Page 102 of Love in the Storm

“How are you?” Asa asked as they shook. “Taking care of my favorite chickens?”

Jerry tucked his hands under his arms and adjusted his stance. “Oh, you know that’s all Olivia’s doin’. She loves those things. That’s why they lay the best eggs.”

“I believe it.” Asa had practically grown up at the Lawrence farm. Beau and Olivia’s parents always had an extra seat at their table. After Martha Lawrence passed, Jerry spent less time at home and more timehanging out with the other men who sat around solving the world’s problems at Deano’s.

Jerry stroked his long, gray beard. “How’s the shoulder healing?”

Asa stretched his arm. “It gets the job done.”

“I tell ya, Olivia was worried sick there for a while. I bet she called either your mom or Lyric three times a day.”

“You raised good kids. Beau and Olivia both helped out when Mom and Lyric were running things. I appreciate it.”

Jerry shook his head. “They got it from their mama.”

“Martha was a good woman, but I guarantee you taught them a good bit about how to offer a helping hand.”

Jerry grunted and moved up to the counter where Kendra waited to take his order.

“Have a seat, and I’ll get that out to you in a bit,” Kendra shouted over her shoulder as she stuck the ticket in line for the cooks.

She turned back around and gasped. “Well, if it isn’t my new favorite person!”

Asa’s eyes widened, and he looked around. “Who?”

“You, silly! I can’t tell you what a blessing it is to see Lyric so happy. I know you and your family have a lot to do with that.”

Asa shook his head. “I don’t know if I can take credit for that happiness, but I’m thankful for it too.”

In the last few months, Lyric had shed all the hesitation she’d once carried. She took charge, volunteered to help people, and spent all her free time with Asa and his family.

The best part? She seemed genuinely willing to do those things on her own. The bubbly excitement in her voice when she told him about her days made him itch to call her a little too often.

“You’re an angel in disguise, Asa. She is too. Most people just don’t see it,” Kendra said.

“Nothing to worry about here.”

The bell above the door chimed behind him, and Kendra straightened. “I guess I’d better get your order.” She turned around and stuffed plasticware and napkins into a couple of sacks filled with takeaway boxes. Once they were loaded, she lifted them over the counter. “Y’all have a good night.”

“You too.” With food in hand, he side-stepped the people who’d just come in and made a quick exit before the men hanging out in the dining room called him over to chat.

He made it to his mom’s house a little after six. If he and Jacob could eat fast, they’d have time to stop by Beau’s garage before heading home.

Lyric skipped into the kitchen just as he’d placed the food containers on the counter. “Hello, handsome.”

Food? What food? Every thought left his brain at the sight of Lyric. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and she wore an old Blackwater High School sweater and what she called her work jeans. They had splashes of black and orange paint on the thighs, and she’d told him the story about ruining her favorite pair of pants while painting football signs in high school.

The fact that she could still wear clothes she’d worn ten years ago still blew his mind. He’d gone up three pant sizes in the waist and length since then.

Lyric’s eyes fluttered closed, and she inhaled a deep breath. “How do they make those cheeseburgers smell so great?”

Yeah, Asa had a few questions too, but they didn’t have anything to do with the food. He spent too much time wondering how he’d run into Lyric at the exact right times and why she liked doting on him and his son so much.

She slung her arms over his shoulders and lifted onto her toes. “Have I told you how delicious you look in this uniform?”

“Only twice today.”

She let out a light-hearted giggle. “How was your day?”

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