Galloping Hearts (Contemporary Cowboy Romance) (Texas Heat series: Book 2, Mitchell and Moira's story) by Amelia Rose

had our supervised visits, this is one of the few places she felt safe enough to eat. She never worried that anyone here would try to poison me or her with the food.”
    She sat there taken aback. She hadn’t realized it’d been like that for him. “You want to eat somewhere else? We can, if the memories are bad.”
    He shook his head. “No, I actually have some nice memories here with her. One of the times when she was well, my foster mother brought me to see her. She was so proud of me. She was clean and on her medicine. She looked proud as a peacock to be wearing that waitress apron. Almost as proud as she was to show me off to her co-workers and regulars. The folks here always treated her with dignity and respect.”
    She nodded. “Okay, let me know if it gets weird for you, though. Okay?”
    His shrug was small. “I don’t think it will. If anything, I think it’s kind of neat that you like the same place she worked at. I wonder if Jack is in. I haven’t seen him since just after spring term started. I try to stop in once in a while. I should let him know about her.”
    She nodded, taking his hand as they walked in. When they got inside, they sat at the table with her brother. They ordered breakfast. There was a man in his early sixties working the grill. When he saw them, he said something to someone over his shoulder before coming out from the kitchen.
    He came over to the table with a big grin on his face. “Hey, Mitchell, how are you doing?”
    Mitchell returned his smile. “I’m well, thank you. How are you, Jack?”
He gave a smile. “Good! Greg has been on his meds for six months now. It’s nice. He’s in with a good group home this time. The housemates and workers are nice. How’s Maryanne?”
    “Well, Momma passed. We had her services yesterday. Kept it small and private.”
    Jack patted his shoulder. “Sorry to hear that, son. Your momma was a good woman. She was so proud of you. You were all she ever talked about, whether she was well or not.”
    She watched Mitchell nod as his eyes misted. “I know, but it’s still nice to hear. Thank you, sir.”
    He nodded. “You going to introduce me or do I have to stand here guessing?”
    Mitchell smiled, looking to her with a big smile on his face. It lit his face like a Christmas tree. “This is my girlfriend, Moira.”
    He paused to look at Billy. “This is her brother, and my friend, Billy.”
    Jack nodded to her with a warm smile on his face. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. You know his Momma would have been so proud. You’re a beautiful girl. And it’s obvious he’s mad about you.”
    Jack then spoke with Billy. “Nice to meet you, son.”
    Billy gave a nod. “You, too, sir.”
    She watched as Jack turned to head back to the kitchen. Just as he got to the doorway, he called over his shoulder. “Breakfast is on me, Mitchell.”
    She laughed as Mitchell sighed. This was obviously a regular occurrence whenever Mitch came in.
    Mitchell threw his hand up. “Do we have to do this all the time?”
    Jack smiled, the smirk crossing his face as he took his place behind the grill again. “We wouldn’t if you would just learn to accept it and do your thing.”
    Mitchell shook his head. “You know I hate taking things for free. I had enough charity in my life.”
    Jack shook his head, his face serious except for the light in his eyes. “You’re helping me , Mitch. I have these eggs that are about to go bad. Plus, the breakfast meats haven’t been moving like normal and the potatoes are going soft. I have to move these, son.”
    Mitchell shook his head before calling back. “Anything to help you out then, sir.”
    She looked to him as she spoke. “I take it this is something that happens whenever you come in here?”
    He smiled but nodded. “Yeah. Like I said, he would make sure Momma was always fed when she wasn’t well. I guess, in some ways, it extended to me. I guess having a son with the same illness, well, it gave him a soft spot