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“If you have a seat, breakfast is almost ready.”
He motioned to the long stretch of table on the other side of the island. On normal days, there were usually about twenty guys hanging around and yakking it up with each other. This was the first BBQ Fest in Lockhart, and they were expecting upwards of a hundred thousand people this weekend. The trucks were all onsite, and the men were sleeping in the Rotary building, taking shifts being on call for the next three days. The festivities started Thursday and concluded on Saturday with a huge rodeo and the BBQ Pit Master winner announcement. The winner this year would win a cool fifty grand and be invited to cook in one of the local restaurants, Michaels. It belonged to a local family, and they had been running the festival for the past ten years, though it had been in Austin until this year. They’d outgrown the Austin venue and needed more space. Lockhart was considered the capital of BBQ in Texas, so it seemed only appropriate that it came home.
Connor should have been out there too, but he had more important things to do right now. Such as, take care of a beautiful traveler in distress.
Turning back to the stove, he used tongs to remove the last of the bacon from the cast-iron skillet. The cheesy scrambled eggs were in a separate skillet, and the bowl of melon was already on the table. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please. I didn’t catch your name?”
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “Connor Kelly. I’m chief of Lockhart FD station 93.”
He poured her a cup of coffee, and set it in front of her, then he set the egg pan in the middle of the table with the fruit. Reaching, he grabbed the plate of bacon and set it in front of her. “Help yourself, please.”
Without further encouragement, she gingerly reached for her own plate and began to load it up. Connor appreciated he didn’t have to cajole her into eating. She seemed famished. He gave her a couple of minutes to take the edge off, but he couldn’t curb his curiosity forever. “How are you feeling?”
“Not bad,” she said around a mouthful of bacon, obviously lying. “My head is throbbing, but I’ve gotten used to it. The ribs catch me more than anything. It’s hard to breathe shallow continuously.”
He nodded. “Oh, yeah. And if I remember right, I think I slept in a recliner for about a month after I broke mine.”
Her eyes widened a little. “Car crash?”
“Nah,” he shook his head, taking a big swallow of juice. “Fell two stories through the roof of an apartment building and landed on a washer. Broke three ribs, punctured a lung.”
She nodded in sympathy, but she didn’t make the face a lot of people did. That scrunched up, eww… face. He had a feeling Olivia Grant had seen a lot of shit. And been involved in a lot of shit. She’d saluted the doctor yesterday.
He wouldn’t know if he didn’t ask. “Were you in the military? You saluted like you knew what you were doing yesterday.”
She blinked and looked down at her plate. “Yeah, I was in the Army. Mobile surgical teams.”
Connor knew that look. She really didn’t want to talk about it. Mobile surgical teams sounded dangerous. And nomadic. Had she seen action? He wanted to ask, but it was obvious by the way she avoided his eyes that she didn’t want to talk about it.
“So, where were you heading when you landed in our lovely town of Lockhart?”
She sighed, then her breathed hitched and she winced. “Corpus Christi. I have a job down there starting in a few days. I’m a contract nurse.”
“Ah,” he said thoughtfully. “Nice area down there.”
“I hope so,” she said, but she didn’t sound enthused. “I’ll call them in a little while and let them know I may be delayed.”
Connor nodded, running a hand over his chin. “You can call your insurance and see how long it will take them to get you a replacement vehicle. Just know you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need to. It’s quiet right now. And even if the guys come back to the station, you won’t be a bother.”
She looked up at him and smiled. It was a little lopsided, but cute, and totally transformed her face. “Thanks, Connor. And thank you for the breakfast. I can’t remember when I ate last, so I definitely needed it.”
Connor grinned at her and dipped his head. “No problem. Always ready to feed a pretty girl.”
She lifted one pale brown brow. “I’ve seen myself in the mirror. Purple bruises aren’t that pretty.”
The bruising on her head wasn’t that bad. Maybe she just didn’t like being hit on. He backed off. “If you say so.”
Pushing to his feet, he started gathering the dishes. She stood as well and followed him into the kitchen, setting her plate in the sink. Automatically, she reached for the faucet to clean them, but he stopped her hand. “We have a noob to do that. He’s at the store, now, but when he comes back, he’ll eat and clean up.”
“A noob?”
“A new guy that does the grunt work because he wants to be a firefighter. He’s almost through training and he’s doing a fantastic job, but I don’t let him know that.”
She snorted out a laugh. “Ah, I get it.”
Connor led her out of the kitchen and to his office. “You can use the phone in here to call whomever you need to, and when you’re done, I can drive you to try to get your clothes, or whatever. The impound lot is just outside of town.”
