Will nodded curtly. Finding out his brother had worked with his dad these past months to make sure they had everything they needed to start building—under his nose, mind you—had been a surprise. Now he was glad they had.
Taft might be new to the area, but he had money. That meant lawyers. Ben wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to stop Will’s project with an injunction. God, he was going to have to call Lloyd. Their lawyer was sound, but his time cost money—funds he’d rather invest in the ranch.
He wasn’t going to think about that now. Today was Father’s Day. “Now, how about that pie?”
“Sounds good,” Gramps agreed cheerfully.
They started walking to the house. When Cooper met him at the front door, he hiked him up and threw him over his shoulder like a grain sack, heading to the table, going on about how many slices of pie he was going to eat—even if he exploded into a million pieces. Ben finally shook off his tenseness and started laughing along with everyone else.
That was good. Sunday was his only day off, and it was family time.
CHAPTER NINE
The moment Jolene’sfront door swung open, a lanky boy barreled into Hannah and latched on.
“What in the Sam Hill are you doing?” Jolene squawked. “Have you lived in that Scottish city so long you forgot you can just walk right in?”
“Withyourshotgun?” Hannah joked.
“You came back!” Dylan cried out in a voice clearly changing with adolescence.
“It’s good to see you too, Dylan Prentice,” she told him as she gazed at the rest of his family looking on.
Jolene stood in the doorway with her two other boys, grinning from ear to ear. She wore a belt buckle that saidAll Sassalong with a five-dollar smile and her usual jeans, cowboy boots, and a dark red Western shirt with fringe pockets over her ample bosom. The boys had on similar Western wear and seemed to have shot up another few inches since she’d last visited. Including the baby of the group squeezing her with all his adolescent might.
“Well, don’t maul her like a bobcat, Dylan Prentice,” Jolene clucked, shoving her straight strawberry blond hairover her shoulder. “Show Hannah you haven’t lost all your manners since she left.”
Hannah didn’t much care about manners with this sweet boy hugging her fiercely. God, she’d missed these boys. “He’s too cute to be a bobcat,” she pronounced, ruffling the dark blond hair Dylan shared with the rest of his brothers.
“Too puny for sure, and he’s never had any manners,” Ford grumbled, grabbing the back of his brother’s shirt and pulling. “My turn.”
Dylan squeezed Hannah one more time before letting go and punching his brother lightly in the arm. “Dipstick.”
That was when she noticed the goose egg on his forehead. “My goodness! What happened to you?”
“He ran into a baseball mitt, but he got the home run at least,” Ford reported, wrapping her in a big hug.
“Dylan, I’ll put some salve on it to help the swelling.” Hannah planted a big kiss on Ford’s cheek. “Hey, sweetie!”
“Ugh!” He yanked back and swiped the spot. “That does it. I now declare a thumb war.”
When he held out his hand, she clasped it—and pinned his thumb pretty fast. “You’re rusty as a nail.”
He puffed up like a rooster. “Hannah, I’m fifteen. Thumb wars aren’t exactly on my mind these days.”
“Betty Hardcastle is,” Dylan announced as Luke pushed Ford out of the way and hugged her.
“Shut it,” Ford yelled at Dylan.
Jolene shouted,“Enough.”
She chuckled into Luke’s shoulder. “Just like old times.”
“Yeah.” He sniffed her hair. “Lavender. You always smelled good. It’s great to have you back.”
“Happy to be here.” Even after the train wreck welcome next door. “Do I get to hug your mother now?”
“Nah,” Ford muttered, dancing in front of Jolene. “She’d rather slap the back of your head than hug you.”
