Ellie, caught with her mouth full, nodded.
“Have I ever told you what a damned good nurse you are?”
Ellie turned in her seat to look up at him. “Thanks. I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”
A moment after her father left, Kathy, one of the younger LPNs, hurried over to her. “Was that old goat hitting on you? He was totally hitting on you.”
Ellie had just taken her last bite of sandwich and almost choked to death laughing. “That old goat is my father.”
*
Jesse drove straight from the slopes to the rock gym, where he changed into climbing clothes and climbed laps up the wall, going for speed, building up a sweat. He told himself that he was working on endurance, but he really just wanted to get his heart pumping, burn off the frustration that had been eating at him all day, get his head straight.
He’d had his shit together until he’d let himself get distracted by a pair of pretty green eyes. Now he was having nightmares again. Why?
Hell, he didn’t know. Because he enjoyed being with Ellie? Because he had feelings for her? Because he liked her kids? Because they’d talked about yesterday’s bus crash and the little boy she’d lost?
For fuck’s sake. None of that made any sense.
He self-belayed and took a breather, shaking out his arms. His cell phone buzzed in the pocket of his climbing pants. He pulled it out.
Megs.
“Moretti.”
“Knockers is holding a fundraiser tonight to raise money for the Kirby boy’s funeral. Hawke’s having a pretty rough time of it today. He’s the one who pulled the boy out of the wreckage. I thought you might want to stop by, do your part for the Kirby family, and maybe hang with Hawke. You know what he’s going through.”
Shit. Yeah. He did.
“I’m at the rock gym. Give me a few minutes to shower, and I’m on my way.”
He hit the locker room, showered, and then headed off to Knockers. The parking lot was packed, forcing him to park down the street and walk. He pushed through the front doors. The Timberline Mudbugs were playing on stage, and the place was full.
“Jesse!” a tiny voice called.
He turned and saw Daisy running toward him, her mother standing with Daniel in her arms a few feet away. “Hey, Daisy.”
Ellie smiled when she saw him. It was a genuine smile that reached her eyes, and it lit up something inside him.
He took Daisy’s hand, walked over to Ellie. “You here for the fundraiser?”
She nodded. “I’m waiting for a table. We might have to go because the kids are pretty hungry, and there’s a twenty-minute wait.”
At that moment, Rain walked up and handed him a menu. “Hey, Jesse, the Team’s back at the usual table. It looks like you’ve made a friend.”
“This is Daisy, Ellie Meeks’ little girl.”
“Hey, sweetie.”
“Can we get a couple of—I don’t know—high chairs or whatever?”
Rain nodded. “You bet.”
Jesse scooped Daisy up and headed toward the Team table. He glanced over at Ellie. “You coming?”
Everyone was here, several tables grouped together. The surprise on their faces when he walked up holding Daisy was priceless.
“Well, now I’ve seen everything,” Megs said.
Hawke and Taylor got to their feet and said hello to Ellie.
Lexi waved. “Hey, Ellie.”
Ellie said hello back, then explained for Jesse’s benefit. “We know each other from high school. They were all in the same class as Dan.”
“Oh. Right.” Because everyone knew everyone, except Jesse, who after almost three years was still sometimes called “the new guy.”
Rain walked up carrying two wooden high chairs. “Hey, Herrera, do you mind?”
“What?”
Jesse was more direct. “Move.”
People scooted around the table to make room for them. Megs moved to a different seat entirely, opening up the spot next to Hawke. Jesse helped Ellie arrange the high chairs so that the twins could sit between them and so that he could sit beside Hawke. Only after they sat did he realize the disadvantage of this arrangement: He wasn’t sitting next to Ellie.
Megs watched this with interest.
Jesse turned to her. “What?”
She got an innocent look on her face. “I just never thought I’d see you carrying a toddler. You must like her quite a lot—not the toddler, the mother.”
Jesse ignored that and hoped that Ellie hadn’t overheard. He hadn’t come here to talk with Megs anyway. He turned to Hawke. “Hell of a day yesterday.”
Hawke took a sip of scotch. “Yeah. You could say that.”
“Ellie took care of the Kirby boy in the ER.”
Hawke’s gaze shifted to Ellie. “Yeah?”
“That’s not something anyone should really know,” Ellie whispered.
A server came to take people’s orders. Jesse opted for a burger. Ellie wanted a salad for herself and chicken fingers, French fries and milk for the kids, plus crackers for them to munch on until the meal arrived.
Ellie glanced around the table. “So this is the famous Team.”