Page 13 of Daybreak

“It’s not red,” she said.

He laughed. “Oh, I remember the rule. It’s auburn, right?”

She laughed. “You did remember.”

“I remember you shouting at the catcher every day because he called you ‘red on the head’ and it made you mad.”

She was still smiling. “The whole team gave me grief, but I loved being the bat girl. I got to hang out with all the cute guys at practice and at games. Made my girlfriends so jealous.”

Gunner couldn’t stop smiling. Their coach used to call her the little rattle-bucket, because she also never stopped talking, but she’d been a good sport about getting teased.

“The waitress is heading our way. Do you know what you want to eat?”

She nodded. “Shrimp tacos on flour tortillas. Chips and queso.”

“Sounds good to me, too,” he said.

The waitress took their orders and soon came back with their drinks and a tray with chips, salsa, and queso for the table.

“To old friends,” Gunner said as he toasted her with his drink.

“And new friendships,” she countered as she toasted him back.

They ate a couple of chips before curiosity got the best of her, and Holly asked the question she’d been dying to ask. “How is it that you have managed to stay single for all these years?”

Gunner glanced up, still chewing, which gave him the moment he needed to figure out how to answer that. “Uh… Picky, I guess.”

She nodded. “Still the loner, aren’t you?”

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

She fired back. “How many girls did you date in high school?”

“Well, I took Linda Carver to a school dance.”

“That wasn’t a date. It was that girl-asking-the-boy dance. I remember.”

He threw a wadded-up paper napkin at her. “Don’t blow my image. I’m the hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners cop who has the best record on the gun range, and an unbroken record on the track when we work out.”

She giggled. “Don’t worry. I always had your back. I always will. I also don’t throw away old shoes or worn-out T-shirts, so I don’t know what that says for me, either.”

Now he was laughing. A thing so rare that it almost felt like he was coming out of the dark. “I think you are good for what ails me. Do you want sopapillas?”

“Too full, but thank you,” she said.

“Maybe next time.” He glanced at the time. “We better get a move on. We’ve both got groceries in our cars, and it’s at least a forty-five-minute drive home for me.”

“About the same for me, but toward Fort Worth,” she said and began gathering up her phone and purse.

Gunner left money on the table with a sizeable tip, then walked her out the door and across the lot to her car.

“This was the best day I’ve had in forever,” Gunner said. “We have to do this again, and soon.”

“You have my number. And I’ll save room for dessert next time. Thank you for dinner. Don’t forget me, okay?”

It was the poignant tone in her voice and the blue sparkle in her eyes that got him. Before he could change his mind, he cupped his hands on her cheeks, brushed a quick kiss across her lips, and then gave a wayward curl a quick tug.

“You’re impossible to forget. Drive safe, Hollyberry. Talk to you soon,” he said.