Page 88 of Love’s Silver Bullet

“Twenty seconds,” Jake announced with a grin, pretty darn sure the men could topple that.

“Oh, and it’s so appropriate!” Libby crossed her palms to her chest in near ecstasy, sending her husband a smug flutter of lashes. “Because arrogance is the ‘crime’ the men have committed, and losing is their ‘punishment’!”

“Oooo, good one, Aunt Libby!” Sheridan gave her a hug.

“Move over, ladies,” Blaze said with a lazy smile, moseying over to pluck a paper from the jar, “and we’ll show you ‘punishment.’”

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Finn glanced into the foyer, nose in a scrunch as he checked his watch. “Who in the devil could that be at this hour?” he said, ambling up to answer the door.

“Oh, goodness, Finn, I hope nothing’s wrong.” Libby hurried into the foyer while both Blaze and Jake followed behind.

Finn opened the door to a tall, good-looking man who looked to be in his early twenties, dressed to the nines in the latest styles of the day. Taking his bowler hat off his head, he flashed a perfect set of teeth. “Good evening, Mayor and Mrs. McShane, I presume?”

“Yes, I’m Mayor McShane, and this is my wife, Libby.”

The man offered a polite nod to Libby. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am, and Mayor McShane, I have to say it’s especially good to meet you.” He extended an arm in a handshake.

Finn’s voice held a note of curiosity as he shook the man’s hand. “And why is that, Mr. …?”

“Carmody—Grayson Carmody, sir, Grace’s twin brother?” Grinning, he pumped Finn’s hand like he was drilling for oil. “And why? Because, sir,” he said with a confident thrust of his chin, “I’m the man who plans to marry your niece.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

What the devil? Finn stared at the man who’d just blown up his evening as thoroughly as a stick of dynamite dipped in nitroglycerin. “Come again?” he said, his voice a near growl as he slowly eased Libby behind him, his full girth blocking the door with palms to the jambs while he shifted his stance with an impatient cock of his hip.

The dandy just grinned as if he didn’t have a lick of sense, no earthly idea that Finn was seriously contemplating throwing him out on his ear. “I’m Grace’s brother, sir,” he repeated again, slower this time as if he suspected Finn didn’t have a lick of sense either. “Sheridan invited me to come stay for the summer along with Grace, but prior commitments kept me away.”

“Gray?” Inching past her brothers and Jake, Sheridan ducked under Finn’to literally launch into the man’s arms with a squeal, skirt billowing when the confounded dandy whirled her ’round and ’round on the front porch.

“Sugar Lips!” he shouted with way too much familiarity, causing a tic to pulse in Finn’s jaw when the dandy deposited a kiss to Sheridan’s hair, squeezing his niece like Finn wanted to squeeze him. Around the neck.

Sugar Lips???

“Oh my goodness, Gray—what on earth are you doing here?” Grace sneaked through on Finn’s other side, joining in a three-way hug so tight, they may as well have been hog-tied.

“Conveniently sprained a muscle,” he said with a wink to his sister, “so I could escort my two favorite girls home.”

“Ahem.” Finn gave a gruff clear of his throat, refusing to move until Libby prodded him aside.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Finn, ask our guest in,” she said, promptly extending a hand. “Welcome, Gray. We have loved having Grace here, so it’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

Speak for yourself, Libby. Mouth tamped tight, Finn backed up to allow his wife to drag the dandy in while Sheridan and Grace hovered as close as shadows.

Hooking her arm through the dandy’s, Sheridan stood straight and tall with a proud puff of her chest, the top of her upswept curls barely coming to the man’s shoulders. “Everyone, this is Grace’s twin and one of my dearest friends, Grayson Carmody, better known as Gray.”

Gray winked, completely ignoring Finn’s tight-lipped scowl—and that of every other male in the room as well, given his nephews’ and Jake’s hard-sculpted jaws. “Or the evil twin to my sister’s saintly one.”

“Unfortunately true.” Sheridan chuckled as she pinched the dandy’s cheek before extending a hand to introduce each person in the foyer. “Gray, these are my brothers Dash and Blaze,” she said with pride while Gray reached to shake both of their hands, seemingly oblivious to the coolness of their reception. “Then my sister-in-law Maggie, Blaze’s wife, and my little sister Shaylee”—she gave an affectionate nod to both Maggie and Shay while Gray offered a bow that included a wink for Shaylee—"and last but not least, our dear friend and assistant foreman of the Silver Lining Ranch, Jake Sullivan.”

Jake stiffened when Gray offered a handshake with a measured smile, awkward seconds passing before his assistant foreman complied with a chilly nod.

And then before Finn could demand what the dandy meant by his hair-trigger comment about marrying Sheridan, Libby quickly scuttled him away to the parlour. Promptly pushing him down in the middle of the sofa, she offered both oatmeal cookies and a cup of coffee. “I can’t tell you how much we’ve enjoyed having Grace here this summer,” she prattled on, opting to sit on the end of the sofa while Sheridan and Grace flanked the dandy on either side. Finn, Blaze, and Dash slowly returned to their seats like gunslingers ready to draw while Jake opted for a rigid stance behind his chair, feet straddled and arms crossed.

“You must have missed her terribly!” Libby continued.

Gray hooked an arm to both Grace’s waist and Sheridan’s, depositing a kiss to each of their cheeks. “More than air, Mrs. McShane, which is why I decided to come to escort them home.”