“Is this a good movie for the kids?”
Bertie lifted her head and gave me a look that would scare a rattle snake before doing a slow head turn back to the screen.
“Why are you so gussied up?” Gunner asked.
“I’m going to see Tally,” I told him.
Nash’s gaze whipped to mine. “I didn’t know you were going tonight,” he exclaimed. He shifted in his seat, cradling Billy closer to him. “I thought you’d be building up to it. Doing it tomorrow, maybe.”
“Nothing like taking the bull by the horns.” I grinned at both my brothers. “By the end of tonight I intend to be dating.”
“Tally ho,” Bertie cried, jostling Billy as she got to her knees. “You finally put on your big boy pants, Uncle Wilder!”
Gunner burst out laughing, evidently the one who’d given her that jewel of wisdom.
Ignoring him, I turned to my eldest brother. “What’s wrong with your face?” I asked him. “You look like someone pissed on your oatmeal.”
“She’s not home, Wild.” He glanced at Gunner. “She’s out with Cassidy and Lily.”
He may as well have told me that she’d left to go back to Kentucky. My stomach bottomed out as my heart thudded so hard it felt like it was goingto rip through my shirt.
“You should go find her,” Bertie said with the wisdom of a ten year old who had no idea about relationships of the romantic kind. “They’ve only gone to Downtown Bar & Grill.”
“Bertie,” Nash said wearily. “What did we say about getting into grown-up conversations?”
“Not to,” she admitted, before taking her seat again. “But Uncle Wild needs help.”
“She’s not wrong,” Gunner agreed. “About needing helpandgoing to find her.”
My mouth felt dry as sandpaper as I got an uneasy desire to cry. It was ridiculous, she’d gone to the bar, that was all. There was disappointment, too.
“I wanted to tell her. I was ready,” I whispered. “Why didn’t you tell me that she wasn’t going to be home? You knew what I was planning on doing, Nash.”
“Not tonight I didn’t,” he protested. “You said you were going to think about what to say to her. You didn’t mention doing it tonight.”
“You even told me which shirt to damn well wear.”
“Yeah, but again I had no idea when. You’ve been in your room for over two hours. I thought that you were spending the evening shaving your legs or something.”
“But…” I blew out a breath, pressing the heels of my hands into my eyes. “Damn it.”
Gunner stood up and put an arm around my shoulder. “They’ve just gone for some drinks, that’s all. They’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
“But she was sick.”
Gunner shook his head. “Lily wanted to make sure she ate something for dinner, so Cassidy took it over and realized she wasn’t sick, just upset about something.”
“Upset about what?” I snapped. “Has that fu—, has Declan been back?”
“Not that I know of. Cassidy just came back and announced they were having a girl’s night in town.”
“How did they get there?” Staring at the window, through to the dark,images of Tally at a bar, men watching her, were like a waking nightmare.
“Lily drove,” Nash informed me. “They’re going to get an Uber back.”
“I’ll go get them.” I didn’t even think about it. “I’ll wait in the parking lot for them.”
As I made for the door, Gunner caught my hand. “They’ve only been gone an hour. You can’t sit in the parking lot for the next two or three hours.”
