Page 80 of Unbreakable Love

“It’s okay,” Ryken said and stepped back. There was humor in his eyes, but maybe a twinge of jealousy, too.

I shrank back in the booth, the awkwardness increasing. I’d wanted a dinner with Josie and Gavin, not a night of men trying to fight over me and based on the looks Ryken and Gavin were giving each other, that’s exactly what they were silently doing.

“I can see what’s happening here,” Ryken said. “Enjoy your dinner.”

He turned, went back to the stool he’d clearly been sitting at because there was a filled drink, and a cell phone he picked up and focused on.

“Mind if we join you?” Gavin asked.

“I think if you don’t sit, the entire town is going to show up to witness a brawl, so yes, please.”

I waved him in and hid behind my menu.

“What’s a brawl?” Josie asked.

“A fight, munchkin.”

“Who’s fighting and why?”

Gavin chortled.

I dipped my head behind my menu to hide my own laugh.

This night. It grew more entertaining by the moment.

“No one, kiddo. How about you decide what you want to drink before Eloise gets here.”

“All right, Dad. Miss Pesco, do you have any pencils or pens again?”

Of course I did. I dug into my purse and handed them to her.

“Thanks.”

Indeed, Eloise came, with two extra menus and a sly smile as she set them down. Came back and took our orders, the meatloaf dinner for Gavin with nary a green vegetable requested, chicken tenders and apples for Josie. I ordered a southwestern steak salad for myself with a side of onion rings, and once Eloise was gone, Gavin leaned back in the booth and draped his arm over the top.

His hand fell, and he played with Josie’s hair like it was instinct, and I supposed it was, but the move was so beautifully charming, my heart skipped a step.

He might have been rude to me at first, but he was a good man and an even better dad.

“Did Maize get back to school okay?”

“She did. Texted me when she got there and everything.”

“I liked her,” Josie said, scribbling away at a picture on the placemat. “She’s pretty like you, but you have prettier hair.”

“Thanks, Josie. That’s sweet of you.”

She shrugged, face still downturned to the placemat, but she didn’t see my smile.

And when I looked at Gavin, she definitely didn’t see the heated look on his. “She’s right,” he mouthed to me.

I rolled my eyes and gulped from my ice water. Either the heater had kicked on in the restaurant, or my internal thermostat was rising, but I was suddenly roasting in my jeans and sweater.

Dinner came, we tucked in, and Josie filled most of the time like last time talking about her weekend at Grandma and Grandpa’s.

“You should come ride a horse with me sometime,” she said. “It’d be fun. Oh! Maybe for my birthday! That’s coming up and I always have a party. You have to come to that, and if it’s not raining or snowing, I can teach you how to ride Pickles.”

“Breathe,” Gavin said and brushed his large hand over the back of her head. “That was a lot of words at one time.”

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