After all, Country Quad also had a little concert planned for that night.
Tex breathed in the chilly afternoon air and faced his brother. “Hey, my friend.” He chuckled as he hugged Trace, who clapped him on the back.
“Thanks for having us.”
“Yeah, we love seeing you guys.” He released his brother, who tucked his hands in his coat pockets and headed toward the driveway. Frying the turkeys definitely gave the men something to do while the women cooked inside.
“Hey, Ev.” Tex hugged her and little Avery too, who’d just turned four last week.
“I forgot the cranberry sauce,” Ev said with a sigh.
“Great,” he said in a deadpan. “Thanksgiving is ruined.” He gave her a grin and let her go by him, up the front sidewalk, and shoo her other two children into the house.
Tex returned to the alcove of safety, where Wade had set up a few chairs in his absence. “I didn’t see any guitars,” he said to Trace.
“Harry’s bringing them all,” he said. “He took them to polish and tune them,” Trace said. “And Otis’s are all here.”
Tex nodded, his eyes moving right back to the steam pouring out of the fryer. “Pie Bar at eight. Concert at eight-thirty.”
“Headed home by nine.” Trace grinned at him, and Tex loved their family traditions. No, they couldn’t host everyone for a single meal here at the house where Tex had grown up with his nine brothers. They’d lived on top of one another then, and when all of them—plus their in-laws—got together, the capacity count could exceed that of a small restaurant.
They saved those whole family gatherings for twice per year—New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July. At other times, individual families celebrated however made the most sense to them, usually in small groups of two, three, or four families.
Tonight, Tex and Abby had a completely full house for dinner, as Trace, Wade, and Blaze—with their wives and children—were coming for a fried turkey feast. Cash was also bringing his new girlfriend, Lark, and Harry and Belle would be there as well.
That was twelve adults, and Tex sent a quick prayer of gratitude heavenward that he and Abby had been able to extend their dining area out onto what was once the back deck. Fitting half that many people had been tight previously.
Between those twelve adults, they also had twelve children. Nope, thirteen, as Bryce and Codi had their son, Matty.
Tex’s grandson, who made his soul light up with a single thought. As if summoned by those thoughts, Bryce’s truck pulled into Wade’s driveway, and Tex got right back to his feet to go greet them.
He found Harry dropping to the ground from the back driver’s side, and he grinned at Tex and said, “Heyo, Uncle Tex,” before moving to the tailgate to get the guitars. “I’m assuming the studio is open.”
“Should be,” he said, and he moved into the still-open back door to unbuckle his grandson. “Howdy-ho, Matty-boy.” He grinned as the almost two-year-old kicked his legs and started to babble about something.
He got the child out of his seat and settled on his hip and met Bryce and Codi at the front corner of the truck. “Hey, you two.” He hugged his son with one arm, and then Codi, wanting to pull them close, closer, and straight into his heart. He tried to show and tell his son and his wife how much he loved them and appreciated them, but sometimes, he honestly wasn’t sure if they trulyknew.
“I love the dark wig,” he said to Codi as he stepped back, whose cheeks seemed a bit pinker tonight though she’d just been reintroduced into the cold air.
“Thanks,” she said, reaching for one of the bags Belle had swinging from her forearm. “Let me take that.”
Belle released the bag to her, and Tex gave her a one-armed hug too before looking at Matty. “Come on, baby-boo. Let’s get you inside where you won’t freeze.” He grinned at the blonde boywho reminded him so much of Bryce at that age. “And hey, Belle, congratulations on your pregnancy.”
“Thank you,” she said, and she did look a little more tired than Tex had ever seen her.
He ushered them all inside, where the warmth greeted him like a punch to the face. The scent of sautéed onions and butter came with it, and Tex’s stomach growled. “Let’s go see Grandma.”
Abby stood at the end of the counter with both Melissa and Pippa, and they seemed to be getting a lesson on how to cut asparagus spears. She turned as Bryce reached her, and Tex’s heart warmed all over again at the sight of the two of them embracing one another.
She too complimented the wig, told Belle congratulations, as her announcement about expecting her first baby had just gone out on the family text a couple of days ago, and faced Tex. “And there’s the light of my life—come see me, Matty-poo.”
The little boy practically launched himself out of Tex’s arms, laughing and babbling to Abby. She gave him cookies every time she saw him, so no wonder he liked her best. In fact, right now, she reached up to the cupboard above the microwave and said, “Yes, you may have a graham cracker,” as if she understood what Matty had said.
She smiled at him, swept his hair off his forehead, and planted a kiss there. “How long on that turkey?”
“Ten-ish minutes,” Tex said. “I have an alarm on my phone.”
“The second one is ready,” she said. “We have forty-five minutes left on the potatoes, and Cheryl’s doing all the rolls at her house.”
