Page 2 of Parading the Cowboy Billionaire (Bluegrass Ranch 4)

“Heya, boy,” Cayden said, his soul warming with the hug of the smaller human. “Your momma said you had something to ask me.”

“Yeah.” TJ released the tight grip around Cayden’s neck and pulled back. “My teacher asked if anyone had a mom or daddy who knew how to make banners, and I was talkin’ to Trey and he says you do.”

“Said,” Beth said from a few feet away. “Treysaidyou do.”

Cayden grinned at TJ and then Beth. “I do know how to make banners,” he said. “I know lots of people who make banners, actually.”

“She wants to talk to you, then,” TJ said. “I guess she needs some help with it.”

“Okay,” Cayden said, not sure what he should do here. He looked at Beth, who rolled her eyes.

“Trey can give her your phone number,” Beth said. “If that’s okay.”

“Is it okay?” TJ asked, his eyes bright. He started playing with Cayden’s collar, a hint of nerves in his movement.

“Sure,” Cayden said. “Why not? What’s her name?”

“Miss Robertson,” TJ said. He wiggled, and Cayden put him on the ground just as Trey came in the back door.

“You’re late,” Beth said, and Trey just smiled at her, grabbed her around the waist, and kissed her. She giggled and made a lame attempt to push him away. Cayden couldn’t help staring, and he felt bad for doing so once his brother looked at him.

Cayden was three years older than Trey, and three years younger than Spur. They were both cut from similar cloth—a rough, scratchy cloth. They didn’t speak as often as the younger brothers. They held their emotions tight.

Blaine had the biggest heart and showed the most emotion. Duke, Ian, and Conrad were the loudest, always jockeying for a position of attention in the family. Lawrence was a mix of Cayden, Trey, and the younger boys, and Cayden got along really well with him.

Cayden felt like a black sheep in the Chappell family. He wasn’t overly emotional, but he did feel things deeply. He didn’t have to be the center of attention, but he didn’t mind speaking his opinions either. He wasn’t a natural-born leader, but he did possess a level of charisma that made him the natural choice for the public face of the ranch, something he’d been doing for twenty years now.

Trey had told him that he was the brother TJ talked about the most. He asked when Cayden could come over, and whenever Beth and Trey were going out, TJ asked if Cayden could watch him.

Cayden wasn’t sure if that made him likable or pathetic.

“Do you have the invite?” Trey asked, stepping around Beth to the fridge.

“You need to go change,” she said. “We’re eating there.”

“I have the invitation,” Cayden said, reaching into his inside jacket pocket. “You guys can just take it.”

“It says right on it that the person it was sent to has to be there. Guests are encouraged,withthat person.”

Cayden had read it a hundred times. He knew what the postcard said. When he’d gotten it at the homestead, he’d been two seconds away from tossing it in the trash. Trey had seen it, and since it had a glinting diamond taking up the entire front, he’d grabbed it.

He and Beth were in the market for new wedding rings. Rather, he and Beth were going to buy theirfirstwedding rings. Since they’d gotten married last fall in an unconventional way, they didn’t have a lot of the same things a more traditional couple would.

Cayden could see how much they loved each other, though. He wanted that same kind of giggling, doe-eyed woman in his life. He’d used to not care if he had a girlfriend or not. He was focused on his career, and as one of the only brothers with a college education, he was determined to prove to everyone that it mattered.Hewanted to matter.

“Maybe once this is over, you two will be able to get your schedule to line up,” Beth said, and Cayden’s mind returned to that thought he’d stalled on before TJ had distracted him.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Is texting hard?”

“Have you texted her?” Trey challenged.

“Go change your clothes,” Beth said, her irritation plain on her face. Trey nodded and headed down the hall, leaving Cayden alone with Beth and TJ.

He didn’t want to hear more about what could maybe happen with Ginny at the event. He met Beth’s eye and said, “I’ll go wait outside,” he said. They’d asked him to drive and everything, and somehow Cayden had said yes.

He went back the way he’d come while Beth said something to TJ. Several minutes later, everyone was in the truck and Cayden was following his map to her father’s house. She ran TJ inside and returned to the truck less than a minute later.

“Ready,” she said, exhaling heavily.

---