Cora bustled around him and past Jill, stepping into a tiny closet that opened off the kitchen. She flipped on a light, illuminating the room that was a pantry with shelves that extended well above Cora’s ability to reach them. Cora scanned the shelves that were full of bottles and jars. She located what she was looking for and pulled a three-step stool over, climbing up and taking down a mason jar.
Coming back into the kitchen, she handed the jar to Jill. “This should take some of the pain away and also help start the healing. But he should also keep it wrapped up as well.”
“Why are you giving it to her? I can take care of it.”
Cora shook her head. “This cream works best when someone who loves you puts it on.” She gave Zeke a smile.
Jill felt surprise zip through her. Love? Why would Cora say that?
Okay, Jill would go so far as to admit that she loved things about him. And they were things that extended beyond his big hands, his skillful tongue, his charming smile, and his huge cock. Which was saying something. She really loved those things.
She loved his unexpected sweetness. She loved when he tried to take care of her even when it failed. She maybe loved that even more.
That thought wouldn’t leave her alone. There was something about him making her grilled cheese and knowing that it probably wouldn’t work out, but being willing to try anyway on the off chance it did. That was possibly even sweeter than making her a five-course meal that was perfection.
Zeke chuckled. “Good thing we’re heading up front then, lots of people out there love me.”
Yeah, she also loved his confidence and his joking. Zeke didn’t take things too seriously and while she was having a baby with him and that seemed about as serious as it could get, and a guy who didn’t really do laundry and couldn’t cook and constantly hurt himself didn’t seem like the responsible adult she should be looking for, Jill thought Zeke was maybe exactly the type of guy she should be having a baby with.
She’d always thought she should go for a guy who was her opposite. Someone who would be extra careful and extra organized and could take care of all the things she would drop.
But having someone laid back, who simply put a pair of shoes in his truck for her rather than be annoyed that she’d forgotten a good pair, suddenly seemed like a much better idea. Kids forgot stuff, right? And they were picky eaters. Well, it wasn’t that she was picky, but her eating habits left something to be desired, she knew. But instead of trying to change her or reprimanding her, Zeke just rolled with it.
The more she thought about it, Zeke had a lot of really great traits that would carry over wonderfully into being a dad. He wouldn’t get upset about a kid coming home muddy from playing with his friends. He’d just dump the laundry in the washing machine with everything else. If the kid would only eat yogurt and peanut butter and jelly, Zeke would simply stock up on both. And if the kid made a major mistake—like ending up pregnant even when she’d used a condom—Zeke would roll with that too. He would never make her feel stupid or irresponsible or, most importantly, alone.
“Jill?”
She blinked and looked at Zeke. It seemed that he had said her name at least once before. “Yeah?”
“Should we go up front?”
She shook her head. “Let me put the cream on you first.”
“But…” Then it seemed to sink in for him.
Cora just stood looking at them, smiling knowingly.
Yes, Jill was offering to put the cream on for him. That was supposedly best applied by someone who loved him. Would he get it?
He extended his hand, palm up.
Yeah, he got it. Zeke Landry was turning out to be one of the easiest people in her life. Sure, he—and the hot sex and the condoms that hadn’t done their job—had complicated her life in a way no one else ever had, and yet, compared to so many things, including her current professional endeavor, he was so much easier.
He held the jar with his uninjured hand while she unscrewed the top, then looked at Cora.
“You can just apply it with your fingers,” Cora told her.
“Should I wash my hands or something?”
Cora shrugged. “That stuff will kill anything that’s on your skin or his.”
Jill dipped her fingers into the light pink cream and then smoothed it over the burned area on Zeke’s hand. He sucked in a quick breath, then let it out.
She looked up. “Okay?”
He met her gaze directly. “Very okay.”
Cora handed Jill some gauze that had come from Jill had no idea where and Jill wrapped it around his hand, securing it with tape that Cora also handed to her.
“Okay, good to go.” She let go of his hand and recapped the jar.
“Yeah, we’re really good to go,” Zeke agreed, his voice a little husky.
They shared a little smile, and for the first time since he’d suggested them coming to tell his family the news, Jill actually did feel ready.
She had no idea what was ahead of them, for sure. However, she was quickly learning that whatever it was, Zeke would handle it. Sure, sometimes he needed some help, but he wasn’t afraid to ask for it and he knew exactly where to turn to get what he needed.
Maybe Jill had just never had that. Maybe she’d just never had people she knew would be there no matter what. Maybe she’d never had people who would always know exactly what to do in any circumstance.
More, maybe her mother hadn’t had that. Maybe her mom had been burdened by everything because she really was the only one doing it all. Jill knew that her allergy to the idea of a home life and family came from what she had witnessed with her mom. But her mom’s situation wasn’t hers. The people who surrounded her mom were not the same people surrounding Jill now.
Zeke held out his uninjured hand to her and she slipped her fingers in between his without hesitation. Then they walked through the door that led to the front of Ellie’s bar together.
The place was loud, even by Landry family standards. Ellie’s bar got nice and loud and rowdy on a regular basis. But today everything had been turned up several notches.
The gang from New Orleans was here and that always meant an even bigger good time and definitely more laughter and noise.
Zeke hesitated just on the other side of the swinging door from the kitchen. He took just a moment to absorb the room. His whole family was there. He immediately located his mom and dad and his two brothers. In addition, all of his cousins were present as well as the LeClaire family, including Naomi and Michael. Their grandfather, Armand, was sitting at the bar with Leo.
And then there was the New Orleans gang.
“Wow,” Jill said.
He looked down at her. “Yeah.” But he couldn’t help his smile.
He squeezed her hand, trying to be reassuring. He knew this wasn’t her kind of scene. She liked things quiet and actually fairly solitary. She seemed perfectly happy spending most of her time alone. It had kind of been killing him. Especially after she’d started sharing his bed more often and being in his house on a regular basis. She seriously was the best he’d ever had and he was addicted to her body, but more, he enjoyed her. They’d laughed over his burnt grilled cheese. They’d laughed over sneaking into Jordan and Fletcher’s kitchen and stealing food after he’d burned that grilled cheese. They shared stories about their families. She’d taught him about penguins. He’d let her help him repair her back screen door. They’d laughed through a lot of all of that too.