Jackson didn’t feel like he had to fill the space with words as they finished off the sundae. Simply enjoying a meal and ice cream with Nessa—talking about the past as well as the present and future—was enough.

Tilly came by and laid the bill on the edge of the table, but this time she was in too much of a hurry to flirt. He turned over the edge, figured in a tip, and laid a twenty and a five on the table.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked Nessa.

She slid out of the booth, and he took her hand in his.

“I have to admit I’ve never been on a cemetery date before,” he said as they left the café.

“Me either. I guess neither of us are cemetery-date virgins anymore,” she said.

“Was it as good for you as it was for me?” he teased as he opened the truck door for her.

“Absolutely. I doubt another cemetery date could ever compare to it,” she joked right back at him.

He drove ten miles under the speed limit and then even slower when he turned off the highway and onto the gravel road, but the trip from Weezy’s to the house was still too short. She remembered that she’d wanted those last few miles to fly by when her folks took her to stay with her grandmother in the summers, but now she was wishing for a flat tire or that they would run out of gas. No such luck, though. He parked in front of the house and helped her out of the truck, draped an arm around her shoulders, and walked her to the door. “Thanks for a great evening. I really enjoyed it. Can I call you tomorrow?”

“Of course,” Nessa said.

He tipped up her chin with his fist, and the second kiss was every bit as awesome as the first one had been. Heat filled his body when her arms snaked up around his neck, and she tangled her fingers in his hair. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms, carry her back to the truck, and make out with her until midnight, but when the kiss ended, he took a step back. “Good night, Nessa.”

“Good night, Jackson.” She was as breathless as he was when she opened the door and disappeared into the house.

Sucking on a lemon couldn’t have wiped the grin off his face as he drove to his house and parked the truck in its usual spot. Tex waited for him on the porch and followed him into the house. Jackson sat down on one end of the sofa. Tex jumped up on the middle cushion and laid his head in Jackson’s lap.