Taylor swatted at the air, dismissing me.
“You had it under control, chopping off fingers and hands.”
“No. Seriously, you saved my ass. My back was to the door. I was so consumed in making that man pay for what he was doing to Jensen, and for what had been done to Michael, that I let my guard down.”
“It’s not always a bad thing to let your guard down,” she said. Both of us smiled and then she added, “Occasionally.”
“In the right company.”
“Agreed.”
“Since we’re in agreement, let’s drop our guard for tonight,” I suggested.
“Just for tonight.”
“It’s a deal.”
“Okay. But don’t think that means that I like you,” she playfully said.
“I understand. The feeling is mutual.”
As we were laughing, a basket with breadsticks was placed on our table. The small, delicate hands caught my attention and I tore my eyes away from Taylor’s. I wasn’t at all surprised to see one of my sisters standing there.
“Hello. These are fresh out of the oven,” Scarlett said with an ear-to-ear smile.
“Ah, thank you,” I said. I stood to hug her and then looked at Taylor. “Taylor, this is one of my sisters, Scarlett.” I looked at Scarlett and then again at Taylor. “Scarlett, this is Taylor. She works with Michael.”
“Oh! Hello! It’s so nice to meet some of Sawyer’s family,” Taylor said and then stood to shake her hand.
“Nice to meet you, Taylor. Don’t believe Sawyer if he says he was raised by wolves,” Scarlett teased.
“What are you talking about? We totally found him with the wolves in the forest.” Scarlett stepped to the side and smiled when Sienna approached. Right behind her was Sage.
Oh my God. I hugged Sienna and turned to look at Taylor.
“Taylor, this is Sienna, Scarlett’s twin.” I paused so they could say hello and then I wrapped my arm around Sage’s shoulders. “And this is one of my brothers, Sage.”
Sage gently took Taylor’s hand in his and then covered the outside of her hand in his hold as they shook.
“All older?” Taylor asked.
“Yes,” Sage answered.
“We won’t keep you. We just wanted to come say hello. Sawyer stays busy with work, and we don’t always get to see him as much as we’d like,” Sienna said.
“It was great to meet you,” Sage said as he ushered my sisters away from the table.
“I’m sorry about that. I talked to my mom last night and asked her to get me a table for tonight and then they come out of the woodwork.”
“Don’t be sorry for that. I’ve seen your family from afar. They’re very giving and generous to the communities of Colorado. You should be proud of that.”
“I am.” I unwrapped the linen cloth from the breadsticks in the basket and nudged it toward Taylor to pick one.
She pulled off a piece of the breadstick and popped it into her mouth, and I followed suit.
“So, Sienna, Scarlett, Sage…”
“Sterling and Saffron are my other two siblings. Sterling is the oldest, then Scarlett and Sienna, then Sage and then Saffron.”
