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Blake started wiping the kitchen counter, his head tipped down so the brim of his cowboy hat hid his face. Daddy knew how to get Mama talking about something else, that was for sure, and Blake would be sure to thank him later. If she’d gotten started on Jesse and Adam’s first marriages, Blake might’ve been late to work in the morning.
He tossed the washrag back into the sink and turned to face his parents. “I hate to kick you out, so stay as long as you want, but I’m gonna be late to Gina’s.” He opened the drawer in the island and extracted his keys.
Barstools scraped as each of his parents stood, both of them suddenly clamoring about how they needed to get home and start dinner. He hugged them both, thanked them for coming, and followed them to the front door.
They’d just stepped outside when Todd pulled up to the cabin. The blue heeler in the back bed of the truck barked, and Blake grinned. He stopped at the top of the steps as his parents shuffled down. Todd got out of the truck, and a brand new conversation started.
Blake whistled through his teeth, and Azure leapt down from truck. He bent down, chuckling. “Hey, buddy. How are you, huh?”
The dog arrived, and Blake reached to pat him. The dog licked his hand, and then Blake’s met some dried mud. “Oh, you’ve been out in the fields, I see.”
“Checking the wheeled sprinklers,” Todd said, his footsteps coming up the steps. “You’re headed out?”
“Yep.” Blake straightened and hugged Todd. “You can leave him inside.”
“He’s dirtier than the bottom of my boots.” Todd shook his head. “I’ll hose ‘im down at my place.”
“Thanks, Todd.” Blake didn’t know how to properly thank him. “You should just call him your dog.” He met his brother’s eyes, and Todd blinked back.
“Who says I don’t?”
“Well, you bring him over to see me all the time, like I’m the divorced father and get to see him on weekends.” Blake grinned at Todd, and the two of them laughed together.
“He’s just the ranch dog,” Todd said, but when Azure licked his hand, he bent down and stroked his head. “Come on, bud. You need a bath, and your daddy’s got a date.” He turned to go back down the steps.
Blake followed his brother, pressure building in his chest. “Listen, Todd.”
“Hm?” He clapped his palm against the truck, and Azure went around to jump in the back. Todd lowered the tailgate, and the dog jumped up as Todd met Blake’s eyes. “What’s makin’ you look like you’re about to throw up?”
“Daddy said something about you and Laura.”
Todd turned into a statue. “He did?” His mouth barely moved, and Blake didn’t like how the whole world had gone quiet. “What did he say?”
“He said he thought you liked her a little too much, and then Mama…well, you know what Mama’s like.”
His phone rang, and Todd dug it out of his pocket. He looked at it and then held it up toward Blake. Mama’s name and picture sat there, and he cocked his head and his hip. “So I suppose I shouldn’t answer this.”
“She probably just wants to know if you’re going to get married before me,” Blake said dryly.
“I don’t like Laura,” he said, swiping the call to voicemail. “I mean, she’s a great vet and a nice woman, but that’s all.”
“Of course,” Blake said, noting how even Todd remained. They usually didn’t keep secrets from one another, and Blake reasoned that if Todd did like Laura as more than a vet, he maybe just wasn’t ready to say anything yet.
Which was well within his right.
“Next time she calls, just tell her what you just told me. It’s usually easier to nip this in the bud with her.”
“Yeah,” Todd said as his phone rang again. He sighed like he carried all the oxygen in the world in his lungs and slid on the call. “Mama, I don’t like the vet.” He opened the door and got in his truck, saying, “I don’t want to hear about this again.”
Blake chuckled to himself and hurried to get in his own truck before someone else stopped by and delayed him from getting to Chestnut Springs and Gina.
* * *
He pulledup to the duplex where Gina lived, killed the engine, and jumped out of the truck. He grunted as he remembered the bread he’d stopped to get. Gina hadn’t asked him to stop, but the Texan in him didn’t know how to show up at someone’s house for dinner without something to eat.
The bakery had zucchini-lemon bread with crystallized sugar on top, and if Gina didn’t want it, he could make it into some amazing French toast for lunch tomorrow.
He jogged to the end unit and knocked. The sound punctuated the silence in the neighborhood like gunshots, and he winced as he stepped back. He told himself to calm down, that he and Gina were already dating. He didn’t need to try so hard.
