“Smells good, baby girl,” Jacob said.
“I hope you like it,” Ida Jane offered. “I know it’s not steaks—”
“Brought some for you,” Jacob replied. “I gave ’em to Maxim and he put them in the fridge.”
“I thought we could have them tomorrow night,” I said.
“You made him your apple butter yet?” Loreen asked.
I glanced up from the pork I was cutting. “Apple butter?”
Jacob chortled while Loreen beamed. “Oh, you’re in for a treat. This girl makes the best apple butter.”
I still didn’t know what that was.
“If I wasn’t her daddy, I’d offer to marry her for that alone,” Jacob said, beaming with pride. “Instead, I have to be content with my Christmas stockpile.”
“And birthday, and Father’s Day,” Ida Jane said.
“Your mama gets into it, honey. You’re gonna have to send me more.”
“I do,” Loreen said, a dreamy look on her face. “I ate a whole jar the day of your wedding. To celebrate.”
“I want to try it,” I said.
Ida Jane sighed in exasperation, but she was content there with me. “Tomorrow.”
We’d just filled our plates when the doorbell chimed. Ida Jane looked askance, but I shrugged. The guys knew I was meeting Ida Jane’s parents, so they wouldn’t come by.
I opened the door to find a small man in a boxy suit and flat, dark eyes flanked by two burly officers in uniform.
“Maurice Lambert, UCIS. I’m here for a home visit.”
* * *
Anger,resentment, and embarrassment rippled through my guts like a bad stew. Maurice Lambert, the USCIS bureaucrat who’d gotten a hard-on when he managed to revoke my Green Card, shot me an insolent glare, his dislike of me growing with each passing moment. Well, feeling’s mutual, buddy.
And on the very night Ida Jane’s parents were there, in my house, meeting me for the first time.
There was a hushed conversation behind me that I couldn’t hear well. Sweat began to prickle along my skin. I didn’t know what to do. Should I shut the door? Would that give him more reason to get me deported? I was pretty sure I needed my attorney present, so that seemed smart.
Loreen settled her hand on my tensed forearm and pursed her lips as she stepped up beside me.
“You’re just in time for dinner,” she said as she ushered the slimy little shit and his entourage into my house—a place I definitely didn’t want him. Jacob went to the kitchen and grabbed more plates and silverware.
He plunked them down at the end of the table nearest him. Because he wanted to see about using the U.S. government to get me out of Ida Jane’s life? My heart lurched at the thought. I’d lose the chance to play for the Wildcatters, sure, but I’d miss her. I couldn’t say what I felt was love, but I was falling for my pretty little wife.
“Still working after seven?” Jacob said with a hearty slap to Maurice’s bony shoulder. “A real go-getter.”
Maurice winced and preened all at once. “I take my job seriously.”
“You want some of this delicious meal my daughter and son-in-law made?” Loreen asked.
“I couldn’t impose,” Maurice said, but he looked at the dish hungrily. The two officers behind him did, too.
“You’re right,” Jacob said. “Poor form to interrupt dinner. I’m sure y’all wouldn’t want to impose, so we’ll just wait to eat once you’re gone.”
“Hey…let me show you the kids’ wedding portrait. We’re still waiting on the full album, but then, that’s to be expected, what with them just getting married this past weekend.”
