Page 12 of Welcome Home, Cowboy
“It doesn’t have to be anything serious,” Val added. “You just got out of a long relationship. All you need is a good roll in between the sheets. Or a roll in the hay, in Lawson’s case. I love cowboys.” She sighed, glancing over her shoulder at him.
“Don’t let Preacher Hunt hear you talk like that,” Kat warned.
Val rolled her eyes. “Daddy knows I’m a sinner. He has the women’s and men’s prayer groups praying for me.” She took another sip of her drink. “I say you do him.”
“Do him?” Julie lowered her head a notch. “What, are we still in high school?” She shook her head. “Anyway, I got the job despite all that. The only glitch is that it involves me working for free.”
Kat and Val stared at her.
“I know. Not ideal. But it’s only temporary. I just have to prove to Mr. Banks that my program is worth keeping. That it’s worthwhile.”
“Mr. Leroy Banks?” Val asked, shaking her head. “I tried to convince him that his suit was navy blue and not black once when I worked in the Men’s Clothing Shop on Front Street. You can’t convince that man of anything. Good luck.”
Julie frowned, wishing she hadn’t been given that piece of information.
“Tough maybe, but not impossible,” Kat said. “Any leads on something that actually pays until this becomes more…prosperous?”
Julie shook her head. “The Chow Bucket needs someone to dress up like a chicken and hold a sign outside.”
Her friend and sister continued to stare at her, and she laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m not that desperate.” She ran her finger around the rim of her glass.“Yet.”
“Well, if you need a reference, I’ll vouch for you,” Kat said.
Julie sipped her drink. “You’re my sister. You’re biased.”
“Do you really want to do the chicken dance for a living?” Kat asked.
Julie shook her head and all three women laughed.
As they did, both men at the table across the room looked over. They were joined by Kat’s husband, Micah, now. He waved and, if Julie wasn’t mistaken, her sister’s cheeks darkened a shade.
“Oh, to be in love,” Julie said wistfully.
“You’ll have that one day, too.” Kat lifted her half-full glass. The glass was always half-full when it came to her sister—Mrs. Optimistic. “Here’s to love and paying jobs, whichever comes first.”
“Now that’s a toast I can drink to,” Val snickered.
“Me, too.” Although, in Julie’s case, she hoped the job came first.
They tapped their glasses together. As they did, Julie’s gaze wandered back to Lawson, who just so happened to also be looking at her.
—
Lawson spotted Julie as soon as he’d walked in the door. The Lawson he’d been before his last deployment would already be over there, making moves on the willowy blonde, buying her drinks and formulating a way to take her home tonight.
He wasn’t looking for a good time these days, though—not that kind anyway. What he could really use was a stiff drink and a nice, long sleep that didn’t end in a cold sweat.
“What’ll you have?” the waitress asked him, looking at him through her eyelashes. Her flirting wasn’t lost on him.
“Just a Coke,” he said, fighting the urge to ask for a shot of vodka, or two or three. He’d tried that when he’d arrived home from Afghanistan. It hadn’t helped, and had only turned him into a jackass. It also made for painful headaches the next morning.
His buddy Griffin stared at him.
“What?”
“You’ve turned down advances from two women since we’ve walked in. And you’re drinking Coke. I’m worried.”
Lawson slid a glance in his direction. “Don’t be.”
