“She’s good. She misses you too.”
If possible, that comment made the sadness darken her already black eyes. “Remember, if you need anyone to look after her, I’m here and I’m happy to help.”
He dipped his head. He’d been meaning to reach out and ask, but something stopped him. Maybe because since the grocery store, he’d barely been able to get her black eyes out of his head…and that wasnotsomething that should even be a problem.
“Well”—she lifted the box in her hands—“I should get these to Jenny before she passes out from low blood sugar. Thanks for letting me hide behind you.”
Then as quickly as she’d appeared, she was gone.
He turned his head and watched her walk away, forcing his gaze off her ass, which looked too damn good in her tight jeans.
“Is it me, or was that…”
“Strange?” Eastern finished for his brother. “It was definitely strange.”
“She’s certainly grown up in the last few years.”
Cody wasn’t saying it in a way to infer he was attracted to her. Hell, the man was madly in love with Harper Rain, a woman who’d started working at his bar.
So why did Eastern’s muscles twitch at those words?
He cleared his throat. “She has.”
“She didn’t end up marrying that guy, right?”
“No. When Ave and I ran into her at the grocery store, she said she wasn’t married and Scott didn’t move back here with her.”
There was a story there, but that story was none of his damn business.
“How’s the bar?” Eastern asked, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.
“Good. Great, actually. Now that we’ve hired more staff, Harper and I can take some evenings off, and the more time I get with that woman, the more I fall head over heels in love.”
His brother had fallen in love the second Harper had stepped into his bar. Well, less stepped and more hidden. Cody hadn’t known it at the time, but she’d been running from something when she’d stumbled across Misty Peak. Her past had eventually found her. But then, pasts usually did.
“I still can’t believe Kayden’s settled down,” Cody said with a laugh. “You ever think our brother would commit to a relationship?”
“Not in a million fucking years.”
Their brother was notoriously grumpy. Not only that, he had major trust issues. But hehadsettled down, and with the last woman Eastern would ever expect—Tilly Taylor, someone most of the town had distrusted for years.
Two of their brothers were still in the military—Jace, who was a Tactical Controller in the Air Force, and Lock, who worked on a Ghost Ops team. Jace had recently let them know he was planning to come home in the next few months, which had surprised everyone.
Then there was their sister, Nylah, Cody’s twin, who lived in Idaho with the guy she’d fallen in love with, Liam. Something told Eastern she wouldn’t be moving back anytime soon.
“It seems we’re dropping one by one,” Eastern said, more to himself than his brother.
Cody grinned. “Are you next?”
“Nope. Avery’s the love of my life, and that’s the way it’s going to stay.”
His daughter was his world, so much so that he’d made an effort to align as many of his shifts as he could with her school hours so that he could be with her as much as possible. Of course, as the town sheriff, things didn’t always work out that way, and he was often away from her one or two evenings a week.
Cody unlocked his truck. “You coming to the bar later?”
“Nah, I’ll spend tonight with Avery.”
Cody nodded. “I love that kid. Make sure you make it to Monday night dinner so I can squeeze her.”
