Finn Ackerman sat at the head of the table, and he laughed. “No, there’s loads of parking in the back though.”
Lila Mae didn’t dare look at Trap. “Yes, well, I have that memo for next time.”
She found Libby sitting down by Finn, and she waved to her. “I’m sure I met most of you at Finn’s birthday party,” she said. “But it’s been two months.”
She reached up and touched her collarbone, breathing in to try to draw courage into herself. “I’m Lila Mae Dixon, and I’ve opened a new cat sanctuary here in town called Feline Friends. Trap thought it would be a good idea for me to come to these meetings, as you all deal with a lot of business aspect things, as well as natural disaster prep, weather, climate, building permits, and all that kind of stuff.”
“Yeah, sure,” Finn said.
Lila Mae swallowed and told herself to stop talking. Another of her daddy’s life lessons was to talk just enough. Then stop, and let other people fill the silence. So while it made her uncomfortable, Lila Mae did that, continuing to look around the table.
Her eyes landed on Jake Ahlstrom, and all she could think about was what Hailey had told her about him, and how grumpy he’d been that they’d been there touring Three Rivers. He’d calmed right down when she’d told him Libby had approved it, and she’d gotten his number, but she still hadn’t used it.
It’s only been a week, she told herself, and she certainly didn’t need to pester the man with every question she had. Infact, that was exactly why she was in trouble with Trap and Scarlett.
She did remember meeting most of the people there, and she nodded at Henry and Angel, Ty, Jake, and Colt, Alex Baxter, Dawson and Brandon Rhinehart, and as she came around the table, a whole slew of Glovers, including Smiles and Rock, and then Gunnison, Link, and Mitch.
He sat next to her on one side, with Trap on the other, who had sat by his Walker clan—Conrad and JJ—and that completed the circle back to Finn.
“We were just eating,” Finn said, and Lila Mae clued into the fact that they all had plates in front of them. She blinked, taking in the golden garlic bread and piles of pasta.
“I’ll get you something, sweetheart,” Trap murmured, and he got up and moved down to the corner of the room, where she saw two coffee urns and several aluminum foil trays laid out on a side table. Suddenly, the scent of spicy marinara and creamy Alfredo hit her, and her mouth watered.
Trap returned with a plate of fettuccine Alfredo, with two meatballs in marinara on the side, and a cup of coffee.
“Thank you,” she whispered as he put the paper plate in front of her, and because other conversations had picked up while Trap had gotten her food, she didn’t think anyone but him heard her.
He sat back down, grabbed onto the arm of her chair, and pulled her a half-foot closer to him. He looked at her, and so much was said between them. He put his arm around her, and she leaned into his strong chest. He pressed a kiss to her temple, and honestly, that simple gesture made Lila Mae tear up.
She knew in that moment that whatever she’d broken between her and Trap needed to be fixed, because she really, really liked him, and she couldn’t stand the thought of living any more days with this much tension and distance between them.
Heck, she wanted to leave this meeting she’d been so excited to attend and talk through everything with him right now.
But she’d just put her first bite of creamy, cheesy noodles in her mouth when Finn said, “All right, everyone, we’re going to go ahead and get started. Don’t worry if you’re still finishing up, but I texted out our topic and asked you to come with ideas and solutions.”
He got up and turned his back on them. He picked up a blue whiteboard marker and positioned himself at the board. The marker squeaked as he wrote, and then he said out loud, “Quick and easy organizational and cleanup ideas for barns, sheds, and other tight spaces.”
He looked at them, smiling as he surveyed them sitting at the long oval table. “Let’s hear it.”
32
Two knocks sounded on the door, and Trap looked up from his father’s desk. His daddy stood there, and he tilted his head. “You’re working here again tonight?”
His father had an office he’d worked out of for as long as Trap could remember, and Trap had been working from his parents’ house for a few days.
Trap nodded. “Is that okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine,” Daddy said. “I just—don’t you have an office at your house?”
“I’ve outgrown it.” Trap stood and stretched his arms over his head, then leaned to the left and the right. “Will you come in for a second? I want to talk to you about something.”
Daddy straightened from the doorjamb. “Something personal or something business?”
“Business,” Trap said, because he didn’t want to talk about anything to do with Lila Mae.
They’d gone out over the weekend, but it felt like a first date all over again, with Trap picking her up at seven and dropping her off at nine-thirty.
Yes, he’d kissed her and yes, he’d had a reasonably good time at dinner, and then the popcorn bar that he’d set up in hishouse. He still had all the little bowls stacked up on his counter, and that was just another reason he needed to work out of his father’s home office.
