Page 25 of Dependable Cowboy

After Aaron’s turn was over, Kara proudly seized his hand as if claiming him, and Joy watched from the sidelines, elation filling her heart. He gave her daughter a fleeting embrace, told her to have a good day, and together, Joy and Aaron walked out.

“You did great up there, you know.”

Replacing his hat on his head, he grinned at her. “I was so dang nervous. Who knew presenting in front of a bunch of children would be so nerve-wracking?”

“You might notice that I didn’t present,” she pointed out.

“What? You declined Kara’s invitation?”

“No.” Her daughter hadn’t even asked her, not that Joy minded. “But I would’ve been a mess up there. I thought you did an excellent job.”

He brushed his lips across her temple in thanks, and she felt so gratified that he did this so automatically. Where the connection between her and Wayne had been fire, her connection with Aaron was like water. Flowing endlessly and effortlessly. Easy. Gentle. Yet with powerful currents that could shift the earth itself.

She liked the concept of floating along with that water very much.

Even better, once back in her car, she received a call from her landlord.

“Leak is fixed. We replaced the linoleum. You should be good to go now.”

Easing past her door, Joy’s breath caught in her chest. She’d once gone into an office building with carpeting that had been flooding and the reek of mildew had been intense. Her place didn’t have any carpeting, but still. She tried to prepare herself for the worst. Yet, as she strolled in, everything smelled normal. There was no horrible odor of any kind.

And the landlord hadn’t fibbed about the linoleum. In fact, he’d replaced the old pea green pattern with a much more subtlehardwood look that classed the place up significantly. It was like an entirely new residence. She couldn’t wait for Kara to get home just so she could show her.

Even better, the leak was fixed. If she hadn’t known about it, she never would’ve guessed such an event had even happened. With a spring in her gait, Joy yanked out her phone. Aaron picked up on the first ring.

“Come over for dinner tonight. I’m making homemade enchiladas.”

“You know how to make enchiladas?” He didn’t say this with sarcasm, though she wouldn’t blame him if he did. She didn’t tend to cook anything fancy. But she had learned this from-scratch recipe and on occasion—like a celebration of good news, for instance—she trotted it out.

“Yes. I was taught by the best, a lady from Mexico City who lived next door to us. It was her abuela’s—grandmother’s—recipe. Best and most authentic I’ve ever tasted. Thought I might share it with you.”

“I’ll be there. And Joy?” his voice lowered as if about to divulge a secret to her.

“Yeah?”

“I can’t wait.”

The interesting thing about their dinner that night, other than that they all ate on her pan of enchiladas until it was totally gone, was how natural everything felt. Their conversation had been laid-back and casual. Incredibly relaxed. Kara spoke to him as if he had been in her life forever. If Joy hadn’t known better, she would’ve believed that they’d held such a dinner a million timesalready. The overall dynamic felt as if Aaron had always been a part of their family.

Joy just hoped that same dynamic would continue. She loved the idea of all three of them coming together like this.

Despite this covertly held wish of hers, Joy did her best to keep the romance between them as low key as possible. She knew she’d made a mistake by letting things get a little too intense before, and she didn’t want to go down that trail again.

Not this early, anyway.

Besides, Kara was still getting to know Aaron. She didn’t want to rush such an important relationship, not the one between herself and Aaron or the one between Aaron and her daughter. If things were going to proceed forward, she needed for it to be in as healthy and as gradual a manner as possible.

This specifically meant not kissing him like there was no tomorrow, difficult as it was to resist the temptation. Every time she glanced in his direction, she remembered that first kiss, as well as all the delectable ones that came shortly thereafter. But she couldn’t risk a repeat. She had no desire to have an ember burn hot just to fizzle into nothing.

She needed something long-lasting. Something permanent. Something that unlike her marriage to Wayne, would be forever. Both for herself and for Kara.

The chemistry remained, though. Just beneath the surface. Yet rather than focus on how much she missed kissing him, Joy allowed the anticipation of that eventual moment to float in her consciousness like some nebulous cloud providing much-needed rain. In many ways, looking forward to pressing her lips to his again made that future all the more inviting.

But rather than just managing her behavior, she talked to Aaron about what was going on. The conversation was brief, but they were on the same page. She was thankful he understood and supported her wishes.

“You’re worth the wait,” he’d said. And she believed he really felt that way.

Two more weeks went by in this almost bliss-filled state. She asked Aaron over for dinner most nights with him happily obliging. A couple of times, he even brought groceries and cooked for them. Joy so appreciated his efforts on this. She loved that he was willing to be an equal partner in whatever they might be building.

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