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I smile over at Remington, but he doesn’t smile back.
In fact, he’s not even looking my way.
I follow his gaze and blink in surprise because Brady is totally hitting on my baby sister.
“Oh, that’s not true,” Zoey says with a giggle and lays her hand on Brady’s biceps.
I glance over at my dad, whose eyes have just narrowed.
“Come on.”I gesture for everyone to follow me.“We’d better get in there before all the food’s gone.”
I hang back and wait for Zoey.
“Donottell me that you’re going to start something with Brady while you’re here.”
“Nah,” she says.“He’s cute and nice, but mostly, I just like watching the vein in Dad’s temple throb at the sight of me flirting with him.”
I can’t help the bark of laughter that comes at that.Leave it to Zoey to try to give our overprotective father a heart attack.
“I like the security measures you’ve added to the ranch,” Dad says once we’re all seated and have dug into our plates.“You’ve gone above and beyond, and I appreciate it.”
“We take the safety of those we care about seriously,” John replies and then smiles over at me.“And we care about Erin.Besides, it was time to beef up security around here.”
“We have a pretty new gate,” Holly announces with a sweet smile.“To keep the bad guys away and our cows safe.”
“That’s right,” I reply and wink at her.“Itisa pretty gate, isn’t it?”
“I like it,” she says with a nod and then nibbles on some fried chicken.
“Your kids are adorable,” Mom says to Remington.“Johnny, how can you possibly eat all that chicken while missing so many teeth?”
“I lost another one this morning,” Johnny replies with satisfaction.“They’re dropping like flies.And the tooth fairy brings me five bucks every time.It’s not a bad way to make a living.”
The entire table busts up laughing at that, and Johnny smiles big, showing off his empty mouth.
“Millie,” Zoey says, “I really love your dress.”
“Oh, thanks,” Millie replies.“I found it at Polly’s place downtown.”
“Ilovethat shop,” Mom and Zoey reply at once.
“I bought a bunch of stuff there today,” Zoey adds.
“We had a lot of fun in there,” Mom agrees.
“You meanIbought a lot of stuff in there today,” Dad says with a scowl.“My girls are trying to break me.”
“Oh, whatever, Dad.”I smirk across the table at him.“Besides, you kept adding more things to the pile yourself.‘Megan, you’d look great in this.Zoey, this has your name written all over it.Erin, you can’t live without this.’You’re the enabler in the family.”
“Guilty,” Dad says with a shrug.“I like to spoil my girls.”
“As it should be.”Joy looks so happy, with everyone gathered around the table, eating the delicious food she spent all day preparing.
“Joy, you really outdid yourself today.This is delicious.”I reach for more green beans.“I wish I knew how to cook like this.”
“I can teach you,” Joy says.
“Make it a group lesson,” Millie adds.
