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Lincoln absently touched his head but didn’t correct him for his behavior like he usually did.
“Hi.” Eric threw the ball for Millie again and waved at Lincoln.
Lincoln blinked in surprise. He parted his lips and then shut them as if he didn’t know what to say.
“That’s how you greet someone.” Obviously, Lexie wasn’t at a loss for words.
“I thought he was going to see your father?” That little niggle of worry blossomed as I attempted to defuse an escalating situation.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” Lexie tilted her head.
I got hot all over. No way was I thinking about that. Especially not in front of an audience.
“That’s irrelevant,” Lincoln dismissed, finding his voice again. “So Teague hasn’t been by in the last hour?”
“It’s not irrelevant to me.” Lexie made a face. “And didn’t you hear her the first time? She said afew hours.”
I bounced my gaze back and forth between them. The hostility was palpable.
“Who is this?” Lincoln demanded.
“Why don’t you ask me instead of Pepper?” Lexie planted a hand on her hip.
His nostrils flared. “I need to find my brother.” He sounded as if getting that simple statement out without shouting was an exercise in self-control.
Eric threw the ball close to Lincoln. Millie skidded toward him, but Muffy caught it first. A tug of war ensued, and Eric got in the middle of it. Muffy easily and gently yielded the ball to him.
“What’s going on?” I tugged on the strap of my overalls.
Lincoln cut his eyes over to Lexie as if she weren’t privy to this conversation. She folded her arms and leaned on the counter, not going anywhere.
“He came by the office and was supposed to see me after he finished . . .” It seemed the thought of Teague giving in was as unbearable for him as it was for me. Maybe more so. Lincoln understood the gravity of consequences in a way I couldn’t. “They were both gone.”
Everything in me went cold. Had their father taken Teague somewhere?
“Did you call him?”
I regretted the question when his lethal look fired in my direction.
“Beau doesn’t know where he is either.”
Realization dawned on Lexie’s face. “Are you Beau’s brother?”
“Not that it’s any of your concern, but yes,” he said shortly.
“How? She’s actually pleasant.”
The ball hit Lincoln’s shin. Eric laughed. Slowly, Lincoln stooped. Oh no. He’d been patient—for him, at least. I hoped he hadn’t hit his limit.
He scooped up the ball and tossed it. When Millie retrieved it and started to bring it back to him, he snapped and pointed at Eric. She returned the ball to Lexie’s brother.
Millie was so obedient and extra gentle with Eric. She never stopped amazing me, considering she'd been left to die with a horrific dog bite at a track in Pennsylvania.
“Can you call him?”
Lincoln wasn’t friendly, but something about the tone of his voice made me soften. Sometimes dogs with the biggest bark were simply hiding their wounds.
I dug my phone out of my pocket and dialed.
