Jacob's Ladder: Gabe (Jacob's Ladder #1)

Thrusting his phone at me, Linc said, “Will you take it, Mom?”

“Uh, sure,” I replied. As I brought the phone up, Gabe threw his arm around Linc. I tried to hide my utter shock at Gabe’s behavior as I snapped a few pictures of the two. “Okay, there’s your photographic evidence.”

“It would be rude of me not to say thank you again for getting my Jeep unstuck yesterday,” Gabe said.

Waving my hand, I countered, “It was nothing.”

“Oh, but it wasn’t. It meant a lot to me.” I knew Gabe was no longer talking about the tow.

“Are you here by yourself?” Linc asked.

“Yep.”

My son turned to me. “Can Mr. Renard eat dinner with us?”

“I’m sure Mr. Renard doesn’t want to eat with us, sweetie.” I narrowed my eyes at Gabe. “Do you?”

“As a matter of fact, I would love the company. Besides, I never like to let my fans down.” He winked at me. “Where are we sitting?”

I fought the urge to reach over and smack the smug look right off of Gabe’s face. Instead, I took a few deep breaths and tried to keep my temper at bay. “Linc, why don’t you go wash your hands while Mr. Renard and I get a table?” I suggested.

“Okay. I’ll be right back.”

As soon as Linc was out of sight, I turned back to Gabe. “What are you doing here?” I hissed.

With a shrug, Gabe replied, “The same thing you are—grabbing some dinner.”

“I mean, what are you doing still in town?”

“I booked a room at the Grandview for a few days. I thought I might stick around and see if I could rekindle the writing vibes, even without you.”

Slowly, I shook my head. “You’re going to stay in Hayesville?”

“Yep. Mrs. Paulson was kind enough to rent out the entire third floor to me so I wouldn’t be disturbed.”

Of course Mrs. Paulson had. As Aunt Sadie would say, Rejune Paulson had come out of the womb man-crazy. She might’ve been in her fifties, but she would have been more than happy to make Gabe one of her cougar cubs. I wrinkled my nose at the thought.

“But you’re a big city boy…there’s nothing for someone like you to do here.”

“If you mean the town doesn’t have distractions, you’re correct, and that is exactly what I need.”

I stared at Gabe for a few moments before huffing in frustration. “You’re impossible.”

“Right now, I’m hungry, so what do you say we get a table?”

“Fine,” I grumbled.

The owner of The Hitching Post, Kenneth Maxwell, sat propped up on a stool at the register. He doubled as both the cashier and host. “How many?”

“Three.”

“Follow me.”

I couldn’t hide my surprise when Gabe motioned for me to go ahead of him. “And here I thought you didn’t have a remotely chivalrous bone in your body,” I remarked.

“I’m full of surprises.”

“I’d say it was more you were full of shit.”

Gabe threw back his head and laughed. Just as Kenneth pointed out our table, Linc arrived back from the bathroom. When I started to pull out my chair, Gabe once again shocked the hell out of me by stepping in front of me to do it himself. “I believe that makes me two and oh when it comes to chivalry points,” he mused.

I rolled my eyes before allowing him to push me up to the table. When I reached out to take a menu from Kenneth, he was staring open-mouthed at Gabe. “Yes, he’s a famous country rocker. I’m sure he’ll sign something for you after dinner.”

Kenneth head jerked back at my response. “I didn’t realize that. I was just surprised to see anyone under sixty pulling a chair out for a woman.” He then turned his interested gaze over to Gabe. “Are you really famous, or is she just pulling my leg?”

Gabe laughed. “She’s telling the truth. I’m the drummer for the band Jacob’s Ladder.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. I think the last time we had anyone famous in town was years ago when they were filming that movie about the circus with the guy who played the sparkly vampire.”

“Sparkly vampire?” Gabe questioned.

“Robert Pattinson. They filmed some scenes for Water for Elephants at a farm not too far from here.”

With a grin, Gabe replied, “I see. He did play a sparkly vampire in the Twilight series. He’s a pretty cool guy though.”

I sucked in a breath. “You know Robert Pattinson?”

“I met him at a party a few years ago right after the last Twilight movie came out—Breaking…whatever it was.”

“Breaking Dawn,” I replied breathlessly.

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

Linc snickered. “Mom thinks he’s hot.”

“I do not,” I protested as I felt warmth flooding my cheeks.

“Yes, you do. You and Aunt Ellie are always talking about how you’d have his babies when there’s a Twilight weekend on Freeform.”

Refusing to look at Gabe, I turned to Kenneth. “Linc and I will have sweet tea.”

After bobbing his head, Kenneth looked over at Gabe. “And you?”

“I’ll have the same.”

“Three sweet teas it is. I’ll let May know. She’ll be your waitress tonight.”

“Thanks, Kenneth.”

After staring down at my menu for a few seconds, I could feel Gabe’s eyes on me. Finally, I dared myself to look up at him. “What?”

“Robert Pattinson?” he asked with a smirk.

“Shut up. I should be able to have my celebrity crushes without any judgement.”

Gabe held up his hands. “No judgment, just surprise. It makes sense now why you turned me down.” With a wink, he added, “I must not be your type.”

“Trust me, whether or not you’re my type had nothing to do with me turning you down.”

May returned with our drinks. “Rae, can I get you and Linc your usual?”

I looked at Linc for confirmation before replying, “Sure.”

“What about you?” she asked Gabe. At that moment, she got a good look at him then proceeded to freak out. “Oh my God, you’re Gabe Renard. You’re in Jacob’s Ladder.” Her usually porcelain face flushed to a tomato red.

Gabe flashed her a genuine smile. “I am. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’ve listened to you guys for years. I even have some of your CDs from when Micah was still in the band.”

“That is a long time.”

With her free hand, May fanned her face. “Whatever you want to eat is on the house—my treat.”

“I can’t let you do that.”

She giggled. “I insist. Then I can tell everyone I bought Gabe Renard dinner!”

“While I’m still not agreeing, I’ll take the chicken and dumplings, macaroni and cheese, and the fried okra.”

With a trembling hand, May wrote down Gabe’s selections. “I’ll be right back.”

“Looks like if you play your cards just right, May might take you home with her tonight,” I mused.

He grinned. “She’s not my type.”

“Because she’s old?” Linc questioned while wrinkling his nose.

Shaking his head, Gabe replied, “Because she’s tall and blonde.” His gaze came to me. “I like petite brunettes.”

I rolled my eyes in reply to his come-on. “Linc, do you have any homework you could be working on?”

“Nope. I got it all done at the shop.”

“You’re absolutely sure? We’re not going to get home and you realize you were supposed to do another project like the solar system one?”

Linc laughed. “No, Mom. I promise.”