“He asked if I was comfortable talking to Senior about my feelings.”
“Yikes.”
“Yeah, FaceTiming him an ocean away, between stage productions and television roles. Mom’s in the background asking him about the next gala they are going to.”
Zach shook his head. They still hadn’t debriefed about the wedding itself.
“I know you just got home, so we can talk about it back at the office, but I have thoughts about Golden Gulch.”
“Yeah, let’s talk about it for sure. Some new developments popped up during our trip. Come on, Miss Leona’s cooking.” Zach turned toward their grandmother’s house. Jesse knew his brother. He knew something was wrong.
“Hey, man, what’s up? What’s going on?”
Zach turned back and took off his tan Stetson. The one Senior gave him. He scrubbed his hand over his face, tugging on his beard like it would relieve the pressure. “Evie might want to give up the restaurant or maybe hire a new executive chef. One day on our honeymoon she just burst into tears because she realized how she was feeling months ago, and we invested all this money and time, and she thinks you and Sam and Miss Leona will be mad at her—”
“I mean, her walking this soon is not ideal, but shit happens.” Like maybe running for office and leaving your brother to run two ranches. “But I’m not angry, and Sam and Miss Leona won’t be either.”
“Yeah, well, I found out yesterday that the tears may have been a hormonal reaction to something else. Evie’s pregnant.”
Chapter 17
Somehow Jesse channeled Dr. Brooks. Zach looked like he was about to fall over and cry.
“How do you feel about that?” Jesse asked. He was more than excited to welcome Zach and Evie’s child into the world, but how he felt about it didn’t matter. His brother was about to be a father.
“I’m happy? Terrified? Happy again? A little hungry?” They both laughed, which was a good sign. If Zach lost his sense of humor, they’d really be in trouble.
“Kids were in the plan. They are in the plan. We didn’t want to wait too long because Miss Leona isn’t immortal, but we weren’ttrying.When they say some birth control is only ninety percent effective, they aren’t kidding.”
“Well, congratulations. I had some news, but this is bigger. Let’s eat and we’ll talk about everything else tomorrow. Gulch, Dad, how much Mom is somehow going to make this baby about her.”
“Now you wait. What’s your news?”
“I’m seeing Lily-Grace LeRoux.”
Zach blinked and took a dramatic step back. “Hold on. I—hold on.” Zach walked back over to his house and sat down on the edge of the large planter sitting on his front porch. Jesse rolled his eyes and followed. Clementine tagged along.
“Hey!” Jesse turned and saw Corie’s head poking out of Miss Leona’s front door. “Soup’s on.”
“We’re coming,” Jesse yelled back.
Zach shook his head. “It’s crazy. It’s like she doesn’t have our phone numbers or know how to text.”
“Lily-Grace got an apology out of her last night,” Jesse said, the pride swelling in his chest overriding all the conflicting emotions of the day.
“No shit.”
“Vega had a word with her too. Corie walked in on us in the pool and thought it was all fun and jokes. She did apologize though, and Lily-Grace asked her if she could fight. It was a highlight of the evening.”
Zach looked up at him, a strange expression taking over his face.
“What?” Jesse asked. “What’s that look for?”
“I’m just wondering if it’s the therapy or Lily-Grace. You never talk this much at once. You look happy.”
“I think I am.”
“Good. Let’s go eat. Don’t say anything about the baby yet, and definitely not in front of Corie.”
