Sinclair Justice (Texas Rangers #2)(37)
Emm carefully pulled out gold-rimmed bone china. It looked old. “Are you sure you want to use this?”
“Yes. It makes me think of Chad’s mama. I wish I’d known her, but she passed before Chad and I met. But the two of us wouldn’t be together without her.”
Emm paused in setting out the plates. “How so? If you don’t mind me asking . . .”
“Not at all.” Jasmine pulled the last piece of fried chicken from the skillet, critically eyeing a few dark spots. “Texas Rangers are a different breed, and women tend to gravitate to them. Chad’s not conventionally handsome, like Ross, and the first time I met him I thought he was an *. But after I got to know him . . . he has a tender side he lets few people see, and that all came from his mom. Family means even more to him than his job, and I know if I ever need him, he’ll be there through tornado, pestilence, or famine.” She looked at the piled-high golden brown chicken. “Of course the latter isn’t likely to happen around here.”
Emm laughed with her. “So you met him while you were in law school?”
“Sorta in spite of it.” Jasmine smiled, her pale green eyes dancing with mischief. “He wanted to arrest me first thing because I was a no-’count stripper who tempted his brother Trey to LA after suckering him out of his land. Dancing was the only way I could afford law school, but Chad softened toward me when I helped him gather evidence against my old boss that proved he was behind Trey’s kidnapping.”
Emm vacillated between shock and laughter. “Must be a Texas Ranger motto; instead of ‘one riot, one ranger,’ ‘see a woman you like, arrest her.’”
The men came back into the kitchen to gales of female laughter. Ross looked suspiciously between them and then at Chad. “Why do I get the feeling they’re laughing at our expense?”
Chad only grinned. He dabbed a paper towel in water and wiped the flour off his wife’s face, kissing the same spot. “We’ll get our own back, but after we eat. She finally used my mama’s fried chicken recipe I’ve been offering her for over a year and I’m afraid if we don’t eat now it may disappear like a phoenix.”
“Keep it up and I’ll brown your share extra well,” Jasmine threatened.
Chad poked at a leg suspiciously. “Looks like you already did that.”
“Hey, I never made any promises. You should have known I can’t cook when the best meal I ever made you at my place was a grilled cheese.” Jasmine sat down in the chair he pulled out for her.
Ross did the same for Emm. He was smiling indulgently as he listened to their banter. He caught her eye and winked, his hand caressing the top of her head before he sat down next to her. She wondered what he’d said to Chad about their embrace. It was obvious Chad had been teasing him.
Blushing, she unfolded her napkin into her lap. She had to squelch a sharp pang of envy along with an even more powerful wave of curiosity as to why Ross had invited her into this scene of domestic bliss. If only such scenes were part of her own life. Ducking her head, she wiped her mouth to hide the sudden tremor, but then Jasmine and Chad’s ribbing about prior cooking disasters made her laugh. She bit into a juicy piece of chicken. Delicious; a bit crispy, true, but tasting of home and the many generations of women who had used this exact recipe. Tradition on a plate.
After dinner, Chad and Ross insisted on washing up. Emm offered to help, but other than letting her clear the table, they wouldn’t allow it, so she went back into the living room to find Jasmine feeding little Trey. Earlier, Emm had been afraid to hold the boy, but this time, when Jasmine burped him, she offered him up to Emm. Sitting next to her on the couch, Emm carefully held Trey as his mother indicated. Jasmine put her breast back into her bra and had just buttoned her shirt when Chad and Ross came back from the kitchen, laughing at some male joke the women were not privy to.
Chad sat down in the battered recliner, but Ross had stopped so abruptly the swinging kitchen door hit him in the rear. He watched Emm and the baby exchange a long look.
Chad and Jasmine both looked between Emm and Ross, but for once he seemed oblivious. On the edge of her consciousness, Emm knew they were all watching, but she was so enchanted she didn’t care. She whispered to the baby, “You’re going to wow the girls someday with those big blue eyes.” She moved the blanket back from his face and he latched onto her finger, bringing it to his mouth and sucking it. She froze, thinking of nothing to say but an inane, “My hands are clean.”
Jasmine chuckled. “He likes you. Usually he only sucks my finger, and Chad’s occasionally. I’m not sure he likes where it’s been.”
Chad’s eyes fired up as he looked at her partially unbuttoned shirt.
Jasmine fastened the last button. “Don’t say it.”
Emm scarcely heard them. Tired of suckling her finger, Trey reached a chubby hand to her necklace, wrapping it around his fingers. He gurgled up at her, liking the shiny gold, and laughed.
Emm was so entranced tears came to her eyes. “Precious,” she said, and kissed his cheek. Then she offered him back to Jasmine, rose, and ran for the bathroom to collect herself. Lord, they’d think she had female problems, but she was dealing with emotions she’d never known before and they felt so private she wasn’t sure how to handle them.
Inside the living room, a pregnant silence ensued. Ross sat down on the edge of the furniture arrangement in the only hard chair in the room and tried to calm himself. Emm had exquisite manners, but the tears in her eyes were too genuine to have been inspired by politesse. He stuck his hands in his pockets to hide their slight tremor, but Chad wasn’t fooled.