He narrows his eyes and shakes his head. “No, that’s not it. It’s more than that. Trust me… That girl likes you.”
Before I can give him some snappy response I’ve perfected over the course of my life, my phone vibrates on the table. Hardy’s name appears on the screen, and I jump up and grab my keys. “I gotta go. Somethin’ I ordered just came in. Make sure to shut the door when you leave this time, so I don’t come home to a rodent friend hangin’ around again. See you at the bar on Friday. Eight, right?”
“Yep!” Carter calls after me. “Invite Brynlee to come with you!”
Jumping into my pickup, I drive the thirty minutes to the post office, knowing my younger brother waits for me. I’m so happy this gives me a reason to see Brynlee tonight that I don’t even care if Carter lets a squirrel in the house again. It’ll be worth it.
The post office closes at four-thirty, but Hardy always lets us pick up things rather than wait for Earl to deliver them. “Didn’t you just order all this shit a few months ago?” he asks as I hop out after backing up to the loading dock.
Everyone in my family is married, and all but two of us have kids. I’m the sixth of eight, and it’s embarrassing to be the only one without a spouse yet. Or a prospect for one. Especially at thirty-five when my younger brother and sister are both taken.
“Yeah, these aren’t for me, remember? They’re for a friend,” I say and load them into the bed of my pickup in record speed.
“Yeah? What friend?”
When I’m done, I try to play it cool. “You don’t know this friend.”
“Female friend?”
“She might be.”
“The new hot chick I heard Martha talkin’ about today? Said she met an attractive but very skinny girl at the grocery store. I don’t remember the name, but it was somethin’ kind of weird. From the sounds of it, she won’t be single long.”
I glare at my brother, his chiseled jaw and too long hair that would make me look homeless but make him look relaxed and chill. “You’re married, Hardy.”
“Doesn’t mean I can’t take an interest in knowin’ more about the beauty queen everyone can’t stop yappin’ about. Wait, was she a beauty queen?”
Brynlee mentioned something about pageants, but I didn’t ask. “I don’t know.”
“Go get ’em, tiger!” he says and slaps me on the back. “I’ll tell Zoey you said hi on your way to hook up with the hot chick.”
“I’m not hookin’ up with her. That’s how rumors get started, you know,” I say and walk to my door.
“Yeah? And those types of rumors can find you married. Just look at what it did for me, man!”
Climbing inside, I roll my eyes. To this day, Hardy refuses to admit he started the rumor about Zoey and him, but as fate would have it, she ended up giving him a chance, anyway. Now they’re married. That plan would never work for me.
I pull up to Brynlee’s house, and I groan. In my rush, I realize I never called her first. What if she has guests? Or a date? That would crush me.
Brynlee walks out onto the porch wearing a cute black dress with a frilly, white apron over the top of it. “Were your ears burning?”
“Pardon?” I ask as I hop out.
“Did I get that phrase wrong? I was just thinking about you, and here you are,” she says with a bright smile that could get me to do just about anything.
“You were?”
I mentally kick myself as soon as I catch just how high my hopes have risen. She knows almost no one, and I’m a friendly face. The friendliest, according to most of the women I’ve met.
“I was about to call and ask if you’ve had supper. Or dinner. Whatever you call it down here.”
The desperate need to fit in makes me smile. “Depends on who you talk to, but I call it dinner.”
“I met a woman named Martha at the grocery store today. She made a point to tell me I’m too skinny—which must’ve made Mama proud—and she gave me a recipe to make. I probably should have put together sooner how much it would make based on the measurements. I have enough to feed a family of twelve.”
Smiling, I take in her scent as we step into the house. She smells amazing, and I shove my hands in my pockets to stop from reaching out to touch her. “Martha had ten kids. All of her recipes are for a family of twelve.”
She laughs, but looks up with terror on her face. “If I happen to find someone to marry here, will I be expected to have that many children? I keep hearing these scary high numbers when it comes to kids, and I don’t know if my body could handle that. Or my mind. I might need to be committed.”
