“You’re welcome. I’ll be right back after I talk to my mom.”
As Jensen walked away from the table, I turned to face Carter. “That was amazing, right? Like this is all meant to be.”
Carter had a very forced smile on her face. “It’s great, Tay.”
“See, everything’s going to be just fine.” I just hoped I wouldn’t be made a liar.
4
Walker
The sun shone down on the rolling fields around me, a truly perfect spring morning. My boots kicked up just a bit of dust as I walked up to my parents’ ranch house. My stomach growled. While I had my own place on our ten-thousand-acre spread and could technically feed myself, I never passed up the chance to sit down at one of my mother’s epic breakfast spreads.
I pushed open the front door without knocking. The sounds of dishes clattering and voices chattering came from the kitchen, so I headed in that direction. My nephew, Noah, raced around the island with his toy airplane, making what sounded like a cross between a “vrooooooom” and a “whooooooosh.”
“Hi, Uncle Walker,” he called as he whizzed past me.
I bent, kissing my mom’s cheek as she stood at the stove. “Morning, Ma.”
“Good morning, my handsome baby,” she answered, just as she flipped a pancake on the griddle. The perfect shade of golden brown.
“You’re the reason the boy has such an ego, Sarah. It’s no wonder he hasn’t settled down,” my grandmother said with a good-natured harrumph.
My mother giggled. She was in her late sixties, and she still laughed like a schoolgirl. I think a large part of that was due to the fact that my father still made her feel as if she were in high school with her first real crush. “How’s my girl?” my dad asked, dipping to brush his lips against my mom’s.
“Get a room, you two,” my sister, Jensen, called from the dining table.
My mom shuffled the last of the pancakes onto a platter. “Everyone grab a seat.”
We all hurried to our chairs, my dad plucking the platter from my mom’s hands. He never let her do any heavy-lifting if he was around. “Thank you, Andrew,” my mom said as she kissed his cheek.
Conversation flowed, each of us discussing our plans for the day and the latest town news. As we finished up, my mom inclined her head towards me. “Walker, would you mind running something out to the Harris’s rental place on Spruce Valley?”
“Sure. What is it you’re wanting me to take?”
“Well, there’s a young woman staying there who’s going to be renting our little guest cabin for a year. So, I need you to run a lease over to her, along with a clicker for the garage.”
My forehead creased. “You’re renting out the cabin? Why?” My parents’ two-bedroom guest cottage on the edge of our property was usually reserved for out-of-town friends, and my mom and dad liked to keep it open. They’d never rented it out before.
My mom took a sip of her OJ before answering. “Your sister hired this woman to work at the Kettle, and she needs a place to live. You know there aren’t many decent places to rent around here. So, why not help?”
I fought a sigh. My mom and sister were forever taking in strays. My dad thought it was adorable. I thought it was dangerous.
My mom’s lips pursed. “Oh, don’t give me that look, Walker Cole. Jensen says she’s lovely, and she offered to pay first, last, and a security deposit.” I eyed my sister skeptically. Her judge of character wasn’t always the best. My mom kept talking. “She’s staying at the Harris place with a famous musician and…what do you call those boys in the fights you’re always watching?”
My eyebrows raised. This was getting more interesting by the second. “An MMA fighter?”
“Yes, that’s it. One of them is a mixed martial arts fighter. At least that’s what Helen told me.”
“What’s his name?” I asked.
My mom tapped a finger on her pursed lips. “Hmm. What was it? Adam? No, Austin. Austin Lyons.”
My jaw practically came unhinged. “Austin Lyons?”
“The Bulldog is here?!” my seven-year-old nephew shrieked.
Jensen’s head snapped around so fast, she looked like the creepy little kid from The Exorcist. “You’ve been letting him watch that violent garbage again? I told you, he’s too young.”
That was the wrong thing to say. Noah’s face turned the shade of a ripening tomato. “I am not. I’m a big boy. You say so all the time. And the boys gotta hang. Right, Uncle Walker?”
I cringed, trying to paste on my most charming smile. Which, of course, got me nowhere with my sister.
“Walker Cole, you are on my you-know-what list.”
Noah’s face scrunched in confusion. “No, Mama, what?”
My grandmother cackled. “My Noah’s a smarty-pants, nothing gets by him.”
I shoved my chair back from the table, eager to escape my sister’s wrath. “Well, I better get going. Ma, just give me whatever you’d like me to take over, and I’ll go right now.”
Jensen snorted. “You better run.”
Noah bounded up from his seat, hopping around like he’d just mainlined ten candy bars and twelve sodas. “Can I go with him, Mama? Pleeeeeeeeeease? I gotta meet the Bulldog. I just gotta!”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. My sister threw her hands up in the air. “I give up. He’s already been inundated with violence, it’s probably too late for him. Walker, when you’re arresting him in ten years, you’ll only have yourself to blame.”
Noah cocked his head to the side. “Does that mean yes?”
This time, I couldn’t hold in the laugh. Jensen’s eyes narrowed on me.
My dad let out his own chuckle. “I believe it does, Noah. Why don’t you grab a piece of paper and pen from my office. You can ask for Mr. Bulldog’s autograph.”
Noah’s face lit with the epitome of child-like glee. Then he took off for the other side of the house.