak. She’s finicky about red meat.” Adam, still working on his meal, cut off a piece of his T-bone. “Just think, next time we have a last-stop dinner, Jay also will have taken the plunge. If he ever sets a date, that is.”
Rob leaned back, watching with amusement as Jay swallowed. Was he going to tell them now, or keep them waiting?
“In good time, my friends.” Jay recovered without a hitch and deflected the comment with a smooth answer and a quick grin. “Who knows, maybe next time we’re on the road, Rob will also have someone.”
Taking a slow drink, Rob made a point of looking unaffected. “You won’t catch me going down that road.” The only person he’d even been tempted to become involved with had backed off, and he couldn’t blame her.
Under raised brows, Adam’s eyes sparkled with humor. “I think we should make a bet.”
“I’m in.” Bryce chuckled. “A few hours ago, I’d have said he’d stay single forever, but while I was talking to Gram, she told me Dani’s been dating someone. If my cousin has finally caved to the dating world, then I think it’s possible even for Rob.”
The table went silent. Adam and Jay looked at him, both had their arms crossed and smirks on their faces. He read the looks, knew what they were thinking. They both knew he had a thing for Dani, and Jay knew they’d become friends. The way their lips twitched with amusement told him they thought he was the man Dani was dating and that he’d been keeping a secret.
Little did they know his stomach hurled like the effects of a sucker punch. He was positive his face must be paler than a field of freshly fallen snow. So that was why she’d backed off, hadn’t been writing as much. At least now he knew.
Bryce darted his gaze, his eyes squinted in confusion. “What just happened here? Rob, you look like you haven’t seen the sun since the turn of the century and the jokers here,” he bent his thumb, consecutively pointing at Jay, then Adam, “can’t hardly hold back their laughter. What am I missing?”
Jay nudged his ribs. “Go ahead, tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Bryce asked.
“Nothing.” He was a fool. Had he had a chance with Dani, it was too late now.
“Obviously, it’s something.” Scooting forward in his seat, Bryce leaned his forearms on the table. “Why do I have the feeling this is the Jay/Caroline dating situation all over again, and I’m the last one to know about something important?”
“Are you ever going to let that drop?” Rob asked, hoping to bounce attention away from Dani.
Jay turned his palms upward. “Seriously, was it really that big of a deal that Caroline and I didn’t tell you right away that we were dating?”
“No, not really, I guess.” He relaxed his arms a bit. “But I’m still curious.”
“Did Gram happen to mention who Dani is seeing?” Jay cast a wink Rob’s way.
He wanted to knock the assuming grin from Jay’s face.
“No. She only said that they don’t see each other much because their schedules are so conflicting.”
Adam jumped in on the fun. “Did she say if they’re actually dating as in going out on dates, or just talking?”
“They’ve been out a few times.” Bryce shook his head. “What difference does it make?”
Rob leaned back, crossed his arms, and shot Jay and Adam a glare that shouted, “See, it’s not me.”
“Oh, man,” Jay muttered under his breath.
“Sorry, dude.” Adam looked at him with an apologetic glance.
“Me, too.” Biting his bottom lip, he realized he’d said more than needed.
Unfortunately, Bryce had heard it loud and clear. His muscles visibly tensed again and his eyes narrowed. “Spill it. Now.”
Rob invoked the admit-nothing defense. “I already told you there’s nothing to tell.”
“And I thought, collectively, we all agreed last year not to keep secrets.” Bryce leveled his gaze.
“Back off, Bryce. Rob’s not hiding anything. Dani and he are just friends.” Adam tried to play peacemaker, but it only made Rob mad. Had he and Jay kept their mouths shut in the first place, this conversation wouldn’t be happening.
“I’m not buying it.” Bryce argued. “There are too many telling looks being exchanged.”
“Doesn’t matter whether you do or don’t because it’s not your business either way.” Rob matched his glare, spark for spark.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Dani is family and that makes her my business.”
“And so what? What if I were dating her?” He threw out the challenge, waiting for a reply.
“Then I’d do whatever it took to make her break things off.” Bryce’s response brought a gasp from Jay and Adam, but they said nothing.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The words were ground out through clenched teeth.
“It means that you might be my friend, but you’re not good enough for Dani.”
“Glad to know you have such a high opinion of me, friend.” If words were tangible, he’d have spit on the final word.
“Can you blame me? You don’t exactly have the best reputation.” Bryce gripped the edge of the table.
“And you have room to talk? Where were you the first years of Gracie’s life?”
Bryce’s expression changed, to something Rob recognized too well. Complete and utter grief. “That was a cheap shot,” Bryce whispered in strangled breaths.
“That’s enough.” Adam crossed his arms, mimicking the action of a referee. “You’re both saying things you’ll regret tomorrow.”
Rob shoved way from the table, throwing his napkin down. “I won’t regret a single word.” He grabbed his keys. “I’m out of here.”
He was already on the road, driving, when he remembered Jay. Oh well, he can hitch a ride with Bryce. He thought back to the Saturday morning cartoons he’d watched as a child, the ones that had smoke come out of a character’s ears when they were mad. Right now, if he were a cartoon, billows of thick smoke would be erupting from him.
Bryce’s past was checkered, much more so than his own. Who did he think he was to pass judgment, to say he wasn’t good enough for Dani? At least his anger kept him from dwelling on the fact that Dani was dating someone.
He pulled into the venue, still full of steam, and drove to where the tour buses were. After parking behind the motorhome he and Jay were sharing, he walked around front. A groan rumbled from his chest when he saw Aubrey knocking on the door.
“What do you want?” Since their wasted date, he’d avoided her, apathetic to knowing her further.
“No need to be rude.” She lowered her eyelashes, giving him a coy look.
“Rude begets rude.” He couldn’t stop the attitude.
“Is this how you treat all your visitors?”
Someone couldn’t take a hint if it were spelled out in front of her.
“I don’t accept visitors,” he told her in a monotonous voice.
“That’s not what I’ve heard. I thought since the tour was ending, we could give things another try, make up for the first date.”
“No.” Pushing past her, he opened the door, entered the bus, and then shut the door in her face. One day he’d have to apologize for taking his wrath out on her, but not today. Besides, it was brash of her to even show up like she had.
He slunk down on the couch before the temptation to punch a hole in the wall overcame reason. How’d the night get so out of control? One minute, he was enjoying the most delicious meal he’d had in months. The next, Bryce and he were at each other’s throats. This day had turned into a miserable waste, from the close call that brought on the episode, to the fight.
Sometime later— could have been a minute, could have been an hour— someone knocked at the door.
“Who is it?” With any luck, his snarliness would get rid of the person. He wasn’t fit for company tonight.
“Bryce.” From his tone, it was hard to tell what Bryce wanted. Would he continue flinging insults or attempt amends?
“Go away.” Regardless of motives, he didn’t want to speak with him.
“Come on, Rob. We need to talk.”
He went to the door and opened it. “Don’t you think you’ve said enough?”
“We both said things that were out of line. I’m sorry, okay?” Bryce’s shoulder sagged, losing the air of confidence he usually carried.
“No, it’s not okay.” He began to close the door.
Bryce shoved a hand in the way to keep it open. “Is it true, you and Dani?”
“What does it matter?”
Keeping a hand on the door, Bryce shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I never thought about the possibility.”
“Yeah, well, there’s nothing to worry about.” Acerbic mockery seeped from each word he spoke. “Dani and I are only friends if you could even call it that.”
“Did you want it to be more?” Some of the angst left Bryce’s tone.
“Again, it doesn’t matter. I don’t believe in relationships.” Unfazed, Rob never blinked.
“See, that right there is why I wouldn’t want you involved with Dani.” He glanced around, then pushed his way into the bus. “She’s not a love ’em and leave ’em type of girl, but you’re that man.”
Rob laughed, but it was a sad, humorless sound. “Funny, how we’re supposed to be such good friends, but when it comes down to it, you don’t know me at all.”
“Are you really going to deny that you have had your fun, your share of women?” Bryce crossed his arms, his posture rigid.
“You want the truth? Here it is.” He matched his stance to Bryce’s, looking him straight in the eye. “All those girls you think I’ve been with—none progressed to anything past the date. No one has ever been to my place. I’ve never been to theirs. Tell me, friend, can you say the same?”
Bryce coughed, gave a skeptical laugh. “You really expect me to believe that? This ain’t our first tour, or are you forgetting all those times along the way?”
“Think hard, and you’ll never remember a night I wasn’t back on the tour bus, alone.” He watched Bryce and saw his expression change as he realized there was truth to his words. “Not everything is what it seems.”
Acceptance of his statement as truth filled Bryce’s widened eyes. “If that’s true, then why? Why the act?”
“Because…” The fight left him. He sat down on one of the two leather dining chairs. “Because it’s easier than explaining why I don’t do relationships.”
“And why don’t you?” Bryce took a seat in the other chair.
He sighed and shoved a hand through his hair, debating on how open to be. “I was engaged once before I came to Nashville.”
Resting an arm on the table, Bryce looked shocked. “What happened?”
“Two weeks before our wedding, she was killed in a car accident.”
Bryce gulped. “Oh, man.”
“She was the love of my life, the only woman I’ll ever love. Involving myself with anyone else wouldn’t be fair to that person. I’d feel like I was cheating Carrie’s memory. That was something she and I were to share, know what I mean?” There was more, but he wouldn’t say it. The guilt still ate at him every day of his life, and he wasn’t ready to share it.
“I had no idea.” Bryce shook his head. “I’m really sorry.”
“Me too.” He leaned forward. “Maybe now, you’ll realize you have nothing to worry about with Dani and me. Despite what either of us felt, it doesn’t matter.”
“I might have overreacted. She’s like a sister to me, and I feel honor-bound to protect her, but I was wrong to say what I did. I’m sorry.”
“And I’m sorry for what I said about Gracie. I know you would’ve been there had you known about her.” Apologies were such a bitter sacrament to the tongue.
“I’d like to think I would have, but honestly I don’t know. Before I became a Christian, I didn’t make the best decisions. Still don’t at times as I proved tonight.”
“There was a time, I believed in God.” Rob didn’t know why he admitted that, but he didn’t stop talking. “I walked down the aisle when I was eight and said the prayer.”
Mouth gaping open, Bryce couldn’t have looked more surprised. “You did?”
“Yes. After the accident, I lost my faith. There were too many questions I couldn’t have answers to, so I stopped believing.”
“There are always going to be unanswered questions.” Bryce bit down on his lip before answering. “Don’t you think I want to know why God took Gracie’s mother away? Or why I was cheated out of those first years of Gracie’s life?”
“But you still ‘found God’, even with all those questions.” He wasn’t asking, was simply making an observation.
“Thanks to Gramps, and lots of prayers from others, I’m sure.”
“How?” The whispered word spoke volumes, more than he was aware.
There were people who believed that everything happened for a reason, that every event in life was predetermined to create a path leading to specific moments. He wasn’t so sure he believed that, but if there were any truth to it, maybe all the events of today worked together to bring him to this point. To that mental, emotional, and spiritual state of exhaustion in which his heart wanted to believe again, wanted to find a way back.
Chapter 10
Bayou Bits’ back door opened, and Angela walked through, holding a white paper bag. “I brought presents.”
Dani sniffed and smiled. She took the bag and peeked inside, her suspicions confirmed. “You are officially the best employee ever. Where’d you find beignets in town?”
“The new donut shop by the hardware store.” Angela reached over and grabbed a pastry from the bag. Powdered sugar sprinkled everywhere when she took a bite.
“When did they open?” She grabbed a beignet for herself.
“Last Friday, I believe.” After grabbing a napkin off the counter, Angela wiped her face.
Once Dani finished eating hers, she closed the bag that still had two more inside. “I’m tempted to eat another, but then I won’t be hungry for lunch with Jeff.”
“Where are you going? Anywhere good?”
“A diner over in Opelousas. He has some forms to deliver to his branch there.” Dani picked up a stack of invoices from the counter and carried them to her office.
Angela followed. “I see.”
Dani tightened her shoulders. “He’s a nice man, Ang, but he’s very busy, as am I. Last week, we combined my trip to the supply store with a date. It’s how our relationship works. Is that so wrong?”
“As long as you’re happy, then no. Are you admitting it’s a relationship?”
Angela’s smug look irritated her. “Not in definite terms. For now, we’re content spending time together and don’t feel a need to
label it.”
“Have you kissed?”
Coughing and sputtering, Dani looked away, not used to such personal questions. If Angela hadn’t become such a good friend, she’d remind her of employer/employee boundaries. “No.”
“Hmm.” The crooked smile on Angela’s face said a lot about what she thought.
“We’re not rushing into anything.” That she’d avoided his advance the first two times he’d tried to kiss her was beside the point. She enjoyed spending time with him, but she couldn’t summon any romantic feelings for him, and she’d certainly tried.
“Whatever justification you need. Remember though, you’re not doing anyone any favors by staying with him when you know there’s no spark.”
“Is it that obvious?” She scrunched her nose.
“Yes.”
“I keep hoping that if I continue spending time with him, then I’ll begin to feel something. Is there something wrong with me? I mean, any other girl would love to be with him.”
Angela patted her arm. “There’s not a single thing wrong with you, Dani. Our hearts love who they love, or don’t love who they don’t love. No one can force it.”
“Maybe, but I’m not giving up just yet.”
Opening her mouth, Angela began to say something, but closed her mouth just as quickly. She gave a small disapproving headshake. “That’s a dangerous road to take.”
“Enough of that.” She waved the stack of papers in her hands. “I’ve already put away everything that came on the truck this morning and will be leaving after I enter these into the computer.”
“Did you print out the specials for the week?”
Dani set down the papers and picked up a manila folder. “It’s all in here,” she said, handing it to Angela. “I’ll be back around two to help you with the evening prep work.”
“Why don’t you take the evening off since it’s been slow?” Angela glanced through the folder’s contents.
“I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. I always work Monday nights.”