Moving toward them, Dani popped out. “Surprise!”
“Oh my God. It’s both of them!” I said as I wrapped my sisters up in my arms. Each of them got a kiss on the cheek. “Dani, you’ve gotten so much bigger.”
Her lower lip jetted out as she nodded her head and rested her hands on her stomach. “I know. Just a few more months.”
“Hey there, Ryder.”
Turning to look over my shoulder, I saw Destiny. She was my sister Jennifer’s best friend, and my ex-girlfriend who cheated on me with my best friend, Roy.
With a quick nod, I gave her a halfhearted smile. “Destiny, how are you?”
Her mouth twitched as she gave me a smile. “I’m doing good. It’s good to see you.”
Trying to get out of this awkward moment, I caught a glimpse of Ava as she walked by. One quick look showed she was staring at Destiny.
With a bigger smile, I turned to my two sisters and slapped my hands. “Who is going to sandwich me?”
Nate walked up and pushed me to the side. “They want to sandwich me, not you.”
“Boys, stop fighting,” my mother said as she pointed her finger at me and then Nate.
Before I had a chance to react, Nate made a beeline and sat in between Jennifer and Dani. Destiny was on the other side of Jennifer, so I made my way to the opposite side of the table. Sitting down next to my father, who was at the end, and Jase, who was on my left.
“Jase, how are you liking Montana?” I asked.
“Love it. I was just telling Ava if I didn’t love Texas so much, I’d be packing my bags and moving here.”
With a laugh, I looked up to see Ava sitting across from Jase. “What about you, Ava? You seemed to be enjoying your afternoon with Nate from the looks of things.”
Her mouth opened slightly as her eyes darted down the table to Nate. She flashed him a dirty look and narrowed her eyes at him. Nate chuckled and then leaned over and began talking to Destiny.
Asshole.
Ava looked back to me and was about to say something when my father stood up. “Let me just say what a pleasure it is to have the Morris and Moore families with us here today. I’m excited to know that my sons are, hopefully, leading you down the road to becoming an organic cattle ranch like the one you see here at Montgomery Ranch. For the next three days, our ranch is your ranch.”
Holding his glass of wine up, he motioned for everyone to join him in toast. “To organic.”
“To organic!” everyone said as glasses clanked together.
Everyone settled into conversations as the food was served. Of course the main dish was steak and potatoes. My father wouldn’t have it any other way.
Every now and then I’d glance up and see Ava speaking with Liza, who was sitting next to her, or to my sister, Dani, across the table who was next to her husband, Rich.
Jase and I talked mostly about ranching and cattle. He had some great questions for the conversion and I was excited to answer them. My father chimed in every now and then before his attention would get drawn to another conversation going on.
“So, when are you moving back to Montana, Ryder?”
I glanced up to see Ava staring at me. Waiting for me to answer as if her life depended on it.
“You’re moving back home?” Destiny called out as she jumped up and headed over to me.
She leaned down and placed her lips to my ear as I continued to watch Ava. For a moment I thought I saw jealousy cross over her face.
“We need to talk in private.”
“Later,” I said as I glared at her.
“Fine.” With a turn on her heels, Destiny headed back to her seat.
“Lovely girl,” Ava whispered.
“She has her moments,” I said as I smiled and took a bite of steak. I couldn’t deny I liked seeing Ava get bent out of shape a little bit over Destiny. Why she did, I have no clue. She seemed to be pretty happy with Nate pressed up against her.
Shaking the image from my head, I tried to drag in a breath. For some reason, the room felt as if it was closing in on me and I couldn’t breathe. Leaning over to my father, I softly said, “Dad, I’ll be right back.”
A look of concern crossed over his face as he said, “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just need a minute.”
Standing quickly, I glanced down to Ava. Her mouth opened as if she was about to say something, but Liza tapped her shoulder and asked her a question. I walked as fast as I could and dragged in a deep breath of air as I stood on the front porch. The evening temperature was quickly dropping as a chill rushed through my body.
I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Not now, Destiny. I’m not in the mood to talk to you.”
“How about me then?”
The sound of Ava’s voice traveled through my body, warming it instantly.
“We should probably make it a new rule not to get up and leave the table to talk,” Ava said with a slight chuckle.
I turned and leaned against the porch rail as Ava barely bit down on her lip as she smiled bigger.
“I didn’t ask you to come out here, though.”