Tough Talking Cowboy

by Jennifer Ryan

  Chapter Nineteen

  Drake had no problem sitting in the passenger seat in Adria’s new Jeep. She smiled like a kid at Christmas with her new toy. He had to admit, Roxy giving her the car was a pretty outstanding gift. Generous. And loving.

  Drake wished he’d done it for her.

  He’d been so self-absorbed, he hadn’t even noticed she didn’t have her own car.

  “Is it true you plan to move into the apartment over the shop once it’s all done?”

  Adria had to sit up straighter to look at him over Sunny’s head between them. He sat on the center console, tongue lolling in and out as the fan vent blew on his face.

  “That’s the plan, why? Too far for you to go to see me?”

  “I’m pretty sure there isn’t a place far enough on the planet to keep me from coming to see you.”

  Her smile grew even wider. “I like this.”

  He sighed and settled back into the seat. “It took up so damn much energy pretending we weren’t together. I’m glad it’s all out in the open now.”

  “I hated having to be careful about how much I talked about you with Trinity.”

  “I did not have that problem. She walked in the door each night and told us every detail about your day. I hung on every word. You’d think that would have told me something.”

  “You fought it. I did, too. I told myself you weren’t ready for a relationship. I had work and my sister to worry about. I didn’t need more. I should be happy with what we shared.”

  “Were you?”

  She turned her gaze from the road to him. “I like us this way better.”

  He settled even deeper into the brand-new leather seat. “Me, too.”

  She pulled into the lot on the side of the building and parked next to Trinity’s truck. Both of them spotted the woman standing in front of the building looking at the brand-new sign that had gone up that morning. Almost Homemade. The big black letters matched the new black metal awnings over the wide windows and stood out against the white painted brick.

  “The place looks great on the outside.”

  Adria stared at the woman loitering out front. “Who is that?”

  “I was hoping I was hallucinating.”

  She turned to him and cocked up one eyebrow. “Do you hallucinate beautiful women a lot?”

  “Not when I’ve got the most beautiful one in my life.”

  Her lips tilted into a half frown, half smile. “Drake?”

  He hated that tone. “That’s my ex.”

  Both eyes went wide. “What is she doing here?”

  He shrugged. “Hell if I know.”

  Her glance bounced from him to Melanie and back. “Do you need me for this?”

  He didn’t much like it, but he’d take care of this one on his own. “I’ve got it.”

  “Good. Because I don’t know if I can be as nice as you were with Noah this morning.”

  He laughed because Adria didn’t have a mean bone in her body.

  They both got out of the Jeep, Sunny jumping out behind them. The puppy ran circles around Adria’s legs while she tapped him on the butt to make him run again. Except this time, Sunny ran right through her legs and knocked her off balance. Drake grabbed her around the waist, her back to his chest, and swung her around in a circle, then set her down on her feet. Sunny barked, but it wasn’t as loud as Adria’s giggles.

  He laughed with her, then held his hand up to Sunny. “Enough.”

  Sunny sat at the hand signal and stopped barking.

  Adria petted his head. “Good boy.”

  Melanie walked up, her gaze sweeping over him. “Drake. You look fantastic. You’re walking without the cane. You look so strong.”

  Adria looked up at him. “Told you.” She pressed her hand to his chest, then snapped her fingers at Sunny. “Come on, boy.” She disappeared inside the building, leaving him with his surprised ex.

  Melanie looked good. Curious. A little apprehensive. And he didn’t miss her at all. Not when he had Adria in his life and she made him feel like he could do anything.

  “What are you doing here?” He couldn’t help his curiosity.

  She kept looking him up and down like she couldn’t believe it was him. “Everyone is talking about Trinity and her partner opening this place. I thought I’d come by and see for myself and catch up with Trinity.”

  “I didn’t think you two were that close.”

  “We had you in common.” Her eyes dipped to the ground, then back up. “The truth is, I wanted to find out how you’re doing.”

  He tilted his head and studied the changing emotions in her eyes. Surprise. Disbelief. Interest. “Why?”

  “Do you really have to ask? We were engaged to be married.”

  “You made it clear you didn’t want to see me ever again.”

  “You didn’t want anyone near you,” she shot back.

  “You’re right. I didn’t. But I did.” Deep down, he’d needed all of them to stand by him no matter what he said or did to push them away.

  He’d needed someone to give him the right kind of push. Adria saw that and had no trouble bulldozing her way past his temper and grabbing hold of his attention. “At first, I was pissed at you for leaving me. It felt like a huge failure. Now I’m glad I found out that you couldn’t hold up to the ‘for better or worse, in sickness and health’ part of the vows.”

  Anger filled her eyes. “That’s not fair.”

  “You’re right. You never made that vow. I pushed you away, and you gave up without a fight.” He wanted her to know how much that hurt.

  Her whole body went rigid. “You made it impossible to stay.”

  “I was hurting and lashed out. I wanted you to push past all the barriers I threw up between us. But you’re not made that way. I expected too much. I came home hoping I could just pick up my life again, but it wasn’t that easy. Everything, including me and you, was different. I didn’t know how to be this version of myself. I’m still working on it. You didn’t give me a chance. You made it clear you couldn’t stand the sight of me.” It still stung.

  Indignation and anger flashed in her eyes. “I hated seeing you in so much pain.” Her eyes dropped to his leg and back up. “But you look so much better now.” Yeah, she liked him at his best. Or at least looking it.

  He couldn’t blame her for wanting a simple, easy life. It hurt that she’d walked away from him, but he understood that it had been the best decision for her.

  Maybe she’d seen what he’d had a hard time admitting: they were never really good for each other.

  “I am better. It took time and work. But mostly I’m better because of her.” He notched his chin toward the window where Adria stood beside Trinity watching them.

  Melanie looked at Adria, then back at him. “Who is she?”

  “Trinity’s business partner. My girlfriend. The woman who saw the man beneath all the pain and anger and scars and saw someone worth taking a chance on. She saw someone who needed a huge wake-up call but couldn’t hear it. Not until she came along and cared enough to blast through all the noise in my head and make me listen.”

  She wrapped her arms across her chest. “I tried to get through to you.” She’d earned that defensive tone.

  He hadn’t made things easy on her. “You and everyone else didn’t get it. She does. That’s all. I’m not mad at you anymore. I’m not sorry we ended. You knew it was best for you. Turns out, it was best for me, too, because it led me to her.” One look at Adria and he felt better. His world felt right.

  “And you two are . . .”

  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what she meant. She wanted to know if he could be with Adria the way he hadn’t been able to be with her. “We’re together. In every way. I sure as hell don’t deserve her, but she came into my life like it was meant to be. I hope you find someone you’re meant to be with, too. I really do.” Drake didn’t have anything else to say, so he turned for the door.

  “Drake?”


  He turned back.

  She stood perfectly still, staring at him like she’d never seen him. Maybe she hadn’t. Not really. Not the way Adria saw him.

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  He held his hands out wide and let them drop. “There’s nothing more to say. I’m trying to put my past behind me. You should, too.” He pointed to the women who had been joined by his brothers in the window. “That’s my future in there. Have a good life, Melanie. I mean that.” Because he planned to have a very good life with the feisty woman with you-better-have-ended-that-for-good in her eyes and a come-and-get-me smile on her lips just for him.

  Chapter Twenty

  “You should go out there and shut her down. That’s your man,” Trinity declared.

  Adria choked back a laugh. Trinity had a good heart and forgave Adria for keeping things with Drake on the down low. “He is mine. Which is why I’m fine letting him handle it. He needs closure just like she does.”

  “Who cares what she wants? She broke up with him when he was at his lowest.”

  “He pushed her away because she wasn’t what he needed. She walked away because she didn’t love him enough to hold on. They’re better off without each other. He knows it. I bet she does, too.” Adria knew that to be true even though anxiety tightened her gut seeing Drake with Melanie. She didn’t know if old feelings would rise up between them. She squashed that idea and shared with Trinity the words that kept circling her mind. “I don’t know what happened with you guys last night, but he thought it meant the end of us. He told me losing me matters more to him than Melanie ever did.”

  Trinity sucked in a gasp and covered her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. She dropped her hand. “He said that to you?”

  “Right in front of Roxy and Noah after he shoved Noah away from me when he hugged me and Drake misunderstood the situation.”

  Worry filled Trinity’s eyes, because she’d seen Drake lose it numerous times over the last few months. “He went into a jealous rage?”

  “Kinda. He held it together and didn’t hurt Noah. He really just wanted me to know he wasn’t giving up without a fight.”

  Tears filled Trinity’s eyes. “Really?”

  Declan and Tate walked up behind them.

  Declan stared over Adria’s shoulder. “Is Trinity crying because Drake is getting back together with Melanie?”

  “Please God, no.” Tate rolled his eyes.

  Adria didn’t have to say anything to tell them what was really going on. Drake turned his back on Melanie, walked in the door, headed straight for her, wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up, and kissed her socks off.

  Trinity sniffled. “He loves her.”

  Adria kissed Drake right through that huge statement and laughed when Trinity hugged both of them, and then Declan and Tate joined in crushing her into Drake in this family circle of love.

  Drake met her eyes. “Make them stop.”

  She laughed. “You love it.”

  Declan and Tate squeezed them all tighter.

  Trinity squeaked.

  Sunny bounced up and down around them, pawing at everyone’s legs.

  Drake had enough of all this closeness, let her loose with one hand, and socked Tate right in the side. He peeled off from them. Declan got a shove. Trinity stepped back with a huge smile for her and Drake and put her hands up before Drake went after her, too.

  Instead, he set Adria on her feet and stared down at her. He traced the side of her face with his fingers. The unexpected and sweet gesture stirred up all the emotions she’d pushed to the back of her mind and heart. “Show me your place.”

  She took his hand and tugged him toward the back of the building. “Come see the kitchen. It’s amazing.”

  “I thought you came to help with the shelves,” Declan called.

  “In a minute. I want to see what Adria does all day.”

  Adria turned into Drake, went up on tiptoe, and hugged him.

  He rubbed his hands up and down her back. “What’s this?”

  “Thanks for caring. It means a lot.” It really did. So much so, tears pricked her eyes and clogged her throat.

  “I’ve been wondering about you, this place, all of it.” Drake looked around the main space. “What are you going to put in the display cabinets along the main counter?”

  She pulled herself together and stared at the beautiful marble-topped wood ten-foot counter with the glass cover. “That’s where we’ll keep the prepared food. Customers can grab something hot to eat here.” She pointed to the wide area by the front windows where tables sat grouped together with chairs stacked nearby. “They can eat here at lunch or dinner or take it home.”

  “I thought this was shop-and-go. I didn’t realize you were running a restaurant.”

  “We’re not. Not really. But we wanted people to have the option to make their purchase and dine in instead of maybe sitting at their desk or eating in their car. They check out at the end of the counter. We set up another counter across the way by the refrigerated displays and rows of shelves for those who want to just shop and go.”

  “I love the vibe you’ve got going in here. The exposed brick makes it feel warm, but add in the rustic wood beams and the shelves made out of black metal and wood planks that match the tables and chairs you picked, and it’s got a lot of charm.”

  Trinity came up next to them and hooked her arm through Adria’s. “She designed the layout and came up with the brick, wood, metal concept for everything.”

  “Trinity had her own ideas. Like the free lending library in the dining area.”

  Trinity beamed. “Take a book. Leave a book. Sit and read your book.”

  “Lord knows you’re always reading one,” Drake pointed out.

  Trinity eyed him. “Food and books, what more does a person need?”

  “Sex,” Tate called out.

  “Beer,” Declan added.

  “Football,” one of the workers installing the kitchen appliances yelled.

  Because the space was so wide-open right now with high ceilings, voices carried.

  Drake kept his mouth shut.

  Trinity rolled her eyes.

  Adria pulled Drake around the counter to the back room where they’d set up the kitchen.

  Drake whistled. “Man, that’s a lot of equipment.”

  Adria’s heart fluttered with joy seeing the huge ovens and racks ready to hold trays of prepared food to go in the oven or cool after cooking. She pointed to the huge boxes of trays. “We’ll use containers that are microwave and oven safe. Plus they’re recyclable. We’ll put the food together in single and double servings.” She pulled out the separate lids. One read, “Just for me.” The other read, “Plenty to share.”

  “Those are cool.”

  “If you’re having a dinner party, you can buy multiple packs, or we’ll have one that’s family size.” She grabbed the lid that read, “Family and Friends.”

  “You guys thought of everything.”

  “I hope so.” She brushed her hand over the soup/chili containers in single and double sizes. “We have a professional photographer scheduled for the day after next to put together some displays for behind the counter and advertising. Trinity and I will cook up everything on the menu and put it together in the containers. I’d like some photos of the containers sitting empty between beautiful plates of food.”

  “Put you and Trinity at the table eating and you’ll have guys coming in here wanting more than the food.” Drake went quiet for a moment, frowned, then backtracked. “Never mind. I don’t want anyone coming in here for you.”

  She chuckled. “The local paper is doing a feature story on us next week. We’ll have our picture in the paper and online.”

  Drake looked around the massive kitchen and back into the main building space. “This is really something, Adria. You and Trinity took a great idea and turned it into reality.”

  “Well, we’re close to reality. We open in two weeks. If it’s successful, we ho
pe to open more stores like this.”

  The appliance guy stood back from one of the four ovens. “They’re all set up. Want to do the honors and test them out?”

  “Trinity!” Adria walked over to one of the ovens.

  Trinity walked in. “What’s up?”

  “They’re ready.”

  Drake pulled out his phone and held it up.

  Trinity took her place at the oven next to Adria’s. They stood with their hands on the Start button and smiled at Drake. He took several pictures.

  Trinity looked at her. They smiled and hit the buttons together. The ovens clicked and hummed to life. Adria celebrated this moment with a hug with Trinity. Drake took another picture of them.

  Adria stepped back from Trinity. “I wish we had something to actually cook.”

  “We’ll start getting supplies next week.” Trinity hit the Start button on the other two ovens and smiled at the guy who installed them. “They’re so pretty. Thank you.”

  “You can thank me with a free meal when you open.”

  Trinity pulled a postcard out of her apron pocket and handed it to the guy. “Half off seven meals. One week of food.”

  The guy took it. “Awesome. Does it come with your number?”

  Trinity took it in stride. “You’re sweet, but no. I’m working on this right now.” She held her hands out to encompass the whole business.

  “Maybe another time.” He grabbed his huge tool bag and waved goodbye.

  “How many of those cards have you handed out?” Adria had come up with the marketing idea and had the cards printed up a couple days ago.

  “Almost all of them. I went around to the local business offices and asked if I could leave them in the lunchrooms. Most everyone said yes. I walked around at lunchtime yesterday and anyone eating their lunch outside got one.”

  “Genius.”

  “I received a lot of good feedback, and people seemed interested and anxious to try us out.”

  Drake touched her shoulder. “Show me the apartment upstairs.” He nodded toward the stairs at the other end of the kitchen.

  “It’s kind of a mess right now. We haven’t even started fixing it up.” But she led Drake up the stairs to the open door.