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“Is she close?” Katy asked, clearly unable to hold back her excitement.
Dustin nodded. “I’m fairly certain that the new Stone baby will be arriving sometime tonight or early tomorrow morning.”
“Once I get the room prepared, I’ll check with the volunteers and make sure they’re ready for the crowd to arrive.” Katy walked down the hallway and turned back for a moment. “It’s going to be just like a new show opening on Broadway. Lights. Camera. Action.” She grinned and disappeared.
Mick laughed. “She’s something else, isn’t she? I bet she’ll be checking her tea leaves about Amber’s baby soon, if she hasn’t already.”
Dustin frowned. “Katy is a gifted nurse. What are you doing here?”
He’d gotten used to his brother’s sour moods and knew it was best to ignore them. “I thought the three of us could go have lunch together. How does Phong’s Wok sound to you?”
Dustin shook his head. “How in the world were you able to break away from Jennifer Steele’s ranch?”
The digs about Mick’s career choice never ceased from his brother.
“When you get up at five in the morning, you don’t go past noon to have your lunch, bro. I know you’ve got to be starving, too. You were up at the same time I was.”
“Yes, I was.” Dustin mood was darker than usual, even for him.
“What’s up with you today, bro?”
“Nothing is up with me. You drove to the ranch to shovel cow shit and I came here to take out Hayden’s tonsils.”
“Actually, I mended some fences and had a wonderful time, too. Clearly you didn’t given how grumpy you are.”
“I’m using my education to help our community. You’re wasting your law degree. You should be practicing law, Mick, not—”
“Dustin, stop it.” Paris frowned. “Can’t you at least try not to be such an ass?”
So much for ignoring his brother’s sour mood. “You think you know how to run everybody’s life. You need to work on your own.”
Dustin pointed a finger at him. “I am, but I will never understand how a thirty-two-year-old man who has a law degree and aced the bar wants to work as a flunky cowhand.”
“You don’t have to understand. It’s my life, brother. Not yours. I’m taking Paris to lunch. Are you going to join us or not?”
“I’m going to go see our mom and dads, Mick. You might be interested in what I plan on talking with them about.”
“I bet I can guess. You’re going to try to get them to persuade me to leave my job at the ranch.”
“Bingo,” Dustin said. “Why don’t you come along with me? You and Paris.”
“I’ll pass. I’m in no mood for a family intervention, Dustin.” Their parents were confused at first when he’d left the law, but had been supportive of his decision all along.
His brother shook his head. “Fine.” Turning to Paris, he said, “Go have lunch with Mick. Keep your cell with you in case we hear from Amber.” Without another word, Dustin left them.
Mick looked at Paris and saw the hurt on her face. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m used to his needling.”
“I’m not. I never will be.”
Chapter Three
Frustrated, Dustin marched out of the clinic, heading straight to his car. He always parked in the farthest spot in the clinic’s parking lot, away from all the other vehicles. Being careful had paid off. His one splurge after medical school was his convertible Corvette, and it didn’t have a single scratch on it.
He opened the door and got behind the wheel. His pulse pounded hard in his veins. He couldn’t understand how Mick couldn’t see what a huge fucking mistake he was making. It was as plain as day in Dustin’s mind. If a person had a law degree, they needed to be practicing law. Simple.
He put his key in the ignition and his Vette’s engine roared to life. The rumble was one of the few things that could calm him down when he was in this state, which came all too frequently ever since Paris had returned to Destiny.
She’s hiding something. I know it in my bones.
