Page 78 of Love’s Silver Bullet

She searched his face with a tender smile. She’s right here, Jake, ready to love you whenever you say.

Looping an arm around Grace’s waist, Sheridan flashed a bright smile to the men. “Gentlemen, this is my dearest friend from Vassar, Miss Grace Carmody, who also happens to be the granddaughter of Aunt Marie’s neighbor. And this,” she continued with a twinkle and a nod toward the men, “is the rowdy side of my family—my uncle and owner of The Silver Lining Ranch, Mayor Finn McShane, my two brothers, Blaze and Dash, and our dear friend and assistant foreman, Jake Sullivan.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Grace,” Finn said with a welcoming handshake while Blaze and Jake followed suit.

But when Dash stepped in to envelop Grace in a warm hug, Sheridan had to bite back a smile at the two circles of pink that instantly bloomed on Grace’s cheeks. “Welcome to The Silver Lining Ranch, Miss Carmody. Any friend of Half-Pint, is a friend of mine who deserves way more than a handshake.”

“Uh … thank you, Dash,” Grace whispered over his shoulder, eyes blinking wide as she gave Sheridan a nervous smile.

Dinner was everything Sheridan had hoped it would be. Angus had fixed her favorite meal—fried chicken and dumplings with the promise of his famous apple cobbler for dessert. Aunt Libby’s engraved initial silver plates—a gift from Uncle Finn for their wedding—glowed in the flickering light of silver candlesticks along with a silver bowl of her yellow cottage roses, which graced the massive polished log table. Complemented by dried bittersweet berries that matched the vibrant Navajo rug beneath, they lent a soft touch to a rustic room of burnished log walls graced with desert landscapes.

As always, Uncle Finn was gracious and warm, and her brothers and Jake were in rare form with lots of good-natured ribbing and stories that kept the dinner fun. From laughter and love, to tease and trauma when Shaylee introduced poor Grace to her pet tarantula, Annabelle, Sheridan could sense that Grace’s fears had promptly been put to rest. After the poor thing had turned as white as Angus’s creamed cauliflower, of course, when her sister had plopped Annabelle’s cage on the table between Grace’s plate and her own.

“Animals do not dine at the table, Shaylee Ann,” Uncle Finn had said with a patient smile.

“Why not? Dash does.” Blaze elbowed Jake, and their laughter put a grin on everyone’s faces, including Dash’s.

“But Annabelle is nocturnal, Uncle Finn,” Shaylee explained in her never-ending quest to make Annabelle part of the family. “So she won’t be a bother, I promise. She’s only active at night and sleeps during the day.”

“Also just like Dash.” Jake grinned as he elbowed Blaze right back.

Grinning, Sheridan leaned close to Grace. “Dash works nights at the Ponderosa Saloon, so he sleeps part of the day,” she explained with a chuckle, the wry twist of Uncle Finn’s mouth an indicator of his feelings about Dash’s job.

“Hey, Grace,” Shaylee quickly continued, conveniently ignoring her uncle and brothers, “can you believe that female tarantulas live up to 30 years, while males only live for seven?”

“I sure can. Probably nags him to death,” Blaze said with a grin, ducking when Maggie tried to whack him with her napkin.

Dash reached for another piece of chicken with a lazy grin. “Or ’cause the female chews on the male till he croaks, Blaze,” he said, “so I’d go easy on the little woman, or it might give her ideas.”

Laughter rounded the table, and Sheridan grinned when Grace giggled along with the rest, so grateful for her family. Chewing the edge of her lip, she snuck a peek at Jake out of the corner of her eye, smiling when he plucked two chicken legs off of Blaze’s plate to toss them onto Angus’s, who’d sat down last and was rifling through what was left on the platter. Grinning, he glanced up and met her gaze, fluttering her stomach when he shot her a wink.

“Shay.” Uncle Finn motioned toward the front door with a flicker of a smile. “Out on the porch please, Doodle, because as fond as we all are of Annabelle, she’s not exactly good for digestion.”

A heavy sigh blustered from Shaylee’s lips as she lumbered up with a scowl, Annabelle’s cage firmly in hand. “Okay, but she’s gonna think nobody likes her, Uncle Finn, and she’s liable to get depressed.”

“No, she won’t, Shay,” Sheridan said, sympathy lacing her tone as she offered her sister a sweet smile. “Dash is happy all the time, and nobody likes him.”

Dash’s jaw dangled open in a shock as more laughter made the rounds, a chicken leg halfway to his mouth. “Et tu, Half-Pint?” he said with a hurt pinch of brows before his trademark grin eventually peeked through.

“So, Sher,” Uncle Finn said as he took a slow sip of his coffee after dessert, “Libby and I have a host of activities planned in the evenings throughout Grace’s stay, but what do you girls plan to do during the days?”

Adrenaline pulsed through Sheridan’s body when Grace’s gaze met hers, the twinkle of excitement in her friend’s eyes on par with Sheridan’s own. Reaching to squeeze Grace’s hand, Sheridan grinned at her uncle. “I wrote Sister Fred a while back to ask about possibly volunteering to tutor the boys and girls at the orphanage in math, grammar, and music. You know, like Sophia, Kathy Jean, and I did last year? And she was overjoyed.”

“And so are we!” Grace said with a little bounce, hands clasped to her chest like a little girl at Christmas.

“Not as excited as those little boys are likely to be,” Dash said, looking directly at Grace with a grin.

Sheridan chewed on the edge of her smile when Grace’s cheeks dusted pink, surprised at the way Dash was flirting with her best friend.

“Oh, Sher, that sounds wonderful!” Libby gushed, and I want to help too, so may I come along?”

“Absolutely, Aunt Libby! Sister Fred will be thrilled, and so will we.”

“Oh … and I can drive us all in together each morning,” Maggie said, hands clasped to her chest, their excitement obviously catching. “It’ll be so much fun!”

A low chuckle rolled from Jake’s lips as he lifted his coffee in a toast. “Well, now, I think I may be jealous, ladies,” he said as he took a drink, tumbling Sheridan’s stomach when he shot her a wink over the rim. “Because as fond as I am of ranch life for a whole host of reasons”—he grinned as he nodded toward Blaze, slapping him on the back with a scrunch of his nose—“riding to work with this one sure isn’t one of them.”

CHAPTER FIFTY