Page 67 of Cowboy

“Joey, perhaps you’d like to—”

“Harland, if I may, I’d like to say grace tonight.” Scarlett’s already told me she isn’t religious even though she was raised Catholic. I’ve not known her to pray for anything, so her offer surprises me as well as the others.

“Okay, darlin’.” Dad nods.

“Thank you for this wonderful meal before us and for bringing this family into my life. I’m undeserving of their devotion but grateful for their forgiveness,” Scarlett says, pleased with herself. I reach for her hand, giving it a squeeze.

Plates are passed, and the pork chops are served.

“I think it’s time we initiate Scarlett into the family. We need to find her something to do around here,” Dad teases, winking at her. It’s been suggested she help Carly, but never be put in charge of cooking a meal.

“She could milk the almonds,” Blade says straight-faced, and I chuckle.

“You produce almonds here?” Scarlett asks, looking around the table.

“We don’t grow almonds,” I state, shaking my head.

“She has tiny fingers and could easily squeeze them,” Blade continues, pinching his thumb and forefingers together and then tugging at the air to imitate the impossible. “Eek-eek. Eek-eek.” His noise matches the exaggerated drip of almond milk coming from imaginary almonds.

“Would you stop it?” I chuckle. Teasing her means they accept her, but after the stunt she pulled before Redd Bottom at the Goat, I’d hope so. Scarlett really put on a show for me, for us, proving her skill at reporting false news as acting. However, nothing was false in her actions, and the fierceness of her words later in the parking lot told me it wasn’t an act. Her spending nights in my bed—our bed—proves that Scarlett does care for me. She’s sticking around like she said.

“Is that how you get almond milk out of almonds?” Scarlett holds her face perfectly still, and for a second, I think she’s serious. Hopefully, it’s another sign of her acting ability.

“You don’t milk almonds,” Joey interjects, rolling her eyes like Scarlett cannot possibly be that gullible.

“Bet Bull has something you could milk,” Blade mutters.

“What the—?” I cut myself short because of Joey’s presence at the table but narrow my eyes at my youngest brother as he lifts his glass of milk to disguise his smile.

“What’s he mean?” Joey asks. Blade snorts, forcing milk within his glass to ripple around the edge. He’s such a child sometimes.

“Nothing,” Canyon, Carly, and I say collectively.

“I know where milk comes from on a woman. Is Uncle Bull going to have to milk you?” Joey glances over at Scarlett. Horrified, she then gazes down at herself. Canyon closes his eyes, and Blade stares at our niece.

“Oh God,” Joey mutters, covering her small chest with crossed arms like a giant X. “May I be excused?”

“Please,” Blade mutters, almost begging Joey to leave the room.

“You started this,” I warn him as Canyon tells Joey she needs to eat her dinner, but she’s already slipping from the table.

“You all scarred her for life,” Carly warns, dismissing herself to follow Joey. Once the girls are gone, I reach over and smack Blade on the back of the head.

“What? Was the almond milk too much?” he teases, mocking himself with a hand on his chest.

“No wonder you’re alone,” Canyon mutters, shaking his head.

“I’m sorry about that,” I say to Scarlett whose face remains pink.

“She thinks I’m a cow, doesn’t she?” Scarlett’s lower lip trembles. Knowing how sensitive she is to the comparison, she’s still so cute. I can’t help myself and lean over the table, cup the back of her neck, and tug her toward me for a quick kiss.

“If you two are gonna be like this at the table, I want to be excused now,” Blade teases. Ignoring him, I keep my hand on Scarlett another second.

“You aren’t a cow, sweetheart.” Our foreheads meet before I release her and sit back. “She could have compared you to an almond.”

Scarlett’s mouth falls open before she giggles, and I look up, meeting the eyes of my dad at the opposite end of the table. He stares back at me with a knowing look in his eyes.

“A certain someone,” he mutters, and I peer sideways at Scarlett.