“Fine, but we are telling them today.”
Yeah, she knew that. She also knew that the announcement was going to change her life.
But hey, what was the big deal? Just because in two months time she’d gone from her normal life to being a millionaire who owned eight endangered penguins and lived in Louisiana. And was pregnant. Adding a big, rowdy Cajun family to her life was just one more detail.
They headed for Zeke’s truck and he helped her up into the passenger seat. She smiled. She didn’t think he was even aware of all the times he was chivalrous. She figured it was just ingrained in him. But she did like it.
As he rounded the front of the truck, she looked down at the floor. There was a pair of brown leather flats on the floormat.
Zeke slid behind the wheel and she looked over at him. “Do you need to return these to someone?”
The stab of jealousy was surprising. Not only that it occurred, but how strong it was.
They hadn’t talked about being exclusive. If they had, she probably would’ve told him to go ahead and date whoever he wanted. Maybe. Or would she?
In all the talk about the baby and what their lives going forward would look like, there had been no talk of other relationships, or their relationship in detail. They’d mostly talked as if they’d keep living next door to one another. Which sounded great to her. Though, lately it seemed she spent more nights sleeping over in his bed than her own. And somehow her box of cereal had ended up at his house. She figured it just made sense to have it near the milk.
But they hadn’t discussed moving in together. Of course, the whole situation was only two weeks old and their conversations had not covered every single detail of the future.
“Those are Paige’s. Well, they’re yours now. Kind of.”
Jill looked at him, processing what he’d said. “What do you mean they’re mine now?”
“I mean, they can be or they will be at some point or whatever.” He started the truck and shifted into gear, pulling out onto the street.
“Zeke, what are you talking about?”
“You told me about how sometimes you forget to change your shoes. I figured some time I might stop by and pick you up for a date or convince you to come down to Ellie’s for dinner or something, and you might need to have some different shoes. So I just figured we’d keep some in the truck. Paige said you’re welcome to that pair and that brown goes with almost everything so they’re probably a safe bet.”
Jill stared at him, then looked down at the shoes, then back at him. “You specifically went and got shoes from Paige to keep in your truck for a future moment when I might have forgotten nice shoes and would need them?”
He glanced over, seemingly puzzled by why she was so surprised. “It’s easier than running you home to change or expecting you to remember to grab shoes for after work.”
“Are we going to have plans after work often?”
She waited for the feeling of panic to rush through her. Instead, she found herself thinking about how fun it would be to anticipate a date with Zeke after work.
That was weird.
He gave her a little smile. A little smile that made her very much want to kiss him.
“I sure hope so. At least we might have a parent-teacher conference or some kind of music recital or something, right?”
Her heart flipped in her chest. Oh, wow. Yeah, they would have those things. And going to them together would be…really nice. And he would be willing to just swing by and pick her up after work and would already have nice shoes in the car for her.
Jill felt her eyes stinging and her throat tighten. Damn, maybe this could work out. Maybe she could work long hours, knowing that Zeke was there for their kid—and for her—and that if he ran long at a job and there was a music program, there would be twenty-seven other Landrys going to that same program who could get their son or daughter there too.
“I really hope we have plans after work sometimes too,” she told him.
Zeke reached over and squeezed her leg. She was glad he understood how meaningful it was that she’d said that.
But he had to return his hand to the wheel quickly because he couldn’t grip the wheel with his burned left hand.
Now she really wanted to get to Ellie’s so Cora could take care of him.
They pulled into the drive into the parking lot in front of Ellie’s a couple minutes later and Jill immediately changed her mind.
She wasn’t glad to be here at all.
The parking lot was packed. She’d never seen this many cars and trucks in front of the building.
“My God, how many people did you invite to this?”
He shut off the truck. “The whole family is here. And then a bunch of our friends from New Orleans. They brought their kids down for a swamp boat tour and the crawfish boil tonight.”
“Friends from New Orleans?”
“Yeah, a bunch of people we know through Josh, Sawyer, and Owen. Josh used to work up there with them. Owen and Josh still go up and hang out with them sometimes. And those guys all have kids so they come down here quite a bit. They’re thrilled with the petting zoo and that we’re getting more animals all the time.”
“But I thought we were just telling family today.”
“They’re pretty much family.”
Jill sighed as he got out of the truck and came around to help her out. “Why do I feel like you all say that about a lot of people?”
He grinned down at her. “Because we do.”
15
Jill was relieved that Zeke led her around to the back of the building and in through the kitchen door. It meant she had a little more time to gather her wits and prepare to step out into the main part of the bar where everyone was gathered.
She could hear the noise even from the back door. There were a lot of people out there, and it sounded as if they were all talking at once. Of course, the conversation was also accentuated by bursts of laughter and lots of clinking silverware and glassware. The place also smelled amazing. Spices of all kinds mingling in the air with the scent of beer and bourbon.
The kitchen was especially hot. There were two huge stoves and every burner was covered, along with three ovens going all at once. Cora stood at one of the stoves, stirring two pots simultaneously.
She looked over and immediately brightened. “Zeke!”
“Hey, Cora.” He crossed to her and leaned in to kiss her cheek.
Jill couldn’t deny that she enjoyed watching Zeke with the people he loved. It was obvious that displays of affection were quite common with this group.
“Hello, Jill. Welcome.” Cora greeted her with a cheerful, sincere smile as well.
“Hi, Cora. We’re hoping for a little help before we join the party.” Jill gestured to Zeke’s hand.
Cora stopped stirring and turned, wiping her hands on her apron. “What did you do?”
“Um…” He glanced at Jill. “I was welding. Touched the metal before it was cool.”
Jill snorted at his lie. But she didn’t tell on him.
Cora clucked her tongue. “You should know better.”
“If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that in my life I’d be…still not quite as rich as Jill but a hell of a lot closer,” Zeke quipped.