Page 70 of The Cowboy Who Looked Again

“Bear,” Momma snapped over her shoulder. “There you are. This turkey isn’t going to carve itself.”

Link’s eyebrows went up in sync with his father’s. “Oh, boy.”

“I see what you mean.” Daddy started down the length of the table and toward the kitchen. “I’ll talk to her.”

“Misty will be here in like, two minutes,” Link reminded him.

Daddy just waved his hand, and Link sighed as he went to get the silverware off the counter. He turned back and faced his siblings, all of them doing something to make the dining room table beautiful and ready for dinner.

“Hey, guys,” he said as Rock came into the room. “Rock, c’mere.” He waited for his younger brother to join the others. “It’s—don’t worry about Momma, okay? She’s just nervous, because I’ve never brought anyone home for dinner, but it’s not that big of a deal. Right? You’ve all met Misty before.”

“Are you going to marry her?” Sunnie asked.

“I don’t know,” Link said honestly. “Maybe. Yeah, maybe. I sure do like her, and I want her to feel like she knows everyone before anything like that.”

“I like her,” Heather said.

“I’ll thank God for that in my prayers tonight,” Link said dryly. He opened his arms and gathered his four younger siblings into his chest. “I love you guys,” he whispered. “This is for me, mostly. For Misty too, but mostly me. You can still be you. You can talk to her about anything, and you just have to act normal, all right?”

“All right,” Smiles said, speaking for everyone. “You don’t worry either, Link.”

He stepped back as something crashed in the kitchen. The five of them faced their parents as a plume of steam rose from the sink. “Sure,” Link said. “I’m not worried about anything.”

“I got it,” Daddy said at the exact moment the doorbell rang.

“That’s me,” Link said. “Smiles, Sunnie, could you go see if Momma needs anything?”

“On it,” Sunnie said, already dashing toward the kitchen.

Link turned his back on the chaos, and took in a deep lungful of air. “Lord, it’s just dinner. Can I not just get a couple of hours of non-Glover…ness?” He pulled open the door and crowded out onto the porch with Misty.

“Oh.” She backed up, her hands sliding up his chest. “What’s?—?”

When the door clicked closed behind him, Link released his breath. “There’s a little bit of tension in the house is all,” he said.

“I can smell something delicious all the way out here,” she said with a smile.

Link drank in her dark skinny jeans with her hair falling down over a dark green shirt. Her makeup sat flawlessly on her face, along with her smile, and the easy way she seemed immune to the stress pouring out of the house.

Honor stood behind her, and Link smiled at the pair of them. “You bring me so much happiness,” he said.

Misty wrapped her arms up around the back of his neck. “Same, Link.”

“My momma made a mini version of Thanksgiving dinner.” Link wrapped her in his arms and danced with her, the way he had a couple of weeks ago at the End of Summer picnic. “She’s apparently been lecturing my siblings about what they can talk about with you. My brother is sick. And when I came out here, my daddy had just dropped the potatoes in the sink. So.”

He grinned at her, and she smiled back. He let his eyes drift closed as he brought her closer, and when he kissed her, Link suddenly didn’t care about whatever happened tonight. He didn’t carry on, because Daddy had a security camera pointed at the front porch, and he didn’t need Momma ripping open the front door and demanding to know what they were doing.

“Come on,” he said. “Welcome to the Glover family.” He gave her a wry smile and stepped into the house ahead of her. With his hand in hers, he led her inside, calling, “Everyone, Misty’s here.”

“She’s here,” Daddy said.

“I heard she’s here,” Momma bickered back. “Kids, leave that. Just leave it. Misty’s here.”

The six of them spilled out of the kitchen and lined up at the end of the table, and Link started laughing and shaking his head as he walked toward them. He stopped at the edge of the couch while Daddy fixed his collar and Momma smoothed down her apron.

“Misty,” he said. “You’ve met everyone before, but apparently we’re going to make this a formal affair.” He raised his eyebrows.

“Of course we’re not,” Momma said. “Come on in, Misty.” She stepped out of line and over to Misty. Link let go of her hand and Momma took it. “You remember Smiles and Rock, Heather and Sunnie.”

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