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Jim returned with a basketful of warm rolls and set them on the table. Then he sat down with them. “Dig in!”
Tyler reached for the rolls, took one and handed the bowl to Kara. His father cut into the lasagna and scooped a piece onto his son’s plate. “We’ll let this cool while we have our salad, okay, Ty?”
“Okay.”
“So I hear you ran into Wade and Caleb today,” Kara said. She put a piece of the luscious-looking lasagna onto her own plate to cool, then filled her salad bowl.
“They told you?”
“Not exactly.” She slanted a look toward Tyler.
“Oh.” Jim filled his own plate. “Yeah, we saw them in town. Stopped at that cute little place on the corner for coffee.”
“And pie!” Tyler reminded him.
“Pie with ice cream,” Jim corrected.
She watched Jimmy Corona’s eyes, knew darn well he was keeping something from her—and she was sorely afraid she knew what it was. “They gave you a hard time, didn’t they?”
He only smiled at her. “Now what would they have to give me a hard time about, Kara? We had a nice chat, and the coffee was great.”
“So was the pie,” Tyler said.
“Did they try to warn you away from me?”
He lowered his eyes. “They love you, Kara. They’re worried I’m going to break your heart and they wanted to let me know they’d have something to say about it if I did. It was all perfectly civil.”
She rolled her eyes, suddenly wondering where her appetite had gone.
“Is there somethin’ wrong with your heart, Kara?” Tyler asked.
“No, honey. My heart’s just fine.”
He smiled. “That’s good. You don’t gotta worry. My dad hardly ever breaks anything. And I’ll try hard not to break you either.”
She looked at that child, at the genuine concern and the promise in his big blue eyes, and thought her heart was under siege and falling fast. Then she drew her gaze away and fixed it on Jimmy. “I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions, take my own risks. I don’t want anything those overprotective louts said to get to you.”
“Youget to me,” he told her. He held her gaze for a long moment, until she had to look away, her cheeks flooding with heat
When she managed to look up again, he was focusing on his meal. But after he’d chewed and swallowed, he said, “And I told your brothers-in-law that I have no intention of doing anything that might hurt you.”
“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“Don’t worry, Kara,” Tyler said. “Dad always keeps his promises.” He munched lasagna, his salad barely touched. Then he took a big gulp of milk. “Dad, can we go to that pie place again tomorrow? I wanna ride the pony again.”
Kara saw Jim’s face change. Saw a cloud come right over it. “Well, tomorrow we have... something else we have to do, son.”
“What?” The little boy shoveled in more food. Chugged more milk. He’d already nearly cleaned his plate.
“Well, you remember I told you that just because we were going on vacation it didn’t mean we could take a vacation from everything. Right?”
Tyler stopped with a bite halfway to his mouth. He looked up at his dad. his eyes wide and pleading. “Not PT, Dad.”
“It’s the only way you’re gonna get better, Ty.”
“But I don’t wanna!”
“I’m sorry, son. But we have to. It’s in the next town over, called Tucker Lake. It might be really nice there, Ty.”
