Not everyone was having a good day.
* * *
It was dark before Asher made it home, but when he walked into the house and heard music playing and smelled good food cooking, everything about this day settled within him.
Nora had heard the garage door go up, and then heard it come down, and ran to meet him with a guacamole-loaded tortilla chip as he was walking into the kitchen.
“Starters,” she said, and popped it in his mouth.
“Ohmygawd.” He chewed and swallowed, then kissed her hello. “That’s delicious. The house smells good. You smell good. I am one happy man.”
“I smell like tacos. I love you, too. Go put away the cop and come sit. Want a beer with the tacos, or a soft drink?”
“Soft drink. Whatever you’re having.”
He hung his hat on the hat rack and headed for the bedroom to lock up his weapon and change clothes. He’d repeated this routine for years and years on his own, but never had there been a reward waiting when it was done.
Nora was reheating the taco meat as she pulled out the individual bowls filled with toppings, then made their drinks, and added a roll of paper towels on the table. She couldn’t find any paper napkins, and there was no neat way to eat tacos.
As soon as Ash was back, she took the taco shells out of the warming oven and put them on the table along with the condiments and a little jar of hot sauce that looked well used. She poured up the taco meat into a crockery bowl and added a big spoon. It was the last thing to go on the table.
Asher seated her, then sat. The first thing he reached for was her hand.
“Thank you for this. Thank you for giving up your home for me. And thank you for loving me enough to do it.”
“I gave up nothing that mattered, and came because we belong together. Is there anything you like on your tacos that I have missed?”
“Just my teeth, and I brought them with me,” he said, and then winked.
It made her laugh.
And so they ate, talking a bit about what their days had been like without giving away confidential information.
“I texted the brothers today and told them you were here. Happy wishes all around. I told Dad, too. Another ‘told you so’ response.”
Nora was listening, watching the way his face lit up when he talked about them, and realized getting married by a justice of the peace was inadvertently cheatingthemof out his wedding.
“Ash, honey, I’ve been thinking about when we get married. When I said I didn’t want a wedding, I didn’t mean I didn’t want them there. I just meant the big church thing and invitations and all that goes with that, so how would we make it work? If we went back to Crossroads, that would be for Jacob’s convenience only. If we had it here in Austin, then Gunner and Dylan and Angie would have no problems being here, but Jacob couldn’t drive that distance on his own.”
As Ash began talking, Nora heard excitement in his voice and relaxed. She’d done the right thing.
“If you want to do that, darlin’, then we can get Dad a round-trip ticket, and when he’s strong enough to fly, we’ll find someone in Crossroads who’ll take him to the airport in Amarillo, and then we’ll pick him up and take him home. I won’t fly the chopper in the winter. Too much danger of stuff freezing up,” he said.
Nora nodded. “Yes, that’s what I meant. I just didn’t explain it properly.”
He gave her hand a quick squeeze. “Then that’s what we’ll do, so we wait for Dad’s recovery, then make it happen.”
“There we go, happening all over again,” she said.
His laughter delighted her, and he delighted her even more when he began making a fourth taco. Tonight was good, and it wasn’t even over.
* * *
Pearl’s first trip to Jacob’s house had turned into a regular thing. If Benny didn’t bring him to the Yellow Rose for lunch, then she took supper to him at night.
At first no one paid attention. Pearl was always feeding someone in need, and nearly all of her daily customers were locals. They just assumed Jacob’s regular appearances at the Rose were all part of his healing—getting out and about again.
But that story went out the window when Jacob walked into the Rose with a bouquet of flowers and gave them to Pearl. She blushed six shades of pink, told Davey the grill cook to shut up when he teased her, then put them on the counter beside the register, and forgot to remove the card.
