Page 7 of Loving Kai

Abe shook his head. “You’re so…”

“Responsible?”

“Boring. You’re old and boring.”

“Wanting to take care of my family doesn’t make me either of those things.”

“Whatever.” Abe put on a black apron over his black cargo pants and polo. “What are you working on?”

“They’re all pepperoni.”

“Ordering pepperoni pizza is boring, too.”

“I’ll tell that to Justin when he comes to pick these up.”

“He usually orders meat lovers for the station.”

“This is for the city council meeting.”

“Now that’s boring.”

“Just top these pizzas, please.”

Abe glanced at Maggie, who was getting the front end ready for customers. “Did you know Maggie was a barrel racer back in the day?”

“Yeah.”

Abe scowled. “What? How come I didn’t know?”

“Because you’ve never had a real conversation with her.”

“Actually, that’s not true. We had a beer together last night.”

Gentry stopped what he was doing and turned to Abe. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“Wow. You’re evolving into a… grown-up.”

“I’m thirty. I’m plenty grown up.”

“Hmm. That’s debatable. But good job last night. Did you actually talk, or did you just drink a beer at the same table?”

“We talked. Not about her rodeo days. She told me that on the ride here.”

“Maybe you two should take a ride one of these days.”

Abe shook his head. “That would just be weird.”

Maggie came up to them. “What would be weird?”

“Nothing.” The bell above the door rang as a family of four walked in. “Go do your job.”

“Yes, sir.”

When Justin arrived to pick up the pizzas, he had news about the storm predicted to hit them midweek.

“It keeps getting worse. Now they’re saying it might rival that last storm a year and a half ago.”