She motioned to the table. “Have you taken up snack hoarding?”
He picked up the Funyuns bag. “You know how much I love these.”
“Youhatethem.” Her gaze scanned the rest of the loot. “Double Stuf Oreos. Dr. Pepper. Wait a minute.” She skewered him with a suspicious glare. “Is this a bribe?”
“That depends. Is it working?”
“Maybe,” she said hesitantly. “What is it you’re hoping I’ll do for all of this?”
“Just talk.” He could see her defenses going up immediately. “Nothing too personal. Just a chat between friends.”
Come on, Jane. Don’t leave me hanging here.
“Idolike Funyuns.” But she still looked uncertain.
“I might even share my Doritos with you.”
Her nose wrinkled up. “But they’re Cool Ranch.”
He shook his head and sighed dramatically. “You never were a connoisseur.”
She laughed, her lips pulling upward in the dazzling smile he’d missed so much over the past three months. They’d been happy together. They honestly had been. There had to be a way of getting that back again.
Chapter Three
The fact that Miguel knew her favorite junk food was not reason enough to stay and talk to him. Yet Jane sat across from him in the booth without further argument. He’d said they wouldn’t touch on difficult topics, and she would hold him to that.
She pulled her share of the goodies over to her side of the table. “How is your grandma Alena?” she asked as she opened the Funyuns. “Is she still fighting to keep living on her own?”
He opened his Doritos. “She moved in with my aunt Rita last month.”
“Rita. That’s the daughter she—”
“—claims to have adopted at a pet shelter.” Miguel’s dark eyes danced. He’d always been the most naturally happy person she’d ever known. “Mamá made them both go in and talk to the priest; that way, when they kill each other, it won’t be on her conscience.”
She loved Miguel’s family. They were funny and quirky and a breath of fresh air.
He paused with a chip partway to his mouth. “How’s work? Did they ever merge those two branches?”
Of course he remembered that. She’d dated a few guys who probably couldn’t have come up with the name of the company she worked for, let alone what was going on with her job. Miguel had never been like that.
“They did. And I got promoted to account executive.”
He quickly swallowed a mouthful of soda. “That’s awesome. Did they give you a raise, too?”
She nodded. “And a bigger cubicle. I’m not corner-office material yet, but I’m working on it.”
“As hard as you work, you’ll have that corner office in no time.”
She dug into her Funyuns. “Tell that to my family. They all either think I’m in a dead-end career or I’m working too many hours. It’s the only thing they debate as often as which parent everyone dislikes the most.”
“Do either of your folks claim to have picked you up at a pet shelter? ’Cause that’d make the choice a little easier.”
She didn’t often laugh about the mess that was her family, but she did then. And she had many times over the year she and Miguel had been together. Somehow he managed to joke about it without making light of it all.
“I’ll have to ask whichever one of my parents I spend Fourth of July with,” she said between sips. “Dad has planned this big elaborate barbecue. But Mom found out and announced she’s going to host a dinner party at the exact same time. It’s like the Hunger Games, except everyone is begging to get killed off.”
Miguel pointed a Dorito at her. “What you need is to get yourself invited to something else that day so you don’t have to go to either one.”
