Shepley hugged Travis, kissed him—on the mouth—and then released him before walking to the Charger with his arms outstretched to each side. “Now what? I’m man enough to show affection!”

“You win,” I said, half-amazed, half-amused.

Travis couldn’t sustain his stoic expression, looking both disgusted and confused. He wiped off his mouth and then reached for Abby, hugging her to his side. “You’re weird as fuck, dude.”

Shepley slid back into his seat, closed the door, and fastened his seat belt with a click. He rolled down the window, saying good-bye with a quick salute. “You kissed me first, asshole. I have a picture to prove it.”

“We were three.”

“See you on Sunday!” Shepley said.

“Bye, fucker!” Travis yelled.

Shepley pulled the gear into drive and navigated his way out of the parking lot.

Within ten minutes, we were already almost out of town, passing Skin Deep Tattoo on the way. Shepley honked his horn, seeing both Trenton’s and Camille’s vehicles parked in front.

“They used to always be smoking outside every time I drove by,” Shepley said.

“Cami said they quit for Olive.”

“So did Taylor,” Shepley said.

“Isn’t that nuts?” I screeched, shaking my head as I thought about Taylor and how he’d happened to fall in love with Olive’s mother a thousand miles away. “Now, we just need to work on Travis.”

“He said he’ll quit when Abby’s pregnant.”

“Now, that would be a miracle,” I said.

“Which one? Him quitting or her finally agreeing to kids?”

“Both.”

“Do you want kids?” Shepley didn’t look at me when he asked.

I swallowed. We weren’t even out of town yet, and he was already hitting the hard topics. I wasn’t sure if it was a trick question. Was he looking for a reason to leave? Would my answer be the last straw for him?

“Um … yeah. I mean, I guess. I’ve always thought I would … have kids. Later.”

He only nodded, which made me more nervous. I pulled out a magazine and absently flipped through it, pretending to read the words on the pages. Truthfully, I didn’t have a clue who or what was in it. I was just desperate to look casual. We had talked about kids before, and the fact that it was so uncomfortable now seemed to be an ominous sign that we were going in the wrong direction.

By the time we hit Springfield, the storms were already beginning to organize.

Shepley pointed out dark skies on the horizon. “The hotter it gets, the more those storms will build. Look at the weather forecast for Kansas City.”

I pulled my phone from my purse, tapping in the information. I shook my head. “It says storms, but they won’t start until later.” I selected my favorite radar app. “Oh. There are some angry-looking red blobs in southwestern Oklahoma right now. It’s going to hit Wichita around the time we pull into town.”

“That’s what I was afraid of. Hopefully, it won’t hit before.”