“Right now?” she pressed.
“No, not right now,” Grace answered for me. She nudged her niece aside. “Let Lennon get some food first.” She gave me a hug, just like she did when we met for the first time last night, and then pushed me in the direction of the kitchen. I had never been a hugger, but Ididn’t mind when it was Grace. “Emma is making chicken salad sandwiches.”
I glanced around as I followed Grace to the kitchen. Emma and Blair didn’t live at the ranch. They were on the outskirts of town, in a sweet one-story bungalow with gabled windows and cedar-shingled siding. There was a baby grand piano in the living room and family photographs everywhere I looked. My gaze snagged on a photo of Emma holding baby Blair while a man who looked a lot like Liam kissed her forehead. That had to be Daniel.
Emma was chopping celery when we entered the kitchen. “Hey! You made it!”
“Thanks for inviting me.” I glanced around the small, cozy kitchen. “What can I do to help?”
Emma waved a hand. “Nothing. Are you kidding me? You cook breakfast for us every day. I’m not letting you make us lunch. That would be like you asking me for a free massage. Only family members get free labor.”
I laughed. “I would love a free massage. Got any brothers? I’ll marry in.”
Emma snorted. “Nope. Grace and I are all our parents were willing to have. Though I do have a brother-in-law who happens to be single, if you’re interested.” She went back to chopping celery. “You know, he never takes advantage of the family discount. He never comes to the wellness center when I’m working, either. Maybe he hates massages.”
Grace rolled her eyes. “Liam hates anything that requires him to relax and be less of a grumpy bastard. But it doesn’t matter because Lennon has her eye on a different cowboy.”
“I…what?” I sputtered.
“Ooo, that’s right!” Emma dumped the celery into the bowl of shredded chicken, wiped her hands on her pants, and reached for the cupboard. “We need to talk about that. But first, can I offer you something to drink? We have iced tea, water, and Coke.”
Noting the pitcher already on the counter, I said, “Iced tea would be great, thank you.”
Grace poured, and we sat on the stools tucked under the counter. Emma grabbed her cutting board, the knife, and a bag of red grapes and set up facing us. They looked at me expectantly.
“Um,” I said, my gaze darting from Emma to Grace and back again.
“Not to be all high school about it, but Cecily said she saw you and Jeremiah all wrapped up in each other outside Sundown.” Emma sliced grapes in half as she talked. “Is that true?”
“We might have kissed,” I admitted.
Emma set down the knife and stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. “Wow.”
“Wow,” Grace echoed, shaking her head.
“Wow,” Blair said behind us. When we looked at her, she shrugged. “I’ve never seen Jay show any interest in agirl before. Or a man.” She plucked a grape from the bunch and popped it into her mouth. “I was starting to think he was a eunuch.”
The memory of him hard between my legs as he pressed me to the wall came flooding back. “Definitely not a eunuch,” I muttered.
Emma pointed her knife at me. “I’m going to need to know how you know that.” She pointed the knife at her daughter. “And I need you to tell me how you know that word.”
“What, eunuch?” Blair asked, helping herself to another grape. “It was inDogma. That’s a movie from the nineteen hundreds. My friends and I are really into vintage stuff right now.”
“Careful, kid,” Emma warned, but her lips twitched with laughter. “I was born in the nineties.”
Blair smirked, completely unrepentant. “Yeah, Mom. You’re vintage.”
“That’s it! You’re grounded for a thousand years.”
Blair snorted and grabbed one last grape. “How about instead, I go to my room so you can talk all about how Jay isn’t a eunuch because I really don’t want to be here for that. Call me when lunch is ready. Byeeeee.” She twirled out of the room, leaving us laughing behind her.
“Nothing like a thirteen-year-old girl to keep you humble,” Emma said. “Now. About that kiss. I’mthinking it was a really good one if it told you Jeremiah isn’t a eunuch.”
I took a nonchalant sip of my iced tea. “It was all right.”
“All right?” Grace smacked my arm playfully. “Then why do you have the goofy grin on your face?”
“Fine, fine.” I nibbled my lip. This was uncharted territory for me. I didn’t gossip with girlfriends about my love life, and I shut it down quick any time one of my subs asked something too personal. In fact, I steered clear of talking about myself at all. Most people didn’t even notice. People loved to talk about themselves.
