Cash appreciated that Daddy wouldn’t harp him to death on this, and relief filled him when Uncle Gabe said, “I really want some steak.”
“I’m always in the mood for steak,” Daddy said, glancing at Cash.
“Me too,” he said. “But I have one more piece of news.”
“Oh, my aging heart,” Daddy said, and he brought his nearly black-eyed gaze to Cash’s. “Is this rodeo news, personal news, financial news…?”
“Why do you need a category?” Uncle Gabe asked. “Just let him tell you.”
Cash grinned at the chastisement from his uncle. “Daddy likes to prepare himself.”
“How does knowing what kind of news it is help you prepare?” Gabe asked.
Daddy simply glared at Uncle Gabe, and then looked back at Cash. He said nothing, which was code forHurry up and say the news.
“Okay, okay,” Cash said. “This is good news, Daddy. Try not to look like you’re about to commit murder.”
“That’s just his resting face,” Uncle Gabe said dryly, and Cash laughed. He’d grown up for the first twelve years of his life in Utah, with his mother. He had a complicated relationship with her, though he spoke to her often. His father had always made sure that Cash understood thesacrifices his mother had made for him and how much she cared for him and loved him.
“It kind of has to do with Mom,” he said.
And Daddy’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”
“Yeah,” Cash said. “I told her a while back that I was trying to find a good church to go to up here, and she did some investigating for me and found a congregation she thought I’d like.”
His father and his uncle said nothing, so Cash forged onward. “I went just before Thanksgiving, and I really liked it. So that’s the news. I thought you might like to know that I’m going to church here.”
“That’s great news,” Daddy said.
“Grams will be really happy about that,” Uncle Gabe said, his smile wide.
“Yeah,” Cash said. “It helps that the pastor’s daughter is really pretty and stands at the door and greets everybody. Her momma died a few years ago.” Cash grinned as his father’s expression continued to darken. “So she comes and sits by anyone who doesn’t have someone else to sit with. She sat by me last week, and it was real nice.”
“Are you telling me this is church newscombinedwith personal, dating news?” Daddy asked.
Cash chuckled and shook his head. “If I ever work up the nerve to ask her out, you’ll be the first to know.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
Trace’s ringtone shrilled into the night, startling him out of a sound sleep. He sat up and quickly started pawing at the nightstand, where he kept his phone. He finally found it and lifted it to see who would be calling him at two-blasted-fifteen in the morning.
He squinted at the brightness as it shrilled out another ring. Beside him in the bed, Ev groaned as he finally got his eyes to work.
“It’s your brother,” he said.
“Which one?” Ev asked groggily as Trace said, “Hey, Reg, what’s up?” He tapped to put the man on speaker, so Ev could hear.
“I think Kassie’s water broke,” Reggie said, and he’d always been a cool cat, slow to show emotion or get excited—but right now, his voice held plenty ofpanic.
“Well, then you gotta get her to the hospital,” Trace said without missing a beat.
That got Ev to sit right up and snap on her lamp. “They’re on the way to the hospital?” she asked.
This was Kassie and Reggie’s first baby, and Trace was pretty sure his wife was more excited about it than they were.
“I’m getting dressed right now,” she said. “Tell them I’ll meet them there.”
