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“Yes, very,” I replied, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice.
“So, you were about to tell us where your fiancée is, Hunt,” Riley stated as she pulled out a stool from the counter and took a seat. She was a beautiful woman, and I could totally see how she could be a little wild in her tight jeans, low-cut blouse, and knee-high heeled boots.
All eyes went to Huntley, and he compressed his lips. “Damn, I guess I should just say it and get it over with.” He paused as he glanced around the room. “We broke up.”
Charlotte put her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry, Hunt. What happened?”
“I caught her with someone else,” he stated before he sucked back a long swallow of his coffee.
“Ouch,” Riley said. “Well, at least you saw her true colors before you got married.”
“That’s true,” Bradley said to him. “I didn’t think she was good enough for you in the first place.”
“Stop.” Hunt glared at his brother.
Bradley put his hands up. “Hey, I’m just saying, if she wasn’t willing to come to visit your family, then she wasn’t the one for you.”
“That is true,” someone said from behind me, and I turned to see Wes and his father enter the room. “If you can’t hang with the Youngs, you shouldn’t be a part of the family.”
“I gotta second that,” Lee said from beside me. “If someone can’t accept your family, then its time to look elsewhere.”
A few eyes turned my way, and I was instantly thankful for Lee’s hand on my shoulder.
Chapter Twelve
Henley
Iwouldn’t admit this to anyone, but I was a tad bit nervous about bringing Roxanne to my parents’ house. I knew that they would be kind to her and that they would accept her if I asked, but I wanted more than that. Deep down inside, I wanted them to really like her, because I sure did.
The fact that Riley had immediately insisted that Roxy was perfect for me meant more than it should have. Riley had always been good at measuring people, and I trusted her judgment, maybe more than I did anyone else, even Wes, which was saying a lot. Since we were in high school, Riley had been able to take one look at a woman and tell me immediately if she thought it was a good relationship.
Most times, Riley would say, she’ll do—for now. Roxy was the first woman that she’d ever declared was perfect for me. What did she see that made her feel that way? As I stood beside Roxy, my hand on her shoulder, I knew that she had been accepted into the family as readily as Charlotte and Marisol had been a few months earlier.
I glanced around the room and turned to my father. “Hey, where is Kayley?”
“She won’t be here until around noon. She had something happen with a house that was going to close, and she needed to put out a fire.”
I chuckled. Kayley was good at putting out fires. So good that you would think she was a firefighter like Hunt.
I eyed Huntley; he was trying to be strong, but I knew that this breakup had hit him harder than he let on. I’d have to find time to speak with him privately.
“Henley, come over here; I need you to get started on the food,” my mother stated.
“What time is the party?” I asked as I stepped away from Roxy after one last squeeze to her shoulder.
“Three, so we have a lot to get done before that,” she said as she tossed me an apron.
“No problem, what am I cooking?”
My mom started in on the list of food that we were preparing and explained what was already done. As we got started, I kept one eye on what I was doing and the other on Roxy. While she wasn’t saying much, she was smiling and laughing on and off.
The phone rang in the house, and my mother stepped away to get it as the table erupted in laughter. Roxy had her hand over her nose as she winced around a chuckle.
“Hey, guys, don’t make her laugh. You know she broke her nose,” I called out to them.
“It’s okay,” Roxy said just before Bradley rolled his eyes.
“Henley, this is your family you’re talking about. We always laugh at each other,” Brad said.
