A donut. He’d brought her an emotional support donut.
Zach stopped unwrapping his sandwich and looked at her. She hadn’t moved since she opened the donut. “You going to eat it or stare at it?”
“I’m going to eat it. Where did you get the money for the groceries?”
Zach pulled out a chair at the table and sat. “I stole it from you.”
“You what?”
Shoot. She’d been right and wrong at the same time. Right to be wary of him and wrong to trust him.
“Just kidding. You should see your face.” He finished opening his sandwich. “I had enough cash to buy shampoo.”
“I brought you shampoo yesterday.”
“Yeah, but it smells like you. No offense. You smell nice, but I’d rather the pillows on my new bed not trick me into thinking you’re everywhere.”
Her grip on the donut bag tightened. He’d done something nice for her. He went out of his way to do the one thing she’d said would make her feel better after a bad day. Her chest was a black hole caving in on itself.
Zach nudged the chair in front of her with his boot. “If you cry again, I’m taking the donut back.”
Lauren swallowed the emotions threatening to spill over and sat beside him. “I’m sorry I cried earlier. It’s not your job to pick me up when I’m having a bad day.”
Zach crumpled a napkin in his hand, smearing the sauce from his fingers to the paper. “You picked me up once when you didn’t have to.”
“That was yesterday,” she pointed out.
“Consider us even.”
Oh! He needed things to be even. It was as if storm clouds parted, revealing the shining sun. If he saw them as the same, their relationship would make sense to him.
Not friends. Just even.
As soon as the donut touched her lips, she could have cried tears of joy. Her eyes fell closed, and the steel rod holding her upright melted away. “This is amazing.”
“Better than spaghetti?”
“So much better.”
She ate the donut, then quickly moved on to the sandwich. She’d never considered sandwiches the height of culinary skill, but the ham sandwich Zach brought her was a solid ten out of ten.
Once she was confident her stomach wasn’t going to eat itself, she peeked at Zach who was polishing off a side of fries. “I’m going to talk to a friend about a job for you.”
“Ah. One of those friends who isn’t afraid of me?” There was a hint of snark at the end of the question, but she’d ignore it in favor of the important topic.
“He works part-time at a cattle ranch in Silver Falls. The ranch is growing, and I heard the owners are looking for a full-time worker.”
“And you think they’d hire a convicted felon?” There wasn’t any snap in his tone, just honest curiosity.
Lauren thought about Matt and Tammy Benson who owned Silver Falls Ranch and the other people who worked there. “Actually, I think they would. There’s just one problem.”
“Other than my record? I’ll learn how to herd cattle if I don’t have to be a carnie,” Zach asked.
The problem wasn’t whether the Bensons would hire him. They were wonderful people who believed in forgiveness and redemption. No, this problem was for Zach, and it could be a quick deal-breaker.
“Well, the man who killed one of your brothers works there.”
10
