Page 11 of Steamy Dreamy Hearts

“The truck is dope,” I tried once more. “Did you know we’d get such a nice one? I expected a beat-up model, not this.”

“It’ll do.” He pressed his lips together and glanced away from me.

Guess that was the end of that conversation.

We drove for a while in silence. The scenery soon went from strip malls to desert as we traveled along the highway out of Phoenix. Some of the bigger cacti had flowers, some not. But I’d always found the desert beautiful…if lonely.

An hour into our drive, with barely more than a few words exchanged, I turned on the radio. Captain Smack immediately turned it off.

“Oh.” I shifted in my seat. “Did you want to talk?”

“Talk?” Captain Smack repeated. He blinked at me as if I’d confused him. “No need.”

“If you dislike the radio, I can change to my Spotify. I got a great country rock and blues playlist. You have to hear the latest Chris Stapleton song?—”

“No, I don’t.” Captain Smack took an audible breath, then released it, keeping his eyes fixed out the window. “I just prefer silence over that.”

“What about when Erin’s with you? Is it silent then?”

“It’s an endless CD ofKidz Bop.”

“Ah. Gotcha.” Smothering a smile, I let the music thing go. Even if he was missing out on some great tunes, silence it would be.

“Maybe I am missing Erin,” Smack confessed in a low voice. “She’s in Seattle visiting Dan’s parents for a few weeks this summer. Her plane probably just landed.”

My brows rose since Smack rarely offered anything personal. “Why not call her now?” I suggested.

“Now?” His brow furrowed.

“Yes.” I held up his phone with a flourish. “We have the technology. I assume you know about Bluetooth?”

Smack flushed. “Right. I was going to wait until she settled in, but…um…” He glanced at me. “You think I should? I don’t want to be the overprotective dad, but…fuck, I’m the overprotective dad.” He hit Dial on the steering wheel. “Call Iris.” He glanced at me. “My mother-in-law.”

“Sean!” she answered quickly. “We just left the airport.”

“Can I talk to Erin?”

“Of course. Hold on one sec.” Iris called for Erin, and there was the muffled sound of the phone being handed over.

“Hi, Daddy.”

Smack’s entire face gentled at the sound of her voice. “Hi, honey bunny. How was the flight?”

“I got soda.”

“What kind?”

“Ginger ale.”

“What else?”

“It was fun. And bumpy,” Erin said.

“Oh? Great.” Smack’s smile went tight. I wanted to squeeze his hand in reassurance. She’d survived any turbulence, obviously.

I settled on patting his shoulder. He glanced at me for a second, then let out a slow breath.

“And guess what? Gramps, Gram, Ashley, Tyler, and Aunt Rose all came to get me at the airport!”

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