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“Yes. Please call me before trying to engage the suspects at all.” Natalie fired a pointed look in both Thatch’s and Silas’s directions.
They grinned and saluted her.
“All right.” Tess hurried to end the meeting. The quicker people left, the faster she’d be able to talk to Silas. “I think that’s about it, everyone. Thanks for coming. Meeting dismissed.” The chatter rose around the room again while people got up and folded their chairs. Tess showed Thatch where to stack them and then nearly ran into Brad, who was making a beeline for the front door.
“Leaving already?”
“Yeah.” He slipped on his cowboy hat. “I should get home and help out my parents with dinner for the girls. Thanks though. This was great.” He sidestepped her and rushed away. “Oh, and just let me know what spots are left over on the sign-up sheet. I can take a few,” he called.
“Okay. Sure. Thanks.” Her words were met with the closing of her front door. Tess shook off the man’s hasty retreat and started to collect discarded paper cups.
“It was so fun to see you and Brad at the café last night.” Minnie gave her a hug. “Did you two have a good time?”
Tess spotted Silas standing a few feet away. Why did he always have to be within earshot when she was talking to or about Brad? “We had a nice time asfriends,” Tess said pointedly. “But, as I’m sure you saw, it wasn’t a romantic date.”
“Well, of course not.” Minnie’s head bobbed with understanding. “You don’t want to move things too fast. I understand that.”
Did she though? “We’re not moving things at all. We’ve talked about how we would make much better friends than anything else.” Of course, now that she was offering a full explanation, Silas had moved across the great room to join Aiden and Thatch in the kitchen. God, she hoped her brother didn’t say anything to him about their conversation last night before she could.
“Well, you never know what could happen, my dear,” Minnie insisted.
Tess gave up on convincing the woman there was nothing between her and Brad, saying a polite goodbye so she could make the rounds, thanking everyone for coming and walking them to the door one by one.
“Thanks for coming.” She stepped out onto the porch with Natalie. “I know your hands are tied right now but I really appreciate the support.”
“I’ll do what I can,” she promised. “Keep me posted on everything.”
“Will do.” Tess stepped back into the house, ready to collapse on the couch. But laughter drew her to the kitchen where Aiden, Kyra, Lyric, Thatch, and Silas were all sitting around the table.
Would it be rude for her to kick out everyone except for a certain cowboy?
“Saved you a seat.” Lyric patted the chair next to her.
“And here’s a drink.” Kyra handed her a margarita.
“I don’t know who made these, but I’m very grateful.” A margarita was her go-to cocktail of choice, especially after such a hectic day.
“Silas made them,” Lyric murmured, and a collective hush seemed to fall over the group.
“Yeah, and now I should probably clean up.” The man pushed away from the table and walked around collecting dishes and trash before going to the sink, keeping his back to them while he washed everything up.
“Maybe we should all get going.” Kyra’s yawn could not have been more fake. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty tired.”
“It’s only eight o’clock,” Aiden argued. “It’s been a long time since we’ve all hung out together. Maybe we should play some cards.” He reached for the shelf behind him and pulled down a stack of playing cards.
“I’m down for cards.” Thatch poured himself another margarita from the pitcher at the center of the table.
“We are not playing cards.” Kyra swiped the deck out of Aiden’s hands. “I’d like you to take me home now,” she said sweetly.
“I’m going too.” Lyric brought her empty margarita glass to the sink where Silas was still doing the dishes.
“Guess that means I’m bailing. I’ve got the early patrol shift in the morning anyway.” Thatch dumped his margarita back into the pitcher and Tess tried not to grimace. Now she’d be dumping the rest of that pitcher down the drain.
Everyone started moving through the living room, with Thatch and Lyric getting out the door first. But Aiden stopped. “Aren’t you leaving too?” he called to Silas.
Tess felt her face flush. “He’s going to stay for a few minutes.”
“Yeah, I want to take out the trash.” Silas shut off the kitchen sink and bagged up the overflowing kitchen trash can.
