“Someone’s at the door. I gotta go.”
“Okay, have a good night.”
I hung up the phone and opened the app on my phone that connected to Micah’s security cameras. Another safety precaution he’d insisted I take. I smiled when I saw the man who was standing at the door.
“Come on, girl, I don’t have all day. I know you see me standing out here,” Joel barked at the door.
I laughed and headed for the front door, pulling it open. “I figured he’d get one of you to show up here.”
Joel’s dark brown eyes shone as he smiled. The wrinkling around his eyes was one of the only giveaways that he was a sexagenarian.
“Ace is up in a plane some damn where and Gabe’s still getting his ass kicked in Thailand.”
Laughing, I instinctively moved in to hug Joel. I didn’t know why, but there was an immediate comfort there with this man … maybe because the resemblance between him and his eldest son was so apparent. Not so much in looks either, but the same type of danger and cocksureness they effortlessly carried.
“Come in,” I said, stepping aside.
Joel sniffed the air as soon as he entered. “What’re you cooking?”
“I’m heating one of the curry lentil soups I bought from the store earlier. Want some? I bought a couple of them.”
“Ack.” He waved his hand, making a disgusted face. “That store bought bullshit ain’t got nothing on my homemade cooking. Which is why I brought some over for dinner.”
For the first time, I noticed the paper bag in his hand. “What’d you make?”
“Some beef brisket with cabbage and pinto beans.”
My stomach growled, and my eyes widened.
“I thought you’d like that.”
“Come on,” I encouraged, waving him farther inside and headed to the kitchen. I immediately turned off the soup I’d been warming up while Patience and I talked, setting it off the stove.
“What were you up to?” Joel asked as he removed two plates from the cupboard and set the bag of food on the kitchen island.
“Was on the phone with Patience.”
“Micah said you two had gotten close.”
I nodded. “She’s nice and easy to talk to. I don’t have a lot of friends back home.”
He paused, from forking food onto one of the plates. “Why not?”
I shrugged and moved to the drawer, pulling out forks and napkins. “Most of my friends from college are married with kids now. No time for me. And my work friends are just that. We don’t spend a lot of time outside of work, which was what I used to do twenty-four seven. That’s what it felt like, at least. Since I’ve been here, I’ve had a little time to reevaluate those relationships.”
“Oh yeah? You find out anything interesting?” He gestured with his head toward the table as he held two full plates in his hands.
We took our seats. “They were pretty surface level, you know? Not a lot of depth to those friendships.”
Joel snorted in that same way Micah did when he’s thinking, or you’ve said something that struck a chord, but he’s too stubborn to admit it.
“Mm,” I moaned after taking my first bite of the brisket. “This is the best brisket I’ve ever had. I can say that since my grandaddy’s no longer alive for anyone to tell on me.” I laughed.
Joel grinned. “I knew this would be better than that slop you bought.”
I shook my head but didn’t bother informing Joel the soup I originally intended for my dinner wasn’t bad either. Though it wasn’t as good as his cooking.
“Micah told me you two used to go at it like cats and dogs when he was a kid. Is that true?”
