Page 60 of Country Music Cowboy
“With?” Sawyer asked, smiling his thanks at Emmy Lou for the bowl of ice cream and pie, and taking a seat at the table.
“Travis,” Krystal cut in. “Forget it.” She waved her hand. “It’s nothing.”
“How’s the pie?” Emmy Lou asked, all smiles.
What the hell?One minute, they were going full Nancy Drew and now they didn’t want to talk about it. If they were serious about learning more about Ruby, Sawyer was their best chance. Whatever. If they were going to drop it, he wasn’t going to bring it up. As far as he was concerned, their father had the right to some privacy.
“Good. As always.” Sawyer nodded. “You make it, Krystal?”
“I did, thank you very much.” Krystal nodded. “I’ve never asked what your favorite kind of pie is, Sawyer?”
Travis glanced at his sister. Krystal had a thing about making pies for people—she loved to bake. If she wanted to know what kind of pie Sawyer liked, he’d officially been accepted into the family.
“I’m not picky,” Sawyer answered, taking a huge bite.
“You don’t have a favorite?” Emmy Lou asked Sawyer. “Or some family recipe or dessert that makes you happy?”
“Not really.” Sawyer set his bowl on the table, his expression shuttered. “We never congregated in the kitchen the way you all do.”
“I guess we do spend a lot of time in here.” Emmy Lou looked around the room, as if seeing it with new eyes.
“Do you have siblings?” Travis asked, alarmed when they all stared at him. “What? She can ask a question but I can’t?”
“A brother,” Sawyer said. “Younger than me. Ames.”
Travis could see that. Sawyer was big brother material—all the way. He had that overprotective vibe thing down, which was one of the reasons he was so good at his job.
“Ames.” Emmy Lou smiled. “What’s he like?”
“Good kid, mostly.” Sawyer shrugged, running a hand along the back of his neck. “Cherry. Cherry pie is my favorite.”
“I’ll make one next week.” Krystal nodded.
“Next week, I’ll be a married woman.” Emmy Lou shook her head.
“Um, tomorrow night you’ll be a married woman.” Krystal sighed, irritated. “Unless you change your mind and live in sin like Jace and I.”
Emmy Lou laughed. “I know there are hordes of people coming tomorrow, and my dress is big and over-the-top, so are the food and the flowers and the place—and theHome & Styledeal…but that’s not what this is about. Not for me.” She took Krystal’s hand. “This is about the vow I want to give Brock and the vow he wants to give me—in front of the hordes of people there to witness it.”
Krystal sighed.
“Why not make it a double wedding and get it over with?” Travis asked, ducking when Krystal flicked some ice cream at him. “Hey, hey, I’m not cleaning that up.”
“Where’s Clementine?” Krystal turned. “She’ll take care of it.”
“Last I saw of her, she was curled up in Loretta’s lap, sound asleep.” Emmy Lou shook her head. “She’s smitten; Loretta I mean. I can’t believe she never had a pet growing up.”
Travis perked up at the mention of her name.
“I get the feeling she had a difficult childhood,” Emmy Lou added.
“Considering what happened to Johnny, I’m not so sure her adulthood is all that rocking, either.” Krystal glanced at him then. “So, big brother, what’s the deal?”
Travis played dumb. “You know what it is. You saw the Wheelhouse packet, same as I did.” They were fishing for info. They didn’t know he and Loretta had spent the night together. And he wasn’t about to admit he’d sent a chicken shit string of texts hoping to renegotiate their original one-night arrangement. What the hell had he been thinking?Texting something like that?
“Yeah, no. That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.” Krystal’s sigh was all impatience. “The you-want-to-jump-her and she-wants-to-jump-you thing.”
“Jump?” Travis asked. “What are you, fifteen?” Not that she was wrong. He distinctly remembered Loretta jumping into his arms when they were in the shower…right before he’d pressed her against the glass wall… He shook his head. He didn’t have the whole poker face thing mastered the way Sawyer did so he needed to change the topic—and soon.
