Violet laughed, but it turned into an uncontrollable giggle.
“It’s true.” Beau nodded enthusiastically. “Ask his momma. She’ll tell you.”
With a beaming smile, Simon said, “I’m glad to hear that.”
“What brings you to town?”
“He’s a friend of Holt’s,” Violet explained, aiming for the easy answer, the one that might not provoke a lot of follow-up questions.
Beau took a pull on his beer. “So, you’re stayin’ somewhere close?”
“At the B and B, yeah.”
“For how long?” Ethan prompted, looking as though he’d sucked on a lemon in the past ten seconds or so.
“Probably another week.” Simon nodded and looked at Violet. “Maybe two.”
She wasn’t sure why that pleased her. The last thing she needed was more time with this man. He made her feel things she had no business feeling. Especially since this was supposed to be a short fling.
“Are you workin’ on a new story?” Beau’s expression was that of a kid hoping to be told Santa was coming for Christmas.
“I’m finishin’ up one and lookin’ at what’s next in line.”
“Somethin’ here in town?”
“That I don’t know yet.”
“Hey, Beau!” someone shouted from across the bar. “Y’all are up at the table.”
“That’s our cue…” Beau laughed. “See what I did there?”
Violet joined in because how could she not?
“It was nice to meet you. If youstick—haha, I did it again.” Beau’s face lit up with merriment. “Anyway. If you stick around a while, maybe we’ll see you again.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
“Come on, E.” Beau patted Ethan’s shoulder. “Let’s go extract that stick from your ass so we can play us some pool.”
Violet wasn’t sure what Ethan said in response, but whatever it was, it had Beau barking a laugh that caught the attention of nearly everyone in the bar.
“Interesting guys,” Simon said as he returned to his seat.
“Ethan had a rough go of it when he was a kid,” she told him. “Beau’s good for him. They’ve been married for almost nine years now. They’ve got three-year-old triplets. Beau’s a stay-at-home dad. Ethan is the heavy equipment mechanic at Walker Demolition.”
“That sounds like a handful.”
“Which part?” Violet smiled at him. “The kids?”
“Yeah. Three at the same time? I assume they used a surrogate?”
“Yep. Kaleb’s wife Zoey.”
Simon’s eyebrows slowly lifted toward his hairline. “Ethan’s sister-in-law is the mother of their children?”
“No. She carried them, but they used donor eggs.”
“Ah. That makes sense. Still. Three’s a lot.”
