Luis and Jordan invited them to share a table and Mila jumped at the chance to spend time with her brother and sister-in-law. They’d been super busy lately due to the success of the Jordan Sterling Equestrian Center.
Back in July Luis had proposed building an indoor arena as a winter venue for Jordan’s clinics and his wild horse training program. Cole had led the crew that completed the main structure before the wedding, which had been held there.
Now the arena was fully functional, providing Jordan and Luis with more business than they could handle. Mila was thrilled about that, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a relaxed conversation with either of them.
Drinks had been ordered and delivered by the time she settled in across the table from Jordan, who was sporting a new look. The blonde hair that used to reach to the middle of her back was now shoulder-length. Before Mila could say how much she liked it, Jordan beat her to the punch.
“Yay for you guys, getting all lovey-dovey on the dance floor. I’ve been so hoping this would happen.”
“And we have you to thank,” Cole said. “If you hadn’t come to town on the Fourth, Mila and I would never have met.”
Luis smiled at Jordan. “I’m pretty happy about that decision, myself.”
“Yeah, well, there was a point where I thought I’d made a gigantic mistake. But now that you two have figured out you’re perfect for each other and I’ve settled in with this guy….” She gazed fondly at Luis. “I’ll take credit for making a fudging brilliant move.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Cole lifted his mug of ginger ale in her direction. “I owe you, sis, and the Bridger Bunch for taking me in. Just saying thanks doesn’t seem like enough, though.”
“Hey, you built us an arena.” Luis picked up his bottle of Modelo. “We need to toast that. Everyone said it would take at least six months just to build the enclosure. You finished in less than three and came in under budget.”
“We absolutely need to toast that,” Jordan said. “I knew you were good, big brother, but I didn’t know you were a miracle worker.”
“I had a great crew. I don’t know who taught everyone in this family how to swing a hammer, but?—”
“That was Dad,” Luis said.
“Obviously he knew his stuff. With the family pitching in and my two buddies from work taking it on as a side job, it was a snap to finish ahead of schedule. As for the budget, the lumber yard prices looked like a Bridger discount to me.”
Mila gave him a nudge. “All those things may be true, but it was your leadership that supplied the rocket fuel.”
“I had ulterior motives. I wanted to see my sis get married in a place I helped build.”
“I loved seeing the family come together to make that deadline.” Luis sounded wistful. “It was like the old days with Dad.”
Mila nodded. “It was. And Jordan and Cole have no idea what we mean.”
“True.” He looked across the table at Cole. “Our dad had a pattern. First he’d ask a contactor friend to estimate how much time a project would take and then bust ass to beat that estimate.”
“And bust our asses if we were working on it with him,” Mila added.
“Yeah, but nobody complained. We wanted to beat the odds, too. The point is, gratitude goes both ways, Cole. We’re thankful, too.”
“I appreciate that, but if you need any major work done on your casita, I hope you’ll let me know.”
Luis exchanged a look with Jordan, who gave a slight nod. He turned back to Cole. “As it happens, we’ll be adding another bedroom as soon as the weather warms up. I could use a hand with that if you’re available.”
“You’re adding on?” Mila’s gaze locked with her brother’s as a potential reason popped into her head. “How come?”
His dark eyes sparkled. “Seems we need more space. We could convert the guest room, but instead we?—”
“A baby?” She said it softly, figuring the music would cover her words in case she was wrong. She didn’t want to start a stampede.
“Uh-huh.” His grin took up his whole face.
“Madre mia!” Leaping up, she ran around the table to grab hold of them and collided with Cole, who’d come from the other side.
Jordan cracked up. “This is the most disorganized group hug in the history of group hugs.”
“That’s what you get for springing it on us. Awesome news, sis.” Cole gave her a kiss on the cheek and reached over to shake Luis’s hand. “What’s the due date?”
