AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Food, finally.
The smell of pasta almost knocks me over, and I head straight for the serving area, leaving my manners far behind me. I haven’t had a full meal since dinner the day before yesterday. Everything went south with Maxwell yesterday afternoon, and I missed all of my meals.
But not tonight.
Armed with a heaping serving of two different types of pasta and a couple slices of garlic bread, I turn to find Jack walking into the room, with Logan behind him.
His smile warms my heart. Amusement rises inside me as his eyes drop to my plate of food, then widen at my gluttony.
I meet him at a table off to the side, pull out my seat, place my plate down, and pick up my fork to dig in. “Before you say anything, I missed breakfast and lunch today, and I’m starving.”
Jack’s face drops, and so does his tone. “Why didn’t you eat lunch, Jessa?”
My chest tightens. “Uh—”
“You can blame me for that, Jack. I kept her at the falls a little too long.” Dana answers for me as she pulls out a seat, and Grizz takes the one across from her.
Keeping his eyes on me, Jack leans to the side as Logan passes by. Then he shifts his gaze to his friend. “Want to pull up a seat?” Jack calls, catching Logan’s attention.
Logan pauses, looks between us, then back to Jack. “No, I’m going to take this to go. I’ve got a few things to take care of since we’ve been gone for most of the day. I’ll be back for dessert.”
I want to ask if they found out anything about Maxwell, but I keep my questions to myself. I’m enjoying the cease-fire between us, and I’m not ready to rock the boat.
Logan turns his attention to me and smiles. “Jack tells me he remembers cheesecake being your favorite, so I picked some up in town.”
I’m momentarily touched by Jack’s remembering and Logan’s thoughtfulness when Dana snorts, catching everyone’s attention.
“And here I thought your favorite was anything with sugar in it.”
I return her smirk. She’s right. I have a sweet tooth that is out of control. During our spare time, Dana has been perfecting a lot of sweet treats. She’s always wanted to open a dessert shop, and we’ve spent many nights planning our menu and design.
I would be nothing more than her website designer and security manager, and she decided years ago—and I agreed—that I would be paid in pastries, anything with icing on it.
“Yes. Cheesecake is still my favorite. Thank you for picking some up, Logan.”
With a quick nod, he leaves the room, and I spend the next twenty minutes eating my heaping plate of pasta.
Jack tells us what he can about his day in town, and Dana recaps our hike to the falls, as well as her review of the movie she watched with Grizz.
It turns out Jack and Logan had a string of meetings to organize their teams for an away mission to one of their other bases. While neither of them mentioned the reason, I have a good feeling it’s because they are confident they have something on Maxwell. I can’t see anything else that would cause them to lower their numbers here, especially since they have a traitor among them.
As I glance between Jack and Dana, a familiarity I’ve missed settles in. I almost feel like I’m back in high school again, laughing with my two closest friends.
Relaxed in my memories, my hunger gets the best of me, and I eat a little too quickly. Halfway through my second plate, I realize how full I am, and I forgot about dessert. At least until Logan pops his head back into the cafeteria with the cheesecake he bought in hand.
“Everyone ready for dessert?” He smiles toward our table.
“You okay, Jessa? You look like you’re going to explode,” Dana observes, and Logan pauses to look at me with a sudden sad look that only I catch.
I don’t have it in me to turn down a piece of my favorite dessert, especially when he went out of his way to pick it up, and I push my plate in his direction as his smile creeps back across his face.
“Just one piece, then I think I need to turn in. It’s been a long day.” I look up to find Jack watching me closely.
Logan cuts me a large piece, and I’m not sure I’ll finish it, but I’ll try since he went to the effort.
As I eat, I listen to Jack and Logan talk about the bakery in town, and Dana perks up, asking questions every few minutes until I am done eating. Finishing up my last bite, I push myself back from the table to stand, and the weight of the food hits me as I let out a soft sigh. Jack stands to join me as I say good night.
“Jack, remember I need you to help Hunter and Tex out back. I know it’s going to be a late night, but we need those trucks ready to roll out in the morning. Grizz, can you lend a hand as well? I have a few things to take care of inside.” Logan looks between the guys, and I sense Jack’s hesitation over leaving me, but Dana takes his choice away from him.
