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The two sure seemed to like one another now, and Rosalie and Lee weren’t the only ones to have noticed. Rissa stepped over to Cherry and said something to her. The laughter and joviality slid off Cherry’s face, and she snapped at Rissa.
So the men in this family weren’t the only ones with a stubborn streak or a bark that could echo for miles.
“Rosalie,” a weathered voice said, and she blinked away from the drama on the other side of the deck.
“Miss Mildred.” Rosalie’s spirits soared as she hugged the elderly woman. “Tell me you brought brownies.”
“Mint and walnut,” the woman said as she stepped back. She wore the sun in her smile, and it only died slightly when she turned to Lee. “I see the Forresters are causing plenty of trouble again this year.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” he said diplomatically. “They’re our guests.”
“Well,” she said, stepping to Lee’s side so she faced the rest of the deck too. “Easton over there sure has got his sights on Jenni-Lynn again.”
“What?” Lee practically roared. “Where?”
Rosalie saw Jenni-Lynn with her arm through a tall cowboy’s, and the two of them seemed like they were chatting with the press at a red-carpet event, not standing on the back deck of a farmhouse while hamburgers and hot dogs roasted.
“I’ll talk to her,” Lee said, already starting in that direction. “There’s no way she’s getting back together with him.”
“Hmm.” Miss Mildred stayed with Rosalie as Lee marched across the deck, practically shoving people out of his way to get to Jenni-Lynn. She looked scandalized when he touched her and she turned toward him. She spoke, shaking her head, and Lee made a gesture for her to come with him.
Unfortunately, someone was walking behind him at that precise time, and he hit them—and the plate of rice crispy squares they were carrying.
A commotion ensued, and Rosalie started toward Lee. Will entered the fray, yelling something about being more careful with so many people nearby, and Lee fired back at him with, “I’m not an idiot, Will. It was a mistake. It’s not like you’ve never made a single mistake!”
“It’s fine,” someone said. “They’re rice crispy squares. There’s more inside.”
Jenni-Lynn didn’t bend to help clean up the fallen treats, and she pressed one palm to her heartbeat as the argument continued.
“Lee,” Rosalie said, and she bent to help pick up a square that she’d just stepped up to. Their eyes met, and while he looked about as pleasant as a raging whitewater river, he didn’t throw another word in Will’s direction.
They got the dessert cleaned up, and Rosalie noticed the plate and started stacking the deck-dirty squares on it. “Can I talk to you for a sec?” she asked Lee. She didn’t wait for him to answer before she went into the house. He followed, and it was much quieter inside the farmhouse.
“What?” he barked at her.
“You’ve got to go talk to Will,” she said.
“Wh—at?” Lee’s question didn’t seem to have an identity. “Why?”
“Because there’s obviously a problem between the two of you,” she said. “Go, now.” She took the treats to the trashcan and tossed them in. She turned back to Lee, who stood there, staring.
“Well?”
“Well, Will usually comes to me when he’s ready to talk.”
“Oh, you and your Cooper pride,” she said.
“It’s not pride,” he argued back. “It’s just the way we do things.”
“Break the mold then.”
“Rose,” he said.
“Lee,” Daddy said. “We’re prayin’.”
“Okay,” Lee said, but he didn’t turn away from Rosalie. The noise from outside came in, and Lee visibly flinched with it. “I can’t talk to Will right now. We’re prayin’.”
“I heard,” Rosalie said, folding her arms and cocking her hip so he’d know her first motion wasn’t to send up a plea to the Lord for good food and good company.
