“Him or Gage,” Reese noted. “You know Travis. He’s not gonna talk unless you pry it out of him.”
That was the way his cousin was. And Brantley got the feeling it would be more difficult with only five days until their wedding. Travis had quickly adjusted to the news when Brantley told him they were getting their marriage license. As though the man hadn’t realized that when he had called. Not surprisingly, Brantley hadn’t heard from him since.
“Have you talked to your uncle?” Reese asked. “Maybe Curtis knows what’s goin’ on.”
“I haven’t seen him in a few weeks,” Brantley admitted.
The waitress appeared with two plates. She slid the one with a huge stack of pancakes in front of Brantley, the other containing a small bowl of fruit and some egg whites in front of Reese. Not for the first time, Brantley noticed Reese eyeing his pancakes. Although the man would cave for bacon and sausage from time to time, Brantley’d never seen him indulge in pancakes.
“Thanks,” Brantley told the waitress before she hurried off.
He took his time, laying his silverware beside his plate and retrieving the syrup.
“Sometimes, I wish I had your willpower when it came to food,” Brantley told him as he spread the pat of butter around the top of the pancake before dipping his knife in the tiny dish that contained more butter. “Then I think about this, and I don’t.”
Reese laughed.
“I’ll share ’em with you if you’d like.”
“I’ll pass, but thanks. I’ve got a weddin’ to prepare for. JJ would kill me if I complained that my pants were too tight before we got to the altar.”
“Your loss,” he said as he poured a generous amount of syrup over the top, still watching Reese’s eyes glaze as he set to work, filling his stomach with sugary carb goodness.
***
As they were finishing their breakfast, Reese’sphone buzzed. He picked it up and saw the text message from JJ that was sent to both of them. He read it aloud.
—Why aren’t y’all home?
“Does she not realize we’ve got a life?” Brantley commented before downing his juice.
“It’s Monday,” Reese reminded him. They didn’t make a habit of sneaking out on weekdays. This week was the exception.
Reese tapped out a reply.
—Having breakfast at the diner.
Her response came a few seconds later.
—Since you didn’t invite me, I broke into your house and stole the marriage license. Cindy asked me to, so blame her.
Reese read the message aloud.
“I’m not sure it’s breakin’ in if she has a key,” Brantley said as he signed the credit card receipt.
“I take that to mean she didn’t have a problem findin’ it,” Reese mused as he responded with a quick,Okay.
“That girl probably knows where everything is in the house. Hell, she could probably find shit before we can. You ready?”
“Yeah.” Reese took one last drink of his water before getting to his feet. “I do think we should stop by and talk to Holt Callahan before we head over to Alluring Indulgence.”
“I agree. Better to come in armed with some information than expect Travis to spill voluntarily.”
Reese wasn’t sure what, if anything, the author had to do with Travis’s current state of mind, but if it did have something to do with him, it was worth the trip.
They were pulling into the bed and breakfast parking lot a few minutes later.
“They look busy,” Brantley noted as he parked.
