Page 5

CHAPTER 5

DELANEY

I could smell the smoke from the barbecue pit from half a mile down the road. My mouth watered as I pulled into the parking lot of the Hog & Hickory Smokehouse. Janice, one of the volunteers at the park office had mentioned it earlier in the week, and after a long day of prepping for camp, it sounded like the perfect place to grab takeout on a Saturday night.

Evidently most of Big Wood must have had the same idea. The place was packed. Twangy bluegrass music played from the overhead speakers and a rush of cool air gave me goosebumps as I stepped inside.

A teenage girl in a hot pink t-shirt that read “Get Hog Wild or Get Out!” greeted me. “Welcome to the Hog and Hickory. How many in your party?”

“Just me, but I figured I’d place an order to go.” I hated eating out alone. Though I saw other people do it all the time, I always felt like people were looking at me when I sat by myself at a restaurant. I’d grab a sandwich with a side of fries then take it back to the cabin and continue prepping for the next week of camp.

The girl handed me a paper menu with little pink pigs printed around the edges. “Just let me know when you decide what you want.”

“Thank you.” I took it from her and sat down on a wooden bench by the front door while I decided what to order. My gaze caught on the baby back ribs, then the pulled pork sandwich. Everything sounded amazing.

A server walked by with a huge tray balanced on his shoulder. Another passed carrying a hot skillet full of cornbread. My stomach growled as I watched her set it down in the middle of a nearby table. A boy bounced up and down on his side of a red vinyl booth. A boy I recognized as Eli Ramsey. His sister sat next to him with District Park Ranger Grump right across the table.

Wren noticed me noticing them and waved. Caught staring, I lifted my hand to wave back. She said something to her dad that caused him to look my way. Great. Should I smile? Walk over and say hi? While I tried to decide how to handle a potentially awkward situation, Wren crossed the room and stopped in front of me.

“Hi, Miss Delaney. Are you having dinner by yourself tonight?”

“Hi Wren. I’m just placing an order to go.” I didn’t dare look past her to see if Jace was still staring at me, but based on the way my cheeks burned, I bet he was. “Have you been here before?”

She nodded. “It’s Eli’s favorite. Dad said we could come for the hog call contest tonight.”

“A hog call contest?” I must have misunderstood her.

“Yep. Eli’s been hoping Dad will try. Will you stay and watch?” Her eyes lit up. “You can come sit with us while we wait.”

Panic spread through my chest. “Oh, I don’t want to disrupt your dinner.”

“It’s okay. We haven’t even ordered yet.” She grabbed my hand and tugged.

“No, really. I’ll just get my food to go,” I said. For such a tiny little thing, she was surprisingly strong. We were halfway across the room before I realized it.

Jace stood as we approached the table. He had on a pair of faded jeans and some well-worn boots. His plain gray t-shirt clung to his shoulders and showed off tan, muscled arms. Either the temperature in the Hog & Hickory had just hit triple digits or I was getting uncomfortably hot and bothered from being in such close proximity to my boss. My boss who was definitely single I’d been told by the same volunteer who’d recommended the restaurant.

“Hey, Delaney. I see Wren convinced you to come over and say hi.” He offered a casual smile. Outside the office he didn’t seem nearly as uptight.

“She did. Um, hi.” I lifted my hand in an awkward wave while I died a little inside. “I’m just here to put in an order for takeout. I don’t want to interrupt your dinner.”

“Can she eat with us, Dad?” Eli asked.

My pulse thundered through my ears. The noise was so loud, I was sure everyone in the restaurant could hear it.

Jace froze for a split second, obviously caught off guard. He recovered faster than I did though. “Would you like to join us?”

“That’s okay. I don’t want to?—”

“Please?” Wren was still holding my hand, and she gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Come on. It’s just dinner.” Jace gestured to his side of the booth.

I don’t know what possessed me to agree. As soon as my butt hit the bench, I scrambled to come up with an excuse as to why I needed to leave. Like immediately.

But then Jace slid in next to me, blocking me in. The scent of pine and soap drifted off him, and I tried not to greedily suck in a breath but failed. A server brought over a red plastic cup full of ice water and asked if I wanted some sweet tea. Eli and Wren resumed their game of tic-tac-toe on a paper placemat and even though I felt like the earth had shifted on its axis, the world seemed to go on.

“Have you been here before?” Jace asked.

“No, but everything sounds good. Do you have a favorite?” With him right next to me, I wasn’t sure if I should try to shift and make eye contact or keep my eyes on the menu I clutched in my hand.

“Dad always gets the ribs,” Eli said. “Side of homemade slaw and home fries with extra sauce on the side. Same as me, right Dad?”

“I don’t always get the ribs,” Jace protested.

The twins gave him the same exact look, like they were calling bullshit. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Jace shrugged. “I guess I’m a creature of habit.”

I barely knew the man and could have guessed that. “Ribs sound good, but aren’t they pretty messy?”

“That’s why they give you bibs.” Wren unwrapped her silverware and held out a pink plastic bib with a pig’s face printed on the front.

“You don’t actually have to wear the bib,” Jace said.

“That’s not what you said.” Eli’s eyes went wide.

Jace shifted on the bench next to me and for half a heartbeat, his thigh pressed against mine. I wasn’t sure what made my pulse spike… how it felt to have our legs touch, or how much I didn’t want him to move away. I reached for my water just as our server came back.

“What can I get you, hon?” She pulled a pencil from the depths of her tall beehive hairdo and waited for me to answer.

“You can go first,” I said to Wren.

“We already ordered. Go ahead and we’ll just have them hold our food until yours is ready too,” Jace said.

I caught a sly smile from Wren. She’d tricked me into joining them by saying they hadn’t even ordered their food yet. It was too late to back out, plus I was trapped in the booth by Jace. Giving in, I handed my menu to our server. “Oh, I guess I’ll have the ribs.”

“Slaw or salad and home fries or fried okra?” she asked.

I hesitated. No one had ever offered me fried okra before. “Slaw and fries, please.”

“Sounds good. I’ll have that out for you folks in a jiffy.” She wound her way through the crowded restaurant like she’d been doing it all her life.

“That was Glenda. Her family’s owned this place since it opened a few generations ago,” Jace said. “You’ll find that a lot of folks in Big Wood have lived here their whole life.”

“But not you, Dad,” Wren said with a smile.

I’d wondered how Jace ended up in Big Wood. Wren had just given me the perfect opportunity to ask. “So, you’re not from around here?”

He wrapped his hand around his plastic cup of tea and lifted it to his lips as he answered. “Nope.”

“Dad grew up in Texas,” Eli said. “He has a hundred brothers and used to ride bulls for fun.”

“That’s not exactly true.” Jace grinned and shook his head. “I have foster brothers. And I only tried riding a bull once. I could tell right away it was a horrible idea.”

Eli’s grin widened. “Tell her about the time you picked up a rattlesnake with your bare hand.”

Jace rolled his eyes. “I never should have told you that story, and I’m sure Miss Delaney doesn’t want to hear about all of the dumb things I did when I was a kid.”

“Actually, it’s kind of fun knowing you weren’t born with a survival guide in your hand,” I teased.

After that, the conversation flowed easily while we waited for our food. Seeing Jace around his kids made me look at him through a different lens. He was comfortable and relaxed, not like the uptight drill sergeant he seemed to be around the office. And when Glenda came back with huge platters of ribs, a veggie hot dog for Wren, giant bowls of homemade coleslaw, and another skillet of fresh-out-of-the-oven cornbread, Jace was the first one to tie the pink piggy bib around his neck.

By the time our plates were cleared away and Glenda set my foil-wrapped leftovers in front of me, I’d decided I actually liked Jace Ramsey, at least this version of him.

“Who’s signing up for the hog calling competition?” Glenda asked as she stopped by the table. “Special dessert is up for grabs. You can’t order it, you have to win it.”

Eli sat up straight and elbowed Wren in the side. “Come on, Dad. You said you’d try to win us the trough tonight.”

“No way.” Jace shook his head.

“What’s the trough?” I asked.

Wren and Eli started talking at the same time.

“Slow down.” Jace turned to face me. “It’s a banana split that comes out in a ridiculously large metal trough.”

“It looks so good.” Eli licked his lips.

“We’ve never tried to win it,” Wren added.

“And all you have to do is a hog call?” I eyed both of them with suspicion. Wren had already pretty much tricked me into eating dinner with them. I didn’t want to get in over my head.

“Best one wins,” Glenda said.

“I dare you to give it a shot.” Jace sat back, a smirk playing across his lips.

He didn’t know me very well if he thought I’d back down from a challenge. I lifted my shoulder. “I’ll do it.”

“Really?” Eli clapped his hands together while Wren slapped her palm down on the table.

Jace laughed and didn’t get up. “I was just teasing. You don’t have to, Delaney.”

“I don’t mind. What’s a little public humiliation when the trough’s on the line?” I waited for him to slide out of the booth while my heart did somersaults in my chest.

Glenda showed me where to wait my turn as she announced the start of the competition. There were only a handful of other customers willing to give it all they got, so it didn’t take long before it was my turn to stand in front of the mic. The competition was stiff, and I had my work cut out for me.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. With one last look over at Jace and his kids, I gave it my all.