Page 1 of Jack of Hearts

chapter

one

Jack

Saddle Creek, Texas.

I look from one end of main street down to the other. It’s dotted with shops and offices and a couple of restaurants. It looks as good as any small town I’ve ever been in, but still the truth remains. I know exactly one person who lives here.

What the hell was I thinking?

What I was thinking is that I couldn’t fucking go back to Kentucky. I couldn’t go back home and watch Angie, my high-school sweetheart, almost-fiancée, living the life we’d planned together with another man. Some asshole she’d moved in with after six weeks of dating. He wasn’t the first though. What I’d heard was that she had started messing around on me less than two months after I left for Basic training.

So here I was, a month out as a civilian and I’ve come to the only place I could think of. A small town where one of my army buddies was from. He always talked about it so fondly. When we talked on the phone recently, he mentioned that he’d started a dog sanctuary with another guy from his last unit. Dane had told me I was more than welcome to show up and I could help.

He hadn’t exactly said anything about there being an actual paying job, but I came nonetheless.

I’ll catch up with Dane later. Especially since he lives outside of town. Besides, I need to find somewhere to live. Dane offered to help find me a place, but admitted that his house wouldn’t work. He evidently lives in a tiny home on his property with his new wife. They’re currently building a house, but for now, they have no extra room.

I suppose I need a place to stay and a job, in that order. I do have most of the money I made in active duty saved. I stopped sending any funds home as soon as I found out about Angie and all her boy toys.

I see a local diner on the opposite side of the street that advertises the best pie in Texas and free WiFi. Looks like a good place to start.

It’s cold as fuck out here with a biting frigid wind, but the chill on my face reminds me I’m alive, that I made it out. And I’ll take that any day of the week. Though, I always heard it didn’t get very cold in Texas.

The bell above the door to Ruthie’s Diner jingles as I step inside. The entire dining room of patrons turns to look at me. Yep, new blood in a small town.

“Welcome, sugar,” an older woman with bright red hair says. She’s got on bright pink lipstick which clashes with her hair, but her smile is friendly and genuine. She beckons me over to the diner counter. There are also tables and booths, but since I’m alone, no reason to take up that much space.

I slip onto a red Naugahyde-covered stool. There’s a girl—at least I think it’s a girl—sitting on the stool one away from mine. She’s got on blue jeans and a hoodie covers her head. She’s bent over a notebook sketching something.

“Coffee?” the older woman asks.

“Please.”

“I’m Ruthie. This here is my diner. What’s your name, gorgeous?”

“Jack. I’m a friend of Dane Whitmore’s. We served together in the Army.”

Ruthie’s smile widens. “Dane is good people. The whole Whitmore crew is. So I say any friend of his is a friend of mine,” she says that last part loud enough. It seems to jar the patrons back to their food so they stop starting at me.

“Welcome to Saddle Creek, Jack. First coffee is on the house.” She winks at me and slides a menu across the counter to me.

I’m reading over the options, mostly standard diner fare.

“Get a slice of her chocolate fudge pie,” a sultry voice from beside me says.

I turn to my right and am met with the biggest, brown eyes I’ve ever seen. She’s got a halo of hot pink curls framing her face. “You are a girl,” I say.

She cocks a brow, her lips twitching with a hint of a smile. “Nice of you to notice.”

I shake my head. “Sorry, that’s not what I meant to say.”

She’s got a round face, like a cherub, with full lips and those soulful brown eyes.

“You were hidden in your hoodie when I walked up, but I suspected you were—” Shit. I suck at talking to strangers. Especially strangers who are beautiful women? Might as well just kill me dead. I shake my head again. “You know what, never mind.” I turn my focus back to the menu because clearly talking to this woman makes me stupid.

She laughs and it’s real and authentic and so goddamn sexy that my abs tighten and I can’t help but glance back over at her.