Page 55 of When You Blush
“He’ll do well,” I reply with a nod. “And how’s Gabe working out?”
Gabe’s our cousin and recently started working for Brooks last year. He lives in Silver Springs but makes the commute over.
“He’s damn good at his job,” Brooks replies. “I don’t have any complaints about any of my guys right now.”
“That’s great. So what do you know about the Hendrix family?”
Brooks’s gaze snaps over to mine, and he narrows his eyes. “Why do you ask?”
I shake my head and watch as Beckett and Bridger laugh at something Connor just said.
“It’s nothing bad. I’ve started seeing Harper, and I know that you’re friends with Tucker.”
Brooks isn’t often taken by surprise, but this time he is. He wings up a dark eyebrow. “The nurse?”
“Yep.”
“I don’t know her at all,” he replies. “Sold her a car, but that’s it.”
“I know. It looks like a heap, Brooks. You couldn’t do better than that?”
“It runs like a fucking dream. She should have gone somewhere else if she wanted something new and pretty. Is she unhappy with it?”
“No, she likes it.”
He scowls, then lets out a laugh. “You’re such a fucking snob.”
“I am not.” I shake my head, and Brooks keeps talking.
“Tucker’s a solid guy. I think they’re a good family. That’s all I know.”
I nod, and the girls come outside to join us. Birdie makes a beeline for me, climbing into my lap and wrapping her little arms around my neck in the sweetest hug.
Christ, this little girl holds my heart in her hands.
“Hi, Uncle Blake.”
“Hi, cupcake. I like your braids.”
She runs her hand down her long hair and preens. “Mommy did it when Daddy gave Bryce a bath this morning.”
I glance over to see Dani sitting in my brother’s lap, a smile on her sweet face.
Suddenly, there’s commotion as Dani’s brother, Holden, and his wife, Millie, come walking around the house to find us.
“You’re here,” Dani says, jumping up to give her brother a big hug, and Birdie pushes out of my lap to welcome them as well.
Holden was really the father figure to Dani and her three sisters in every way that counts since they were tiny. Their mother died when the youngest sister, Charlie, was a baby, and their dad was an abusive prick. Holden is the eldest and often brought the girls over to our ranch to keep them safe and let things die down at home.
He’s a good friend to all of us, and I love that we’re officially family through marriage.
“Hey, little mama,” he says to Dani, brushing her hair off her face. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m all recovered,” she says with a smile.
Holden spent a lot of time at the hospital when Bryce was in the NICU, making sure that Dani was okay.
He’s just the best there is.
