Free Playing for Hearts by Debra Kayn

baseball cap, and planted a kiss on his cheek before replacing his hat. “I stopped by to tell you that John Bigstraum is coming over. He’s bringing me dinner. Do you want me to pop one of those potpies you love in the oven for you?”
    â€œNah, I’m going to stay late and get the driveline off this rig. I’ll heat up a bowl of soup or something when I come in.” He lay back down. “Have fun with your date.”
    â€œHey!” She grabbed his leg, stopping him from disappearing back under the car. “Don’t work too long tonight. You’ve been keeping late hours since I got home. You need to take better care of yourself.”
    He patted her cheek with his big ol’ rough hand, making her feel twelve years old again. “I love you too, buddy.”
    Shauna left the garage smiling. Her dad was her favorite person in the world. It’d always been the two of them, even before her mom ran away from the family. There had been months prior to her mom leaving for good when she and her dad had been left on their own for dinner, her mom refusing to join them. Shauna had spent more hours than she could count lying under the car with him in the evenings, holding the flashlight or handing him tools.
    Once inside the house, she straightened up the living room, carried her dad’s coffee mug to the kitchen, and then took a stray pair of shoes she hadn’t put away up to her room. She groaned. The pink and white bedspread on her twin bed, the stuffed animals piled in the beanbag chair in the corner, and the daisies her dad had painted in a string around her window were not a symbol of a single woman on the prowl. No way would she appear sexy and desirable with a Hello Kitty lampshade lighting the room.
    â€œOkay, change of plans.” She backed out of the room and shut the door.
    She wasn’t sure exactly when she’d decided to throw everything she had into building a relationship with John. It might’ve been between the time Grayson accused her of sleeping with John and when he’d stubbornly refused to accept her for the woman she was today. She was tired of waiting for him and, after some serious soul searching, was beginning to think that maybe she’d been wrong all these long years. Maybe it was true, and she didn’t stand a chance in hell of Grayson ever loving her back.
    The doorbell rang. Shauna hurried to the front of the house, and opened the door. Her smile came naturally. “Hi.”
    John held a brown paper sack up in front of him. “Hello back. I hope you’re hungry.”
    â€œStarving.” She stepped back and let him inside the house.
    Dressed in faded Levi’s and a buttoned chambray shirt rolled to the elbows, John appeared relaxed and happy to see her. She took the food from him and motioned him to come in the house.
    She inhaled deeply on her stroll to the kitchen. “Is that chow mein I smell?”
    â€œYep, and I grabbed authentic wooden chopsticks.” He pulled two wrapped packages out of his back pocket. “If you don’t use them, I’ll be disappointed.”
    â€œOh heck yeah.” She grabbed two plates from the cupboard. “Everyone knows the food tastes better when it takes all night to eat a half a cup of rice.”
    He laughed. “Exactly.”
    â€œOf course, we’ll probably collapse from starvation before we actually succeed in eating, but it’ll be good for a laugh.”
    â€œI brought extra food. I didn’t know if your dad would be joining us or not.” John sat down at the table.
    â€œThat was sweet of you. I stopped in the garage before I came in the house, and he said he was working late.” She opened the boxes and set them in the middle of the table before sitting across from John. “I’ll save him some for later. I’m sure he’ll be thankful.”
    Shauna opened her chopsticks, and after several seconds successfully brought one