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“No, I just came for coffee. The place is empty, your till is balanced and your tip jar is full. I have a latte, Kipp has a coffee and Coop has a doughnut. I’m taking one of these too. You’re welcome,” I singsonged, grabbing a white chocolate syrup off the shelf.
“Thanks,” he said half heartedly.
“You all right?” I leaned against the doorframe and waited.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just needed a bunch of stuff for the front.” He popped out from behind the boxes with containers of veggies and sliced meat. I took a few to help him balance what he had. Handing them to him when he was ready, he turned. “Thanks Nora. You’re still looking good.” He grinned and out of the corner of my eye I saw Kipp stand.
“Thanks Fred, see ya next time.” I grabbed my coffee and syrup and walked out with the boys.
“Cooper, maybe wait until we get home to eat that,” I said after I’d strapped him into his seat. Grabbing my coffee off the rail of the truck bed, I hopped up into the passenger seat and buckled up. Kipp was frowning at me. “What?”
“He’s four, you got him a doughnut and now you’re telling him he can’t eat it for almost an hour?” He shook his head and started the truck.
“I don’t want him getting it all over your truck.”
“It’s a ranch truck, Nora. Do you have any idea what gets in this truck?”
“Come on, Kipp, it’s spotless. You’re going to have chocolate icing from front to back.”
“There’s been cow shit front to back. At least chocolate doesn’t smell bad. Yes, Coop, I know I’ll add it when we get home.” I turned back and looked at my son, who was absolutely loving the time he spent with Kipp.
“This truck cost more money than where I was living.”
“You were living in a rundown shack. Your coffee cost more than that place.” He made a left at the stop sign and headed out of town.
“Ok, that’s true, but…”
“Cooper, eat your doughnut.” He looked in the rearview mirror and grinned at my boy. “Here, I got you this too.” He grabbed the bag that was sitting on the dash and handed it to me.
I pulled out a box with a cell phone on it and frowned. “What is this?”
“It's a phone, Nora, like the box says.” He tapped the package in my hand.
Rolling my eyes, I stared him down. “No, this is too much. I don’t need this.”
“Nora, we live in the middle of nowhere. If you’re out on the road and something happens you need a phone.” He clenched his jaw and his knuckles went white as he gripped the steering wheel.
“You’ve done more than enough, Kipp. I can't take this.”
“Do you have a hard time saying thank you to everyone or just me?” He lifted his cup to his lips and waited. It was too much, and I shouldn’t accept it, but he was right.
“Thank you.”
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?” He glanced over at me. I rolled my eyes and drank my latte.
The humming of the highway under the tires was the only sound in the truck. The pastures flashed by, and I was almost oblivious to them. What I wasn’t oblivious to was the man sitting next to me. He’d taken care of everything I needed. On one hand, I felt guilty for allowing it all to happen, but, on the other hand, I was tired of being the one to take care of everything. It felt nice for someone to think of me and Cooper.
“Why did you help Fred?” He didn’t take his eyes off the road, but I could see the frown growing on his face.
“Look, I don’t know what happened between you two, and I don’t want to know, but other than him making inappropriate comments, he treated me fair. He was the only one in town to give me a job, and I will be grateful for that. So, I helped him.” I turned my attention from him to the window. It took so little to be kind. I didn’t want to live with the regrets of being a shitty person. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited Kristin out?” I asked, staring at my coffee cup.
“You’re living in the house. It’s your home. Invite whoever you want. I didn’t ask you to come work for me to hide you away from the world. You can have friends. I have Kristin’s number. I will give it to you when we get home.” Why would he have Kristin’s number? I was jealous. I had no right to be. Whose number he had wasn’t any of my business. “She’s an old friend, that’s all, and she uses the arena to barrel race before big rodeos.” Why was the man able to read my mind? I looked over at him. Our hands were dangerously close. Since we were both using the console as an armrest, it would take nothing to move slightly and rest my hand against his. I watched Kipp glance up in the mirror and a slight smile crossed his lips. “He’s out. Chocolate icing all over his face.”
Turning, I studied the sleeping angel and still couldn’t believe he was mine. Warmth radiated on my hand and I looked down to see Kipp had moved his closer. The edges of our hands touched and an electrical current flowed up my arm. Butterflies danced in my stomach and I couldn’t for the life of me remember when I’d felt like this.
I watched him move his big hand and lace his fingers with mine. The air was sucked out of the truck, my head was spinning, and I instantly broke out in a sweat. What was wrong with me? I’d held hands with guys before, granted not in over four years, but my reaction to it was like it was my first time. I casually glanced over at Kipp and his expression hadn’t changed. He was as cool as a cucumber staring out the windshield of the truck.
Kipp pulled up to the house and we just sat there for a moment, not moving. I didn’t want this to end, but Cooper would wake up and he didn’t need to see things that would confuse him. “Thank you for today. For all of it, not just the stuff you bought.”
