“Wow. So much for sharing,” I said.
Delilah settled on the other side of the dog. “He hogs the bed, too, doesn’t he?”
“You’ve just got to be tough and show him who’s boss.” I patted my leg, trying to get the dog to get up and move over. On second thought, maybe it was best with Buster sitting between us. I’d spent all day trying to figure out how to put a muzzle on the attraction I’d been feeling for Miss Lovin’ Texas. Having Buster play chaperone might be the best thing that could happen this evening. At least with the big lug between us, I couldn’t accidentally touch her.
The one time I didn’t want the dog to obey instructions, Buster leapt to his feet and sat down right in front of me. Now I’d look like a total dumbass if I made him lie back down where he’d been.
“Aren’t you a good boy.” Delilah gave him a good long scratch behind his ear.
“Sorry if my family was a little much tonight.”
She glanced over at me, the corners of her mouth already turning up. “They were a riot. I can’t imagine what the holidays are like at your house. It’s got to be utter chaos.”
Nodding, I chuckled to myself. Utter chaos with a major side of dysfunction. “Funny thing is, I’ve never known anything else. I can’t remember when it was just Colin and me, so my earliest memories are of all us boys. When I think about the damage we’ve done over the years...”
“What’s the worst trouble y’all got into?”
“Hmm. I’m going to have to think about that one. But I do remember a few times we almost lost our heads.”
“Your poor mama. What did you do?”
“You really want me to divulge those kinds of family secrets?” I laughed at the way her eyes lit up. “Well, I remember one time Colin talked me into sneaking out in the middle of the night. My aunt Suzy had bought a new horse, and everyone said we weren’t old enough to ride him. Colin wanted to prove them wrong, so we snuck into her barn, and saddled him up.”
“What happened?”
“My uncle thought someone was breaking into the barn, so he fired his shotgun into the air. Damn horse spooked and took off like the devil himself was hot on his trail.”
“And you and Colin?”
I could recall the sound of the wind whipping past my ears as I gripped my brother’s back. “Held on for dear life until we got to the edge of the property line and the horse bucked us off before he cleared the fence.”
“Were you hurt?”
I pushed my sleeve up and exposed a long, faded scar on my forearm. “Shattered two bones in my arm. Colin walked away without a scratch.”
“You were lucky.”
“I suppose we were.”
“What happened to the horse?”
“A neighbor found him stomping through their field the next day and brought him home. Aunt Suzy was the only one who could ride him after that.” I shook my head at the memory. Colin and I had been two of a kind back then. At least until I stopped letting my older brother talk me into causing trouble. Now we couldn’t be more different if we tried.
Delilah let her hand rest on Buster’s head and adjusted her position on the blanket. Buster must not have been satisfied with the interruption in attention and scooted himself over to wherehis head and half of his upper body draped over Delilah’s lap. Then he let out a loud rush of gas.
“Get off of her.” I reached for the dog’s collar.
“He’s okay.” Delilah laughed and gave me the sweetest smile as she ran her hand down the length of Buster’s side as far as she could reach.
Buster eyed me like he was rubbing in the fact he was getting a full-body massage while I didn’t even get to hold her hand.
“Want something to drink?” I leaned toward the cooler. “They’ve also got popcorn for sale if you want some fresh-popped kettle corn.”
“I’ll take a drink, but I don’t think I could eat another bite.”
“Wine or lemonade?” I held up a bottle of white wine I’d nabbed from my parents’ refrigerator.
“Just lemonade tonight. That wine from earlier made me sleepy.” She gave me a lazy grin as Buster rolled over onto his other side between us.
