He wandered away with her, happily whistling his way through the restaurant, stopping to say hello to people with the natural friendliness he had.
Sadie whined and stuck her head on my lap. I gazed down at her and stroked her silky ears. “I know. I feel the same way.”
Because there was no one there to share the bread with, I pulled out the sanitizer from the diaper bag and doused my hands, and then ate three pieces. It was warm and fresh with a cup of honey butter hidden in the basket. I hadn’t realized just how hungry I was.
My phone buzzed.
Jared.
It was a text message letting me know he had no idea when he’d be back home for the night. I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn’t ready to talk to him.
Namely because I would probably leave a dent in his stupid forehead at this moment.
Sadie curled under the table and put her head on my foot with a heavy sigh.
I definitely was on the same wavelength. I sent him back a quick text letting him know we’d be fine. I could see a bubbling reply, but then it went silent. I shoved my phone back into the outside pocket of the diaper bag.
A woman with dark hair showed up in front of me with two plates.
“Hey. Gillian, right?”
She nodded. “You’re Sheriff Brooks’ girl?”
Was that all I was? “I’m Gina Ramos.”
Gillian’s smile went from polite to friendly. “Sorry. Just how I remember faces. Curse of the waitress.”
“I hear that one.”
“Oh, yeah?” She carried a big bowl of stew and more bread.
“Yeah, I work at the diner.”
“Oh, right.” She shrugged. “I’m always here. I don’t go into town too much. I think I made it into Brewed Awakening twice. Hard to pass up the free food here.”
“No offense taken, don’t worry. Besides, it seems as if Mason keeps you busy.”
“To say the least.” She glanced over her shoulder to find him. Her gaze narrowed as she spotted him speaking to a group of women.
Hmm. Was it like that? At least from her direction.
Her jaw tightened and matched the fisted hands she stuffed into her apron.
Evidently, very much like that.
“Anyway, let me know if you need anything.” She nudged the stew bowl toward me. It barely made it to the middle of my side of the table before she was crossing to meet him at another table full of smiling women.
I rolled my eyes as I picked up my spoon. This was why I didn’t date. All the emotions involved were a pain in the ass. I liked staying in my lane, and before Jared, I’d been less than excited to put myself out there. I’d dated when the lonely itch got too much. But did I really want to do that again?
Start from scratch?
“Very intense thought process going on over here.”
I put my spoon down. “Finally done using your niece to pick up girls?”
Sadie peeked out from under the table when Mason tucked the sleepy little girl into her carrier. A frosty peach-colored teether was hooked onto her wrist. Even with her head falling heavy into the bumper on her pretty carrier, she shoved the cold compress to her gums with a needy sound.
Looked like I might have a long night ahead of me.
“Sorry, I got caught up with customers.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
He nodded to me as he sat down. “Don’t like the stew?”
“No, it’s amazing. You missed me eating the first half like I was starving.”
“What, my brother doesn’t feed you?”
“He feeds me fine.” I swallowed hard at the image of exactly what kind of afternoon I’d had. Food hadn’t exactly been our focus.
Mason held up a hand. “That face and the blush says it all. I really don’t need details.”
“I wasn’t giving them.”
“Then again, there’s another cousin in the pile, right? Your sister’s baby? Now you’re an aunt and a mom.”
I blew out a breath. “I’m not her mom.”
Mason frowned. “Of course you are. More than her biological one times a million. Jared is so glad to have you in her life—hell, in both of their lives. I’ve never seen him happier. In fact—”
“Just stop.”
He leaned forward with his hands folded. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. It’s just a lot, okay? Everything has been a lot. This is still all so new.”
“It’s not new. You guys have been together forever.”
“No, we’ve been friends. Friends.” I tried to take a deep breath. “Just because we got naked in a high-stress situation doesn’t mean we are ready for marriage and