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“We’re next!”
“Huh?”
“Well, Beau, Austin, and Wyatt are all engaged now. That means we’re next on her hit list, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not done sowing my wild oats yet.” He laughed as he opened the door. “So, you coming?”
“Fine,” I mumbled. “I haven’t even finished my cereal yet.”
I pushed the chair back, grabbed an apple, and hurried to the back door as I heard women’s giggles approaching the kitchen. Olivia, Sadie, and Lucy were talking about going into town to look for wedding dresses. That was not a conversation I wanted any part of.
Flint and I closed the doors behind us and headed into the backyard. I took a bite of my apple and ran down the steps, following Flint towards the stables when I heard the sound of singing coming from the fields to the right. I looked over to a vision of yellow. Arya and her niece Eloise were picking daisies and singing.
I stopped, smiling at the sight of them making a daisy chain, and headed over to them.
“Making a crown for me?” I asked. Eloise squealed and jumped up off the grass and ran to me.
“Uncle Chet!” She giggled as she grabbed my hand. “We’re singing songs.”
“I heard.” I beamed down at her. Arya stood up and brushed some grass off of the front of her bright yellow dress. “Hi.” I waved at her, trying to ignore how the sun seemed to make her skin glow.
“Hi Chet, how’s it going?” Arya asked.
“Just trying to avoid Ma and that devious glint in her eyes.” I grinned to show I was just joking. I loved my mom, even if she was one of the most meddlesome women I knew. People thought Amelia Hamilton was a sweet innocent older woman. I knew better. In fact, all of us Hamilton men knew better.
“She trying to hook up another one of your brothers?” Arya laughed happily. She was a different woman than the one who had shown up a few months ago with Eloise by her side, looking for Eloise’s father.
“My mom won’t be happy until we’re all married off with kids.” I shuddered. “And now that Beau, Austin, and Wyatt are settled down, she’ll be looking at me, Knox, Huck, and Flint.”
“I think the four of you will be very hard to marry off.” There was a twinkle of mischief in Arya’s eyes. I wondered what she would do if I told her I wanted to kiss her. Not that I could say anything in front of Eloise, of course.
“Oh yeah?” I cocked my head to the side and smiled widely, trying to banish my impure thoughts. “And why is that?”
“You all seem very opposed to marriage.” She turned to check on Eloise. “Okay, no more daisies, honey. I think we have enough.”
“What are you going to do with the rest of those daisies?” I asked. Eloise had one of the daisy chain crowns on her head, making her look like a fairy princess. She and Arya both looked like characters from a fairytale.
“I’m going to play he loves me, he loves me not.” She started pulling off the petals.
“Aren’t you too young to be worrying if he loves you or not?”
“He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not,” she murmured in response. I turned to look at Arya, who was watching her with an indulgent gaze. “Does she have a boy she’s thinking about when she pulls those petals?”
“I think any boy will do.” She cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “Actually, I wanted to let you know that Eloise and I are moving out next week.”
“What?” My smile faded and I could feel the tension rising in my lower back towards my shoulders. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, we’ll be living in the apartment above 12 Point Buck Bar. I start working there—”
I cut her off. “I thought I already told you what I thought about that. That’s not a place for you to be working. Who’s going to watch Eloise?”
“Well, your mom and Sadie have offered, and then I figured I’d get a sitter.” She sighed. “You know I can’t just stay here, Chet. I’m not even family.”
“This isn’t going to work for me, Arya.”
I was getting heated. Was she crazy? Did she really think that working at a bar with a bunch of drunk men was a good idea? What if they hit on her?
Her forehead wrinkled in the beginnings of a frown. “What are you talking about, Chet?”
“I just don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be living on top of the bar.”
