“What do you want?” Trying to wake up, she rubbed her eyes and yawned.
“Family meeting tonight,” she told Jedidiah. “Six o’clock and there will be dinner.”
“I’m not sure—”
“Attendance is mandatory,” her sister interrupted.
Mandatory? What the hell?
“Seriously, Jedidiah, you’ll want to be here. Even Cole is coming.”
Cole? Last she’d heard her oldest brother had been repairing several oil rigs in west Texas. “I didn’t even know Cole was in town.”
“He just got in yesterday.”
She was awake now—enough to be worried. “Is something wrong with Chantel and the baby?”
“I don’t know about wrong but something is definitely going on. Gabe called the meeting.”
If Gabe had called a family meeting it had to be important. Her artist brother spent a lot of time in his metal workshop and tended to be reclusive. Although since he’d married Chantel and they were expecting he was less so. “I hope it’s nothing bad. He and Chantel are so excited about the baby.”
“He was a little weird, but not exactly upset. So I doubt it’s bad news.”
“Okay, I’ll be there. See you later.”
“Problems?” Trevor asked coming out of the bathroom. He’d pulled on jeans and a short-sleeve T-shirt but his hair was still tousled and he was barefoot. Sometimes she got distracted simply looking at him. Because looking at him led to thinking about touching him and him touching—
“Jedidiah?”
“Sorry.”Get your mind off sex, girl.“It’s hard to tell, but I don’t think so. I’ve got to go to the ranch tonight. Gabe called a family meeting.”
“Does he do that often?”
“No. Hardly ever. But Damaris doesn’t think it’s bad news, so I’m going with that.”
*
Still, by thetime Jedidiah got to the ranch that evening she was equal parts worried and curious. “Hey, squirt,” her brother Cole said, giving her a hug. “What’s this I hear about you and Trevor Holt? I thought you worked for him?”
“I do.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Sleeping with the boss, sis? Not a good idea.”
“It’s not like that, exactly.”
“Oh, really? Damaris said you were sleeping with him.”
“Damaris needs to mind her own business.” She wished she hadn’t said anything to her sister but there hadn’t seemed to be any reason to keep the relationship quiet. She should have expected Damaris would tell the rest of the family. After all, she hadn’t specifically told her sister to keep the information to herself.
“Look, Cole, I’m all grown up now and have been for years. I know what I’m doing.”
He shot her a skeptical look. “If you say so.”
Even though, as the oldest and youngest of a large family, Cole was nearly eight years older than her, they’d always had a special bond. Probably because they were both outliers. Neither of them were interested in ranching or raising horses. They’d both rodeoed when they were younger, but it was hard to find a Whiskey River native who hadn’t. Jedidiah had enjoyed it at the time, but it had also convinced her that she wanted a different career. Exactly what career, she hadn’t been sure.
Gabe, though he was a metal artist, lived on the ranch and often pitched in to help with the horses. As for Cole, he’d never said, but at one time he’d been as good as Chase, who was a two-time saddle bronc world champion who raised bucking horses now. Unlike his brother, though, Cole hadn’t wanted to make his living with the rodeo. Or with raising horses, like Marshall, Damaris, and more recently Chase, who’d retired from the rodeo circuit.
Dinner with all six siblings and their wives and husbands was a bit of a madhouse. There were at least three different conversations going on, sometimes more. The last time they’d all been together had been at Damaris’s wedding, a couple of months ago now. Ruthie Crawford, their long-time cook, housekeeper, and the woman who kept everything not related to the horses running smoothly, made her famous Frito pie. Her recipe was traditional except she added some ingredients that made it even better. No one knew exactly what was in it and she guarded that recipe fiercely. She served it with skillet corn bread and a green salad and it was one of the family’s favorite meals.
