“Don’t give away all my secrets,” she said to Trey. Then, turning to Ellie, she whispered, “You’d better hang on to this one.”
“Zora, if you don’t mind me asking, what brought you to Bloomington?”
She smiled with a wry twist of her mouth. “How do you know I didn’t grow up here?”
Jack cracked a smile of his own. “I know a Southern accent when I hear one. Mississippi, am I right?”
“Vicksburg.” She looked genuinely surprised. “How’d you know?”
Jack’s smile broadened. “I had a platoon leader who was from Jackson.”
“Platoon leader?” Trey asked, taking a sudden interest. “You’re a military man?”
“Army, Twenty-Fourth Infantry,” Jack confirmed.
“I was in the Marines Corp,” said Trey.
“No kidding. Small world, isn’t it?”
“Jack, you’re a writer,” said Zora, “so you may be interested to know Trey is thinking of writing a book of his own.”
“Oh, yeah. What about?”
“My time in the service. The things I saw.” Trey’s expression shifted from cheerful to serious. “My doctor thinks it might be good for me to write down some of my experiences; says it’ll help with the healing process.”
Jack nodded along, knowing exactly what Trey was getting at. “He’s right. I could give you some pointers if you like.”
“That would be great.”
Their food arrived, and the conversation turned back to Ellie’s interview.
“Everything sounded wonderful,” she said, “except the part about having to move. If I’d known that beforehand, I wouldn’t have applied. I know Bloomington isn’t where I grew up, but I’ve spent the past thirteen years of my life here, and I consider it my home.”
After dinner, the ladies excused themselves to the restroom while Trey and Jack remained at the table.
“I take it you’re not thrilled at the prospects of Ellie moving to Texas.”
“What gave me away?”
“I saw the way you tensed up when Zora was talking to Ellie.” Trey took a draw from his beer. “It’s a big step, you know, to leave your home.”
“It’s just that Texas is so far away. Ellie and I haven’t even discussed how we’re going to make things work with her here and me in Tennessee.”
“Does that mean you won’t go with her if she’s offered the job?”
Jack shrugged his shoulders. “My entire life is there—my business, my mother…”
Trey smiled. “I know how you feel. When Ellie offered Zora to come work for her, Zora gave me an ultimatum, said she was making the move with or without me. Can you believe that?”
“What did you say?”
“I’m sitting here, aren’t I?” He chuckled and took another drink of beer.
“What if you’d told her no? Do you think she would have gone without you?”
“I don’t know, but I wasn’t willing to find out. Zora’s a driven woman and always has been. When she gets an idea in her head, she’ll chase it to the bitter end come hell or high water. I tried to fight it at first, but eventually, I decided if I was going to be with her, I had to put my ego aside, hang on, and enjoy the ride. And what a ride it’s been.”
“And you have no regrets?”
