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"Yeah. Well, I'd have called you, anyway. That auction was last night, wasn't it?"
Travis frowned. "So?"
"Whoa, Trav, my man, don't be so testy. "
"I'm not being anything. I just want to discuss this invitation."
"Discuss it all you like, Trav. I ain't goin'."
"I'll just bet your high-priced architectural clients love that down-home talk," Travis said, and grinned.
"They're never lucky enough to hear it, and stop changing the subject. How'd the auction go?"
"It went. Somebody bought me." "Lucky lady. She have a name?" "Alexandra. And that's the end of the story."
"How much did you go for? More than the dude from that other law firm? Was this Alexandra good-lookin'?"
"I went for enough, I beat the pants off the other guy, the lady was okay, if you like the type."
"Oh, my."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, sounds to me as if my big brother struck out for a change."
"Think again, pal," Travis said, tossing off the lie with ease. It was better than having Slade pursue the subject, as he damned well knew he would. His kid brother could be worse than a hound on a trail, when he got started on something.
"Ah. So, she's there with you, huh?"
"You could say that, yeah."
Hell, it wasn't a lie. The Princess was inside his head, wasn't she? As real as a woman could be, without being in a man's arms?
"Trav, you old dog, you."
Travis sighed. "Slade, do you think you could get your mind on something else?"
"You really want to talk about this birthday party, huh? Well, there's nothing to talk about. I'm not going. I already told you that."
"Jonas is coming up on eighty-five. It's a milestone."
"I don't care if it's a century stone. Why would any of us subject himself to a weekend of misery?"
"It won't be so awful."
"Says you."
"There'll probably be a couple of hundred people there. The old boy won't have the time to chew us up. Besides, I hate to disappoint Caitlin."
"What's with you, Trav? It almost sounds as if you're lookin' to get out of town."
Travis shut his eyes. If life had taught him anything, it was that there wasn't much one brother could hide from another.
"Well, I wouldn't mind a change of scene."
"Woman trouble," Slade said, and sighed.
"Yeah. I guess."
"I might have known."
"You? No way," Travis said, with forced lightness. "Gage and I are the ones who know about women, except Gage doesn't really count, considering that he's the only one who's still married."
"You're trying to change the subject, Trav."
Travis gave a little laugh. "Right. I am. And before you ask, trust me, kid. You don't want to hear the gory details. Look, about this party—"
"Listen, I'm sorry, but I'm not going. I really don't have time to go back to Espada right now, okay?"
"That's that, then. Heck, you're too big for me to lock in the feed bin anymore." The brothers chuckled, and then Travis cleared his throat. "Do me a favor, will you? Stay on the line while I phone Gage."
"Two against one won't do it anymore," Slade said, and laughed. "Even if Gage says he's going, with bells on, I'm not changing my mind."
"Fair enough, but say `hello' to him anyway," Travis said, and punched in his other brother's private number.
Gage picked up on the first ring. "Baby," he said gruffly, "Natalie, I love you so—"
Travis laughed. "I love you, too, precious," he said in a high falsetto, "but my husband's starting to get suspicious."
"Travis? Is that you?"
"And me," Slade said lazily. "How are you, bro?"
"I don't believe this! What are you guys doin'? Havin' a reunion out there in California? Or are you both in Boston, livin' it up in that mansion my little brother calls home?"
Travis chuckled. "This three-way brotherly phone call is comin' to you courtesy of the marvels of modern-day science."
"And it's probably the only three-way ever done by telephone," Slade said, with a wicked grin at the pretty young secretary who'd just brought him his coffee. "Thank you, darlin'."
"Don't you darlin' me, pal," Travis said, with a mock growl, "or I'll fly straight to that fancy-pants mansion of yours and beat you up the way I used to, when you were twelve and I was thirteen."
"Uh-huh. You an' who else?"
"Me an' Gage." Travis grinned. "'Course, it'll have to wait until the sun gets up in the sky a piece, so my brain starts workin' right."
