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"So," Mia announced, clasping her hands on the tablecloth "You did it"

"Did what?"

"You lured me out of the house for the first date I’ve had in years" She raised her eyebrows in challenge "Tirin "Hets the ladies goin’"

She rolled her eyes "I don’t doubt it But I was thinkinghty Well Name a topic and I proh h It had a sweet lilt to it, like a pretty rew up," she ordered "’Cause I know that’s not a California accent"

"I’m from Texas Grew up in a little town called Abbott Creek, about fifty miles west of Dallas"

"Let uess, you hail from a family of cowboys"

"Yup My folks own a cattle ranch, so I spentup at the crack of dawn to do a shitload of chores"

"Did you like the ranch work?"

"I loved it," he confessed "Growing up I wanted nothin’ more than to stay on the ranch Maybe buy a spread of htful "But you joined the navy instead Why?"

He shrugged "I needed a change"

"Well, that’s vague" She laughed again "Care to elaborate?"

Discomfort welled inside him, but he forced himself to offer a few more details "Small-town life is…oppressive, for lack of a better word Everybody’s always stickin’ their noses into everybody else’s business I got sick of it I wanted to experience life beyond Abbott Creek, knohat I et that"

The waiter returned with their drinks, then waited patiently while they scanned the one, Jackson turned the tables on his date

"Have you always lived in California?" he asked

"Naah, we moved around a lot when I was a kid I was born in Colorado, but my mom moved us to New Jersey when I was five Then we o, Atlanta, Missouri, uh school I ca it here So I stayed"