Jack repeated his kindness mantra even as he wanted to run from the room. It was like one big unconventional, screwed-up, happy family. Mitch sat at the kitchen table working a jigsaw puzzle, and Kyle, Mimi, and Luanne scuttled around the kitchen, while he loitered in the background.

“Jack, we could always use an extra pair of hands.” Mimi said as she arranged small jelly jars in a row on the counter.

Jack leaned a hip against the hutch in the connected breakfast nook. “Actually, Mimi, I’m only here for the show.”

“The show?” Mimi sounded confused.

“He’s talking about me, Mimi. He thinks I’m going to create some kind of kitchen disaster, and he wants to be here to see it,” Luanne said.

“Nonsense,” Kyle said. “Luanne’s a natural in the kitchen. She just needs a little practice.”

Luanne stuck her tongue out at Jack and he laughed. He couldn’t help it. She was so stinkin’ cute with her apron on. Something was already smeared on her cheek, and they hadn’t even started. “If you say so.”

Kyle gave him a withering look. “I think we’ll punish you by not letting you have any of this delicious jam.”

“You’re right, Kyle. Jack needs to be punished.” She licked sticky syrup from a spoon with a slow sweep of her bubble-gum pink tongue. The kitchen temperature shot through the roof and Jack didn’t give a damn about jam or watching Luanne cook unless she was doing it naked.

“Focus, Luanne,” Kyle reprimanded.

“Sorry.” She didn’t sound very sorry, and Jack was glad.

“Careful, Jack. Kyle doesn’t have a sense of humor when it comes to food prep,” Mitch said.

Kyle pointed a wooden spoon at Mitch. “I’ve never heard you complain, Mitch Rawlings.”

“And you never will.”

“Dang right, if you ever want to eat again.” Kyle’s air kiss caused his threat to fall apart.

Jack noticed the puzzle Mitch was working on. The picture on the box was a winter scene of Aspen trees all covered in snow. Every piece of the puzzle looked exactly the same. Jack loved puzzles. It was how he spent weekends when he needed to unwind. No one knew that about him, except his mother.

When he was a kid, the two of them would work puzzles all the time. It was one of her best ways of distracting him if he was anxious, or bored. Grief grabbed him. He missed her so much. Even as confused as he was by her actions, he’d give anything for one more day with her.

He tapped an open slot. “I think that one goes here.”

Mitch examined the piece in his hand, then slid it into place. “Well, look at that. Thanks.”

Jack’s fingers went into his pockets. “No problem.”

“Want to join me?” Mitch asked without looking up from the table.

He could be kind. He was a kind person.

He pulled out a chair. “Sure, why not?”

Guilt jabbed him in the ribs when he saw Mitch’s shoulders relax. He needed to remember that he wasn’t the only one dealing with a lot of shit.

The chatter in the kitchen rolled over him, and the sugary scent of blackberry jam filled the air. As he immersed himself in solving something other than his own problems, his nerves unwound like a spool of thread attached to a kite in a stiff breeze.

Kyle stirred the big pot on the stove. “Jack, tell us about your record company.”

He shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. Gavin Bain and I started an independent record label about a year ago. So far, Gavin’s our only artist, but we have our eye on a few more. We’re not trying to grow too fast for many reasons, mostly because we don’t have the personnel to handle a lot of artists.”

Luanne measured sugar and dumped it into the pot Kyle stirred. “Jack and Gavin are trying to provide individual attention to anyone who signs with them. Not like the major record labels that are huge conglomerations, and clients are a number. I really admire what Honey Child Records is trying to do.” She pushed her bangs from her face with her forearm.

He was sure his eyes bugged out of his head. The warm glow in his chest at her high praise expanded his ribs and warmed his cheeks.

“What?” Luanne gave him a double take.

Uncontrollable pride coursed through his body. “Thanks.”

She shrugged. “It’s the truth, and you know I always tell the truth. Like, for instance, you have a grease stain on your t-shirt.”

He knew she was trying to deflect the attention away from her compliment. He’d let her. She’d already said it and there was no taking it back. “That I do, counselor.”

“Sounds like you’re doing good work, Jack.” The pride in Mitch’s expression was undeniable.

Jack wasn’t prepared for the impact of his father’s words. “Um…thank you.” Mercifully, the doorbell rang, preventing him from having to say more.

Mimi wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. “I’ll get it.”

He surveyed his and Mitch’s handiwork. They’d finished the puzzle’s border and never said a single word, but it wasn’t a hostile or uncomfortable silence. So that was something.

He could be kind. He was a kind person.

Damn right he was. He’d beat this awkwardness like he’d beaten every other obstacle in his life.

“Jack, Luanne, there’s a package for you,” Mimi said as she walked back into the room.

“Oh, thank God.” Luanne rubbed her hands on her apron and headed for the box wrapped in brown paper. She ripped into it like a five-year-old on Christmas morning, then pulled her phone out and hugged it to her chest. “My baby!”

Jack laughed. He knew how she felt. It’d been like losing an appendage when Pearl and June had relieved him of his phone during the robbery. “I’m happy you two have been reunited.”

“My wallet’s in here too and…it’s full of cash.” She threw her head back, closed her lids, and whispered, “Thank you, Scarlett.”

Irritation scraped against him. He knew why she was glad to have the money—it meant she didn’t have to rely on him or anyone else anymore. Asking for help was a sin to her. Given what he knew about her family, especially her father, he understood, but it still ticked him off that she hadn’t yet figured out that she could count on him for help.

“There’s something in here for you too, Jack.” He went to stand next to her. She handed him the legal-sized white envelope.

“Thanks.” He tore the end off and shook out a credit card. The one he kept locked in his office for emergencies. Thank God Caroline hadn’t left town before he called, and she was able to get Scarlett the things he needed. He kissed the piece of plastic. “I’m no longer the poor relation. Dinner’s on me tonight.”

Mimi wiped down the counter. “Isn’t that nice?”

He threw his arm around his grandmother’s shoulders. “Where would you like to go, Mimi?”

“There is a place.” She chewed her lip. “But there are so many of us. It might be too expensive.”

Jack laughed. “Money is no object. We’ll go wherever you want.”

“Well, you see, there’s a new truck stop out on Highway 39, and they have a buffet that I’ve heard is just amazin’. I mean there is everything under the sun on that thing, and people say they have the best banana pudding you’ve ever tasted.”

He could not have heard her correctly. A truck stop? A freaking truck stop? “Mimi, are you sure there’s no other place you’d rather go?” He could see Luanne, Kyle, and Mitch over Mimi’s shoulder trying, and failing, not to laugh.

“No, this will be perfect.” The beaming smile she gave him put any further argument to rest.

“Well.” Jack rubbed his hands together vigorously. “Everybody get ready. It looks like we’re going to the truck stop.”

* * *

Jack maneuvered the rental car back up Mimi’s long drive after the family’s trip to the truck stop. He had to agree, the banana pudding was the best he’d ever tasted.

“That was fun.” Luanne scrolled through her social media sites in the passenger seat.

The meal had gone off without a hitch—no weirdness, no awkward silences. That was mostly due to Luanne and Kyle keeping the conversation rolling. He’d managed to be polite and cordial to Mitch, and at this point that was all he wanted or could manage.

“Thanks to your and Kyle’s winning personalities.”

She snorted. “That’s probably the first time anyone’s used that phrase to describe me.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re downright pleasant once you remove that giant chip from your shoulder.”

The death glare she laid on him was ferocious. “Do not spread that around. I’ve got a reputation to protect.”

He laughed. “I’ll keep your secret, killer.” The gasp that came from the other side of the car had him slowing down. “What’s wrong?”

“My dad.”

“Where?”

She pointed to Mimi’s porch, where Marcus Price sat patiently in a rocker, looking perfectly at home. Instead of his typical suit and tie, he wore jeans and a button-down shirt, and tennis shoes. Jack blinked to make sure it was the same man he’d met multiple times in Zachsville.

His hands itched to wrap around the guy’s neck for all he’d done to Luanne, but this wasn’t his battle to fight. He knew jumping into the middle of this situation with her father, without permission, would be the end of their fledgling relationship. Besides, Luanne was more than capable of handling her father. Hopefully, she knew that too.

“Do you want to leave? I can turn this car around right now and get you the hell out of here.” Even he could hear the menace in his voice, and he didn’t give a shit. This bastard had hurt Luanne one too many times.

She chewed her lower lip, and time ticked by until she seemed to make a decision. She released her lip, straightened her shoulders, and put on her game face. The one he’d seen her use on him almost every time they’d interacted before this insane road trip.

“No. This needs to happen.”

“Okay. You’re the boss.” It killed him to let her walk into the lion’s den without him.

He maneuvered the car and parked it next to Mitch and Kyle’s rental. The couple, Mimi, and Leslie had already made it to the porch. Jack noticed the foursome’s body language was closed off as they introduced themselves to Marcus.

Luanne puffed out a loud breath. “I should go talk to him. I’m going to…in just a minute.”

He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “Hey. What’s your superpower?”

Confusion flickered across her beautiful face, then she grinned. “Badassery.”

“You’re the baddest badass around, Luanne Price. Never forget it.”

“Damn straight.” But when he turned to open his door, she grabbed his hand. “Stay close. I mean not on the porch with me, but maybe right inside the door? I need to do this by myself, but…yeah…stay close.”

Two words.

Two little words blew apart his perception of himself. He wasn’t fun Jack, or good-time Jack, he was the man this strong, amazing woman could count on. “Always.” The kiss he gave her was soft and, whether she knew it or not, full of promises he intended to keep.

* * *

Luanne stuck her fingers into the front pockets of her jeans to hide the shaking. Uncertainty, hope, and a little fear—this was the story of her life with Marcus Price. She never knew where she stood with him. All she knew was that she loved the father that her mother, her grandmother, and she always believed he could be.

She made her way up the steps and stopped on the last one. “Hey.”

“Luanne.” He had her in his arms in three steps. Panic raced along her nerves. This was the intimidation and overwhelming suffocation she always experienced when hugged by people bigger than her. Now she knew it didn’t have anything to do with her size, and everything to do with the fact that she couldn’t trust this man’s intentions. Ever.

As politely as possible, she extricated herself from his stifling hold. “When did you get here?” She didn’t even bother asking how he found her. He wouldn’t tell her the truth anyway.

“About an hour ago.” He noticed Jack and nearly did to him what he’d done to her.

But before he was wrapped in a bear-hug, Jack stuck his hand out. “Mr. Price.”

“Marcus.” He pumped their clasped hands with all his might. “Please call me Marcus. How can I ever thank you for rescuing my little girl?”

Jack broke the handshake. “Mr. Price, Luanne’s the last woman in the world who needs to be rescued.”

Marcus flexed the fingers of his right hand like, maybe, they’d been in a vice. “Yes, well…”

Jack’s praise straightened her spine and bolstered her shaky confidence. “Would y’all mind giving my dad and me a minute?”

Kyle stepped forward. “Sure, sweet pea.” Kyle kissed her cheek and whispered into her ear, “Draw your boundaries, and remember what you deserve.”

The moisture in her eyes crested at her lower lid, but didn’t fall. She stared into the face of this kind man and understood that she did deserve so much more than she’d ever gotten from her father. And she had every right to ask for what she wanted. “Thank you.”

He winked then herded the rest of the family into the house.

“Sweet pea?” Her father chuckled. “I guess he doesn’t know that you’re my doodle bug.”

Annoyance at the once-beloved nickname pulled her brows together. “What are you doing here, Dad?”

“I’ve come to get my daughter, who I’ve been incredibly worried about.” He turned toward the front door. “Let’s get your things and get on the road. If we hurry we can catch the red-eye back to Houston.”

She dropped into one of the rocking chairs. “Let’s talk, Dad.”

“Talk? We’ll have plenty of time to talk on the plane.” He checked his watch. “Seriously, Luanne, we need to get on the road. We don’t have time for your histrionics.”

There was no stopping the sad smile that tugged at her lips. “I’d like to speak with you about a few things.”

His nostrils flared as he took a deep breath, and he pressed his palms down at his waist like he was trying to force his emotions into place. “Fine.” When he raised his eyes, the genial man who’d met her on the porch was back. “What would you like to talk about?”

She folded and unfolded the hem of her shirt. “First, I’m not marrying Doug.”

“Of course you’re not.” His expression was so sincere she wanted to bathe in it.

She let out the air trapped in her lungs. “Oh, okay. I thought you’d—”

“Not until that boy apologizes. I don’t want you to let him off the hook. You make him beg. Do you hear me, baby girl?”

Disappointment replaced the blood in her veins. It pumped and clogged her devastated heart, then rolled up her throat. She swallowed it back down and looked her father in the eye. “No. I will never marry Doug. I won’t allow you to use me like that ever again.”

His head jerked back like she’d slapped him. “Well, I had no idea you felt that way.”

The tears in his voice were almost enough to make her change her mind, but she deserved more than the piddly crumbs he offered. She deserved a banquet of love from the man whose genes she carried. “I do feel that way, because it’s true. I want more than anything to have a relationship with you. So much so, that I allowed you to arrange a marriage for me. I would do just about anything to please you, to earn your love. But I won’t marry Doug. I won’t participate in your business scheme. And I won’t settle for your scraps of affection that only come when you want something.”

He searched her face, then dropped his head into his hand. Dejection rolled off him like fog in a backwoods swamp. He was upset. Maybe she’d said the right thing. Gotten to him somehow. She would try once more to connect with him, for the little girl who’d dressed in a frilly pink dress to impress her daddy.

She put her hand on his arm. “Dad, I believe we can repair our relationship. I want that.”

“Bullshit.”

The word was spoken so quietly she wasn’t sure that was what he’d said. “What?”

His head came up like a snake ready to strike. Red eyes, a scowling brow, and a sneer had taken the place of the concerned man she’d sat down with. “I said, bullshit. If you wanted a relationship, then you would have done what I asked you to do. You’ve ruined everything for me. You’ve cost me millions of dollars in this broken deal and for what? Because I didn’t hug you enough as a child? Give me a break. You’re a grown woman who knows the score. We had a agreement and you broke it.” He stood and kicked the rocker. “I’m done with you.”

She braced herself for the devastating reality that it was really over, but all she felt was an overwhelming sense of relief. She was sure she’d be sad for some time to come, but not devastated. This man hadn’t earned her adoration, her love, her loyalty. He was toxic to her, exactly like he’d been to her mother. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” he mocked. “Let’s see how sorry you are when you’re homeless and begging for a job. I’ll be taking your law practice, your house, and your car.”

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. “Are you kidding me right now? I may have acted like an idiot by agreeing to marry Doug, but I assure you that I’m anything but. You gifted me those things, and they’re mine.” His threat was so empty and yet so cruel that she knew this was the end for her. No more trying to be what he wanted in hopes of an honest relationship with him, just no more. “But you know what, I don’t want them. Not one thing. I don’t need your money or your things. Take ’em. Take ’em all. I can buy my own.” She spread her arms wide. “You bought me a fantastic education, Dad. I can do anything I want.” The truth of those words shot confidence to her soul.

His hands went to his hips. “Oh, really. How are you going to do that? You have nothing now.” He spit out a half laugh. “You’re like your mother. Always wanting someone else to take care of you.”

His hateful words, that usually stung, rolled off her and pooled in a scummy puddle at her feet. She wasn’t her mother, even though she understood her mother much better now. And she was capable of taking care of herself.

Excitement for a new challenge in her life and freedom from his kind of poison loosened her muscles, and she smiled. “I’m not sure yet, but I’ll figure it out. Until then, I have friends who will help and support me.”

She’d lived off the scraps of his affection for so long that her heart was malnourished. But she deserved a banquet of love in her life, and she had people ready and willing to give her exactly that. Scarlett and Gavin, Floyd, Honey, and Joyce…but mostly she knew Jack would be in her corner until she could get on her feet.

Speaking of the man, she could see him behind her dad at the screen door with murder on his face. All she had to do was say the word and he’d storm into the situation and deal with her father. But that was her job and her right to send him away. She crossed her arms over her chest. “You should go, Dad.”

“Now wait a damn minute.” Pink colored his neck and cheeks. “Let’s talk about this.”

She knew he thought he could bully her into doing what he wanted, and now he was scrambling to find another way to get her to comply. “There’s nothing else to talk about. Goodbye.”

“I’m not leaving without you.” He grabbed for her elbow.

Jack was on him before he ever touched her. He bent Marcus’s arm behind his back and Jack growled into his ear, “Try to put your hands on her again. You won’t like what happens.” He shoved Marcus into the porch rail.

The screech of the screen door and the cocking of a shotgun punctuated Jack’s threat. Kyle, Mitch, Mimi, and Leslie all poured onto the porch. Kyle handed the weapon to Mimi. “There you go, Mimi. It’s cocked and ready for you.

She wasn’t alone. These people cared for her and would stand with her. Amazing. She wasn’t one of them, but they had taken her in as if she were blood. This was what family felt like. The sensation fit perfectly in the hole that lived in her heart, filling it seamlessly. Something that made her stronger, better, and braver thumped through her newly healed organ.

The older woman pinned Marcus with the mother of all evil eyes. “I believe you’ve worn out your welcome, sir. I’d appreciate it if you’d move along now.” She leveled the firearm at him. “I hope you do what I say. Cleaning up blood is hard as hell.”

Marcus held his hands up and backed down the steps. “There’s no need to get crazy. I’m leaving.” He pinned Luanne with a glare. “I don’t deserve to be treated this way.”

As his car sped down the driveway, his last statement hung in the air.

Neither do I, Dad. Neither do I.