“Let me say hi to my wife first.” He pulls me in for a quick hug. “I’ll meet y’all after. Barn?”
I nod, continuing around the house. The stars are shining brightly above us in the night sky. We’re far enough from the closest city, so we always have an incredible view of the constellations.
Once we get to the barn, a single light bulb illuminates it.Lady Liberty is munching on a square alfalfa bale. I pat her neck as I walk by, whispering to her that she’s the only girl for me.
“What’s eating you, Duke?” Holden asks, leaning back against a stack of hay bales.
I take a shot of the whiskey, letting it burn down my throat before handing the bottle to him.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” I unbutton the top button of my brown pearl-snap shirt.
Everyone takes another swig of the whiskey straight from the bottle.
“Well, we already branded your chest, Sam. I guess the ass is up next,” Holden says, keeping a straight face.
I can’t hold in the laughter when I see Sam balk in horror. It comes out loudly, startling Sam. A grin splits across his face when he realizes it was a joke.
He grabs his chest. “Whew. Scared the shit out of me.”
Sterling walks up, draping his arm around my shoulders. Seeing him make it here despite being deployed with the Marine Raiders is a relief.
“How’d you manage to get away?”
He grins. “I couldn’t miss my baby sister’s wedding, could I? We had a two-week wait for the next assignment. Most of the guys had to stay, but I was able to get leave when I told them about Pops.”
I nod. I’d considered going into the military after both Cash and Sterling did it, but I felt like I was always needed here.
After Pops is gone, there won’t be a need for me to stay at the ranch anymore.
“I got something to tell you guys,” Holden says.
I can tell by the tone of his voice that it ain’t good news. With our father on his deathbed, I’m not sure what he could say that would bring down the mood much more.
“The surveyor found a human skeleton on the ranch. We’re under investigation.”
Well, fuck me.
13
DALLAS
“When I found out that my best friend and my little sister were sneaking around behind my back, I’ll tell y’all what—I threw a little bitch fit,” Duke says into the microphone.
The small crowd chuckles. He looks divine tonight in the new Cinch jeans and the mocha Western shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The top buttons are undone so a sliver of his chest shows. His Stetson is tipped back on his head, and the typical smirk he has on his lips is mixing in a funny way with the rosé in my stomach.
Dangerous fucking combination.
He’s lightly strumming on the guitar strapped to him. I hate how sexy it is that he can play it.
“I’m not gonna lie; I felt betrayed for a hot minute there. Here I was, thinking we were best friends and that he was protecting her for me. All I could do for weeks was wonder how many lies I’d been told. Then two crazy things happened.” He looks down at his bootsbefore he flashes Dolly and Sam a grin. “First, I realized it wasn’t all about me. Second, I saw the way he looked at her.” He pauses, shaking his head.
I hang on each word, leaning forward, waiting for him to go on. My heart pounds, my throat drying up.
“When I saw that look and actually pulled my head out of my ass long enough to pay attention to it, I realized there was no force on this earth that could keep these two apart. And my baby sister deserves that. She deserves a man who sees her in a crowd and everyone else melts away. She deserves the love and devotion of a man who will love her through the bad days and the good.” He chokes up, clearing his throat before continuing with the soft music.
I sip my wine, amazed at how incredibly attractive it is to see a strong man show emotional vulnerability in front of a group of people.
Dolly has had congenital heart defects since she was born, and all of her brothers are very protective of her because of her medical condition. She sees a cardiologist regularly and is always at risk for overexerting herself and needing medical care.