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“Great,” Jesse practically yelled, tearing his eyes from Blake. “Come on, guys. Let’s get our glasses full of this fine, fresh-squeezed orange juice.”
Blake ducked his head and smiled, grateful for Jesse’s attempt to get the attention off of him. Todd stood right beside Blake while a few others also made a big deal out of their daddy’s new juicer, which could take the pulp right out of citrus fruits.
“You okay?” Todd asked.
“I’m still breathin’,” Blake muttered.
“French toast,” Mama said. “Adam, come get this bacon. Holly, put the butter and jam on the table. Nash, why are you riding that broomstick? Stop it.”
Blake chuckled then, because meals with his whole family—all ten of them—could be loud and obnoxious. He did love spending time with them, and he had a relationship with each of them in a unique and different way.
Nash put the broom in the corner and grinned at Blake, who hadn’t left the table to get juice. “Hey,” he said, glancing at Kyle. The smile slipped from his face as he took in the hustle and bustle in the kitchen.
“Everything okay with you and Jesse?” Blake asked.
“Yes,” Nash said with a sigh. “He broke up with Starla.”
Blake nodded, because he’d heard. News traveled fast around the ranch, and faster through the family gossip grapevine. “As long as she doesn’t quit, you don’t punch him, and we don’t lose him back to that end cabin where he doesn’t talk to any of us for weeks,” Blake said. “I don’t much care what happens.”
“She’s not going to quit,” Nash said.
“Jesse’s here,” Todd added.
Blake looked between the two of them. “No punching?”
Nash chuckled and shook his head. “I can commit to no punching.”
“Great,” Blake said as Daddy raised both hands above his head and started calling for silence so they could pray.
“Are you going to call Gina?” Nash asked.
“Go get her,” Todd said. “You guys are in third place, and you really could beat Adam and Lowry.”
“Why doesn’t anyone want Adam and Lowry to win?” Blake asked.
“Your memory must be lacking,” Todd said dryly just as everyone finally stopped talking. Everyone looked at him, so he zipped his lips and didn’t finish his thought.
Blake swept his cowboy hat off his head along with everyone else, and Daddy started to pray. Blake’s heart pounded as he thought about calling Gina after the silence they’d put between them. He couldn’t even imagine what she might say to him.
He felt like he’d laid everything out while he stood out in the weeds with her, and she hadn’t said anything at all. She’d let him walk away from her, and she hadn’t texted or called or stopped by his office or anything.
The prayer ended, and Blake stuffed his cowboy hat back on his head. He’d call after the family breakfast. Yes, that was what he’d do.
* * *
An hour or two later,Blake stood between Todd and Jesse, the two brothers who’d been at his side since the fallout with Gina. He hadn’t exactly broken up with her, and she hadn’t left town this time. His heart still hurt as he stood in the morning sunshine and waited for Todd to start the last round of the tournament.
Everyone would play this morning, and he shouldn’t have eaten so many slabs of French toast. His stomach held bricks, and he glanced over to the lodge to see if Gina was coming. She’d worked the breakfast shift in the kitchen this morning, just like she usually did.
Instead of Gina, he found Starla hurrying toward the cornhole area, and he touched Jesse’s arm and nodded toward her.
“Praise the heavens,” Jesse said, leaving Blake’s side to go greet Starla. He’d seen them embrace and laugh before, but this morning, Jesse simply went to her, then turned and the two of them walked side-by-side back to the gameplay area.
Starla looked at Blake, and he suddenly had so many questions. Starla shook her head, and Blake nodded. He had to accept that he and Gina weren’t going to play this morning, and they weren’t going to have any sort of future together.
Not even friends?he asked himself, and the helplessness and desperation he’d become well acquainted with over the past few days welled in his already full stomach.
Todd met his eye too, and said, “We’ve got to start, Blake.”
