Page 49 of All I Need

“Courtney. How are ya?”

“Good, Walker. And you?” she asks coyly while glancing quickly at me.

“Very good.”

“I bet.”

“Courtney Sanders. This is Ellie. She’s new in town, and she’s going to replace Linda.” We shake hands quickly and I notice how strong her grip is. It isn’t painful, but it is firm. I have no idea why I’m analyzing her hand shake in such detail. Except seeing her step up and give Walker a hug like they’ve done it a thousand times before makes me feel a little uncomfortable. No, uncomfortable isn’t the right word. But if I think the word that it makes me feel, then it’s real and no way should I be jealous of a married woman greeting my boss (who I don’t really think of as a boss but know that I should) so focusing on her hand shake is a lot easier than focusing on the fact that she has the right to hug him and I… don’t.

“Linda’s leaving?”

He goes on to briefly explain about Linda’s retirement.

“So you’re stepping in, huh? Big shoes to fill.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“How long have you been in town?”

“Almost two weeks,” I admit a bit sheepishly.

“How’d you two meet?”

I grin and look up at Walker.

“She was about to annihilate an innocent car along the highway and I stopped her.”

“No I was not. I was only going to give it a little… tap.”

He scoffs. “Right. When you had the golf club raised above your head poised to swing you had just planned on giving it a little love tap.”

“You think you know me so well,” I say, moving my hands to my hips.

He leans in close and whispers, “Babe, I know you better than you’d like to think.”

Courtney’s eyes widen and she giggles. “It sounds like there’s a lot more to this story that I definitely want to hear at some point. Welcome to Liberty. Don’t worry, it’s not as small town as it seems.”

Out of the corner of my eye I notice a guy and dog walking in our direction.

“How’s it going, man?” the man who I assume is Courtney’s husband says loudly when he’s still quite a few feet away.

Courtney’s face lights up at the sight of her husband and all jealousy I felt vanishes. “Brett, come here and meet Ellie.”

He steps close and shakes Walker’s hand before turning to me. He’s stalky with broad shoulders. His ball cap is pulled down low, the curved bill shading his eyes, his dark hair curling out beneath it. He’s dressed in much the same way Walker is.

“Ellie, I’ve heard a little about you.”

“What?!” Courtney shrieks and playfully hits him in the shoulder. “Secrets don’t make friends, honey.”

He gives her a grin and I notice the dimple in his chin I’d missed earlier. He pulls her in close. “I’ll tell you later.”

I glance at Walker to see that he’s blushing just a bit and for whatever reason it makes me happy. Knowing he’s been talking about me hopefully means he’s thinking of me just as much as I’m thinking of him.

“The cows?” Walker says, gaining Brett’s attention. “Ellie’s going to join me. She begged me all day to come see me in action and she finally wore me down.”

My jaw drops. “You are such a liar!”

“Am not. I specifically remember telling you that I was coming out here tonight and you followed me around the rest of the afternoon asking to come along.”

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