“What about you? Neither of you have lived with a woman before. So it’s not just me who’s going to be adjusting.”
“Yeah, but we’re men. Y-chromosome-laden, knuckle-dragging men.” Dale grinned at her as she laughed.
“And because we’re men, and our testosterone keeps us on the physical side of things more heavily than on the emotional or intellectual side, we’re happy as hell.”
“I’m happy, too. The truth is—and maybe I’m being naïve in confessing this to y’all—I’m glad they pushed us and that we are, now, living here, together. Because I really wanted this, but I was afraid, more than a little afraid, to just reach out and take what I wanted.”
“From now on, the number one rule between us is this, sweetheart,” Dale said. “If there is anything, anything at all, you want to try or need to have, you tell us. This is a sacred place for us.”
“And by sacred place, we mean this relationship we have, the three of us. In this thing…” Parker made a circling, inclusive motion with his hand. “In this thing between us, there has to be communication and honesty. I honestly believe that’s the only way it works. How does that sound?”
“Perfect.” Jenny grinned and then kissed each of her men.
The timer went off, so they got busy setting the table and then putting the finishing touches on the supper. Within a few minutes, with the scent of roasted chicken and veggies in the air, they sat to enjoy their first meal together in their new home.
For long moments, they simply ate because Parker had been right, and they hadn’t eaten any lunch. Once she’d sated her immediate inner foodie, she reached for her glass and took a sip of her wine. “You know, in all that happened so quickly today, there are a couple of things I don’t quite understand.”
Parker nodded. “For me, it’s one thing. You go first, and we’ll see if one of your two matches my one.”
Jenny took a moment to order her thoughts. “Did you know that y’all waited only a few moments after my folks left to come to the inn? To have that ‘war council’?”
“I knew that Grandma Kate was in the truck with us and that she wanted us to wait until Jackson gave the signal to head out. I was wondering about that, myself.”
“Yeah, that part seems strange. We could see Jackson on his cell phone, and then he started to drive.”
“So, clearly, they didn’t want to say what they had to say with my folks there.”
“Maybe they didn’t want them to get upset because we’re now living together,” Parker said. “Will they be?”
“No. They accept that I’m adult. They knew I was really interested in the two of you, and they never said a word against it. But that isn’t what’s really got me wondering. Or, rather, it’s not all that’s got me wondering.”
“What, then?”
“They—Grandma Kate, Jake, and Adam—didn’t seem to be worried about the fact someone was looking for me, the same someone that mom and dad had heard about. My folks were worried, but they weren’t. It was the fact that there was a second party searching for me that seemed to have them all upset.”
“Yeah, that’s it.” Parker huffed out a breath. “We have to wonder. What didn’t they tell us?”
Jenny was asking herself that same question. And she didn’t know if she really wanted an answer to that question, or not.
Chapter Eleven
The only thing she didn’t like about heading to work on this particular Monday was that it meant she had to be separated from Parker and Dale. For a woman who’d never lived with a lover—let alone two—it sure hadn’t taken her long to get used to being with them all day, and all night, too.
Jenny had wondered if she would be teased when she went back to work. After all, the last time her coworkers had seen her, she’d been a “single” woman, living on her own in her nice comfy apartment in Lusty and was considering trying a couple of Montanans on for size. Now, just a few days later, she was in a committed ménage and sharing a house with her two lovers, just inside the small town.
No one teased her, exactly. However, Brittany and Laci did both offer her sly smiles and covert winks. She didn’t feel teased. She felt as if she’d just gained entry into a very exclusive club.
It didn’t take Jenny long to fall into the rhythm of Monday. It was busy today, starting with the lunch crowd. The guests ranged from people she knew to people she’d never seen before. That wasn’t unusual here at the roadhouse. There was a sign just out on the state highway that drew folks in for lunch. She’d discovered that to be especially true in the summer months. A lot of people vacationed in Texas. The management and staff of Angela’s Roadhouse was always happy when some of them stopped in to eat.
As usual for a Monday, the tables filled quickly. Folks who came in on their own tended to sit at the bar. In the time she’d been working there, Jenny had met folks from Canada and Mexico, England and Europe, and even a few from Australia.
Of course, she’d also met people from nearly all of the fifty states, including Hawaii. Oh, I can count Alaska, too, because Sean and Noah Kendall had lived there for a couple of years.
Jenny had discovered early on, talking to Bailey, that she and her coworker had a similar approach to their work. Rhythm. Bailey confessed she’d used that very system working as an accounting clerk,
