“Well,” Trenton said, coming to a stand with his phone in his hand. “Don and the kitchen crew just pulled up with the food. That means it’s time to eat. Hope you all brought your appetites.”
Richard followed Trenton out front as the rest of the group got to their feet.
“I’ll make sure everything’s all set up out back,” Andie told them. “Ava,”
he heard his sister add, “want to help be spread out a few tablecloths?”
Richard took his next strides slower, listening for her reply.
“Sure.”
From the corner of his eye, Richard saw Ava hop to her feet. She wore a tank top today, one that showed off the delicate shape of her shoulders and the slender slope of her neck. He resisted the urge to discuss his perplexing thoughts with Trenton as they helped carry the catered food into the back yard.
“Smells so good,” Maverick said as they lined up the dishes, hot and cold alike, on the serving table.
Richard hadn’t noticed until then, but his brother was right.
“Oh, you just wait,” Emmitt said. “The Homestead has the best food ever, seriously. I had no idea what to expect when we came, but I’m loving life here. They’ve got big parties every weekend, new guests coming through here all the time. It’s awesome.”
“Normally we’d have Betty here too,” Emmitt continued as he, Memphis, and Maverick lined up to the serving area. “But since she doesn’t know we’re in hiding, we had to keep it to just us. You guys will love her though.”
“Betty?” Memphis asked. “Is she hot?”
Emmitt grinned. “For her age she is. She’s…probably in her late fifties, early sixties. Looks a lot like Dolly.”
“Sounds like Maverick’s type. He’s the one intoolderwomen,” Memphis said.
What was this? Did that mean Ava was older than Maverick? If so, that meant she was closer to Richard’s age.
Suddenly, Emmitt reached out an arm to block the food and darted a look behind him. “Ladies first,” he said, motioning to Ava and Andie where they finished covering a picnic table with a checkered tablecloth.
Look at Mr. Chivalrous. Richard stifled an inward groan.
The ladies hurried over to start things off. The men filtered in behind them. Richard reluctantly grabbed a plate of his own. He was too irritated to have much of an appetite, but he dished out a few of his favorites just the same.
While everyone ate, he took a moment to muse over his frustrated state. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint just one thing. The truth was, he felt like there was a mountain crushing down on him. The weight of his siblings and their inability to grasp how precarious their situation might be. Especially if they insisted on dating and eventually revealing the family’s secret. But he knew there was more to it than that. Something that involved the pretty little guest who’d come with Memphis and Maverick.
“Hey, Richard,” Maverick came, waving a hand before his face.
Richard blinked, shook his head until his eyes shifted into focus, and moved his gaze from Maverick to Ava, then back again. “Yes?”
Maverick chuckled. “Where’dyougo? I tried getting your attention like ten times.”
Another glance at Ava, who was scooting a cube of Jell-o from one side of her plate to the other. He forced his gaze back to Maverick.
“I was just thinking about something.”
“About what? How to solve world hunger? You looked pretty perplexed.”
Richard’s neck turned hot as he fought off the embarrassment. “Actually,” he said, recalling what heshouldhave been focused on. “It’s the taxes.” He shot a look at Trenton and Andie. “Did you guys know that Jepson had to bail again? He said he can’t break away yet, and our extension ends in two weeks.”
Trenton cringed. “The poor guy is losing his mother and trying to find a care center for his dad at the same time,” Trenton explained to the others.
“That’s terrible,” Andie said.
“Yeah, for all of us, sadly,” Richard said. “I’ve pulled up the year end reports a few times, but I’m pretty lost.”
“I can help,” Ava blurted.
