I knew when it came to Meadows Ranch, Maddox would kill or be killed to protect that damn land. No way was he gonna allow some oil company to come in and take it from him. With what he shared with me, I gotta admit with Landry Oil visiting him and wanting to buy, he’s wise in not going through with getting a mortgage to help with capital for the place when he and Della own the land outright now that it was left to them in William’s Will.
One thing I know about my friend is that he’s not lazy, and he’s damn Mr. Do The Right Thing, as everyone likes to joke and call him. When it comes to his ranch, there’s no other way to put it. That land is his pride and joy. Hopefully, he’ll go through with the deal, and we’ll be able to help him protect it. None of us wants to see him lose something so special.
“You gonna stick around awhile tonight or head back to the clubhouse?” Lucifer asks, changing the subject.
“Figured I’d stay a while longer, then head to the clubhouse, get some sleep before going to the ranch tomorrow.”
I don’t know how it was gonna go in the morning, but we’d see. I’m just delivering the message to Maddox now that my brother and I have sat down, discussed, and voted on whether the club would help the man.
I open my mouth to say something to Lucifer when the opening of the front door catches my attention. I give a low whistle at the sight of the woman who steps in. She’s hot, and I haven’t even gotten a good look at her face yet.
Way fuckable.
She’s dressed in black jeans, heeled boots that make her legs even longer, and a top that seems to be molded to her tits. Yeah, she was sexy, and she knows it. You can tell from how she was dressed. She was also not from around here. With the way her hair shielded her face, we can’t see her features from this far away.
“Now, that’s a pussy I wouldn’t mind tapping tonight,” Lucifer says, letting out a low whistle.
“Same, brother, same.” I nod in agreement.
I watch as she glances around the bar, scanning.
“Della,” Amelia shouts from behind the bar, and I look to see she’s looking at the woman with a huge ass grin on her face. She waves her arm in the air in a come-on motion, as if she knew this woman.
Like she knows this woman. It’s then I realize Amelia called the woman Della.
That’s Della?
Fuck me. Little mousy Della ain’t mousy any more.
At the funeral, I’d seen that she’d grown and was beautiful, but looking at her now, she’s more than just simply beautiful. She’s got every man in this bar glancing in her direction. Where she’d not worn makeup the day before, she now wore it, enhancing her beauty tenfold.
Watching as Della moves across the bar, I take in my cousin. Amelia isn’t one to show enthusiasm toward women like that. For that matter, she doesn’t show a smile that huge toward just anyone.
Della grins back at my cousin as she gets closer to the end of the bar, where Amelia points for her to go. Two local cowboys make space for her in front of Amelia while taking in Della’s body, grinning at her.
“Is that?—”
“Della Meadows,” I finish for Lucifer as Phantom and Tormentor join us at the table.
“Who’s the chick talkin’ to Amelia?” Tormentor asks, leaning back in his chair, lifting the beer bottle to his lips, eyes on Della.
“Maddox’s sister. Amelia and her used to be close. Tight even.” The answer leaves my lips while I continue to stare at her ass in those jeans. She looks good.
Other than her being my cousin’s friend, I don’t really remember her. I mean, I remember her since she’s Maddox’s little sister, but she’d always been mousy. Since she left for college, neither Maddox nor Amelia has talked about her. So she became forgettable.
“That’s Maddox’s sister?” Tormentor grunts, shock filling his eyes as he turns to look at us, then back to the woman.
“Yep,” Lucifer confirms. “Amelia shouted her name when she walked in. Not many people with the name Della.”
“Oh fuck,” Tormentor murmurs, eyes going back to the woman. “I remember Della. She was a year behind me in school. Smart as shit, but a total plain Jane, one of those girls you look over and don’t pay attention to. If I’m not mistaken, she was valedictorian or something at my sister’s graduation.”
Tormentor was a few years younger than me, so it would make sense for him to graduate when she did. He was just a year older than my cousin.
“She ain’t a plain Jane now,” Phantom remarks, pointing out the obvious.
No, she definitely wasn’t.
I can’t take my eyes off her. Watching the way she throws her head back, laughing at something Amelia says to her. I want to go over there and find out what the hell is so funny, but I also take in the smile on my cousin’s face that is still bright. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her look so happy. I figure I’ll leave it be for the time being.
