Page 39 of Country Music Cowboy
“Could be.” Sawyer shrugged. “A medical center this big? There are cameras all over. The security guards could have called it in. I’ll find out.” The last three words were gruff.
Travis’s phone vibrated. “I’ve been waiting.” He chuckled, pulling his phone out from his pocket.
Emmy Lou had sent a picture of the four of them, draped in white sheets, face down, on massage tables. The text read,Best girls’ day ever. Tell Daddy we’re thinking of him.Followed by a string of kissy-face emojis.
Another text rolled in seconds later, but Travis was too busy studying the picture to care.
Loretta was laughing. Propped on one elbow. Her long hair hanging over her shoulder. Young. Relaxed. Happy. Too often, she seemed on edge and on the defensive.
Or does she only feel that way when she’s with me?
***
“X-Y-L-O.” Loretta sat back in her chair, peering around the large kitchen table in victory.
“Xylophone.” Hank nodded.
A chorus ofshhsandhushesimmediately followed.
“Dad.” Krystal sighed. “No talking, remember?”
Hank pretended to lock his lips and throw away the key.
Brock sat back, sighing. “Well, that probably just won you the game.”
“And that’s just eating you up, isn’t it?” Emmy Lou giggled. “He’s super competitive,” she added, smiling at Loretta. “Losing gets him all worked up.”
“Sorry…” But Loretta couldn’t help but smile. Brock Watson was a mountain of a man, so seeing him pout like a five-year-old was plain adorable.
“She’s cheating,” Travis said, scooping a massive bite of ice cream into his mouth. Loretta wasn’t sure how he made eating ice cream sexy, but he did. For the last fifteen minutes. “Sawyer, use your Special Ops training on her.”
Sawyer’s deadpan expression didn’t waver as he sipped his coffee. “I must have missed Scrabble cheating detection training day.”
That had everyone laughing. Again. Loretta couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed this much. It had started this morning with Emmy Lou and Krystal. Together, they were hysterical. The witty back and forth. Krystal’s snark tempered by Emmy Lou’s sweetness. They weren’t just sisters, they were friends. Best friends.
After manicures and pedicures, mud baths and massages and seaweed wraps, they’d come back to the Kings’ home. Margot had gone for a nap and Loretta—feeling like a limp noodle after the morning’s pampering—found a quiet corner to read over the Wheelhouse Records packet. But thinking about the deal meant thinking about Travis. One went with the other.It’s not a bad thing.As long as she controlled herself when it came to Travis, things should be fine. It was the controlling herself part that she doubted.
But the quiet didn’t last for long. Hank, Travis, and Sawyer showed up within an hour of Brock and Jace’s arrival and everyone seemed to be talking at once. It wasn’t like they were a small family. Nope, they were big and loud and opinionated and funny. And when they were all together, all of those things were amplified. For someone who spent a lot of time alone, she found the constant motion and chatter surprisingly enjoyable. And the more time she spent with the Kings, the more she liked them.
Hank’s non-diagnosis was taken in stride; Travis had broken out the ice cream, and Jace had located the box of board games. Considering how long it had been since she’d played a board game, she might have come across as competitive.
Not that it had mattered. Brock had won at Risk and Monopoly, so this was pretty satisfying.
“That’s nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine points for Loretta.” Travis pretended to tally the score. “And four, each, for the rest of us.”
Loretta was laughing again. “I guess that means I won?”
Brock sighed, slumped back in his chair, and accepted a bunch of consolatory kisses from Emmy Lou.
“You’ll win next time,” Emmy Lou said between kisses.
“I don’t know. I get the feeling Scrabble is Loretta’s game.” Jace shook his head at Brock, wearing a big grin. “Might not want to challenge her to a rematch unless you’re prepared to lose again.”
Brock scowled in Jace’s direction.
“We should celebrate.” Travis was up, pulling more ice cream from the freezer. “Who’s up for another round?”
The game was forgotten as everyone gathered around the marble-topped island in the center of the kitchen.
