“Hell, Bubba.”
Jackson grinned. “You pull a hamstring.”
“Not a bad idea. Probably get a rubdown out of it.”
“More power to you, man.”
Lance flipped the lid up on the grill and started poking at the burgers. “Still avoiding the war eagle crowd?” he asked.
“Heading up that way tomorrow.” Louisa’s birthday wasn’t until Sunday, but the girl did birthdays like New Orleans did Mardi Gras. Wouldn’t have surprised him to pull up to a parade. But it was her twenty-first, and he’d missed more of her birthdays than he’d made, so he owed her.
They stood there shooting the breeze and grilling until Kaci showed up with a plateful of cheese slices lined up so straight Momma’s Junior League friends would’ve been impressed. “You boys about done with the burgers? We got a hungry crowd.”
“First round’s coming off now,” Lance said. “Hey, Bubba, you mind grabbing the rest out of the fridge?”
“Oh!” Kaci spun at him so fast, the cheese almost flew right off the plate. She had a look in her eyes that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Like Miss Flo before she got to talking about her single granddaughter.
“Yes, ma’am?” Jackson ventured.
Kaci’s face went all innocent. “While you’re in there, go on and ask Anna for the hot dogs, would you, sugar?”
“Yes, ma’am.” No need wasting words asking who Anna was. She’d be the sweet one with questionable biscuits.
Probably he should tell Kaci about his thoughts on butter, but she was already gone, flitting about among her guests.
He strolled to the door, tossing his cola can in the recycling bin on the way.
The back door opened into the living room, which was one of the things he didn’t like so much about all these newer houses. The kitchen was off to the right, partly open into the living room. Two women were in there talking. Rather, one was talking. The other was cutting the most uniform tomato slices he’d ever seen.
It wasn’t the tomatoes that stopped him.
It was the doe eyes.
So that’s who Anna was. He’d lay odds the cheese plate had been her doing too.
She looked like she could’ve used some fried chicken and biscuits to put some meat back in her cheeks, and her straight light hair was longer than when he saw her last time.
Prettier than he remembered, and he’d remembered her awful darn pretty.
There was that chuckle in his head again. Combined with the unusual thumping in his chest, he took a second to pull himself together.
“Thought you went home after Neil left,” the other one was saying. Jackson recognized her from outside. She had railroad tracks knitted on the shoulders of her blouse to match her CGOA president husband’s rank of captain.
If it weren’t for the way Anna’s nose wrinkled whenever one of her slices was thicker than the others, he wouldn’t have thought the first girl’s yammering bothered her. “Nope. Still here.” And she sounded as happy as if she were facing fire ants again.
He’d been raised better than to listen to two ladies gossip, but he reckoned this was the only way he’d ever find out anything about her.
Besides, it was entertaining.
“If it weren’t for Tom there’s no way I’d stay here.” Theother woman gave a high-pitched giggle that made Jackson’s ears hurt. “Are you working or something?”
Tomato juice flew off the end of the knife. “I’ve always worked.”
“Oh, right, right. You’re a receptionist somewhere?”
“Analytical technical support.” She grabbed a paper towel and wiped the tomato juice off the counter, a big old fake smile shining away.
At least there weren’t any tears this time. He might work up some of his own if that other girl didn’t quit that shrill giggle though. “That’s all over my head,” she said. “So are you here with somebody tonight?”
