“Me too, Daddy?” Bertie asked, swinging her legs.
“Did you eat the dinner that your momma made?”
“Yep. And the broccoli and she knows I hate broccoli.”
Nash shrugged his broad shoulders. “Then yep, munchkin, you, too.”
“Me too, Daddy?” Wilder asked, pouting.
I liked the youngest Miller brother. He was funny and much more carefree than his brothers. They all had this rhythm, teasing, laughing, cleaning up together like they’d rehearsed the dance a thousand times. I was just a guest, watching from the wings, wondering if there’d ever be room on that stage for me.Besides, he was far less obnoxious than Gunner that was for sure.
“You’re washing,” Nash told his youngest brother.
“We have a dishwasher,” Wilder complained.
“Yep and it’s called Wilder.” Gunner flicked his brother’s ear and pushed out of his seat. “Come on Bertie girl, you can help me to wipe, Dad will put it away.”
“You have them well trained, Lily.”
“I know.” She beamed at me and patted my hand. “Get your glass, we'll go and have our chat.” As she passed Nash to get another bottle of wine from the refrigerator she patted his ass, gaining a tender smile and a wink for herself. When I looked away I saw that Gunner was watching me. A shiver rolled up my spine as his eyes met mine. I told myself it was distaste, nothing more. But there was no denying how the low lighting created shadows beneath his cheekbones, or how his jaw tensed when he caught me looking. Gunner Miller had mastered the art of looking down his nose at people, especially me, with an aristocratic disdain that somehow made him even more infuriating. “Gladly,” I told Lily and followed her out.
“We’ll go to the lounge. The boys will want to go into the den to watch football.”
The warmer weather still hadn’t arrived so there was a log fire roaring, adding to the coziness of the room. I’d never been in there before Lily moved in, but it was clear that a lot of her had been added to the room. Cushions, throws, beautiful black and white photographs of them all, it even smelled like Lily, cookies and lavender.
“Okay,” she said, throwing herself onto one of the sofas and pulling her legs up. “Spill the beans, chickie. Or don’t you want to tell me that you’ve finally realized that Gunner is for you?”
Sitting on the other sofa, I reached for a cushion and threw it at her. “Stop with the me and Gunner thing.”
“One bad date a million years ago doesn’t mean you have to hate each other forever.” She winked at me. “Didn’t you say it was going great, lots of sexual chemistry until he suggested you couldn’t understand country kids because you weren’t from Silver Peaks.”
Thinking about that still smarted. “He knew nothing about me. Still doesn’t. You haven’t told him have you?” Lily shook her head. “Because he made assumptions about me, and you know what assume means.”
“Yeah, I do.” She rolled her eyes. “Make an ass out of you and me. He’s a good guy, though, Cass. If you just gave him an opportunity.”
I shook my head. “Nope. Anyway, it’s not about him. It’s about Lucas Keller.”
Lily slumped. “Is his mom still not stepping up?”
“She didn’t seem to care about him fighting in my classroom today.”
“Bertie told me what happened?” Lily shook her head. “That’s not like Lucas. He’s been here a few times for parties and play dates. Always polite. Was a dream when I taught him.”
“Same, but to be honest, it was something and nothing that turned to fists. I got one to the ribs.”
“Cassidy!”
I waved her away. “It’s fine. It was accidental and I barely felt it, but I didn’t tell Mrs. Wright that part so we keep it between ourselves, okay?”
“Are you sure it was accidental?”
“Absolutely. They both burst into tears when they realized what had happened.” I couldn’t even feel the start of a bruise, so I wasn’t concerned. “But I do need to talk to you about the meeting I had with her.”
Lily reached for the bottle of wine she’d placed on the floor and filled her glass. She then held the bottle out to me. “Fill up.”
Once I’d filled my glass, I settled back and let out an exasperated sigh. “I know I don’t talk about my family much, but my mom fostered when I was a kid.”
“Wow, really? That’s an incredible thing to do.”
