Peals of laughter erupted from Lark as she snapped a few shots of the culinary mountain with her phone. “I’m not complaining, only seeking guidance: How the hell am I supposed to eat this?”
“With these,” Kendrick chuckled, handing a fork and steak knife wrapped in half a dozen napkins. “Don’t make the rookie mistake of trying to pick it up to eat. It’ll fall apart in two bites. And neglecting the syrup and Louisiana hot sauce will get you banned by the owner.”
“We wouldn’t want that, would we?” Lark’s eyes twinkled.
“Absolutely not. Enjoy, friends. Holler if you need anything.” The bartender retreated to the bar.
Tabitha picked up a steaming hot onion ring, but before she could take a bite, Frankie interrupted with a mouthful of her sandwich. “How did you feel about him?”
The scrape of Lark’s fork and knife as she chopped her meal into bite-sized pieces halted at the question. Her big blue eyes unblinking.
It wasn’t a simple question. And the answer had shifted from resentment to regret to forced ambivalence. There was once a time when Tabitha thought she loved him. But that notion puffed out of the room the day he disappeared. She’d never been one to allow anyone in. The one time she had a moment of weakness and allowed Zac access, her heart wound up bruised because she refused to admit that he was worthy of a bigger response.
The question of how she felt about him was tricky because it depended. Currently, she felt irritated that he was drawing her focus. She wasn’t sure how much to reveal. Too little and both her dinner companions would demand more, but revealing too much was out of the question. So she settled on a half truth.
“Zac was an enjoyable distraction.” Tabitha shrugged and bit into her now-cold onion ring. “And when he left, I was happy to get back to what actually mattered to me.”
Chapter fourteen
Zac
Thelightswerestillon at the Miller residence, so Zac didn’t feel guilty about knocking on the door at such a late hour. Not that nine was late for most people, but Lucy was pregnant, so he wanted to respect her sleep needs. There would have been a time when he wouldn’t have thought twice about stopping by at any hour—middle of the day, dinner time, midnight. But for the better part of a year, he’d been putting in the effort to consider how other people felt instead of putting his own impulses first.
He was determined to grow.
He especially didn’t feel bad tonight because of the random vehicles parked on the side of the long driveway: three trucks and a peppy little Mazda. Not to mention the various voices chattering away inside the log home. They couldn’t be having a party without him.
Could they?
Did he stumble on a dirty little secret?
A poker night he wasn’t privy to?
Another knock—this one more forceful—and a couple doorbell rings and finally the door burst open, but the man on the other side wasn’t who he’d expected.
“Well, Zacharia, as I live and breathe.” Lucy’s best friend, Todd, leaned against the entryway wearing distressed jeans and a henley with sleeves pushed up to his elbows. Speckles of light-colored paint clung to the hair on his forearms, while a pair of goggles hung haphazardly around his neck. Typically, so put together, this casual version of Todd surprised Zac.
“I didn’t know you were in town.”
“I’m here helping with a little project,” Todd provided.
“What kind of project?”
“See for yourself.” The tall, lean man stepped aside so Zac could enter. Inside, the main living area was a bustling whirlwind. A saw buzzed on the back porch, a hammer sounded from upstairs, and riotous laughter bounced down the hallway.
Zac had walked into what looked like a complete home makeover. The house Jonathan had built many years ago when he’d moved home to help his ailing father with the family’s guiding business was decent sized but sparse. And when Lucy had moved in a couple years ago, she’d added her touch, but whatever was going on currently was massive.
Excitement for the reno was quickly overshadowed by hurt for not being asked to help. He’d always been good with his hands. Jon and Frankie’s dad, Robert Miller, had taught Zac a lot in the family’s little wood shop. As young boys, Zac and Jon would spend hours building their own birdhouses or planters. Eventually, their skills graduated to building forts on the family property. And even though the first attempt was rickety and resulted in Zac breaking his wrist, they continued to try over and over. Zac had even helped Jonathan build the very house they were standing in.
Swallowing his disappointment, Zac jammed his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels. “Looks like a big operation. Jon home?”
Todd eyed him with unmistakable scrutiny. “No. He and Lucy are in Wenatchee for the baby boot camp thing.”
“Wait, it’s a sleepaway camp?”
Todd chuckled. “No, I rented a suite for them nearby so they could have a babymoon while I work my magic.”
“Babymoon?”
