“What was that about bourbon?” Elijah asked when they were alone in the dining hall.

“Just a little bet that Novalene and I have going,” Jayden answered, then changed the subject. “I thought we’d have lots left over, but there’s not even a pint in each freezer.”

“Fighting off bitches is tough work.” Elijah laughed out loud.

“Evidently so.” Jayden took the freezer from him and dried it. “How many fights did you get into when you were their age?”

“I’m a lover, not a fighter.” He handed her the second freezer. “Truthfully, though, my best friend in high school was a little short guy that wouldn’t have weighed a buck twenty soaking wet and with rocks in his pockets. Trouble was, he had that short guys’ syndrome and couldn’t keep his mouth closed. I used to tell him that the hardest lesson he’d ever learn was when to shut his trap.”

“So, you had to step in and take up for him when his motorcycle mouth got ahead of his tricycle butt, right?” Jayden asked.

“Something like that.” He handed her a dasher to dry. “How about you? Ever get into a fight?”

“Couple in elementary school when I had enough of being called names, being bullied about my height, and being told that my sister got all the beauty and brains and I got beat with the ugly stick. I was always the tallest and, most of the time, the biggest kid in my class,” she explained. “After I put the bullies on the ground, they didn’t mess with me anymore. Believe me, I know exactly how hard it was for all our girls to walk away from that fight tonight.”

“How did it make you feel when you fought with the bullies?” he asked.

“Glad that they stopped tormenting me, but a little sad that I had stooped to their level,” she answered.

“Yep, me too.” He dried his hands on a towel and hung it over the edge of the sink. “But when a person gets pushed so far, they can’t take any more. Those kids shouldn’t have bullied you like that. Skyler doesn’t have near the beauty or brains that you do. Ready to turn off the lights?”

“I don’t know. Is the party over?” she joked.

Elijah held out his hand as he started singing the old Willie Nelson song “The Party’s Over.” Jayden took a step forward and put her hand in his. He pulled her close and two-stepped around the kitchen with her as he sang the lyrics.

Even though his broad chest was hard as a rock, she could feel the thump of his heartbeat through his shirt. She wondered if he could tell that hers was doing double time. Did he realize that being so close to him caused a breathlessness in her that had nothing to do with dancing around the kitchen floor? He twirled her when the lyrics said something about tomorrow starting the same old thing again and then held her even closer when he brought her back.

“Do you know every word to this song?” she asked.

“Yep, it’s one of Henry’s favorites. He and Mary have danced around in this kitchen to it many times through the years,” he answered, and then continued to sing the next verse.

“So, you came here to see them before you took this job?” she asked.

“I tried to spend a week or two with them every year when I could get away,” he answered, and then he pulled his phone out of his hip pocket, touched the screen, and laid the phone on the buffet counter.

She recognized George Jones’s voice right away as he sang “Tennessee Whiskey.”

“I don’t know this one as well, and I like Chris Stapleton’s version, but this one is what I heard first. It’s going to be our song.” He took her in his arms again and did a slow country waltz around the floor.

“We have a song?” she asked as she paid close attention to the words. She was more than a little startled at the idea. In the few relationships that she’d had, they’d never had a song. This was beginning to sound serious and it hadn’t even started.

“We do now, and we’re doing our debut dance to it,” he answered. “Those kids who bullied you when you were young should see the strong, smart, amazing woman you’ve become,” he whispered in her ear.

This was some serious flirting, and Jayden loved every minute of it. She hadn’t danced in years, and his warm breath, so close to the tender spot on her neck, sent warm shivers up and down her spine.

When the music ended, Elijah tipped up her chin with his fist and looked deeply into her eyes. She barely had time to moisten her lips before his eyes closed and his mouth found hers in a steaming hot kiss that came close to fogging the kitchen window. When it ended, she leaned into him for another one, but he took a step back. She had to fight gravity to keep from falling right into his arms. Thank goodness he chose that moment to reach out and give her a tight hug.

“Thank you for closing out the day with me, but it’s probably really time to turn out the lights now,” he murmured, “even though I’d rather dance until dawn with you.” He slipped an arm around her shoulders and they walked side by side all the way to the Daydream Cabin.

When they reached the porch, he dropped his arm and said, “Good night, Jayden.”

“Good night,” she called after him as he disappeared into the dark.

It was just a dance and a kiss. She eased down into one of the chairs on the porch to catch her breath before she went inside to gather up her things to go take a cool shower. A shuffling noise came from inside the cabin. The lights were out but the girls were definitely still awake, most likely peeking out the window to spy on her and Elijah. She gave them time to get back into their bedroom and pretend to be asleep before she went inside and got her shower kit, a clean pair of underpants, and a nightshirt.

“Nosy little snots,” she muttered all the way to the bathhouse. “I could really give them something to gossip about if I stayed in Elijah’s cabin tonight.” What am I thinking? That wouldn’t be the right example to set for the girls, and I need to make up my mind about the future before I go getting into something that could break my heart.

Elijah’s eyes popped wide open on Sunday morning five minutes before the alarm sounded. He rolled over to find the other side of the bed was empty. That meant he’d only been dreaming about Jayden spending the night with him. With a heavy sigh, he kicked the covers away, turned off the alarm on his phone, and headed to the bathroom for a wake-me-up shower.

His hair was still a little damp when he stuck his cap on his head. He’d hoped to see Jayden on the way across the yard, but the lights in the dining hall told him that she was already out there. The siren sounded just as he reached his normal morning spot for exercises, and the girls poured out of the cabins, most of them in a hard run so they wouldn’t be late. The kids had come a long way in the five weeks they’d been at Piney Wood. That meant he and the small staff were doing their jobs. The little boosts of happiness that success with the girls brought him had been chipping away at the pain that losing his fellow airmen had left in his heart.

If they’d been recruits in the air force, their trainer would have been busting his buttons, bragging to the other drill sergeants about his team. He gave Jayden a lot of the credit for the progress. Though brand new, she was tougher than nails, and still had a soft heart. He wished that he had counselors just like her for every session at the camp.