“Why do southern men have big trucks?”

“So we look like gentlemen when we help ladies out of them.”

“Rather than see us fall?”

“It’s never pretty,” he said as he shut the door, and they walked toward the restaurant.

Darcy was met with an array of smells. Stale beer and bar-b-que were top note scents and next came fresh bread. She’d been hungry, but now she was starving.

Country music played on a jukebox. It was old country, too. Patsy Cline. Her mother loved Patsy Cline.

The walls were decorated to the hilt with garage sale finds. Some items still had price tags.

The hostess sat them at a booth and set both sets of silverware and the menus on one side of the table.

“I guess she assumes we’re together,” Darcy said.

“It would be a common thought. A man and a woman out to dinner. We certainly aren’t dressed for talking business.”

He motioned for her to take a seat, and then he sat on the booth across from her, pulling the menu and silverware wrap toward him.

“Are you up for ribs?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“They have a dinner for two, if that’s okay.”

Darcy set the menu down. “Sounds fine.”

“Also comes with a pitcher of beer. But you can have whatever you want.”

“Beer sounds fine.”

When the waitress came to collect their orders, Eduardo ordered for them and then sat back against the booth and looked around as though he were taking in the atmosphere.

“Do you come here a lot?” she asked.

“Nah. Once in a great while. But my dad brought us when I was about eleven. Uncle John had brought him. It’s an old BBH tradition, I guess.”

“BBH?”

“Benson, Benson, and Hart.”

“Oh.” She eased back in the booth. “Did your dad work there, too?”

“Just for a short time. Aunt Regan got him the job when he was between teaching positions.”

“Your dad is a teacher?”

“Yep. Well, he was. He’s a school district administrator now.”

“That sounds official.”

The waitress brought their pitcher of beer and two frosty mugs. Eduardo moved in and pulled the mugs toward him. “Do you mind if I pour?”

“That’s fine, thanks.”

“Some women are very independent so I don’t want to step on any toes.”

“Well, as we’re not on a date and I like a tad bit of chivalry anyway, you don’t have to impress me, and I appreciate the gesture.”

Eduardo poured their beers and slid hers to her. Then he lifted his mug as to make a toast. “To our new working relationship. May you be able to keep up with my demands…”

“And may you not seem too demanding,” she finished the toast.

They tapped glasses and each took a sip from their mugs.

Darcy set hers down. “I’m still trying to learn this family of yours. So your uncle owns the company?”

He smiled. “My uncle Zach owns the company. His grandfather started it, and it was passed to his father and then to him.”

“But now you run it?”

“No. I run some of the builds. It’ll go to his sons someday. I consider it that I’m just helping to sustain it until then.”

“And Uncle Zach is married to?”

“Aunt Regan. She was his assistant. In fact, they met the morning she was supposed to start her new job. She was soaking wet from a flash rain storm and had to take the bus because my dad was fixing her car. Well, he had run home that night, literally. He’s a big runner.

“So he was on the bus, too. But when the bus jolted, she fell right into his lap.”

“That’s how they met?”

“Yep. Then he brought her here for dinner on one of her first nights that they were working.”

She felt an uneasy similarity happening between them, and she wasn’t sure she liked that. She quickly lifted her beer to her mouth and took a big chug.

“How long have they been married?”

Eduardo calculated in his head. “Twenty-three years, I think.”

“Guess it worked out for them,” she said as she took another sip of her beer.

“Well, the marriage did. He fired her.”

Darcy choked on her drink and set the mug down as she coughed. “He fired her?”

“She lost him a big contract.”

“Oh.” Panic took over her body, and as she reached for her beer, she noticed her hand was shaking. She pulled it back. “How did she do that?”

“She didn’t really. It was a bad business deal, and she got caught in the middle. But, as a family joke, we say that’s how it went down.”

Darcy wasn’t sure she understood. “All of these aunts and uncles are from your dad’s family?”

“Yep. My mom’s not as close to her family. But the Kellers—they’re a tight bunch.”

“Sounds that way.”

The waitress came back with their plates of ribs and bread.

Darcy’s eyes widened when she saw the amount of food before them.

“Is this normal? Did you invite anyone else?”

He laughed. “No, this is it. We’ll box up the leftovers, and you can take them home for tomorrow.”

Darcy smiled as Eduardo handed her a roll. She liked him. It was a far better feeling than the one she’d had that morning. But then again, her luck seemed to be changing the longer she was around him. Maybe it would be good to be his assistant and get to know the rest of the Kellers. They might not be her family, but until she found what she was looking for, she sure could use a dose of friendship from one.

Chapter Four

As Darcy finished getting ready for the day, she heard a knock on the door.

For not having any friends in Tennessee, she sure received a lot of visitors.

Christian stood there in a pair of running shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt. His hair was wet and so was the front of his shirt. His iPhone was latched to his arm with a Velcro band and ear buds dangled around his neck.

“You’ve already been running?” Darcy asked as she looked him over.

“That was the first run of the day.”

“First?”

“Gotta keep in shape.”

She laughed. “Would you like to come in? I was just getting ready for work.”