Jace finished with a patient and went into his office as Molly got started on the next patient. He pulled out his phone and called Stella.
“Hey, Jace!”
“How are you doing, Stella?”
“Just wrapping up here. What about you?”
“I have about an hour left.”
“I’ll grab my things and have Nolan drop me off at your place. Does that work?”
“Yes, but I wanted to remind you about tonight. My grandma has called twice to make sure you’re coming to family dinner. You don’t have to go, but I’d like you to join me if you’re up to a night of intense interrogation.”
“That isn’t the nicest way to describe family dinner.”
“It’s my grandparents’ and parents’ way to find out if we’re dating,” Jace admitted with equal measure embarrassment and nervousness. He and Stella hadn’t actually talked about their relationship, even though he himself considered them a couple in progress. He just hadn’t made the move yet to ask her to make it official.
The line was silent and then he finally heard Stella. “Oh, okay. I still look forward to meeting those I haven’t met. I’ll see you shortly.”
Jace hung up and took a deep breath. She hadn’t said no. They were on.
What the hell was that?
Stella hung up the phone and stared in confusion at it as Nolan loaded mulch into the bed of a pickup. He slammed the tailgate shut and the last customer of the day drove off.
“What’s going on?” Nolan asked. “You have a strange look on your face.”
Nolan had been a godsend. He knew everyone in the area and helped make introductions. Stella has seen a steady uptick in local customers with Nolan vouching for her. In fact, she and Nolan had started a joint promotion between the feed store and her garden center. She also found his presence brought out a frightening number of single ladies. However, once they were there, Nolan sold them so many flowers she was going to need to put in a new order very soon.
“I’m going to the Davies family dinner tonight, and Jace just said it’s their way to interrogate us to find out if we’re dating.” Nolan cringed. He was a very sexy man with muscles for miles and a sharp face with kind eyes. But the cringe wasn’t a good sign. “What?”
“I’ve heard of those family dinners. I never dated a Davies just to avoid them. I dated Dylan’s wife once in high school, and her father is scary. Mad scary. The type to follow you with an armed drone that would shoot you if you made the wrong move with his daughter. However, he seemed the safer choice between Abby and a Davies woman.” Nolan shrugged then. “But you two are dating so it’s no big deal. Mr. Davies gave you farm equipment, and Mrs. Davies is over here almost every day dropping something off for you or buying flowers.”
Stella scrunched her nose. “I don’t know if we’re dating.”
“Sure you are. You two are together all the time.”
“We’ve never talked about it and he’s never called me his girlfriend.”
“Oh.” Nolan made the sound slowly and dragged it out as if seeing the problem. “Jace is the good guy of the group. I mean, they’re all great guys, but Jace was the one who always looked after everyone. He’s the kind one. The quiet one. The compassionate one. The one who didn’t blow things up all the time. I’m sure it’s just his way. From a man’s point of view, you don’t spend this much time with a woman unless you really like her.”
Stella crossed her arms over her chest. “You spend a lot of time with me.”
Nolan gave her a smile that would have any other woman orgasmic, but it didn’t do anything for Stella. “You pay me for my company.” Nolan’s eyes went to the driveway and his smile widened. “You have a visitor.”
Stella turned to see a familiar-looking minivan driving toward her. Soon a sprite of a woman hopped out and grinned at her. “Stella! How are you feeling about tonight?”
“Slightly petrified after Jace and Nolan told me about it,” Stella admitted. Tammy was an easy person to like. She didn’t seem like a mother, but a friend. However, the frown on her face and the glare she gave Nolan changed that in a second with a very pissed-off mom look.
“Nolan Flynn, what did you say?”
“Nothing bad, ma’am.” Nolan shuffled his feet and looked down at the ground.
Tammy’s eyes narrowed and her hands went to her hips. “Nolan. I’m only going to ask you once.”
“I told her about how scary y’all are to outsiders at family dinner. Stella’s worried because Jace told her y’all wanted to know about their relationship, but she doesn’t even know if they’re actually dating, officially,” Nolan said in a rush. Stella didn’t think he stopped to take a breath. “Sorry,” he mouthed to her and Stella rolled her eyes at him.
Tammy turned on her then. “My son hasn’t made it clear if he wants you to be his girlfriend?” Oh damn. Gone was Sweet Pixie Tammy and even Mom Tammy. In her place was Medusa Tammy.
“No, ma’am. I’m sorry.”
Tammy’s face suddenly softened as she reached out and patted Stella’s arm. “Oh no, dear. I’m not mad at you. It’s my idiot son who inherited his father’s idiot dating ideas. Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of this.”
Tammy spun around, and as she marched off, Stella heard Tammy muttering about a sexy Greek man, a stupid husband, genetics, and that she’d show them.
“Okay, so I get what you’re saying,” Stella said to Nolan as they watched Tammy drive off like she was outrunning the devil. Although by the look on her face it was more that she was chasing the devil down to give him a talkin’-to.
“Question is, is Jace worth it?” Nolan questioned.
“Yes,” Stella answered immediately.
“Then let’s get you to the interrogation.”
14
Nolan parked his truck out front of the clinic. Stella went to open the door when something caught her attention in the side mirror. Her eyes narrowed and she felt her forehead wrinkle in confusion.
“Nolan? Do you see a horse galloping down Main Street?”
Nolan looked in the mirror and cursed. The worry in his voice had Stella leaping from the truck to see if she needed to help catch the horse. She hadn’t seen a rider, but when she was out of the truck, she saw there was, in fact, a rider slouched over in a saddle.
“Hold your hands up and stop the horse! Distract him,” Nolan yelled at her as he moved to the side of the street.
Stella ran to the middle of the road and waved her hands in the air. “Stop, horsey! Stop! Whoa, horsey.”
The horse skidded to a stop and snorted. He stomped his foot on the pavement, causing a spark to fly from his horseshoe. This wasn’t a nice horsey. This was a horse with fire in his eyes and smoke coming from his nostrils. She heard a groan from the man clinging to the horse’s mane and looked his way. His brown hair was a little on the long side and liberally streaked with blond. He wore leather chaps over jeans and had what looked like a bulletproof vest on over his T-shirt. His arms were ripped with muscles she didn’t know men had. His jean-clad legs finally relaxed when the horse came to a stop.