Page 27 of Home Tears

“Yeah. The channel is gorgeous. I’ll take you on a boat ride sometime. Better yet, you should just canoe through it.”

Why was she entertaining this? No, she knew why. Someone else would be there. That meant no nightmare. Maybe. They weren’t as bad when Boone was with her. Then again, he was in bed with her. Still…maybe it was worth it?

She heard herself saying, “Fine.”

Jonah grinned and nudged her hip with his. “Thanks, Dani. Who knew we’d have such a great friendship?”

Friendship. She fought against rolling her eyes, but couldn’t stop her own grin.

When they got to the cabin, Dani crossed to the patio and flipped on the lamp in the corner. She didn’t want all the lights on. If the whole place was lit up like a Christmas tree, that wouldn’t help her fall asleep. One light cast a nice relaxing glow through the room.

“Drink?”

“What do you have?”

“Knowing Aunt Mae—probably everything.”

“Beer then. Nothing fancy.”

Dani pulled out two bottles and walked outside to the screened-in patio.

Jonah glanced around the place as he sat down. “This is nice.”

“It’s Aunt Mae’s, but if you ask her, she’ll say it’s mine.” Dani uncapped both bottles and slid one over to him. It ended right in front of him.

“Nice.”

Dani grinned and took a sip. “Bartending is like breathing to me. I helped out in Mae’s bar for years.” Then she heard herself saying, “Boone never knew that about me.” As soon as the words were out, she faltered. She wished she could take them back, but she couldn’t.

No, that wasn’t true either.

She didn’t want to take them back. In fact, she wanted to say more.

“Boone? That’s his name?”

“That’s his nickname.” She frowned. “And I have no idea why he was called that. He never told me.”

Jonah stretched his legs out, getting comfortable. But he was looking at her, and she was feeling him, and she knew she shouldn’t have been. Then he murmured, almost too quietly for her to hear, “I’m guessing he didn’t know where you’re from.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He’s not here,” Jonah stated. “If you were my girl and I proposed to you, nothing would keep me from you. I’d follow you, and I would take you back. Nothing.”

She looked away, and ignored how her heart picked up again, or how she felt a little breathless in the chest. She hadn’t felt something like this in a long time. It was alien to her, but it probably wasn’t what she thought. She wasn’t attracted to Jonah Bannon. They were friends, weird friends, but friends.

Putting her thoughts away, she focused on what he said. It was true. There was so much Boone didn’t know about her. So much that she had chosen not to tell him. It wasn’t a conscious decision. It was just…that was how it was. She just hadn’t told him all those details about herself.

“The gang liked you tonight.” Jonah tipped his head back and took a large swallow. He was watching her over the tip of his beer.

She averted her gaze. “I liked them, too. Lori was a bit iffy, though I didn’t talk to her.”

“Lori is a bit iffy.”

“Robbie asked me if I thought Lori would be a good mother.”

“What?” Jonah laughed. “He must’ve been drunk. What’d you say?”

“I told him that if he was asking a stranger, he probably knew the answer.”

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