“What can I do?” Mrs. Miller asked.
“How about tossing the salad?”
Luke’s mom moved to the sink and washed her hands as the sound of a motorcycle drowned out the voices from the back of the house.
Luke was there.
She knew that, and her heart sped up, which gave her equal parts of happiness and sorrow.
It was breaking again.
Like it did every time she saw the man and knew she was leaving.
She was trying so hard to be his friend . . . only his friend.
Her dreams, however, weren’t allowing her to remain platonic. Memories and reality were mixing every damn night, making it impossible to sleep.
“Hey, Zoe?” Wyatt called from outside.
“Coming.”
Wyatt manned the barbeque with a strict set of instructions, though he tried hard to convince her he knew his way around the grill. He’d have to prove himself before she let loose the reins of her meal.
The sun decided to cooperate on her last day in River Bend, giving them all a chance to play and enjoy the outside.
Miss Gina had an old badminton set that Jo and Mel had set up earlier in the day. Miss Gina was lofting a birdy over the net to Hope, while Zoe’s mom watched from the shade of the porch.
“Can I help with something?” her mom asked.
“I got it.”
“Almost done,” Wyatt told her as he pushed the barbeque fork into the center of the meat.
“Not bad, Mr. Gibson.” She closed the lid to the grill, turned off one burner, and lowered the others to a small roar. “Five minutes.”
She blew past him and back into the kitchen.
She stumbled over her own feet at the first sight of Luke. “Just in time,” she said as she blew past him without a hello. “Dinner’s ready.”
Luke simply laughed while Mrs. Miller shoved a massive bowl of salad into his hands.
Mel and Zanya returned and helped parade food to the back porch.
Mel had done a great job of setting the perfect table on the covered porch. Flowers sat in vases on the long expanse of wood, and a hodgepodge of white and blue plates offset old mason jars that were either filled with spiked lemonade or tea. Mr. Miller held the long neck of a beer, as did his son.
The food was simple . . . perfect, but simple.
And Zoe took pride in every moan as her friends and family consumed each mouthful.
“Remind me to visit Texas,” Mr. Miller said between bites.
“If there is one thing I have learned from living there . . . it’s that Texans take their barbeque seriously. This is the best I can do without a smoker.”
“It gets better than this?” Wyatt asked.
“It’s really good, sis.” Zanya had gotten over her bellyache and was plowing through her plate like a linebacker.
Jo pointed the end of her corn on the cob in Zoe’s direction. “It better not be another decade before you visit again.”
“It’s been less than ten years since I visited,” Zoe defended her absence.
“A real visit,” Miss Gina added. “Not a hit and run. Those are fine for a one-night stand, not for us.”
“Miss Gina!” Mel chastised, eyes wide as she shifted her gaze to her daughter.
Zoe’s mom laughed and Mrs. Miller tried not to.
As the laughter died out, Zoe caught Luke’s piercing gaze.
And she knew, in that moment, that she couldn’t promise anything. As much joy as everyone at the table brought her, she knew the fall was going to suck.
“Hey? Where is everybody?”
Zane.
The voice of her brother interrupted the meal.
He walked around the side of the inn, his footsteps less than steady. He smiled and waved. “Am I late?”
“Only by an hour,” Luke said.
The second Zane tripped on the first step, Zoe knew he was drunk. Or something else. If the table were filled with people from her life in Dallas, she’d want to hide. There wasn’t one person at Miss Gina’s table who didn’t know her brother.
“Can’t blame a man for not wanting to break bread with a cop.”
Zoe exchanged glances with Jo. “Knock it off, Zane.”
Zane was the spitting image of their dad. All dark hair, dark skin, muscle, and attitude. When he drank too much his temper wasn’t easily controlled and his mouth ran like a faucet stuck on high.
“Sit down before you fall down,” their mom told him as she pulled out the empty seat beside her.
“Who’s that?” Zoe overheard Hope asking Mel.
“That’s Zoe’s brother.” Mel ruffled her daughter’s hair.
“Oh.”
Zane must have heard the question from the other end of the table. “I’m the black sheep. You know what a black sheep is?”
“Zane!” Zoe yelled.
“Knock it off!” Zanya shook a finger in her brother’s direction.
“Mommy?”
“I’ll talk about it later,” Mel whispered.
“Sheryl says you have a job up in Waterville,” Mr. Miller changed the subject.
Zane glanced at their mom. “Yeah. Part-time.”
Several people started back on their plates while Zane reached around to fill his up.
“What do you do?” Wyatt asked.
“A little of this, a little of that.”