When the waitress hurried away, Lauren pulled out her buzzing phone. “Sorry, I have to respond to this.”
“No need to apologize. You’re a busy woman.”
She flew through answering the text like a teenager who could text faster than she could speak. He took the opportunity to text Angel for a ride home after he ate. When he looked up, Lauren pointed at his phone.
“Looks as if I’m not the only one.”
“Arranging the family version of Uber.” At the curious expression on her face, he confessed, “I might have run over a deer and crunched the front of my truck on the way into town.”
“Oh, no. My sister once completely destroyed her car when she hit, I swear, the biggest buck I’ve ever seen. He was like a ninety-eight-pointer or something.”
He laughed at that mental image. “Bet he had a neck ache before his untimely demise.”
One of those genuine smiles appeared on her face, and he swore he’d never seen anything so beautiful.
The waitress had been right. She appeared with their food just as the other staff members behind the counter started bagging up a large number of takeout containers. As their waitress moved on to her next customers, he noticed a couple of the women who’d been chatting with Lauren were now looking at him. They smiled then shifted their gazes away, but he felt odd, as if they’d been sizing him up.
He’d taken one bite of his burger when the group of women started making moves to leave. When they stood, the one who’d originally recognized Lauren drew her attention again.
“I’m so glad to see you doing well and moving on. The way that boy treated you was so wrong. I wanted to hit him upside the head with my purse, and it’s not an unsubstantial weapon,” she said, lifting what to Adam’s eyes looked more like a piece of luggage.
“Uh, thank you.” Lauren’s answer sounded strangled, as if she suddenly wished she was anywhere but where she sat.
Thankfully, the women didn’t stick around any longer, especially since one of the waitresses was already clearing their table so more customers could be seated. But Adam only saw that activity with his peripheral vision because his gaze was fixed on Lauren and how any hint of a smile, of happiness, had just evaporated right before his eyes.
Lauren had read books where the characters were placed in situations so embarrassing that they wished for a hole to open up and swallow them, but she’d never experienced it herself. Not until now anyway. Even during the trial Phil had forced her into with claims she’d promised him half her business, she hadn’t experienced the need to pull herself into a shell to hide like a turtle. Then she’d had her attorney beside her, and she’d been filled instead with righteous anger and a fierce determination to prove that Phil was full of crap and not entitled to one red cent of her money.
The determination had paid off. Only after it was all over did she realize the emotional toll it had taken on her. But as the woman had said, Lauren was moving forward—just not in the way the other woman had assumed. Before Lauren figured out some way to correct her while also not offending Adam, the woman and her friends were already headed for the exit.
Oh, how she wished she hadn’t gotten a text from Papa Ed earlier that he and the girls had already eaten and were about to take a nap. She’d intended to order her lunch to go so she could head back to work. She wanted to get a good amount accomplished but also leave plenty of time to play with Bethany and Harper before their bedtime.
Movement across the table brought her back to the present. She couldn’t meet Adam’s gaze, didn’t want to invite any questions about what the other woman had meant. Hoping by some miracle he’d missed it entirely, she latched on to the first nonrelated topic that came to mind.
“So, you said your company only employs family members. How many people is that?”
“We’re up to eleven if you don’t count the kids, although one’s a toddler so she gets a free pass.” She smiled at his joke, causing him to do the same. “Some have other jobs, too, but we all pitch in on the ranch whenever and wherever needed. You’re welcome to come out and see the operation sometime, if that would help make your decision easier.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, more out of gratitude that he’d not asked about the woman’s comment than any real need to see the beef still on the hoof.
Thankfully, their conversation flowed into even safer territory with him telling her about the various businesses in town that brought in tourists, or that were popular with the locals—or both.
“You’re going to have some competition from Keri Teague. She owns Mehlerhaus Bakery and is considered the best baker in Blue Falls.”
“I don’t mind a little friendly competition. It’s been my experience that there can never be too many desserts available. The number of people with a fondness for sweets is directly proportional to the number of sweets they can get their hands on.”
Adam laughed. “You and Keri should get a cut of Dr. Brown’s business. He’s the local dentist.”
She smiled. “That’s not a half-bad idea.”
Adam’s smile lessened a fraction as he glanced beyond her. Before she could turn to investigate why, an older woman stepped up to the table and placed her hand on Adam’s shoulder.
“I hear your family’s about to get a little bigger again.”
“You hear correctly.”
Was Adam married? She didn’t see a ring on his hand, but that didn’t mean anything. She knew ranchers who didn’t wear rings so they didn’t get caught on machinery and rip off a finger. Of course, he could be a father without a wife. He had mentioned kids on the ranch earlier. Though she barely knew him, she really didn’t want to believe he might be married and having a friendly, chatty lunch with her. She was well aware that men and women had business lunches all the time, but the fact that Adam didn’t come across as a married man made her hope he wasn’t. Not that she wanted to be with him. She just didn’t want to be faced with another lying, self-serving man.
Adam made eye contact with Lauren. “My oldest brother, Neil, and his wife just announced they’re having their first baby.”
“Oh, good for them.” She ignored the strange and unexpected feeling of relief that the child wasn’t his. She tried finding a valid reason for her reaction. When she couldn’t, she chose to ignore it.
“Yeah, it’s so nice seeing all the joyful events your family has been having—weddings, babies.” The woman shifted her attention toward Lauren. “I’m sorry. I must have left my manners in the car. I’m Verona Charles. I wanted to welcome you to Blue Falls. Everyone is so excited to have you here, and we can’t wait to see what you do with your place.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.” She wondered if there was a soul left in the county who didn’t know what she was up to. She accepted Verona’s hand for a shake. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Verona used to be the
