Page 23 of Sheltering Lawson
“Partly.” Her blue eyes were bright with genuine pleasure. “I volunteered, just like you. I would do anything for Brax.”
“You tend to be a hard worker.” I nudged her. “But don’t let him hear you say that.”
She nudged me back. “I could say the same thing about you being a hard worker. How many jobs do you have?”
I leaned in. “With the superhero gig that makes three,” I said.
Her eyes went wide, and she grinned up at me. “You’re forgetting the white knight job. Can’t leave that out. You’ve got the armor and all.”
“Hello, friends,” Martha said as she came up to the booth. “Brax wanted me to fill in so you could eat lunch. He said I wasn’t supposed to take any excuses, and I was supposed to tell you that you would have to deal with him if you didn’t take a break and eat.”
“Excuses?”
She looked up and ticked them off her fingers. “I’m not hungry. I can stay and help out. It’s too hot to walk around. I’d rather eat Brax’s food for lunch.” She rolled her eyes. “That one was all his. So, on your way, sugar.” She made a shooing motion with her hands. “Go with Ethan. He knows other booths that will have fabulous food. He’s a veteran.”
She turned to look at me, the pleasure intensifying in her eyes. She slipped her arm through mine, and Martha propelled us both out into the open. “Oh, customer,” she quipped. “Got to go, but have fun.”
“There are a lot of pushy men in this town,” Lawson mumbled, but there was a wealth of affection in her voice. She jostled my arm. “So, where to Mr. Veteran of Food Booths.”
“There’s only one other place I would eat lunch besides Brax’s, and I can get his food anytime since I seem to always be behind that bar these days.” I knew why that was. I’d taken on more shifts, leaving the business in Chase’s and our employees’ capable hands. Chase hadn’t said anything, but he gave me knowing looks. The rumors on every gossips’ lips were all about Lawson and how I looked at her as well as plenty of speculation about who she was and where she came from. One person even started a rumor she was a slumming heiress who’d lost all her dough.
I wasn’t sure about that, but her clothes were pricey. Even Verity had noticed, yet she was living out of her car and was a starved waif when I’d found her on Outlaw’s threshold.
“Where’s that?”
“Imogene’s, Samantha Sutton’s booth.”
“Oh, right. You’ve raved about her food. Let’s go there.”
I looked across the bright square grounds, searching through the dozens of canopied booths and spied it. “This way,” I said leading her, liking the light weight of her arm tucked into mine, the feel of her soft, smooth, slightly damp skin.
We wended our way through booths selling upcycled furniture, vintage housewares, pottery, handmade toys, jewelry, and original works of fine art. There was a line for face painting, and Lawson and I cut through as the kids smiled up at us, some with sticky faces. The air was heavy with tantalizing aromas and I was famished.
In the distance, I could hear the music of a band playing. The square was filled with so many people, Lawson had to let go of my arm, but I snagged her small hand in mine as we got into the line behind a woman with a small child, who kept asking his mom about apple pie. “Be patient,” she murmured. “It’s worth it, sweetie.”
I turned to Lawson and smiled. “She’s right. Samantha makes the best pies around here.” The woman looked over her shoulder at me and then smiled at us and nodded.
“What’s your favorite?” she asked.
“All of them,” I said with a grin and the little boy laughed and nodded enthusiastically.
Lawson laughed with him, the genuineness of it lighting her eyes from within. I could get lost in that light forever.
When it was our turn, Samantha looked up, then smiled broadly. She leaned out from her booth and shouted, “Sky?”
Sky leaned out, too, peering through the crowd, her booth full of her beauty and bath products. She ran a brisk online business. “Yeah?”
“Lunch? We’ve got Ethan and Lawson here. What do you say?”
“Sounds good. I’ll be over in a second.” She disappeared from view and the line at her booth closed in around the empty space.
We ordered: me crab cake sliders with slaw, and Lawson opting for crawfish and lobster sauce, probably fresh from Chase. Samantha went for the chicken and andouille jambalaya, and Sky didn’t take long in ordering pulled pork and mac and cheese. We couldn’t find a table so instead Lawson and I settled on the steps of the gazebo with Sam and Sky sitting on a nearby bench.
We dug in with no conversation between any of us for several moments. “My God, Sam, this is heavenly,” Lawson said.
“Thanks. It’s good to see that you’re still here. How goes it at Outlaws?”
“Brax keeps me busy.”
