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He clamped his mouth shut, pulled out Faye’s chair and then took his own seat. Did they have family dinners often? Or was this a special occasion?
A glance in Faye’s direction didn’t give him any clues whatsoever. She hadn’t mentioned meals like this before.
Zeke cleared his throat and set his hardened gaze on everyone in the room. “Ever since I loosened the rules for you girls, I feel a distance has grown between us. You all spread out like dandelion seeds in the wind and didn’t look back.”
“Dad,” one of Faye’s sisters reached for Zeke’s hand, “you know that’s not how it is. We’re all busy.” Her eyes swept through the room. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t come home whenever you need us to.”
Zeke’s expression softened. “I know, Adeline. But with half of you married or dating,” he said, his gaze zeroed in on Adam. “I felt the need to make sure we know what comes first.” He let his words sink in before he continued. “That’s family.”
Faye’s sisters exchanged smiles. The men in the room didn’t seem the least bit anxious, unlike Adam, who now felt like this meeting was all because he hadn’t come to meet Faye’s father first.
He’d have to make sure to pull Zeke aside and apologize. That was the expected thing to do.
Right?
Zeke pulled out his chair and took a seat. “I’d like to have family dinners once a month. I’ll not have any one of you become like strangers who no longer come around.”
Chills rocked through Adam’s body. Zeke might be intimidating, but he clearly was a good man. His own family was spread thin throughout the country. He himself had once been one of the seeds that had floated away. Adam glanced to Faye, who was giving her undivided attention to her father, and all he could think about was that he wanted her to have exactly what Zeke had described.
More than that, he might even want to be the one to stand by her side. The realization hit him like a bus. When he’d come back to Copper Creek, it had been with one goal in mind. He was going to take over the auto shop so his father wouldn’t just hand over the reins to a stranger.
Bridget was great, and he enjoyed working with her, but he grew up in the shop. He wasn’t about to let it go.
Then he’d set his sights on Dahlia—or maybe it was just having someone to spend his time with. He’d thought she would be a good option from the first moment he’d met her. She was beautiful, outgoing, and grounded. She’d grown up in Copper Creek, too. There wasn’t a risk of her wanting to pick up and move, which gave him a sense of security.
And that was when he got to know Faye.
His gaze locked onto her. She was everything that Dahlia was and more. Plus, she had strong family ties. She loved horses and learning new things. She’d make a good mother.
A lump formed in Adam’s throat. Up until this point, he hadn’t really thought too far into the future. Not with Dahlia, nor with Faye. In the back of his mind, sure. He wanted a family—to settle down. But he’d never looked at either of these women as the way to get what he wanted.
Sitting at this table surrounded by Faye’s family… he just knew.
This was where he wanted to be.
Faye must have felt his gaze on her because she turned toward him. He offered a smile—one she didn’t return as readily as he’d hoped. Something was off. And he was going to figure it out.
Suddenly he didn’t feel hungry. He didn’t think he could stomach any of the food that smelled so good—not if Faye was struggling with something that involved him.
Adam itched to tug on her hand and pull her out of the kitchen so they could talk things over and get to the root of the problem. But he couldn’t—not when he could feel the gaze of others on him. He was the new one—the stranger. He hadn’t earned his place.
Not yet.
“So, Adam, you’re the one who has been fixing up our trucks lately.” It was the woman seated beside Zeke. She scooped some potatoes out of a bowl then passed it to the man seated beside her.
He nodded. “That’s right, ma’am. I am.”
Her gaze bounced from him to Faye. “I’ve seen you out here a lot on the weekends. Learning some tricks of the trade?”
Adam glanced at Faye with a smile. “I thought I might try my hand at the rodeo.” He’d thought the room was quiet before. But that was when everyone had their silverware clanking against their dishes.
Now, this was quiet. He could have heard a pin drop on a pillow by the way the room went still.
Faye’s sister appeared to be frozen, but it only lasted a moment. “Oh? Why is that?”
He swallowed hard. “Well, because that’s what a lot of folks do out here.”
The man beside her chuckled. “Wrong answer,” he muttered under his breath.
