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Before I can see his response, I shove my phone into my pocket.
“You good?” Easton asks, startling me.
“Yeah, just trying to figure out your brother.”
“Which one?”
“Both of them for different reasons. Actually, all of you.”
“Good luck with that,” Easton replies, then turns and heads for the door.
“Hey. Wanna have dinner with me?”
Easton shrugs as if he doesn’t care one way or another, and the truth is, he probably doesn’t.
“Come on. Let’s go.” I grab my keys, and we head out together. I’m not sure why I asked Easton to have dinner with me, but it’s not as if it’s something we’ve never done. Over the years, I’ve tried to get close to Easton, wanting him to know that he might be younger, but he has me in his corner too. Sometimes I feel like Morgan and Rhett take center stage so much that East falls to the background. “What do you want?”
“Food.”
I playfully roll my eyes.
We decide to head to Birchbark Grill. The restaurant is decorated with Birchbark and Ojibwe history, and they serve American foods and also have an arcade and pool table off the main room that people enjoy. We each take our own vehicle and meet there. East arrives first, and he’s waiting for me outside. He holds the door open for me, and we go inside.
The host seats us in a booth, and we order pop before browsing the menu. “You know I appreciate you, right?” I find myself asking, wanting to make sure East knows.
“Why the hell are you saying that?”
I cock a brow over my menu. “Because it’s true. You do good work at the shop. Outside of the little blip in being late after Morgan came home, you’ve been on time for a while, and even when you’re not, you work hard, take pride in it. I know you think I hired you because you’re Morgan’s brother, but it’s because you’re good at what you do. You soak it up, and you love it. That means a lot to me.”
“You did hire me because I’m Morgan’s brother.”
His response makes me realize I need to tell him I’m thankful for him more often. Does anyone really do that with him?
“But it’s not why I keep you, Easton.”
“Stop being weird.”
“I’m being serious. That shop means the world to me. You wouldn’t be working with me if I didn’t trust you.”
He frowns, then nods and goes back to looking at the menu. “You’re not gonna try and kiss me too, are you?”
While it might piss off a different man, I know East well enough to see he’s taking the attention off himself and being playful. It’s his way of showing we’re friends and that he appreciates me too, so I kick him under the table. “Asshole. I only kissed Rhett once.”
“And you’ve kissed Morgan more than that?”
Shit. I walked right into that one. “I think I’m getting a bacon cheeseburger.”
He chuckles, clearly knowing exactly what I did there, but he doesn’t call me on it. The waiter returns, and we get the same thing. We chat about business while we wait for the food, both of us avoiding sensitive topics. Just as our food arrives, I notice Easton’s gaze snag on something over my shoulder. He frowns, the corners of his lips turning down.
My fear is that it’s Rhett, and I really don’t want to see him today. Even without knowing something happened last night, he’s going to have shit to say about Morgan. I turn around to look, but it’s not Rhett. It’s Archer Thorn, accompanied by Tripp Cassidy, who’s a local carpenter, and Cass’s daughter, Meadow. She’s twelve and let the world know a couple of years back that even though we all thought she was Matthew, that isn’t the case. Cass is fiercely protective of his daughter, and everyone knows to be respectful of who she is.
They notice us as they walk toward their table. Archer has become a friend, as I told Morgan, and I’ve gotten close to Cass too. He’s a good man, and they’re both fun to be around.
“We’re gonna say hi to our friends,” Archer tells the host, who points out their table, and then Archer turns his attention to us. “Hey, how’s it going?”
“Good. You?” I ask.
“Not too bad. Just thought I’d force this guy and little lady to take me out to dinner tonight.” Archer looks at East. “You stayin’ outta trouble?”
