“Jack really blessed me, man,” Darin said to Naem while he turned on the new grill a few days after the ice storm cleared. “Surprised me, too, that he brought all those groceries by. He’s so hard-core here, I didn’t know the dude had it in him to be nice off the job.”
Olivia gritted her teeth at the chatter regarding Jack. Naem and Darin had been going on and on about Jack ever since getting here this morning. That they’d all come to work to the sight of new grills and coffeemakers had set a jovial mood among the crew. She had a feeling Jack paid for those items out of his own pocket. But why did he feel the need to do nice things at a distance?
She was glad for Darin, glad that he had a stocked pantry and fridge. But her feelings were still hurt over Jack’s blatant mistrust.
He’d probably never believe she was putting her tips into the register, rather than taking money out of it. Now, without the keys, she couldn’t put money in. Unless...
She sidled up next to Patrice. “I need a favor.”
“What, sugar?” Patrice glanced sideways while tying her order pad apron on. This close, Olivia could see the faded yellowish-brown bruise on her cheek despite the thick mask of concealer Patrice had tried to use. “I’ve been putting my tips into the register, but since Jack took my keys, I can’t. So when you open it, I need you to put my tips in at the end of the day. I need you to promise me you won’t tell Jack. Or Sully if you go see him.”
Patrice sighed. “Okay, if you promise not to tell them what Frankie did to me.”
Concern coursed through Olivia. “No. I can’t and won’t promise that. Please tell me you’re not still with him.”
Patrice sighed and grabbed a stack of menus to distribute to tables. “I don’t have time for this.”
Naem came over to grab his order pad. “Why the sour look?”
Olivia shook her head. “I’m worried about Patrice for one thing. For another, Jack doesn’t trust me.”
“What makes you say that?”
Olivia really didn’t want to get into it. “I just know.”
“Hey, I know the guy’s been rough on us, but he’s actually pretty decent. He filled my tank up with gas and also left a gas card filled with money. For running diner errands he said, but I only drove, like, two miles.”
“Does he know that?”
“Yeah. When I asked him about it, he told me he heard I drive my sister to all her doctor appointments and take her kids to school events and to their games and stuff, since she can’t drive after her surgery. He heard about her cancer and how I help watch the kids for her after her chemo treatments.”
“He’s probably just doing that so you won’t miss work here. I can’t imagine Jack Sullenberger doing anything unless it benefits him,” Olivia said, then wished the words back when Naem’s eyes widened. His gaze settled behind her, over her right shoulder.
Heat of a presence bored into Olivia’s back.
The hair on Olivia’s neck stood on end. She read the answer in Naem’s eyes.
Jack was standing right behind her.
Well, she may have just gotten herself fired, after all.
Her hands shook as she tied her apron on and tucked her order pad and pen into the pocket. Not turning around, she slid on noodle legs past Naem and out of Jack’s presence, but she could still feel the weight of his stare on her back. She didn’t turn around because she was scared of what she’d see.
She really needed to watch what she said.
She went to the door to turn the Closed sign to Open. Before she could, a hand covered hers.
“Wait.”
Jack.
Olivia could barely breathe. He didn’t seem mad. Just—urgent.
She swallowed and looked up.
For a second, she saw a pained expression. Then it disappeared, replaced by a rigid, blank steely slate that she couldn’t begin to read.
“I need to talk to you in my office,” he said.
“We open in ten minutes,” she said, averting her gaze and hoping to deter him from this dreaded confrontation. Why, oh why, had she stupidly said something so insensitive and rude?
Probably because her feelings were still hurt over him stripping her of the keys. Not to mention his trust.
How mad was he? How far would he go to make her pay for her actions? Just this week, Jack had axed two evening-shift employees. One for reasons unknown, and the other had walked out after a verbal exchange with Jack. Her heart began to pound at the thought of losing her job. She should have been more careful to guard her thoughts and to tame her tongue.
She glanced humbly up to meet his gaze, knowing full well she was visually pleading.
“This will only take a few minutes.” Without waiting for her, he turned to head to his office. A few minutes—what? To fire her? That’s what she was afraid of.
She shook her head at herself and nibbled her lip, fighting a fiery blush.
Patrice, Darin and Naem all watched her follow Jack, their compassionate expressions stating the obvious. They were all afraid she was about to get chopped.
The urge to beg for her job hit Olivia. But her pride wouldn’t let the words come.
Maybe Jack was right. Maybe she was too stubborn for her own good.
“Sit down.” He indicated a chair as they entered the office. “Please,” he added, almost as an afterthought. The fact that he seemed to be trying to smooth the rough edges off his usually surly manner of speech gave her a little ray of hope that maybe he’d have mercy on her and let her keep her job.
She sat, folded her arms in her lap and stared at the floor.
“What’s going on with Patrice?” he asked.
Olivia looked up, startled.
Had he not called her in here because she’d gossiped about him?
“What do you mean?”
“The bruise on her face. Where’d she get it?”
Olivia swallowed. “She doesn’t want me to say.”
“But you think you need to?”
She nodded, eyeing the door and hoping Patrice wasn’t listening.
“So, let me ask you this. How much do you know about her boyfriend?”
Relief flooded in over Jack’s wisdom in not having Olivia directly say it. “Enough to know I don’t like him. I also know he doesn’t like us.”
“Us?”
“Me, Darin, Naem—Patrice’s diner friends. Or, at least, he doesn’t approve of us.”
“Guy sounds like a jerk.”
“He thinks we’re beneath him.” Olivia shrugged. “Maybe we are.”
“The world only works that way because people buy into the lie that it does. No one is less valuable than another person.”
Jack’s words left Olivia speechless, because they gave her a glimpse of nobility and character she never would have guessed he had. This glimpse gave Olivia a sense of security and rightness with telling him her knowledge about Patrice. It was really none of her business why Jack was so concerned.
A terrifying thought hit her. She wasn’t jealous, was she?
Olivia shook herself out of that silly, out-of-nowhere notion. They had a mutual concern for Patrice. Her safety took priority over Olivia’s secret wishes or insecurities. “This isn’t the first time he has physically abused her.”
Jack raked a hand across his military-style buzz. “The guy sounds like a real winner.”
Should she tell Jack about the other bruises? He and Patrice were longtime friends. But if Jack told Patrice, she may not open up to Olivia the next time it happened. And he could end up putting her in the hospital or worse.
I don’t know what to do, Lord. I just know I can’t ignore it or look the other way. I have to intervene and help her if she won’t help herself.
She knew from Sully that in addition to being a combat medic, Jack was a longtime commander in the Air Force Security Forces. That meant he protected people, right? Maybe he could protect Patrice. At the risk of harming her and Patrice’s friendship, Olivia whispered, “She has other bruises. On her arms, from where he shook her. That’s happened twice that I know of.”
Jack’s face hardened. He nodded.
“Please don’t tell her I said anything.” She darted glances to the door.
Jack met Olivia’s gaze. “If she’s not willing to get away from him, there’s not much we can do. You need to keep trying to get through to her, to maybe see a professional who can teach her about abuse cycles. In the meantime, please keep me informed.”
The depth of concern in his face gave Olivia the impression he had a personal stake in Patrice’s safety somehow. “I will.” She waited to see if he had anything else to say, maybe about her earlier indiscretion, but he was quiet. Finally she asked, “Are you angry with me?”
He didn’t look up. Just kept scrawling something on paper. Notes on supplies needed for repairs, from the looks of it.
“I mean, you’d have a right to be angry.”
“And you have a right to your opinion,” he stated simply, still writing.
Should she apologize for being rude? Then again, he still didn’t trust her. And, it’s not like he’d apologized for his part. Maybe it was best to just change the subject. She faced the clock. Five or so minutes until it was time to open the diner.
“Can I ask you a question?”
He peered up. Scowled slightly. “Proceed.”
“Why did you fill up Naem’s tank?” She really, really needed and wanted to know.
His mouth thinned. His gaze lifted to hers and then grew cold and steely. Formidable. He leaned forward slowly. Her breath caught. She wished she hadn’t asked.
“Because he brings Darin to work and I selfishly want to make sure they make it to work on time,” he bit out. Then narrowed his gaze as he held hers, daring her to say more about it.
Her mouth opened slightly, then she shut it.
Had his feelings been hurt by what she’d said? That would really surprise her. Jack Sullenberger with feelings or a slightly tender place in his heart?
Highly unlikely.
And yet, riding beneath the furrow of his manly brows a hint of something she could only describe as an ache resided. He held it in the tense gnawing of his jaw, firm and hard like his resolve. It suddenly hit her that he had many hidden facets. Ones she wanted to know about, for reasons she could not begin to fathom.
Now she was thoroughly and utterly confused. And pierced to the quick of her heart.
She’d started this day harboring resentment in her heart for his mistrusting, misunderstanding and misjudging her.
Now that she’d had a taste of her own medicine, it didn’t feel very good.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted.
He didn’t flinch, didn’t budge. Then after a moment, he slowly stood, not giving her any indication as to whether he accepted her apology or not, or if it meant anything to him.
She inched toward the door, feeling completely awkward.
“Olivia,” he said softly. “One more thing.”
His voice had a strangely tender ring to it.
She turned. “Yes?”
He slid the lime-green lamp and her Dyslexia Foundation pamphlet across the desk, holding her gaze the entire time.
Gulp. Had he read the pamphlet? Put two and two together?
She lifted her gaze from the lamp and pamphlet to his eyes.
The knowing light there, and the depth of understanding she never imagined she’d see in his face, told her...yes. She swallowed. Felt like looking down or away, but drummed up the courage not to. “Thank you,” she said honestly. “If it’s okay, I’ll pick it up at the end of my shift.”
He studied her a moment, then said, “Had you told me, I would have helped you.” His voice was soft, and more compassionate than she’d thought him capable of.
She dipped her head low. “I don’t want special treatment.”
He came around the desk and stood so close she could feel the heat from his skin as he raked a strand of hair from her eyes. She blinked, startled at the nearness and the tenderness. “Olivia, if it helps you to study in the diner, so be it.” Her breath hitched as his gaze inched down her face and then away. A jingling sounded, then he slid the extra set of diner keys atop her pamphlet. The significant gesture touched her more than he could know.
“Thank you,” she said, trying to be grateful for the diner keys even though he didn’t reinstate her register privileges. She understood his need to be watchful and cautious.
“It’s nearly time to open. Please cover the initial customers and tell Patrice I need to see her in my office.”
She nodded and turned to exit, knowing he was going to ask Patrice about the bruises.
She would be angry and think Olivia gave details.
But perhaps Jack could talk sense into Patrice, since they’d been childhood buddies.
He leaned around her to hold the door for her. His masculine cologne accosted her and reminded her of his alpha appeal. “You did the right thing by telling me.”
“I hope so.” She slowly lifted her gaze, searching his face but not knowing why. Their eyes met and locked in a moment of unguarded exploration. A sense of sweet wonder filled the space. A flash of overwhelming attraction hit Olivia that she was fairly certain reflected back in his eyes. So strong it felt as if all the air was siphoned from the room. Jack looked as perplexed as Olivia felt as they studied each other’s faces as though they’d never seen them before.
Jack was first to turn away.
His uncompromising determination to remain aloof slid back into place, making Olivia wonder if she’d daydreamed the emotional exchange.
Yet the mutual magnetic pull had seemed so real, so alive, so filled with potential to thrive if even one of them gave in to it. Maybe it just had to do with feeling a bond because of a mutual concern for Sully and now Patrice. That had to be it.
Either way, she’d be better off not to dwell on it.
Even if there was something there, nothing between them would be remotely possible, in light of his eventual return overseas and her packed work, school and study schedule. Besides, the messages he’d sent were unmistakable. He didn’t appear to be open to even friendship.
With gratitude for his grace and that her job was intact, she exited his office and went to wash her hands before work. The classic morning diner scents and sounds of sausage patties grilling, thick bacon frying, cheesy grits simmering, pepper-and-onion hash browns baking, eggs scrambling, Danishes heating, butter biscuits baking, maple syrup oatmeal bubbling and blueberry pancakes frying had never smelled and sounded so good.
He hadn’t fired her. This time.
The next time she was unable to keep her mouth shut, he might not show the same mercy.
God, please help me see Jack the way You do. Lend me Your heart toward him and help me treat him the way You would, Lord. Sorry I let my anger and my mouth get away from me.
The lack of sleep from studying wasn’t helping. In fact, the long-term sleep deprivation was altering her personality, obliterating her patience, erasing her self-control and making her crabby about dumb things. Plus, the coffee she’d nearly overdosed on to stay awake to study was making her jittery, anxious and edgy beyond belief.
Being in Jack’s formidable—dauntingly handsome—presence only added to that.
So she should be content to avoid him, the way he avoided her.
After an uncomfortable moment of telling Patrice that Jack wanted to see her in his office, Olivia went to open the front door, glad to see customers heading toward the diner. A lot of customers. More than any other morning. Gladness filled her. She loved people, after all.
More business meant more revenue. Plus, staying busy would help her forget how disastrously the morning started.
It would also hopefully help her forget the warm feeling of protection that had washed over her the moment Jack had set his hand atop hers earlier, on this very sign.
She turned it over now, also turning over a new leaf in her heart symbolically.
Something in the flash of hurt in Jack’s face—the part he hadn’t quite been able to cover—no longer let her believe he’d acted selfishly with Naem as she’d thoughtlessly accused him of.
Then, there was his kindness in the wake of that, reinstating her free rein to study in the diner.
What should she do with the wonder rising up in her over the revelation that she may not know the real Jack Sullenberger? Likewise, what should she do with the seed of desire sprouting up? To want to know the real Jack, and perhaps be friends? She couldn’t deny the draw. He seemed so much larger than life; he had makings of a true storybook hero behind his facade.
She was starting to see glimpses of the son Sully had talked about so much and so often that Olivia had felt like she’d known him. So why was Jack putting up this impenetrable front?
Because he didn’t know her as well as she knew him. And she sensed there was more to know even still. More strength and goodness inside of the man than maybe even he comprehended.
Should she bury the intrigue and forget about it?
Or explore it?
Fortunately, she didn’t have time to ponder further because the sidewalk had filled up with more people who filed in when she unlocked the diner doors.
Jack had been right. People were grateful for the early breakfast hours and were showing up.
She felt bad now for allowing Sully to hinder that by helping her with her hours. She needed to sacrifice her own needs for the greater good, for the community and for the diner.
If she failed, so be it. Somewhere along the way, it had become more important to her to save Sully’s Diner than to succeed with EMT school. She’d love both, of course.
But the way things were going, both may not be possible. She’d quit school before she’d let these beloved, iconic diner doors close for good. She could always return to school later.
Lord, I pray it doesn’t boil down to that hard choice. Make a way for each, if You will.
“Good morning,” she said to the customers with a genuine smile. “Welcome to Sully’s.”
* * *
“You wanted to see me?” Patrice leaned in the doorway of Jack’s office.
He motioned to the chair across the desk from him. “Please come in and sit down.”
Patrice nibbled her lip while she closed the door and lowered herself nervously to the edge of the chair. “What’s going on, Jack?”
“We’ve been friends a long time, Patrice.” His jaw clenched. “Some would even say we’re family.”
She dipped her head before slowly looking back up. “Olivia doesn’t yet know the history there, Jack, between my dad and your mom and the whole torrid affair. Please tell me you didn’t say something to her about the possibility of us being half siblings.”
“No. But if she’s the great friend you say she is, I suggest you mention it to her.”
Why Jack wanted Olivia to know he wasn’t interested in Patrice, he had no idea. He just felt strongly that she needed to know. Or, rather, it was important to him that Olivia know.
He didn’t want to ponder why.
Besides, that wasn’t on today’s agenda. “Are you going to tell me what happened that led to your bruises? And, yes, I saw them.”
She didn’t need to know that he could barely detect the ones beneath her sleeves. He wanted to honor Olivia’s wish that he not reveal her as the whistle-blower, only because he agreed with her that Patrice may then have a falling out with Olivia, and would be less protected and more isolated...which was probably her boyfriend’s goal anyway.
The strong likelihood that Jack and Patrice were half siblings fueled his intent to protect her, even at the risk of making her angry. “Patrice. You’re smarter than this.”
She just looked away.
Jack hated that she’d been physically harmed, hated even worse that she’d been hurt emotionally. There was no fight left in her. None. Her eyes looked dead all the way to her soul.
“What’s he done to you, sis?”
Her head whipped up. “Don’t call me that until I have a chance to tell the crew, Jack.”
He and Patrice had suspected for years that there was a chance they were half siblings. But not until recently had Patrice’s dad and Jack’s mom admitted to the near certainty that Jack’s mom had, while estranged from Sully and toddler Jack, birthed Patrice. The baby had then been adopted and raised by her birth father and, graciously, his wife—her stepmother.
Jack suspected Sully knew, too, which is why he was so determined to watch over Patrice and provide for her, even though she wasn’t his biologically. He had a soft spot for her.
She fiddled with her order pad apron. “I need to get back to work.”
“What’s it going to take to open your eyes, Patrice? I’d really hate to have to come ID your body at the morgue.”
She gasped. “Don’t say that!”
He leaned in. “Educate yourself on abusers and abuse cycles. The sooner you get away, the better chance you have of surviving. As it stands now, you’ve already died inside in so many ways.” He felt a knot in his throat. “It breaks my heart. I fear for you. Don’t make me take things into my own hands.”
“Don’t do something stupid and end up in jail, Jack.”
“Then get help. And get out of the relationship. You know I can protect you.”
She scoffed. “How? You’ll be on another continent as soon as Sully recovers.”
For the first time it hit Jack that going back to the military may not be the best thing.
She was right. If he wasn’t here, he couldn’t protect her.
“If you press charges, the legal system will handle him.”
“No. I don’t have faith in the justice system. Not with the stories he’s told me as a defense attorney of how often criminals and domestic violence offenders get away with what they do and who pays who off in the process.” Her eyes watered and spilled over. “Jack, I’m scared. I want to leave him. I do. Believe me.”
“Did he threaten you?”
She nodded.
“Patrice, if you promise to get out and not go back, I’ll help you. Can you do that?”
Patrice brought her gaze back to Jack, then to the floor.
“I can’t promise you that today. I’d try, but I’m not strong enough yet.”
Jack had never felt so frustrated in his life.
“Why put it off today, when you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow?”
“Jack, I will. I just need a plan first. Okay?”
He studied her, not completely happy but glad nonetheless that she seemed serious about coming up with an escape plan.
Her face softened. “I listened to you, Jack. Now I need you to listen to me for a second. I think you’re making a huge mistake in not trusting Olivia,” Patrice said as she stood. “Please reconsider.”
The abrupt change in subject threw Jack for a loop. He didn’t get the idea Patrice was just deflecting or changing the subject to get him off her back about getting away from her abusive boyfriend. Her face told him she was serious. Olivia must have mentioned their run-in with the register and him taking her keys. However, he felt justified in doing so.
Or had, until seeing her today. Even after he’d let her know he’d seen the pamphlet and that he was going to let her study in the diner, after all.
That moment of connection between them when they’d stared those few awestruck seconds into each other’s eyes...very unexpected and strange, indeed.
He knew exactly what to do with it though: nothing.
“We’ll see,” Jack said honestly. Something about the entire cash register exchange still bothered him. If Olivia couldn’t tell him the whole truth as to why she was in it, he couldn’t trust her.
Later that day, after the breakfast rush and before the lunch rush, when he wouldn’t be at risk of being needed, Jack scrubbed frustrated fists in his eyes and went to shut the office door.
He had some very tough calls to make—figuratively and literally.
After narrowing down job applicants, talking options with the bank and going over Dad’s personal finances, as well as the finances at the diner, he was mentally exhausted. Unless a miracle occurred, Jack couldn’t see any way to prevent the foreclosure. He’d had to switch directions and talk with other restaurant owners in town whom he knew would keep his situation under wraps, and see if they’d be interested in buying the diner. That would be the only way to save it at this point. He hated to take that route or to admit defeat, but he had to look at other options.
Right before lunch, Jack called a few people who’d put in applications and performed phone interviews. Out of the five or so, two stood out and he asked them to come in for a second, face-to-face interview, so he could go over the rules with them and gauge their dependability level. He really couldn’t afford to hire anyone right now, but the current crew was already stretched too thin and it wouldn’t be fair to them not to hire someone.
He was also going to revamp the duties, so that the new dishwasher he hired also bussed tables, to free up Naem, Patrice and Olivia as well as the servers on evening crew. And he was going to hire an actual host or hostess, who’d also be a cashier, so the servers’ loads would be lightened.
Just after the lunch rush, a knock sounded on Jack’s office door. He was glad for the intrusion. The books were giving him a royal headache.
Jack went to open the door, which he rarely closed. But he didn’t want the staff to get wind yet that, as a last resort cushion, he was talking to other business owners about purchasing Sully’s. At least that would give it a chance to stay open for the community. Dad would be crushed. But at this point, Sully still wasn’t out of the woods yet from his stroke, had not even fully regained consciousness. The doctors were keeping him medically sedated so the swelling in his brain would have a chance to come down to a safe level.
When he opened the door, Darin, Naem, Patrice and Olivia stepped in with papers in their hands. He didn’t think they were all pulling a mass resignation, because they all had goofy grins on their faces. His headache eased at the look of childlike anticipation on their faces.
“What’s up, guys?”
They walked over and each set the papers on Jack’s desk. He opened one, read something about the current accumulated vacation pay being forfeited to the diner. Confusion accosted him.
He looked up. “What’s this? I don’t understand.”
The crew eyed one another, then Jack. “These are legal, notarized forms that we’re forfeiting our vacation pay to help with the diner debt.”
Jack stood. “What? You can’t be serious.” This was a bombshell, to say the least. While the gesture was amazing, Jack couldn’t take their vacation time. “Sorry guys. I can’t let you do this.”
Olivia was first to stare Jack down. “We insist.”
“We want to make this donation, Jack,” Darin stepped forward. “It’s no use arguing.”
Jack studied their faces. “You’re serious.”
“Dead,” Naem said. Then grinned. “Come on, man, take a breath.”
Jack did take a breath, then studied the papers and the sacrificial givers in front of him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll accept it, or it’ll hurt our feelings,” Patrice said. Then she elbowed Olivia. “It was Olivia’s idea, by the way, but we all jumped at the chance. Your dad has done a ton for us.”
“As have you,” Darin reminded him. “So just say thanks and get our boots back to work.”
Jack laughed at that. Get your boots back to work was a phrase he used often. They were beginning to know him so well. He actually had to swallow past a pretty significant lump in his throat as he met each worker’s gaze. “Thanks, sincerely. This means a lot.” It would mean the world to Sully. Jack’s heart broke that their sacrifice may not be enough.
That they were so willing to give made Jack want to pray that God would make a way for their sacrifice to be enough, somehow.
But he had trouble praying and believing in God’s goodness after all he’d seen overseas.
“This means more than you’ll ever know,” Jack said. And he determined all the more to do whatever it took to save the diner, and to at least keep their jobs intact if the diner had to change owners in order to survive the debt eating it alive and causing the bank to threaten foreclosure.
“Thanks for accepting the gifts,” Olivia said and motioned the crew back to work.
Jack sat stone still for the next several moments, as the weight of their kindness set in.
I know I haven’t talked to You regularly in a real long time, Lord. But, I know You see what they’ve done and I know You know what a true sacrifice that forfeiting these hours and this pay is. Bless them.
It almost made Jack want to go to church again. Almost.
Images of a different church, smoldering after a blast, hit Jack. The sounds rumbled through his bones. The screech of a missile that reached the walls before his warning. The impact. Being knocked to the ground only to look up and see the building obliterated. Shoes of the devout shredded from impact, scattered around him. No survivors. The parishioners who’d once protected his unit during ambush—gone.
“Jack? Everything all right, buddy?”
Jack jerked at the sound of Darin’s voice. He swabbed sweat off his brow. “Yeah.”
“Flashback?”
“Think so.”
“Take a second.” Darin nodded to the back door. “Fresh air will do you good.”
Jack nodded, knowing Darin was right but also knowing he couldn’t afford to lose it now.
At the end of the day shift, around crew change, Jack made a few more phone calls and sought out Olivia in order to remind her he was giving her a lift to EPTC, but he couldn’t find her.
He approached Darin. “Have you seen Olivia?”
“Not in about ten minutes,” Darin said, wrapping up his cleaning of the grills. “Naem, you seen Olivia? Jack’s looking for her.”
“I’m supposed to take her to school. Well, to her EMT clinical at EPTC,” Jack said to Naem.
“Oh, really? She left with Patrice,” Naem said while Darin stepped around them to roll the trash can to the back. “I’m pretty sure Patrice was going to run Olivia by to see about her car real quick.”
“Hmm. Maybe she forgot I said I’d give her a ride.” Although, Jack didn’t think so. The more likely scenario was that she’d rather set herself on fire than have to ride with him...in his Ford.
Jack smiled, thinking about the funny FORD=Found On Road Dead note she’d left, then the prank boomeranging back onto her when her car ended up being the one broken down.
He’d actually come to look forward to their car-make sparring. It reminded him of his dad, who was as much a fan of Chevy as Jack was of Ford.
Naem joined them and peered close, with a huge grin of his own. “It’s about time.”
Jack stiffened. “What?”
Naem smirked. “Thoughts of a woman made you smile.”
Jack frowned. “That’s ridiculous.”
Naem’s grin widened “Pretty sure I know who the woman behind your smile is, too.”
“Get your boots back to work.”
“Dude, I’m off. See? Proof whoever she is has you flustered. Deny it. I dare you.”
Jack shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Naem only laughed louder and smacked Jack hard on the shoulder. “Nice try. But you’re not fooling me.” The happy-go-lucky Naem walked away whistling and cast a knowing look over his shoulder, along with that maddeningly perpetual grin.
Jack let out a growl and turned to vacate the premises.
And almost plowed into Olivia.
“Oomph!”
Jack grasped her shoulders to keep her from falling. “You all right?”
She let a breath out slowly. “Yeah. Are you in a hurry?”
“No, just...” Getting away from Naem and his lame suggestion that you make me smile.
Jack stared at Olivia with the explosive revelation that it was true.
Naem was right.
She did make him smile. In fact, he fought it now as he took in her disheveled, slightly irritated-but-not-really look. He was pretty sure that look was a front she forced to hide her shyness.
And maybe even...attraction? Her pupils always dilated and her breath quickened whenever he inadvertently got close.
This close.
Jack realized he’d drifted closer, drawn in by the overpowering depth of her eyes. He wanted to see if he could have that same effect on her again. Delight coursed through him when he realized he could. It met a need he hadn’t realized he had until this moment.
He cleared his throat and drifted back slowly, hoping she didn’t notice that his sanity had just clocked out and walked off the job.
Her cheeks flushed and she swallowed uncomfortably, proving she had noticed.
Jack scrambled for something to say, to break the awkward, but somehow awesome moment. “Do you still need a ride? Darin said Patrice was taking you to the garage.”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to have to take you up on that offer but it looks as though I’m going to have to. Patrice has an appointment and my car won’t be ready until next week.”
Jack wanted to laugh at the look of sheer mock defeat on her face. Yet a nervousness ran in barely detectible currents just beneath that.
Nervousness or anticipation?
He’d be stupid to wish for the latter, but something in him cheered nonetheless.
Darin and Naem waved to the evening-shift crew and passed Jack and Olivia. Darin held out the lapels of the jacket and flannel shirt Jack had given him. “Thanks again for these duds, man. It’s great being warm and having something nice to wear for a change.”
Olivia peered peculiarly at Darin, his outfit, then at Jack. The admiration in her eyes and smile admittedly bolstered his mood.
“Just talked to Patrice. She is going to the doctor to document her bruises,” Olivia said.
“Good. I hope so. That’s a step in the right direction.”
“Yeah.” She grabbed her coat from the employee break room hooks.
“Ready, then?” he asked her, indicating the back door.