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“Love you too, Mom. Tell Daddy I love him.”
Her mom said she would, and the call ended. Laura leaned back into the couch, her smile filling her whole face. She laughed and jumped to her feet. “Thank you, Lord,” she said right out loud. She’d been working so hard for so long for an opportunity like this, and she let her euphoria fade into gratitude for this second chance she’d been given to make something of her life.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Blake let out a sigh through his nose, taking care not to make any noise whatsoever. His mama had a way of hearing even the most minute of sounds, and he didn’t want her or Daddy to know he’d reached the end of his patience.
He turned from the coffee maker and took a breath. “Here you go, Daddy.”
“Thanks, son.” His father looked up from the counter, his spoon already in his hand. He pulled the sugar bowl closer and started shoveling in the sweet stuff. “How are things in the kitchen?”
“I already asked that,” Mama said, and Blake swept his hand toward her. She sat next to her husband at the bar, and Blake stood on the other side of it. They’d “stopped by” for a quick chat, and he usually didn’t mind. He hadn’t dated anyone for a while, and he was either home or in his office.
Frankly, in the past, when his parents stopped by after work, he didn’t have to spend the evening alone. Todd came over often, as did most of Blake’s siblings, actually. Since he’d started seeing Gina again and he’d held her hand at Becks’s wedding, she’d been driving back out to the ranch to see him in the evenings, or he’d gone into town.
She got off work at two o’clock, and until she moved out of her parents’ house, she’d been either staying at the ranch until he got off or driving back out.
Tonight, though, he had a dinner date at her new apartment. She’d moved in a week ago, but tonight would be the first time they’d dined there. She’d been working on unpacking, getting settled, and decorating, and she’d promised him several small plates, both savory and sweet tonight.
He couldn’t wait to see her, because while he could’ve kissed her behind the bald cypress tree just beyond the lodge, he wanted their relationship to exist somewhere besides the ranch. He hadn’t kissed her yet at all, but it wasn’t for the lack of thinking about doing it.
In front of him, Daddy and Mama squabbled over what Mama had asked and how Blake had answered. The more they talked, the less he had to, and perhaps they’d get the hint that he had somewhere else he’d rather be.
Finally, Daddy looked at him with both palms up. “Fine, I guess Mama already asked you about Gina.”
“Gina’s great,” Blake said. “I’m going to dinner with her tonight.” He lifted his wrist and checked his watch, though he knew exactly what time it was. “In about a half-hour.”
Neither of his parents moved, and Blake drew in another silent breath, held it, and started to release it through his nose.
“Adam says he’s going to get a couple more horses at the auction this weekend.” Daddy lifted his mug to his lips and sipped, obviously not worried about leaving any time soon.
“Yeah, he told me,” Blake said. “Did you get the invoices from Becks, Mama?” He turned and got a washrag out of the sink. “She left them for me to give to you, and I don’t want to get in trouble for not doing it.”
“I got them,” Mama said. “They looked good.”
“When are they getting back?” Daddy asked. He used to know every single thing happening around Longhorn Ranch, but since he’d stopped coming into the lodge every day, he only heard things through the grapevine.
Blake was the one who took care of all the details of the ranch and the lodge, and he did update his father about things almost every day. He supposed it had been a few days, and he changed tactics.
“Kyle’s almost got the summer concert series finalized, so that’s good,” Blake said. “Todd and Sierra both like the new vet, and I think we all know how hard it is to impress Sierra.” He chuckled, and his mother shook her head, her lips pursing for a moment before she smiled.
“That girl,” she said, reaching up to pat her hair. Her reddish-brown hair had been recently cut, and when she went to church on Sundays, she hair sprayed it into a helmet shape. Today, it flowed a little looser, and Blake smiled at her too. “She’s never going to find someone with her attitude.”
“I don’t think she cares that much to find someone, Mama,” Blake said. “Not everyone does.”
His mother raised her eyes from her eyes to Blake’s, wearing some surprise in her expression. “They’ve just been waiting for you,” she said.
“Come on, Mama,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Don’t put that pressure on him, Sharon,” Daddy said.
“Besides it’s not true,” Blake said at the same time Mama said, “The others all look to him.”
“Jesse and Adam have both been married,” Blake pointed out. Granted, neither had lasted long, but they certainly hadn’t been waiting for Blake to find someone to settle down with.
“I think Todd likes that new vet a little too much,” Daddy said, and that whipped Mama’s attention to him.
“Really?”
