“Shadow lands,” he said to Link. “Do you go through this every time you go out?”
Link looked up from his phone. “No, but Mitch helped me for a bit.” He raised his phone. “He wants to see the shirt.”
“Sure,” Dawson said darkly. “What’s one more opinion on a shirt I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be wearing tonight?” He turned in a full circle for Mitch and made the sign as he asked, “Well?”
Mitch started signing, but Dawson couldn’t understand him. He held up both hands and said, “Link, help me out.”
Link looked at his phone and laughed, signed back, and looked at Dawson. “He said it’s kind of boring.Bland.” His eyes glittered with mischief. “And too dark.”
“This one, Uncle Dawson,” April said from behind him, and he turned to see her holding up a bright orange plaid shirt.Orange.
“I didn’t even know I owned that shirt,” Dawson said dumbly.
“It’s not as bright as you think,” Misty said. “It’s got blue and black stripes too. Tons of white.” She gave him a pretty grin. “She’s going to love it.”
He pulled off his blue polo and put on the plaid shirt, buttoning it up to the throat. “One or two buttons undone?”
“Oh, two,” Misty said, swatting away his hand and pulling open the button he’d just fastened. “Let me see.” She stepped back and April joined her, wearing an impish look on her face. “Yes, this is it.” She looked at April. “Don’t you think?”
“Totally,” she said. “You’re hot, Uncle Dawson.”
“Ew,” he said, which made April giggle. “Don’t ever tell me that again.”
Someone knocked on the door, and they all turned toward it. Dawson was already up and he lived here, so he figured he could get it. “Seems strange someone’s knocking,” he said. Duke and anyone in his family would just walk in.
“Oh, I bet it’s my brother,” Misty said. “He wasgoing to come here after he showered, so we could go grab dinner.”
Dawson pulled open the door, expecting to find Danny Granger standing there—and he did. “Howdy, Danny.” Dawson grinned and stuck out his hand for the other man to shake.
He did; he smiled; he said, “Howdy, Dawson.”
“C’mon in. Seems like we’re all leaving.” He stepped back and then went into the kitchen to get his truck keys. “Miss April, you’re coming with me. I’ll drop you at home.”
“No, I got permission to go hang out with Pearl Jo and Chaz tonight,” she said. “Aunt Willa is going to pick me up here.”
“So you’re just going to hang out here alone?” He cocked his eyebrows at her. “When is she coming? They’re goin’ to dinner, and I’ve got to get too.”
“Let me text her.”
“I can drive you down there,” he said. “Are you at Ace’s or Cactus’s?”
“I don’t know.” Her fingers flew over her phone, and she looked up a moment later. “What? You don’t trust me in your house?”
“You just dug through my closet and found a shirt I didn’t know I owned,” he said. “So, no, not really.” He grinned at her, because they both knew he trusted her to stay in his cabin just fine.
Her phone chimed, and a moment later,she said, “She just passed the Top Cottage. She’ll be here in two minutes.”
Dawson nodded and took in the others around him. He would die in a family as big as the Glovers, but he did love the camaraderie coming from everyone in his house right now. Link sat signing to Mitch, while Misty chatted easily with Danny and Brandon.
April simply looked at him, and he moved over to her and gave her a quick hug. “You be good now, ya’hear?”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“All right.” He stepped back and lifted his hand. “I’m headed out. Pray for me and wish me luck.”
“You got it, brother,” Brandon said while Misty yelled, “You don’t need luck. She’s going to love you!”
Link waved, and April said, “Just do what I said, Uncle Dawson. You’ll be fine.” She grinned at him wickedly, and while Dawson was dying to kiss Caroline, he wasn’t sure how or when that was going to happen. He’d figure it out as the night progressed, he supposed, but not if he didn’t get going.