“Good! You come with me and meet the rest of the bunch.” Cassie grinned and slid her arm around Erin’s. “You just leave her with me, little brother.” And she led Erin down the hall and out of sight.
“You look like you just got some sort of shock,” Tori noted, with an interested look at her brother who stood alone with her in the hallway. “She seems to be a very sweet lady…for a judge.”
“Now how…” he began but she halted him.
“Never underestimate your siblings. Remember the level of experience in this family. You checked out enough of our male friends along the way to make sure they weren’t serial killers. We have our sources and no one else in the family is ever the wiser. So, relax. Stand down a while from being a watchdog and enjoy yourself this afternoon. Erin is safe and sound, and we won’t let it be otherwise. Now, come into the kitchen and help carry out some meat to the grill.”
He followed, and he did feel himself able to let a little of the tenseness fall off his shoulders…just a little. While he knew that his family was a safe space and all would be well, it felt strange in that he had never brought a protectee into his home and those of his loved ones. But then, this seemed to be one of, if not the most out-of-the-ordinary case for him. Why, he couldn’t put his finger on it, but he didn’t care for being kept off-balance even for a small amount of time.
“If you’re going to frown through this afternoon, why did you come?”
That brought him out of his head. His sister was gazing at him with that all too familiar look of hers that made him feel guilty about something in his youth…and often, he usually was. “I’m still on the job no matter where I am. It’s a habit that doesn’t break easily.”
“I get it. But the others might wonder. Relax some. Erin is fitting right in so far.”
“She doesn’t fit in. She is a hard-nosed district judge, and some lunatic has targeted her group for some reason. But when all clear comes, she’ll be the first on that chopper to get back to her idea of civilization. And I know you and how your mind works, so remember she’s not some stray kitten that needs taking in here. She has a home, and she has claws.”
Tori’s eyebrow shot up. “Oh really? And has she had reasons to show those claws to you?”
“Not so much claws, but she has shown me more than a few times how sharp her wit and tongue can be, since I had to remove her from her bench and get her out of her world with little cooperation on her part.”
“I see. I can imagine what I might do if someone came in with a high-handed manner and ordered me to do as told. I think that might not sit well with me either. You know how I would react.” She picked up the loaded meat tray from the cabinet and placed it in his hands, all the while making her point. “Don’t you?”
Rance took the tray and got her message loud and clear at the same time. “I get the message. But this lady is one of a kind.”
A slow smile crossed his sister’s face. Was something amusing?
“What are you thinking now?”
“That you might have met your match…in more ways than one, Marshal Parker. You’re still a tad bit slow at catching up but you will. That makes me smile. Now get that meat out to my husband so he can get busy.” She turned back to the cabinet and set to work on the vegetables.
Sometimes his big sister could make his mind spin with her silent smiles and witty euphemisms and her so-called words of wisdom. Well, not today. He would go outside and ignore them. He would have fun, darn it! Just to show his family.
*
Although as the afternoon progressed it appeared that Erin was the one having the most fun. Emmie and she were taking on Cassie and Jillie at the cornhole boards. And he stopped to watch as he approached the grill area where his brothers-in-law, Cole and Cade, assisted by his brother, Matt, were firing up two grills, and had two ice chests that his sister-in-law Ally—Matt’s wife—was adding a couple of extra bags of ice into, on top of sodas and waters.
What caught his eye was the sound of laughter, a rather nice sound, that came from Erin as she landed a bag close to the opposing hole and knocked Cassie’s off the board. Emmie clapped her hands and then they celebrated with a high five in the air between them. He had no idea how Erin Latham, straitlaced jurist in fancy suits, was acting like the rest of his family…normal. And she had evidently got into the spirit of competition.
“Hey, what gives, Rance?” Matt called out to him. “Are we going to cook that meat sometime today?”
Rance snapped back to the matter at hand. “Sorry, guys, guess I had something on my mind.” He handed over the tray to Cade.
Cade grinned and nodded. “Yeah, we kinda noticed that and we see why.” He grinned and gave a quick wink along with a glance toward the cornhole game.
Rance swung his gaze at the others who added their chuckles to Cade’s assessment. “Thought you guys were in a hurry to get the meat cooking?”
“Don’t let those guys get to you.” Ally came up to him, and they exchanged a quick hug. She shot her husband, and the others a look reserved for errant students. They got back to work. She lowered her voice. “But I think she’s nice and very pretty. Good job.” Her grin was brighter than the men’s had been.
“Not you, too.” Rance shook his head. But then he remembered that only his siblings knew the real details of why he was here with a woman named Erin. He would have to survive the good-natured ribbing and innuendos from those who just thought it was a date and his latest potential girlfriend. He wished he had thought the whole thing through more, but he would just have to see it through and make excuses to leave early. That was the plan.
As the meal was readied and then brought to the long picnic table that was set on the deck overlooking the green lawn and beautiful rose garden, all took their seats. Rance and Erin were placed in the center of one of the sides of the table so people could better converse with them and vice versa. Rance just knew that they wanted to get more info out of them about being a couple. Well, he was just going to concentrate on his food.
“This all looks and smells so good,” Erin said, as they settled into the pattern of passing around the serving dishes. “Thank you again for inviting me to join in with your special family gathering.”
“You are more than welcome. But this isn’t really a special occasion, unless we count the fact that Rance only makes rare appearances, due to his schedule, but we’re grateful when he is here. And he brought a wonderful guest with him. One who can give Cassie a run for her title on the cornhole game.”
Everyone laughed.
