Her Perfect Man. Jillian Hart

the parking lot for signs of Chad. She saw several other coworkers, whom she waved to as she headed toward her Honda parked in the shade of a giant maple tree, but she didn’t see him. Bummer. “How about you? Did Spence spring you from the joint yet?”

      “Our big brother is one formidable boss.” Lauren said the words kindly, with warmth.

      “Say no more, Lauren. I completely understand. It sounds like it was a tough day at the ranch.” The ranch, meaning the bookstore where Lauren was working until she found a job in her field.

      “You know it.” Lauren had recently finished her degree in business in California and had come home to stay. “Plus, with the reconstruction going on next door, all I did was listen to hammers banging and drills whizzing all day long. Want to meet for a quick bite? Or a slow bite. I really don’t care which.”

      “Sure, but no pizza.” She angled through the lot. “I’m pizza-ed out.”

      “I need comfort food. Wait, I need Mexi-Fries.”

      “Then there’s only one place to go. Mr. Paco’s Tacos.”

      “Sounds perfect. I’ll meet you there in ten minutes?”

      “It’s a plan.” Rebecca clicked off the call. She had five messages waiting. She hit the recent call list—Chris’s name and home number were at the top. Those messages were probably from him.

      Great. She couldn’t ignore him forever, could she? Unless ignoring him was the best solution. Maybe that would make him go away for good. Who knew? She punched her remote and opened her car door. Heat wafted out like poison gas. Not even parking in the shade helped that any.

      She eased onto the burning hot seats and turned the engine over. Scorching air breezed out of the vents and she unrolled the windows, waiting for the air-conditioning to cool. Since she was waiting, she might as well look around, right? It wasn’t as if she were really watching for Chad—only to find out how he had survived his first day. It was friendly, that was all.

      Her phone gave a little chime. It was a text message from Danielle. She shaded the screen with her hand to read it.

      Help!! Can U run errand? Call Kath.

      Their oldest sister, the one on bed rest, must need something. She would call and find out. Yes, she typed on the tiny keys. No worries.

      Thnx. Dani’s answer was almost instantaneous. I owe U.

      It was no trouble at all. She was always happy to help. She took one last look around the lot—she wasn’t watching for Chad, really—and clicked on her seat belt. Since the air was almost cool now, she zapped up the windows and backed out of her space. She caught sight of a tall, broad-shouldered, blond man standing next to Marin’s SUV, talking earnestly with her.

      She gave a little honk as she drove by—but it was a cheerful honk. She thought of those voice messages waiting on her phone and her heart felt heavy. It was nice not to have to worry about liking a guy, or dating or being in a relationship. She zipped out of the lot, looking forward to giving Katherine a call, spending some quality time with Lauren and eating nachos until she burst. Thinking of those five messages on her phone, probably all from Chris, she decided that tonight was going to be a man-free zone.

      “Yo.” Ephraim nodded a greeting from the drink dispensers where he was filling a large plastic cup with soda. “Dude, we’re in luck. It’s two-fer taco night.”

      “Two-fer?”

      “Two for the price of one.”

      “Oh, got it.” Growing up the way he did, he didn’t have a lot of experience with two-fers. He grinned and got into one of three lines at the order counter. It was a few minutes after five and already the place was packed.

      “Order the Mexi-Fries and a side of nachos or you’ll be sorry. I spot a booth. Let me grab it while I can.”

      “Okay.” Chad stepped forward in line. He checked out what other people had ordered as they walked away from the counter with their bright blue trays. The food looked fresh and plentiful, and his stomach rumbled. The afternoon had been tough on him. He needed to refuel.

      After he’d ordered, paid and filled his cup with root beer, he carried his tray to the booth where Ephraim was reading the paper, waiting for him. He realized he didn’t have any salsa. He must have missed the salsa bar entirely. He wove through the tables toward the front and spotted the stand where ten different sauces and various garnishes separated the ordering area from the eating area. Then he spotted someone else—Rebecca McKaslin.

      Wow. Talk about coincidence—or divine intervention. She was standing in line getting ready to order, talking to a woman about her same age. They were quietly laughing together, and this was a different side of Rebecca than he had seen before. She was a little brighter, more relaxed, and as sweetly merry as a dream. She flicked her ponytail over her slender shoulder and moved forward in line. The woman she was with came, too, and they ordered together. Probably a sister, he figured, remembering she had mentioned having several.

      Yeah, it must be nice to have a close bond like that. He grabbed a couple of small plastic cups and started ladling salsa. Maybe if he’d had a brother he was close to, he would have had someone he really trusted to have kept him on the right path. Someone to do more constructive things with. It must be really great to have a large family, he thought as he spooned green salsa into another cup.

      He tried not to watch Rebecca. He wasn’t a stalker or anything, but his gaze followed her as she carried the tray away from the counter. She looked around, scanning the crowd for an empty table while her sister took the cups to the drink dispensers. Any moment she was going to see him gawking at her. He couldn’t help it apparently, so gathered up the cups and looked up just as she spied him.

      “Is this divine intervention or what?” She tossed him a sparkling smile that seemed to light up the room. “Then again, it is two-fer night. Wait until the burrito buffet night. That’s worth the crowd to come and partake.”

      “I’ll have to remember that.” He didn’t know what a burrito buffet was, but he intended to find out. “Do you want to sit with us? We have a booth in the back. There’s plenty of room.”

      “Since there are no available tables, I’ll take you up on your offer.”

      That sounded like an excuse to him. There was an itty-bitty table near the door, but she seemed to be ignoring it. That made him happy enough to joke. “Great. You can even bring your sister along.”

      “That’s mighty generous of you.” When she smiled like that, little dimples appeared in her cheeks.

      Cute. It was hard not to notice that. He pivoted and balancing the four cups he’d filled, headed down the aisle with her. “As you can see, I survived the first day intact, even if I am stumbling from exhaustion.”

      “That’s an exaggeration. I haven’t seen you stumble once.”

      “Sure, but it feels that way.”

      “Been there.” Rebecca glanced over her shoulder and nodded to her sister. “The first day every summer I come home and crash on the couch. I’m not even sure that I blink as I’m staring into space. So you are way ahead of me.”

      “Yeah, I might be still up and walking around and blinking, but only just barely.”

      They reached the table. Ephraim looked up from his paper and instantly started to fold it away. “Hey, Rebecca. Good to see you and Lauren. Hi, Lauren.”

      “Hi. Oh, I forgot the straws.”

      “Nope, I grabbed them with the napkins.” Rebecca slid the tray on the edge of the table but Lauren beat her into the booth, taking the spot across from Ephraim. They immediately started talking about the Bible study they were both in.

      “I brought plenty of salsa,” Chad was saying as he sat down, “so we can all share. Or I’ll go up and get more if