TWENTY-EIGHT
Joey used the weight of the to-go bags she carried to push down on Adam’s door handle, then she opened the door with her foot and entered his house. She’d known he had meetings this morning, but she hadn’t realized that they wouldn’t be over by the time she arrived with lunch.
Now, she stood framed in the double-wide archway that led into Adam’s office, six grown men staring at her.
“Howdy, Roo,” Daddy said. “What are you doing here?” He cut a quick look over to Adam.
Joey didn’t think she needed to answer, what with all the food she carried. She still said, “I brought lunch, and I’m about to drop it.”
Uncle Tex and Uncle Luke stood the closest to her, and they lunged at her and took the food.
“Did you bring some for all of us?” Uncle Tex asked.
“No,” Joey said. “I didn’t know you’d be here.” She looked at Uncle Morris and Uncle Trace.
As the scent of the Italian food drifted away from her, she added, “But I did order a couple of family-size pans of pasta for Adam, so there’s probably plenty—if he doesn’t mind giving up his dinner for the weekend.”
“He doesn’t mind,” Daddy said, and he clapped Joey on the shoulder as he exited the office.
“We’re not done here,” Adam called after him, but Uncle Trace and Uncle Morris got up as well. Uncle Morris hugged Joey and said, “Sure is good to see you, Roo,” before he continued past. Uncle Trace did the same, adding, “I’ll keep them back here in the kitchen for as long as I can, but I wouldn’t dawdle.” He grinned at Joey and headed down the hallway that led into the rest of Adam’s mansion.
She faced her boyfriend and smiled. “And you didn’t think you needed those pans of pasta.”
He rolled his eyes as he shuffled some papers on his desk. “We’re really not done.”
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said. “I told you I’d be here at twelve-thirty.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said. “We’re having trouble…staying on task today.”
“Oh, you hate that,” she teased.
He got to his feet and came toward her. “I don’t hate seeing you.” He took her into his arms and kissed her quickly. “You can bring me some more pasta tomorrow, right?”
Joey grinned at him, enjoying the feel of his strong bodyin her arms. “Yeah, I’ll bring you pasta any day you want.” She nodded toward the arched doorway. “What are they having trouble with today?”
He took her hand, and they left the office together. “Believe it or not, clothing.”
“Oh, I believe it,” Joey said. “Have you met Uncle Luke?” She giggled. “You should watch some of the old Country Quad videos.”
“Oh, I’ve seen them,” Adam said. “He really is good at putting on a show.”
“He’s the one who organizes every detail of things like that,” Joey said. “It’s extremely important to him.”
“Which is why they were so popular,” Adam said. “But it’s wintertime, and I keep telling him they’re going to be performing outside. They’re already going to be dealing with instruments in varying temperatures, and we don’t need to be dealing with wardrobe issues too.”
“Why can’t he just wear one of his puffy vests?” Joey asked. “He gets a billion comments on posts where he wears the puffy vest,” she said, the last part as she entered the kitchen.
Uncle Trace waved his hand toward her. “There you go, Luke. The younger generation has spoken.”
“I told you we should wear those puffy vests,” Uncle Tex said.
“Really, the puffy vest?” Luke glared at Joey and then turned back and lifted an enormous tong-full of spaghetti onto his plate.
“Save some food for Adam, would you?” Joey said. “And me, seeing how I paid for it.”
“I can send you some money,” Daddy said.
“Oh, it’s fine,” Joey said, but had she known she was going to feed her father and four of her uncles, she would have expected them to pay her. “Are you guys really hung up on clothes?”
