“Not a bit. Uncle Nick is gettin’ us some burgers from the café and he’ll be a few minutes.”

Dana grabbed her purse, followed Brook into the restroom, and closed the door. “So do you want to go fishin’ with him? Do I need to worry about you? And I’d like to meet his uncle before you leave,” she whispered as she removed a brush from her purse and began to work on Brook’s tangled hair.

“Yes, I want to go with him, Mama. And you don’t have to worry. These are good people. I just know it in my heart and I’ll fix it so you can meet his uncle—you’ll see what I mean. Now let’s braid my hair.”

Dana really studied her daughter as she quickly put her hair into two Pollyanna-type braids. She was fourteen going on twenty-one, but with that hairstyle and the baggy Hard Rock Café T-shirt she wore, she didn’t look a day over twelve. When they left the restroom, Johnny handed Dana a piece of paper. “This is my cell phone number.”

“Thank you. That’s sweet.” Dana tucked the paper into her pocket.

A tall, dark-haired man poked his head into the store and looked right at Johnny. “Did you get the worms?”

Johnny groaned. “I forgot.”

The guy came inside and clamped a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “I’m Nick, Johnny’s uncle. We need about three dozen worms and a dozen minnows. Is this your new friend?”

“This is Brook and this is her mother, Dana. This here is my uncle Nick.” Johnny continued the introductions. “Brook gets to go with us.”

“Well, that settles it.” Nick smiled, deepening the angles in his face and putting a twinkle in deep, dark-brown eyes. “We’ll be talking about books and movies rather than baseball.”

“Yes, we will.”

Johnny’s whole body language changed from tense to comfortable now that his uncle was beside him.

“I don’t know much about baseball anyway, but I can talk football with either of you. Are you going to watch the draft on television?” Brook asked. “And who do you root for in the Texas-Oklahoma game?”

“Texas!” Nick and Johnny said at the same time.

“My kind of fellows.” Dana nodded. “Y’all got plenty of water and soda for the afternoon?”

“We sure do,” Johnny answered.

“Need a couple of beers to finish your order, Nick?”

“Thanks, but no, thanks, ma’am. We ain’t a drinkin’ family. Our sister was killed by a drunk driver. Sweet tea and soft drinks are fine with us,” Nick answered. “I’ll have the kids back to your place at seven, and then come get Johnny around ten.”

“I’m sorry about your sister.” Dana nodded. “We’re plannin’ on pizza. You are welcome to stay if you’d like. Save you a trip.”

“Thank you. I might just do that.” Nick’s smile rang sincere.

That and his comment about not drinking quieted Dana’s fears. Still, at the next five-minute lull in business, she picked up the phone and called the café.

Zed answered on the first ring. “Need some help? I could send Harper. We’re all caught up.”

“No, but she might see if Tawny needs help. I let Brook go off with Johnny Eagle and his uncle Nick to do some fishing.”

“That’s a good family. Johnny’s mama got killed a couple of years back in a car wreck and her brothers, Nick and Drake, took it real hard. They were a lot younger than his mama—more like older brothers than uncles to Johnny.”

“What about his father?”

“His daddy is in the military and is doin’ another tour over in one of them war countries. I never can remember which one. When he can, he comes and stays with Johnny, takes him places and all, but it’s his grandma who is raisin’ him, along with lots of help from his uncles. Don’t worry about Brook. She’s in good hands. You’ll like that boy when you get to know him better. Brook’s got a real good friend there,” Zed said.

“Thanks, Uncle Zed. Here comes a truckload of guys who look like they’re needin’ more bait. See you later.”

Dana suddenly missed her friends at the ranch. The foreman who always came in to have coffee with her in the morning, the CPA that she had lunch with once a month when they went over the ranch books, the old veterinarian she’d learned so much from in the last ten years, and even her boss, who’d been her best friend until she’d accused Dana of horrible things.

“Hey, Dana,” a regular customer yelled as he led a parade of guys into the store. “We need four dozen minnows, a box of stink bait, and maybe six dozen worms. While you get that ready, we’ll get our snack and beer order on the counter for you to check out.”

“Plannin’ on stayin’ out all night?” She picked up a net and headed toward the minnow tank.

“Yep. All night or until the beer runs out. Lester’s wife says she’ll cook the fish up if we clean ’em, and we’ve all got the day off tomorrow. Catfish bite better at night,” he said.

She dipped up the minnows, giving them a few extra in the container, and then filled the rest of their order. By the time she got to the counter, it was filled with chips, sandwich meat, bread, candy bars, and beer. She rang it up as all the men began to throw money on the counter.