Jack laughed as he stepped back. “Fine. I won’t. But are you sure sending Bailey on a date with him is a good idea?”
“I’m not sendin’ anyone anywhere. He asked her, and I could tell she wanted to go. Where’s the harm in encouragin’ her to enjoy herself?”
“But she just got out of a relationship.”
“Seth was merely a placeholder,” Rex told him as he opened the back screen door and urged Jack outside. Rex was starving, but he had no desire to eat dinner at the B and B. He happened to enjoy having some privacy, and now that they’d moved into their new house, more rooms were waiting to be christened.
But first, nourishment.
“Who’s gonna watch the house while Bailey’s out?”
“We’ve got cameras. Plus, if someone needs somethin’, they’ll text as they were instructed to do.”
“That was a good idea Bailey had.”
Rex nodded as he urged Jack toward their house.
Jack huffed but continued walking. “I don’t know why, but I thought for sure Rafe was going to make his move the moment she was single again. That man’s been pining for her for so long.”
That was the damn truth. And perhaps that was part of why Rex hadencouragedBailey, as Jack had so kindly accused. Deep down, he suspected Rafe and Bailey would end up together. If history were anything to go by, it would take Rafe some time or possibly the right situation to realize what a dumbass he was being. But Rex held out hope that his brother would come around eventually.
And maybe seeing her out with a handsome, charming man would light a fire under his ass.
As far as Rex was concerned, it was the least he could do to help his brother along.
***
“I can’t believe you agreed to comewith me.”
Technically, Rafe hadn’t agreed to anything.
Mack was the one who’d done the encouraging, practically shoving Rafe out the door, urging him to show the new girl what their quaint little town had to offer.
Mack’s words, actually.
“This is incredible,” Ivy exclaimed, a giddy excitement in her tone. “I’ve never been to a small-town festival. I’m so glad you offered.”
Again, he didn’t. But it was pointless to tell her he really hadn’t had a choice. Mack was his boss, not to mention he was rather devious when someone defied him. The last thing Rafe wanted was to find out Mack had replaced the vodka with water again. That had happened shortly after Rafe informed Mack that he wasn’t going to be the one to clean vomit off the wall in the women’s restroom. They’d argued, but Rafe had won the round. Or so he thought. He learned the error of his ways a couple of nights later.Afterhe poured six shots for a group of college kids passing through town. Shots of water, it turned out. He’d gotten an earful from the ornery little shits. It had cost him a round on the house. Mack thought it was hilarious.
So tonight, when Mack mentioned it, Rafe had told the old man to go, and he would stay behind at the bar. Unfortunately, his boss was having none of it, so here he was with Ivy clutching his arm as though he’d asked her to marry him, and they were on their way to a church, not the center of town, to watch some up-and-coming band the chamber of commerce managed to get on the docket tonight.
“Oh. Wow. Is that a shaved ice truck?” Ivy squeezed his arm.
Although the first adjective Rafe would use to describe Ivy wasannoying, he liked her. At twenty-two, she was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life and determined to enjoy every second in the meantime. For the past week, he’d gotten the low down on all things Ivy Tilman straight from the horse’s mouth. It seemed there was nothing she wouldn’t talk about, so he’d learned that her family had money—lots and lots, apparently—which meant they had high expectations for her. Her dad wanted her to be a lawyer like him. Her mother wanted her to be a doctor. Preferably a surgeon. And Ivy … well, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to go to college. Her primary goal appeared to be to see the world, preferably with a woman on her arm.
Yes, Ivy was a proud lesbian, although she seemed to enjoy flirting with Rafe because she said it was funny to watch the other waitresses give her the stink eye.
Did he mention she was kind of bratty?
Of course, he wasn’t sure how Ivy would see anything now that she’d hunkered down in this small, backwoods town, but he didn’t think it was his place to mention it. Although he liked her as a person, Rafe had no intention of being the ear she could bend when she had a hard day and certainly not the shoulder she could cry on. But Rafe didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so he was giving her some time, hoping she would make friends with other people before he started enforcing the distance he wanted to keep from her.
“Let’s get some,” Ivy suggested. “My treat.”
Rafe allowed her to lead him by the arm toward the food truck convoy at the far end of the park. The sun was starting to set, and before long, it would be dark, but that seemed to encourage more and more people to show up. A group was setting up the stage for the band, and several more were putting up tables and lights so they could hawk their wares during the festivities. Rafe had realized that was part of the appeal of these Friday night venues at the park. Kind of like mini flea markets with entertainment during the summer months.
To be fair, he didn’t mind it. He liked the scenery and the small-town camaraderie, even if he wouldn’t admit that to anyone.
“What flavor would you like?” she asked as they approached the line. “I’m gonna go with half cherry, half blue raspberry. You seem like a grape kinda guy.”
