She would take the date for what it was and not put too much stock in it. She hadn’t been born yesterday and she knew Derringer’s reputation around town. He dated a lot, but let it be known that he didn’t like women who clung or got too possessive.
Still, she couldn’t help but smile at the thought that he was attracted to her and had been since she was eighteen. Didn’t that account for something? She decided that it did.
“Yes, I’d love to go to the movies with you Saturday night, Derringer.”
Four
Derringer frowned the moment he pulled into his yard and saw his sister Bailey’s car parked there. The last thing he needed was for her to drop by to play nursemaid again. Megan was bad enough, but his baby sister Bailey was worse. She had only been seven when their parents had gotten killed. Now at twenty-two, she attended college full-time, and when she didn’t have her nose stuck in some book it was stuck in her five brothers’ personal affairs. She liked making it her business to know anything and everything about their comings and goings. Now that Ramsey was married, she’d given him some slack, but she hadn’t let up with him, Zane and the twins.
He wondered how long she’d been there waiting on him and figured she probably wouldn’t like the fact that he hadn’t been home and had driven into town. Since she wasn’t out on the porch, that meant she had let herself inside, which wouldn’t be a hard thing to do since he never locked his doors. His sister flung open the door the moment his foot touched the step. The look on her face let him know he was in trouble. She was there when the doctor restricted him from doing almost anything, other than breathing and eating, for two weeks.
“Just where have you been, Derringer Westmoreland, in your condition?”
He walked past her to put his hat on the rack. “And what condition is that, Bailey?”
“You’re injured.”
“Yes, but I’m not dead.”
He regretted the words the moment they left his mouth when he saw the expression that suddenly appeared on her face. He and his brothers knew the real reason Bailey was so overprotective of them was that she was afraid of losing them the way she’d lost their parents.
But he could admit to having the same fears, and if he were to analyze things further, he would probably conclude that Zane had them as well. All of them had been close to their parents, aunt and uncle. Everyone had taken their deaths hard. The way Derringer had managed to move on, and not look back, was by not getting too attached to anyone. He had his cousins and his siblings. He loved them, and they were all he needed. If he were to fall in love, give his heart to a woman, and then something were to happen to her—there was no telling how he’d handle it, or even if he could. He liked things just the way they were. And, for that reason, he doubted he would ever marry.
He crossed the room and placed a hand on her shoulder when he saw her trembling. “Hey, come on, Bail, it wasn’t that bad. You were there at the hospital and heard what Dr. Epps said. It’s been almost two weeks now and I’m fine.”
“But I also heard him say that it could have been worse, Derringer.”
“But it wasn’t. Look, unless you came to cook for me or do my laundry, you can visit some other time. I’m going to take a nap.”
He saw the sad look on her face turn mutinous and knew his ploy had worked. She didn’t like it when he bossed her around or came across as if she was at his beck and call. “Cook your own damn meals and do your own laundry, or get one of those silly girls who fawn all over you to do it.”