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Ashton chuckled to himself. His younger brothers hadn’t had any more luck in the romance stakes than he had.
“What’s this about girls?” Ryan asked. “Did Tyler say he’d found one?”
Ashton laughed. “No. He was just hoping that I might’ve employed one for the summer.”
“Well, tell me first if you do,” Ryan said with a wink. “I’m better at talking to them than Tyler is.”
“I’m sure you are,” Ashton replied. “That’s why dozens of them are camped outside your house at night, waiting to catch a glimpse of you.”
Ryan threw a mock punch at him. “You’re no better. How long ago was it that you broke up with Lily?”
“If you can’t remember, you don’t need to know,” Ashton replied, dodging Ryan’s fist. “At least I have no delusions about my ability to attract them.”
Ryan grinned and dropped his arm to his side. “Let’s be honest, neither of us has had much success lately. All the farmers around here had too many sons and now the girls have plenty to choose from.”
Ashton draped his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “All in good time. Our turn will come.”
“I hope so,” Ryan replied. “The single life is fun, but I’m ready to settle down with a nice girl.”
Ashton opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Margie called them to the table.
“The food is ready, we can eat now.”
A few minutes later, they were enjoying Margie’s roast chicken with rice salad and baby potatoes.
“This is good, Mom,” Ashton said. “I get tired of my own cooking.”
“You boys need wives,” Margie said, looking around at all of them.
“We know, Mom,” Tyler groaned. “There seems to be a girl drought around here.”
Ashton chuckled. “Well, I can’t say I’ve found a girl, but there’s going to be a party here soon.”
“A party?” Margie’s eyes grew round.
Ashton nodded. “Jesse is organizing one for Mac, and he’s going to use our barn because it’s a surprise. So if you happen to see Mac, don’t breathe a word about it.”
“We won’t,” Margie promised. “Boys?”
“We won’t either,” they all chorused.
“Are we invited?” Tyler asked. “We went to school with Mac.”
“I don’t know. That part is up to Jesse,” Ashton replied. “The only thing I have to do is have the barn clean and empty and provide some hay bales for seating. Jesse is organizing everything else.”
“Well, that doesn’t happen every day,” Margie replied. “I’ll come over and help tidy up the garden in case the guests are wandering around. We wouldn’t want it to look like a jungle.”
“Well, it’s not quite a jungle, but thanks, Mom.”
She smiled at him. “It’s exciting, even if we’re not invited.”
“I’m sure Jesse will appreciate it,” Ashton replied.
“Can I come and help if I don’t get invited?” Tyler wanted to know. “It might be a good chance to meet … people.”
“You mean girls,” Ashton said, and everyone laughed.
Tyler blushed. “Well, there could be some truth to that,” he admitted. He looked around. “A man has to take every opportunity he can get,” he defended himself.
