Soul Food Read Free

or suspect. And I learned soon enough the locals miss their meat and potatoes diner. Emphasis on meat .”
    Something like regret, maybe even pain, rippled in her voice, and he longed to grab her hand. Just comfort. That’s all . If anything developed between them, he’d have her big brother—his boss—to deal with. Best take things slow.
    “Aw, it’ll work out,” he said. “You got that great family behind you. A great place to come home to.”
    She smiled then, bright and honest. “I know. Hearts Crossing does manage to make things better. But enough about me. You from these parts?”
    She knew he wasn’t, else she’d know him by now. But he’d been all over the West, all over the world truth to tell, and northern Colorado with the Rockies’ Front Range was among his favorite places. Cities and flatland weren’t in his blood. Nor was sticking around. Fortunately, his parent company needed consultants wherever cattle grew.
    “California, I guess.” He shrugged. Best he could do. “Born in San Francisco, but my folks are real free spirits. Never stayed put for long. Still don’t. College hippie throwbacks, you know. Berkeley. But they did hang on to get their degrees and made me get mine. Scholarship to Boulder. I find I like my ranch-hopping life.”
    “Ranch-hopping?”
    He chewed his cheek for a second, not sure how specific to get. Not sure what her family had said about him. The Martins were a tight clan with roots deep into their land going back a hundred and fifty years. Kelley had grown up with traditional values. Including regular church. Her mother was a woman of big shoulders ready to embrace any and all who crossed her path, and an even bigger heart, and he admired Elaine Martin.
    But come Sundays, when he declined heading to Mountain Cove Community Church with the other hands, he could read the disappointment on her face. He shrugged. No need to be anybody but who he was. A man who could fill his heart peering over a mountain valley instead of pouring over a hymn book. “I seem to find myself moving on. This job had my name all over it. Just a temp until Nick gets back. And I’m building clientele for my parent company.”
    Her forehead furrowed just a tad, and he wondered if it meant she wished he was one to stay longer, put down roots. Nope. Not his way. No matter how pretty her green-flecked eyes were.
    “Then where will you go?”
    Jason shrugged. “Wherever I’m needed. A lot of ranchers don’t hire a full-time geneticist, so I arrange DNA testing.”
    “DNA testing?”
    “Yep. BeauVine’s tests are a real accurate way to identify the genetic potential of a herd’s tenderness and marbling.” He shook his head, aware he sounded just like a brochure. “And artificial insemination and a herd’s estrus cycles keep me a busy guy no matter what. And I help at as many round-ups as I can.”
    Her laughter warmed him so much he adjusted the AC vents to point at him. What a beautiful sound it was. “You should hear my sister Rachel—Nick’s wife—describe her first ‘field trip’ with Nick,” she said.
    Jason howled now as he braked at La Luna Crossroads. “Matter of fact, I have. Talk about an icebreaker, first time we met. She’s quite a gal, handling a baby and that law office, Nick so far away.”
    “That she is.” Kelley’s voice grew somber, and he recognized the cloak of worry most folks wore when a loved-one was deployed half a world off, no matter as Elaine Martin often preached that God was a refuge and strength in any kind of trouble. “But he should be home later this summer.” Kelley’s fists clenched before she gave him a smile. “Seems you know a lot about us Martins. A tad weird you and I have never met.”
    He shrugged. “Not my intention. Our paths haven’t crossed ‘til now, that’s all. I trek out into the wilderness every chance I get.” When she didn’t say anything, he filled the silence even though he wasn’t much for chitchat. “Your big