Welcome to Valley View (Valley View Book 1)

Chapter 5

Jimmy's hand is placed firmly on my lower back as we walk into the Chuck Wagon the hostess seats us right away and Jimmy is sure to pull the chair out for me and guides me down into the chair. Once he makes sure that I'm seated correctly, he goes around the table and sits down himself.

I look around at the variety of the other patrons sitting around us, "I can't tell if I'm over dressed or underdressed."

"This place tends to cater to a large variety of crowds, that's for sure. You look beautiful though. You fit right in."

He smiles across the table at me and I tuck a piece of stray hair behind my ear, trying not to blush. "Thanks again for helping me with my car. It's a bummer I'm without a vehicle now. Seeing as though I'm without a job, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get a loan for anything either."

"I have some connections, so I'm sure we can figure something out for you."

"That would be very nice of you. Thank you. I honestly don't know how I'm going to thank you for everything that you've done."

"No reason to thank me, sweetheart. If anything it might be a little selfish of me. Without a car it means you'll have to stick around a little longer."

"Oh I see, so it was all part of the plan?" I let out a little giggle.

He looks over his menu and gives me a little grin, "Maybe it was. All jokes aside, I do feel bad that a wrench was thrown into your plans."

"Meh," I shrug him off, "I guess it's a good thing that I'm kind of use to changing my plans quickly. So tell me more about you, Jimmy. What was it like growing up in the Brown family?"

"My Mama would probably have a very different story to tell, but I thought it was a lot of run growing up on the ranch with my brothers."

"That poor woman," I kid, "I sure hope that you get her a huge Mother's Day gift every year."

"I actually think my dad just apologized profusely until she eventually forgives him."

"It's good that she forgives him. I bet he was part of the shenanigans as much as any of you. Do you live in the ranch still?"

He raises and eyebrow in my direction, "Are you asking if I still live at home, sweetheart?"

"I didn't mean it like that, but...well do you?"

"For you information, I am a grown ass man and I do not live with my Dad and Mama anymore. I do, however, live in an apartment with Tyler. Wes and Bobby live in the ranch houses with the other workers. They don't want to be treated differently, ya know?"

I nod my head and he continues.

"Mama though, she still refuses to redecorate the bedrooms that we lived in growing up. So if we ever end up there for one reason or another, it feels like it did back in high school."

"I think that's really sweet of her. I love that your entire family is still together. That doesn't happen very often anymore. Did you ever think about leaving?"

He lets out a small sigh, "I did once, but I'm sure as hell glad that I didn't end up following through."

"Oh yeah? Why do you say that?"

"Let's just say that it involved a girl and that is not a mistake that I am making again." He stated it so matter of a factly that I knew there had to be a bit of a story there. Being the nosy girl I am, I tried to get more information out of him. "Are you always so secretive about your dating life? I can't get just a few more details?"