I nodded. “Okay. But what happened now?”
“Yesterday a gaggle of twenty something women were wandering around by the event barn when I showed up to work. I tried being nice, but they got—”
“Belligerent,” Bodhi cut in.
Fern rolled her eyes. “Slightly rude. Kept insisting it was a public place and they could be there if they wanted. Sort of demanded I have some ‘cowboys’ ride over. I had to threaten to call the sheriff to have them officially trespassed before they left.”
“We need to up security,” Bodhi muttered.
She whacked him on the shoulder. “Dad posted the ‘no trespassing’ and ‘private property’ signs last night. We have cameras. Plus, they jumped on a post and left a rude comment about howIwas rude, which gave me the opportunity to point out that itisprivate property. Plenty of people piled on the comments to agree with me. I think we’re going to be fine.”
She was likely right. I was glad to hear the engagement was high on her posts and that people were taking notice. Her business would grow that way. But I didn’t love the thought of strangers thinking they could just wander around. That could be dangerous.
“It’s fine,” she said with finality. “I doubt it will keep happening. Besides, I wanna talk about something much more important.”
“More important than security?” Bodhi asked, a hint of incredulity in his tone.
Fern staunchly ignored him. “Brubby, wanna tell me what’s going on with you and Mr. Cahill here?”
Hawk choked on his food and had to grab his water. I rubbed his back while he chugged some liquid to try and force the bite down the right pipe. But I leaned back at the same time, so Fern had a clear line of sight to her brother.
I wasn’t touching this with a ten-foot pole. Hawk could handle it.
Chapter 19
Hawk
Iglanced at Carter, who looked very much like he wouldn’t be of any help here. I narrowed my eyes at him, then took another sip of my water and calmed my breathing.
“Do you want the biblical version or the non-biblical one?” I asked Fern.
Half of the table guffawed or snickered, the other half groaned.
For a couple of seconds I thought Fern would drop it, but then she jutted her chin at me and asked, “I don’t know, which one do you think is more suitable for the company?”
“Daddy, what’s biblical mean?” Payton asked, pronouncing the word he didn’t know with great care.
Mal groaned. “It means it’s said in the Bible.”
Crew chuckled and mouthed “Good catch” at his man.
Payton shrugged and went back to eating.
Marielle and Elisa were watching the family like some sort of a weird tennis match, observing intently but staying quiet with amusement dancing on their features.
I took a deep breath and glanced around the table. Not everyone was staring at me or Carter, and nobody had a negative expression on their face. These were my people; I could be honest with them.
I shrugged and cleared my throat. “We’re seeing where this goes. That’s as much as I’m willing to say at this point.” I looked at Carter beside me.
He shrugged, too. “That sounds about right.”
Dad smiled slightly. “Well then, I think that’s settled.”
With that, everyone’s attention went to something else and I could relax completely. On the rare occasion Dad stepped in to say something was done being discussed, everyone heeled. Each one of us had been grateful for that at some point of our lives, with how nosy siblings could get. Dad somehow managed to do it when it truly mattered. This was the first time he’d ever stepped in for me and I was grateful.
I realized I was feeling more settled. I’d always felt like the odd man out, even if a little. My siblings were slowly pairing off and somehow I’d become one of the ones who had a relationship of my own, too.
I squeezed Carter’s thigh again, then continued to eat.
