Page 51 of Stowaway Whirlwind
“Here, I’ll take her,” I say to Davis after dishing up a full plate of food for him, and he twists away from me in his seat. “You goon and eat, honey. I’m not ready to give my girl up yet. Ain’t that right, Lily Jo? You want Daddy to hold you, don’t you?”
Wyatt snorts as he loads up Dolly’s plate first while she’s busy cutting the pot roast into smaller pieces for William. Davis looks up, the whole table focused on him. “‘Daddy’, huh? Russell called it, and now I owe him twenty bucks.”
Davis scowls. “Called what?”
“He said you brought home a pregnant hitchhiker who was ready to pop and looked at her like I look at my babygirl. Said you’d be looking for a new job soon.” I’m not sure I like being reduced to apregnant hitchhiker, even if it is accurate. “And now here you are—a family man.”
“Oh, this is just wonderful!” Ms. Ellie claps her hands excitedly from her seat at the head of the table between Wyatt and Davis. “We’re four for four now.” When the table looks at her blankly, she ticks couples off on her fingers, starting with Davis’s parents. “Joann and Adam, then me and my William. Dolly and Wyatt, and now the two of you. One whirlwind romance after the next.”
Again, nothing but blank looks.
Ms. Ellie tsks. “Didn’t your father ever tell you the story about us? You know we used to date until your mama moved to town.”
Davis nods, slightly bemused, the same as Wyatt.
“Adam took one look at Joann and dropped me like a hot potato. I was pretty miffed about it, to be honest, until I met Wyatt’s Pops, William. All was forgiven that minute forward. Heck, I even thanked him for breaking it off with me, so I didn’t have to be the one to do it. When fate comes a-knocking and brings the person you’re meant to be with to your front door—or rather, to your truck door in your case and Wyatt’s—nobody else matters.”
Ms. Judy sniffs on my right, beside her grandson at the other end of the table. Dolly reaches across, placing her hand on her mom’s arm as Ms. Judy dabs at her eyes with a cloth napkin. Instead of giving her a sympathetic look like I expected, Dolly smiles with a twinkle in her eyes and says, “Might be time to finally accept that date Mr. Monroe keeps hounding you about. You deserve to be happy.”
Ms. Judy’s cheeks color. “He’s too young, you know that. What would he want with an old woman like me?”
“Rule number one: do not talk bad about yourself,” Davis interrupts, smiling down at Lily with her tiny fist wrapped around his index finger.
“What’s rule number two?” Dolly asks with her blonde brows raised with mirth, her gaze bouncing between me and the crazy man sitting beside me. Davis clams up. Dolly raises a hand to the side of her mouth, pretending no one can see or hear her, when she loudly whispers to me, “You can tell me later. I want to hearallabout Davis’s rules.”
My mouth goes dry, and my pulse starts to race when Davis palms my bare knee under the table, sliding his hand up to caress the middle of my thigh. There’s no way I’m telling anyone about ourDaddyrole-playing. Dolly would look at me like I’m nuts or we’re gross, and I don’t want to spoil the potential friendship that seems to be budding between us.
I give her a noncommittal sound between bites of my tender pot roast, which she takes for assent, then swings her attention back to her mom. “Ten years is hardly ‘too young’, Mom. Besides, age is just a number around here. If you don’t call Mr. Monroe after dinner, I’m doing it for you.”
Wyatt drapes his arm over Dolly’s shoulders after pulling her chair up against his, their size and age difference even more pronounced.
Curiosity gets the better of me. “How many years between the two of you?”
“Nineteen. He’s old enough to be my dad,” she says teasingly. She nods at Davis. “How old are you? I don’t think I’ve ever asked.”
Davis clears his throat after chugging half of his sweet tea. “I’m thirty-four.”
“And you?” she asks me.
“Nineteen,” I squeak out.
Dolly grins. “So he’s technically old enough to be your dad, too. Who knew we’d have so much in common?”
Wyatt winks at Davis, who chokes on his carrots, eating one-handed. Ms. Ellie and Wyatt both roar with the same laugh while I pound on Davis’s back until he can swallow.
“I’ll have to introduce you to Granny’s Girls soon,” Dolly says, wiping tears of laughter from her pretty blue eyes after getting a look at Davis’s red face. “Let them know we have a new best friend.”
My heart swells, and I’m pretty sure I’m half in platonic love with her. “Granny’s Girls?”
“Violet, Faye, Layla, and I all worked at Granny’s diner. That’s how we met. Hey, since you’re new in town, if you’re in the market for a job as a waitress, let me know. One of my besties has an in with the boss, and she can hook you up if you’re interested.”
“Yes!” I burst out, excited at the prospect of earning my own money so I can pay Davis back. “I was waitressing before moving here, so I have plenty of experience. That would be perfect.”
Dolly’s smile slowly fades, and she sets her fork down on her plate, sits back in her chair, crosses her arms over her belly, and arches a challenging brow at Davis. Following her gaze, I look up to find Davis pursing his lips above his stubbly chin after shaving off his beard yesterday.
“I know that look,” Dolly mutters.
Ms. Ellie sits back in her chair, crossing her arms as well. “Don’t I know it,” she drawls.
