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A couple of stools away from Cooper, Lexi plopped down, seemingly unconcerned by the yelling match going on between her brother and his wife. With a glance at Dex, she said, “We might as well order our supper now. This’ll probably take a while.”
“—If you had really known it was me, you probably would’ve kissed me before I could put the moves on you.”
“Oh, bullshit. You irritated the hell out of me back then.”
“You mean I intrigued you.”
Realizing the heat in their eyes really had nothing to do with anger and a whole lot to do with enthusiasm, Coop leaned toward their seated companions to ask, “So, they do this a lot, huh?”
Lexi rolled her eyes and spotted a bowl full of beer nuts on the counter in front of her. Pulling them close, she stuffed her mouth and talked around the peanuts. “Oh, all the time.”
“They like it,” Dex added, snagging his own handful. “It’s weird.”
“But strangely works for them.” Lexi shrugged.
“Well some people, especially identical twins, should have a little common courtesy and let a person know who she is before she goes and kisses him.”
As Branson ranted, Dex paused his chewing to frown at his wife. “Are you sure it’s okay for you to eat all this salt?”
“I’m starving!” Lexi exploded just as Emma railed, “Oh! You…how could you not know it was me if you supposedly had such a big crush on me?”
“Besides,” Lexi muttered to Dex, “I don’t know how I can retain any more fluids. I already feel like a walking water balloon as it is.”
Thoroughly entertained by the two conversations interweaving around him, Cooper leaned back against the wall and watched, munching on his own handful of nuts.
Branson scowled at Emma Leigh as if absolutely affronted. “I do not get crushes.” The word was obviously beneath him. “I may have had a small thing for you—”
“A thing called a crush,” Emma Leigh taunted, but her husband ignored her as he finished, “But you were acting a hell of lot like Jo Ellen that night, wearing that…that dress.”
“A dress?” Coop arched his eyebrows. “Wow, you have changed, Em.”
Emma Leigh grinned over at him and winked. “I looked good in it too.” Then she whirled back to glare at her husband. “And I can dress up like Jo Ellen if I so desire. It doesn’t mean I am her.”
“You knew I couldn’t tell which one you were!” Branson thundered. “And you purposely kept the truth from me, teasing me.”
Chuckling under his breath, Coop nudged Lexi’s elbow. “Just imagine how they’re going to fight when they become parents.”
Both Branson and Emma stopped bickering to instantly focus on him. In unison, they answered, “We are.”
Their argument forgotten, the proud parents descended upon Coop in a flood, pulling up pictures on their cell phones to show off three-month old Brand.
Elbowing Emma Leigh aside to jostle closer to Cooper, Branson snorted. “Your shot is too blurry. This is much clearer; you can actually see his face. Look at that chin. Doesn’t he have my chin?”
It was sweet how the two new pa
rents were so obviously satisfied with their newborn. Yet it depressed him. Em—who’d never shown any interest in boys all through school—had married a good man, then popped out a kid to be proud of, while he…well, Cooper had nothing.
It made him wonder if Jo Ellen—
He heaved that thought out of his head as soon as it sprouted. She wasn’t anything to him, just one big what if. So why did the simple thought of her married to someone else make him feel so anxious and antsy? And of course, she had to be married by now with a half-a-dozen adorable babies clinging to her knees. A woman like Jo Ellen Rawlings wouldn’t stay single for long.
Curiosity burned in his gut as Cooper licked his lips and wondered if Em would read too much into his words if he somehow managed to slip in a question about what her twin was up to these days, or if she was going to attend the reunion too?
“He’s a cute kid,” he said, glancing at Emma Leigh before shaking his head. “Geez, I can’t believe you had a baby just a few months ago.”
Sending her husband a smug grin, Em preened. “See. Cooper thinks I still look hot.”
Branson pulled her close, sending Coop a glare. Cooper shook his head and chuckled. “So where is the little tyke?”
