to run, though her tall frame had never enjoyed the activity much. Her knees were too knobby and her chest too big, and running was actually painful in a lot of ways.
But if she didn’t have to greet Ward in front of all of her employees? Running away sounded like her best option while everyone cheered for Bella. They surged forward then, picking up paper plates and chattering with one another.
Dot stepped around them and over to Ward, who removed the strap from around his shoulder and head and set his guitar in the corner. He straightened to face her, hope and handsomeness streaming from his face. “Hey, there,” he said, easily taking her into an embrace.
He didn’t hold it for too long. Just long enough for her to say, “Hey, yourself, you country music star.”
He chuckled as he stepped back. He wore a dark brown cowboy hat today, and Dot asked, “Do you keep a spare hat at your sister’s?”
“All my spares are in my truck.” He indicated the guitar. “I just picked that up from the music store. They were restringing it.”
“It sounds amazing,” she said, glancing toward the instrument and back to the man. “You’re a great player.”
“I took lessons growing up,” he said with a shrug. “They were from my grandfather, but he was a great guitarist, so I think it still counts.”
Dot agreed and reached for his hand. “Are you ready to meet everyone here?”
“I think I’ve met them all before,” he said, glancing past her to the fray surrounding the six-foot sub sandwich Wendy’s husband had brought in. The two of them already sat on the love seat in front of the window close to where Dot had been standing.
She tugged him in that direction. “I don’t think you’ve met Amber,” she said. “She’s pretty new.”
The redhead appeared in front of them, her brown eyes as wide as a deer caught in the headlights. “My goodness, Ward Glover! You’re so talented. I’ve never heard anyone play like that before.”
Ward looked at Dot, who looked right on back at him. He faced Amber with a kind smile on his face, though Dot wanted to burst out laughing. “Thank you, ma’am,” he drawled, really laying on his Texas accent. “You must be Amber.”
The girl giggled and tucked her hair like she could get Ward to ask her out. Dot simply smiled and shook her head, though she was impressed by Ward’s attitude and demeanor toward Amber. In fact, Dot was the one with gossipy thoughts in her head, and she watched as Ward dropped her hand and linked his through Amber’s.
“I play so well because I was in this band once….” He led her toward the end of the table where the paper plates were, and Dot watched them go, once again in awe of the magnificent Ward Glover.
So you like him, she conceded. She started to argue with herself—after all, the man was demanding and arrogant and he’d once ruined her mother’s raspberry cream whip before a church potluck—and stopped.
“Yeah,” she whispered as Ward started introducing himself to Calvin and Holden. “You like him a lot.”
Chapter Five
Ward kept one eye on Dot as he took a section of the sub sandwich and a hefty piece of chocolate cake. She’d barely moved from just inside the doorway, and he smiled at Bella, wished her happy birthday, and turned toward the silver blonde who’d kept him awake far past his bedtime last night.
“Are you going to eat?” he asked, approaching her. He extended his plate toward her, and she took it. “Pick somewhere to eat and save me a spot, okay?” He turned before she could say anything. Back at the table, he got another plate, another piece of sandwich, and a larger piece of cake. He did love chocolate cake, and this wasn’t the bakery kind with the greasy frosting. This was homemade chocolate cake, with thick, rich, chocolatey frosting that he’d been able to smell the moment he’d stepped inside the building.
Ranger, his older brother, had always teased him about having the nose of a bloodhound, and sometimes it served Ward well. It could be a curse too, but right now, his stomach growled at him and his mouth started to water.
He once again kept track of Dot as she chose a spot down at the other end of the table from where the food sat. Calvin, the other truck driver here at the landscaping company, sat on one side of her, with Holden taking