I push away from the embrace but continue to hold both of their hands. It’s time to get down to business. “Okay, we have to get the pastries out and the coolers filled. What else?”
Penny leans over the sink to glance out the window. “We should probably find Walker and see what he wants us to do. Has anyone seen him?” Her gaze flicks to mine and I narrow my eyes in response, telepathically telling her to shut up.
“Oh, I’ve seen more of Walker than I ever want to again,” my mother says with another laugh.
“Mother!” Penny hisses.
“Wasn’t my fault the man opened the door naked!”
I cover my mouth but a squeak makes it out nonetheless, and my sister howls with laughter.
“Anyway.” My mother drags out the word. “He’s out in the back, setting up the tables with some of his farmer friends.”
“Farmerfriends?” I ask.
My mother nods and takes another sip of her coffee. “Guyshe used to work with. He tried to send them away, but they wouldn’t take no for an answer. Your daddy always said Walker wasn’t good about accepting help, so I pretended to drop the chair I was holding and batted my lashes innocently.”
“Mother!” Penny yells.
With another one of her doe-eyed expressions, my mother shrugs. “Listen, you don’t stay married for thirty years without knowing how to get a man to do your bidding.”
The three of us laugh, and a warm feeling spreads through my chest. I didn’t think we’d get here again. Didn’t think my mother would be smiling and joking around like she used to. It’s nice. Hell, it’s better than nice. It’s goddamn wonderful.
—
“Do you think it’s a prerequisite that all farmers have to be hot?” Rosie licks her lips and takes a sip out of her mug.
Penny shakes her head, but her eyes don’t stray from the scene in front of us. “I didn’t know jeans could fit that way.”
Walker catches us staring mid-laugh and winks. It’s the hottest thing he’s ever done. Okay, maybe last night when he had his head between my thighs and was whispering dirty words to me was hotter, but only marginally. Fuck. My thighs clench. I need to stop reminiscing.
Walker’s wearing a backward baseball cap, and the ends of his shaggy brown hair peek out beneath it. Flannel-covered arms sit across his chest as he talks to two other guys who are dressed similarly. They’re pretty, I’ll give the girls that. But they have nothing on Walker. One has darker olive skin, like he spends all of his days in the sun. The other is a bit older buthas a broad chest and muscles that look like they have their own muscles.
It’s not only because I’m sleeping with him that I think Walker is hotter. It’s because I’m finally seeing him relaxed. Smiling. With the goddamn dimple. His stance is less tense, too. At least when he looks at me.
“Okay, I know you said nothing happened last night, but you aresolying.” Rosie finally takes her eyes off the men with Walker and studies me.
“Nothing happened. We’re just friends.”
Penny snorts. “Right.”
“Yeah, I’m not buying it,” Rosie agrees.
“Listen. I’m only here for six more weeks. Why would we start something?” It’s a good question. And one I’m trying not to think about.
“And he’s too old for you,” Penny mumbles.
“He is not!” I say a little too loudly.
Rosie lets out a loud raspy laugh, her entire body vibrating with the sound. “Right, they didn’t fuck last night.”
“Don’t be so crass.” Penny bites her lip, and a wicked smile forces her eyes to curl. “She got boned by Farmer Daddy.”
“Ew.” I push her and her champagne sloshes over the side of her coffee cup.
“Cowboy Daddy?” Rosie muses.
“Not a daddy,” I hiss. “He’s a-a—” I stutter. They break out into a fit of giggles. “Oh, I hate you both.”
