The moment he saw her, he set the glass down, slid out of the booth and stood to greet her. Wow! He looked great, all six-two of him, with his sun-streaked hair and piercing blue eyes. Having a tall, muscular build, he was the type of man who looked good in a uniform, even the standard sheriff’s department brown slacks and shirt.

He smiled. She smiled.

She could tell that he wasn’t sure whether to shake her hand or give her a quick hug. She made the decision for him. After propping her portfolio up against the back of the booth, she gave Jack a brief, friendly hug. Perhaps it hadn’t been a smart move, not if she intended to end their new relationship before it went any further, but hugging him seemed the natural thing to do.

After she slid into the booth and picked up the menu lying on the table between them, Jack sat down across from her.

“Lunch first or business?” he asked.

“Lunch, please. I’m starving. I skipped breakfast this morning.” She kept her gaze fixed on the menu. “Yum, everything looks good.”

“I’ve narrowed my choices down to either a cheeseburger and fries or a rack of ribs.”

“I love ribs, but they’re awfully messy.” The last thing she wanted was to accidentally drop barbeque sauce on her new dress.

Their waitress came over to the booth and asked Cathy, “What would you like to drink?”

“Sweet iced tea with lemon, please.”

“Yes, ma’am. Are y’all ready to order?”

Jack looked at Cathy, who replied, “Yes, I am. I’d like the half sandwich and cup of soup-club sandwich and vegetable soup.”

The waitress turned to Jack.

“A rack of ribs,” he said. “With fries. And more tea.”

“Be right back with your drinks.”

Alone again, Cathy and Jack looked at each other. She realized he was as nervous as she was. One of them had to say something about what had happened this past Sunday night. The kiss they’d shared had dominated her thoughts all week. As much as she wanted Jack, more now than she had as a teenager, she couldn’t risk making a mistake by falling in love with him all over again. It had taken her such a long time to stop loving him, to put him in the past where he belonged and move on with her life. Thank God when she and Mark had married, he’d still been in love with his first wife, so he had understood her feelings for Jack. In the early days of their marriage, they had talked to each other about their lost loves, but all that changed after Seth was born. Oddly enough, Seth had been the glue that cemented their marriage and continued to be the glue that held them together until the day Mark died.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Jack said.

Slightly startled, Cathy snapped out of memory land and came back to the present moment. She smiled. “I was thinking about Seth.” It was a half-truth.

“How’s he doing?”

“I haven’t seen him since Sunday, but we’ve talked on the phone every day. J.B. has kept Seth grounded, and I don’t entirely disagree with him doing that.”

“Do you still plan to put off taking your in-laws to court?”

“Yes. I prefer to settle the custody matter out of court, if at all possible. For Seth’s sake.”

“Do you really think your father-in-law will eventually hand Seth over to you without putting up a fight?”

Cathy sighed. “I hope so. Donnie believes that, given time, J.B. will see reason.”

“And you think Donnie Hovater has all the answers, that he knows J.B. Cantrell better than you do, even though he’s known him for less than a year and you’ve known the old goat for what-more than sixteen years?”

Cathy laughed. “Old goat, huh?”

“I could have been really blunt,” Jack said. “I’m sure I could have come up with more explicit words to describe your father-in-law.”

“Actually, old goat is fine.” She glanced down at the table, avoiding Jack’s steady gaze. “J.B. isn’t a bad man. He’s not cruel or evil, not the way-” Cathy stopped midsentence, realizing what she’d been about to say.

“Not like Nolan Reaves.” Jack finished the sentence for her. “J.B. didn’t physically abuse his wife and kids. He didn’t make life a living hell for people he professed to love. That makes J.B. a better man than my stepfather, but it doesn’t make him a good man. I get the feeling that your husband’s father has committed his share of mental and emotional abuse, at least to some degree.”

“Maybe.” Cathy hated to admit the truth. “Yes, okay. J.B. isn’t a saint. And he’s almost as good at emotional manipulation as my mother is. But it’s not as if he consciously intends to harm anyone.”

Jack lifted his brows in a manner that expressed his doubts. “I realize how you live your life is none of my business, and I have no right to tell you what to do or influence what decisions you should make about your son. But you have to know that your father-in-law has spent the past year manipulating Seth. Don’t you want to put a stop to that as soon as possible?”

“Like you said, my life and my son are none of your business,” Cathy snapped.

“Is your life any of Donnie Hovater’s business?”

Cathy’s gaze met Jack’s head-on just as the waitress returned with their drinks. As soon as she placed their glasses on the table and left, Cathy took a deep, calming breath before responding to Jack’s question.

“I didn’t meet you for lunch today to discuss Seth or J.B. or Donnie,” she reminded him. “I’m here as your design consultant.” She patted the large portfolio propped beside her against the back of the booth. “And your amateur architect.”

“And as a friend?” he asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“If I promise to keep my nose out of your personal business, will you go to dinner and the movies with me tonight? We could drive over to Huntsville and-”

“I already have plans.”

“Do you really have other plans, or is that your way of telling me to back off?”

“If we can have dinner and go to the movies as friends only, I’ll be free next weekend,” she told him. “Tonight, I do have plans with my son. He and I are going for dinner and then bowling with Donnie and Missy. And J.B. has agreed to let Seth spend tonight and tomorrow night with me.”

“That’s great, honey.”

“No comment about my spending time with Donnie?”

“Your life, your business.”

She smiled.

“How about I call you midweek next week and we’ll make plans.” He added, “As friends.”

They ate in relative silence. Cathy felt the tension between them dissipate slightly during their shared meal, but that live-wire sexual connection couldn’t be severed. It was far too strong, and there didn’t seem to be a damn thing she could do about it.

As they sipped coffee, which they had ordered in lieu of dessert, Cathy lifted the portfolio, laid it on the table and opened it to reveal her handiwork. “Let me show you what I’ve come up with for the exterior first. I’ve included a porch gazebo that I think you’ll like.”

“If you like it, I’m sure I will.”

“Helping with the restoration of an old Victorian home is a wonderful experience for me. I may never have my dream home, but doing something like this comes in a close second.”

“Have you thought about going back to school and getting your degree?” Jack asked as he flipped through the professional-looking plans she had drawn for his house. “These are good, honey. Really good.”

“Thank you. And funny you should ask about my going back to school. I’m definitely considering it. But not until I have the situation with Seth worked out. Who knows, when he goes to college, I may go with him.”

They both laughed, and for the first time since she had arrived at the restaurant, Cathy relaxed.

That afternoon, when Mike had invited Jack to go along with him and his kids to Dutton’s Bowling Alley that night, he had declined. He figured the last thing he needed was to run into Cathy and Preacher Hovater. But before his shift ended, he told Mike that he’d changed his mind. What difference did it make if he and Cathy were at the same place at the same time? They weren’t even dating, at least not officially. And she’d made it perfectly clear that she wasn’t ready for anything more than friendship from him or any other man.