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Luke was pleased that Jamie had accepted his invitation for a date. She seemed to be a sweet woman and she was definitely beautiful. There was something magnetic about her. He sent her a quick text, letting her have his number and telling her that he would pick her up about six the next night.
Sounds good.
She texted her address, and that was it. Luke had heard about those women who needed to be in constant contact and sent a barrage of texts, but apparently she wasn’t one of them.
He stopped by the fire station to say hello to Josh.
“What are you grinning about?”
“Would you believe that I have a date? I asked Jamie out.”
“I like her,” Josh said. “She is very pretty. How long has it been since you’ve gone on an actual date with a woman?”
“I have no idea. I’ve not stayed in one place long enough in the last several years than to do more than the occasional hookup.”
“This will be a change of pace for you.”
“That it will,” Luke said. “This whole tamed down life in Ivy Springs has been a huge adjustment.”
“Compared to the excitement you’ve been living, I imagine that it is. I’m surprised that you aren’t bored out of your mind.”
“Now that you mention it, I am,” Luke said. “I’ve stopped answering any calls at the store because if I have to saythank you for calling Abrams Hardware, how can I help youone more time, I may just shoot the phone.”
Josh laughed.
“You think it’s funny. Just wait until I keel over from it. I’m seriously thinking I need to call the commander and tell him that I made a huge mistake,” Luke said, seriously. “My knee has healed up nicely.”
“What about the bullet in your back?”
“It never stopped me before. It’ll either work its way out, or be so covered in tissue that it’ll never move. Even if it kills me, at least I’ll be doing something besides stacking salt and sweeping the floor.”
“I hear your frustration. You had to know that it wasn’t going to be easy.”
“I did. I’m just grousing,” Luke said.
“Something to make life a little more interesting is a poker game tonight at Dillon’s shop. You should be there around seven.”
“Should I bring peanuts and pretzels, or cash?”
“Cash, of course. Be prepared to lose, brother. Ethan is a card shark,” Josh warned.
“Thanks for the warning,” Luke replied. “I had better get back to the store before my father has a heart attack because I’m not exactly where he thinks that I should be.”
“Have fun with that.”
When seven finally rolled around, Dillon welcomed Luke to the group.
“I’m glad that you came. Josh speaks very highly of you.”
“Thanks for the invitation,” Luke said.
Dillon introduced everyone seated around a large round table in the back room. He had already met Ethan, but hadn’t met Daniel, Jessie, Bernie, and some of the others.
“Why the façade?” Luke asked, motioning to the cards and chips on the table.
“Why not mix a little business with pleasure?” Dillon asked. “However, the truth is that while I trust every single person here, there is no telling what eyes and ears are hanging about. If someone peeks in the back room and sees the set up, then that is all they have to report back to the Faisons. Raf has already hit me up a couple of times, wanting to be a part of the game, so he knows that we’re meeting here.”
“That makes sense.”
