Lorde lifted her bear-like face.
“Back to the truck, girl. Head on back. Truck.” I pointed in the general direction of Sunshine’s shop.
Lorde took a step, then another, and looked back at Lu.
“Oh, is that how it is?” Lu asked Lorde, even though I knew she was asking me. “Just walk away?”
“That’s how it is. I don’t like that guy, and Sunshine said he’d have news on the truck.”
“I think Calvin likes Jo.” Lu held her hand out from her side just a bit as she walked. I came up beside her and wove my fingers through hers. I could feel her warmth, but I didn’t know if she could feel the cold of me.
Still, we’d had enough years to know where the other person was. Always.
“He’s a small town hick who insulted her and told her he hates Texas. I don’t like him.”
“I like him,” she said.
“Lu.”
“He reminds me of that man, was it Robert? He worked the docks. Always putting his foot in his mouth when he saw a woman he liked. Awkward as hell. But good I think. I think he’s good, Brogan.”
I inhaled through my nose and glared in the general direction of the shop. “I think he’s too big for his britches.”
“And Jo. She’s something,” Lu said. “I mean, I don’t think she’s his type.”
“What? What’s wrong with her? She’s aces. Doesn’t back down. She’d keep a man on his toes. Who wouldn’t like that type of woman?”
“She’s too big city for him. Too ready for a fight. Gonna go through the world lonely if all she does is punch first.”
“Punching first is good. Punching first keeps you safe,” I said. “Youpunch first.”
“Maybe I’ll stick around and see if I can make this work out for him. For them. If she feels the same kind of way for him I think he might feel for her.”
“She doesn’t.”
“She might,” she answered, as if she’d heard me. “She might. As a matter of fact, I’ll make you a bet.”
“You are not Cupid, Lu.”
“I bet you Calvin will be dating Jo before I leave town.”
“You don’t want to do that. Embarrass yourself like that.”
She paused, as if waiting for me to say more.
“Don’t be chicken, Brog. Tell me it’s a bet. I get Calvin to date Jo, and we name the truck Silver.”
“What if you don’t get Calvin to date Jo?”
“If you win,” she said, “which isn’t going to happen, you can name the truck anything you want.”
“Like I Told You So? Because it’s either that or You Shouldn’t Make Bets You Can’t Win. Top contenders, hands down.”
“Yes. Your pick.”
“All right,” I said, warming up to the game. “If Sunshine’s—Calvin’s—dating Jo, which I don’t see happening in a million, Silver is the go. But if Jo avoids making poor decisions—such as dating Calvin—then it’s the I Told You So all the way.”
She nodded. “I thought you’d like that.”
