Forever Saved - Kathleen Brooks Page 0,40
of Nolan Flynn. Nolan had been a couple years ahead of Jace in high school, but they’d still hung out together.
Nolan’s parents owned the seed store all the farmers used in downtown, but Nolan was also a part-time volunteer firefighter and had offered to work at the nursery to keep an eye on things until Matt, Cody, Luke, and Andy could find the person behind the fire. Stella had been skeptical, but Jace swore Nolan would be an asset and so far he had been. He knew a lot about farming and was learning the rest quickly. Plus, in high school, he’d asked Ahmed Mueez, the premier international badass soldier, if he could date his daughter. Nolan had nerves of steel.
At the end of the day, Jace would either drive to Stella’s or Nolan would drop Stella off at Jace’s. It was a strange courtship, but Jace had known it wasn’t the time to put the full-court press on Stella. With sex off the table for now, they talked over breakfast and dinner and then snuggled together at night. It wasn’t that Jace wasn’t thinking about sex. He was . . . a lot. Instead, he tried to focus on what he did have—deep and breathless kisses. The feel of Stella’s body held tight against his. And the most rewarding part? The trust and bond that was developing between them.
However, tonight might put those bonds to the test. Even as Jace was wrapping up the last couple of patients for the day, his mind was on what waited for them. His Grandma Marcy had demanded the family’s attendance at dinner tonight. Not just Jace and his immediate family, but the entire Davies family with the express order to bring Stella.
Jace finished with a patient and went into his office as Molly got started on the next patient. He pulled out his phone and called Stella.
“Hey, Jace!”
“How are you doing, Stella?”
“Just wrapping up here. What about you?”
“I have about an hour left.”
“I’ll grab my things and have Nolan drop me off at your place. Does that work?”
“Yes, but I wanted to remind you about tonight. My grandma has called twice to make sure you’re coming to family dinner. You don’t have to go, but I’d like you to join me if you’re up to a night of intense interrogation.”
“That isn’t the nicest way to describe family dinner.”
“It’s my grandparents’ and parents’ way to find out if we’re dating,” Jace admitted with equal measure embarrassment and nervousness. He and Stella hadn’t actually talked about their relationship, even though he himself considered them a couple in progress. He just hadn’t made the move yet to ask her to make it official.
The line was silent and then he finally heard Stella. “Oh, okay. I still look forward to meeting those I haven’t met. I’ll see you shortly.”
Jace hung up and took a deep breath. She hadn’t said no. They were on.
What the hell was that?
Stella hung up the phone and stared in confusion at it as Nolan loaded mulch into the bed of a pickup. He slammed the tailgate shut and the last customer of the day drove off.
“What’s going on?” Nolan asked. “You have a strange look on your face.”
Nolan had been a godsend. He knew everyone in the area and helped make introductions. Stella has seen a steady uptick in local customers with Nolan vouching for her. In fact, she and Nolan had started a joint promotion between the feed store and her garden center. She also found his presence brought out a frightening number of single ladies. However, once they were there, Nolan sold them so many flowers she was going to need to put in a new order very soon.
“I’m going to the Davies family dinner tonight, and Jace just said it’s their way to interrogate us to find out if we’re dating.” Nolan cringed. He was a very sexy man with muscles for miles and a sharp face with kind eyes. But the cringe wasn’t a good sign. “What?”
“I’ve heard of those family dinners. I never dated a Davies just to avoid them. I dated Dylan’s wife once in high school, and her father is scary. Mad scary. The type to follow you with an armed drone that would shoot you if you made the wrong move with his daughter. However, he seemed the safer choice between Abby and a Davies woman.” Nolan shrugged then. “But you two are dating so it’s no big deal. Mr. Davies gave you