Chloe shrugged as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “Don’t know.”
As if on cue, Waylynn came rushing into the kitchen, dressed in her Halloween costume. She looked more like an angel than a witch. Chloe gasped. Paxton whispered, “Oh hell.”
I prepared for a six-year-old meltdown.
“Stop being so difficult!” Amelia said, pushing Waylynn’s hand away.
“You’re putting so much of it on my face! I look like a…”
“Witch?” I replied with a grin.
Waylynn shot me a dirty look. “You need to hush. You look cute in your little blonde ponytail and green face. Besides, you’re engaged so it doesn’t matter that you look hideous. I need every opportunity I get to find a man! I’m not going to find one with a green face!”
With a shocked expression, I replied, “Hey! I don’t look hideous! You said I looked cute!”
Waylynn half shrugged. “Fine! Meli looks hideous. You look adorable. I need to look hot!”
Amelia gave Waylynn’s hair a tug, causing her to cry out.
“I still can’t believe you’re engaged!” Amelia said, looking my way.
“It’s been surreal. The trip up to Canada was amazing.”
Waylynn wiggled her brows. “That’s because y’all got snowed in. What wouldn’t be crazy nice about being stuck in a beautiful cabin for a few days.”
I chuckled. “That’s true. We did make good use of the time.”
Mitchell and I had decided not to share the fact that we were hoping for a baby. Until it happened, there was no use talking about it.
“Whatever happened with you and Jonathon? Y’all not getting it on anymore?” Amelia asked.
Letting out a gruff laugh, Waylynn rolled her eyes. “Please. It was one time. He’s too young for me.”
“He is not,” I said.
Waylynn turned to me. “Corina, I’m going to be thirty-three soon. He’s twenty-six.”
“Almost twenty-seven!” Amelia added.
“That makes me feel tons better. Thanks, sis.”
Gently hitting her leg, I said, “Oh, come on, Waylynn. That’s only six years’ difference. That’s not a big deal.”
I couldn’t help but notice how sad Waylynn’s eyes looked. Was it from not being with Jonathon—or was she just lonely? She’d moved into the other guest house on the ranch, but from what Melanie had told me, she stayed in her old room more than she did in her own house.
With a raised brow, I asked, “Was it only that one time y’all were together?”
When she didn’t respond, I had my answer. “Waylynn Parker, are you still sneakin’ ‘round with that boy?” Amelia asked with a shocked tone and deep southern accent.
Waylynn grinned. “I told him it wasn’t going to work. And yes, it was only that one time. Although, I wouldn’t mind another round with him. Preferably in a bed and not up against a wall.”
“Mmm… Still sounds hot, if you ask me,” Amelia added.
“It was hot as hell! The boy gave me two orgasms that rocked my ever-loving socks off.”
“Who gave you two orgasms?”
We all froze as Cord appeared in the doorway of Amelia’s old bedroom, where we were getting ready for the party. It took us five seconds to start laughing hard. Cord was dressed in all black, with a giant piece of bacon that ran down his entire body. His face was framed by the end of the bacon. He looked adorable and ridiculous, all at the same time.
“What the hell, Cord? Bacon!” Waylynn cried out as she held her stomach laughing.
Cord looked down at his costume then back at Waylynn. “That’s right. Chloe picked out the bacon costume for me because she said I loved bacon.”
“You look ridiculous!” she added.
He walked into the room, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing harder. “You ever wonder why she wanted you to be a witch?”
“Okay, now, wait,” Amelia said. “You just insulted all three of us. If you haven’t noticed we are all witches.”
Cord smirked. “If the shoe fits.” He glanced over to me. “Except for you, Corina. You’re like the good witch from The Wizard of Oz.”
“Why thank you, Cord. I appreciate the love.”
He shrugged. “Don’t get used to it. The moment you become a Parker…all bets are off and you’re open game.”
My grin faded.
“Now, let’s get back to what I overheard. Whose ass do I need to beat for having sex with you?”
Waylynn lost it laughing. “Right. Because I’m only thirty-two years old, jerk-face.”
Cord attempted to sit on the bed but the bacon pushed into his chin.
“Besides, you don’t see me trying to run after every girl you poke your dick into,” Waylynn added.
“You’d be running all over Texas,” Amelia added.
“Don’t be jealous because I have a good sex life. I can’t help it if I like sex. It’s fun.”
Amelia put more green make-up on Waylynn’s face.
“You don’t have any desire to settle down with someone, Cord?” I asked.
He looked my way, tilted his head like he was really giving it thought. “None at all. I like the way my life is. If I met the right woman, would I settle down? Yes. But I’m young, in good shape, and I like to fuuu…ahh… Hey, Chloe! I see you’ve got Patches.”
All of us snapped our heads to find Chloe standing in the doorway, holding Patches the goat with a lead rope.
“Chloe Lynn Parker, you know you’re not allowed to have Patches in the house!” Waylynn said in a firm voice.
“But I’m the party planner. Daddy said I could invite whomever I wanted.”
“Not a goat, Chloe,” Amelia added.
Chloe’s eyes filled with tears. “I say Patches should be a part of the party.”
Everyone looked at me. “Chloe, I’m sure your Grammy won’t mind, as long as Patches stays outside, in case he has to go potty. We’ll be outside mostly anyway, so Patches won’t miss anything.”
The wide smile on Chloe’s face told me she was happy with this.
“You best get Patches out of the house before your mommy sees him, though,” I said with a wink.
“Okay!” Chloe said as she pulled on Patches’ lead.
Waylynn took a few steps back. “Do you see how the goat is looking at me? It’s like he knows I don’t like him.”
Cord laughed. “You did try to convince Wade to slaughter the poor thing.”
“Waylynn Parker!” Amelia gasped.
“I wasn’t serious,” Waylynn replied with a half shrug.
Cord lifted a brow and gave his sister a look that screamed he didn’t believe her.
“Fine. Maybe I was a little serious.”
“Hey, I came up to ask if you’ve talked to Jonathon the last couple of days?”
The three of us froze. Had Cord overheard our whole conversation? Was he fishing to get more information?
“Um, he stopped by the other day to check on the progress of the dance studio, but I didn’t have a chance to talk to him. I was with the interior designer. Why?”
Cord shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with him. He’s been acting strange and hasn’t been by the bar in weeks. I invited him to the party.”
“The party?” Waylynn asked. “This party? As in the birthday party?”
“Ah, yeah. Why? Do you have a problem with that?”
Waylynn let out a fake laugh. “Why would I have a problem with that?”
With a shrug, Cord replied, “You seemed like you didn’t want him here.”
Waving Cord off, Waylynn smiled. “Nonsense. Amelia, we better get this make-up finished.”
That was Cord’s cue to leave. “I’ll see y’all downstairs.”
Sinking down into the chair, Waylynn stared at herself in the mirror. She looked adorable, even with the green make-up.
“Well, Jonathon will take one look at me and probably be glad we only screwed once.?
??
Amelia and I looked at each other. Then I got an idea.
“Pigtails.”
“Little girls,” Amelia said with a laugh. “Your turn, Waylynn!”
“Um, what?”
I lightly pushed Amelia to the side. “No, we need to put Waylynn’s hair in pigtails.”
Waylynn stared at me. “Why in the hell would I put my hair in pigtails?”
Smiling, I pulled her hair down from her pony and started dividing it evenly on each side. “I had my hair in pigtails the other day, and when Mitchell got home from work something happened. He went all caveman and we…well…we had a bit of fun.”
With a huge smile on her face, Waylynn playfully said, “Oh, my, my. To think I thought you were the innocent one.”
“If you put your hair in pigtails, it will drive Jonathon insane. Y’all might even sneak away for a quickie!”
Amelia and Waylynn both looked at me with their mouths gaping.
“Who are you and what did you do with Corina Miller?” Amelia asked.
I giggled and pressed my lips together before saying, “What can I say? The Parker boys really are naughty cowboys.”
All three of us started laughing. I curled Waylynn’s pigtails a few times and then we were ready to go.
“I don’t want to sleep with him again, y’all,” Waylynn said as we headed downstairs. “It will never work between us.”
“Sure, keep telling yourself that,” Amelia replied.
When we walked outside, Amelia rushed over to Wade. “Excuse me, y’all. I need to dance with my hotter-than-hell husband.”
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Wade two-stepping with Chloe across the makeshift dance floor.
My eyes scanned the area until I saw Mitchell. He was dressed as a scarecrow, Chloe’s pick.
“Well, maybe I can at least find someone to dance with me,” Waylynn said, adjusting her black dress. The moment I saw Jonathon walk up the driveway, my heart dropped for Waylynn. He had a girl on his arm.
“Why don’t we head on over Paxton,” I said, trying to guide Waylynn away.
Paxton was also dressed like a witch, but had gotten out of painting her face green by using Gage as an excuse.
Right as we walked up, Cord looked past us.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
“Hey, there’s Jonathon. Jon! Hey, over here!”
Waylynn glanced over her shoulder, and it was hard not to notice her disappointment.
“He brought a date,” she whispered.
Amelia pulled Waylynn into the seat next to her. I sat down, and Mitchell sat on the other side of me.
“Wipe that look off your face right now, Waylynn,” Amelia said, pointing her finger at her sister.
Snapping out of it quickly, Waylynn smiled again. “Right. No big deal.”
I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Are you okay?” I asked in a hushed voice.
Nodding, Waylynn replied, “Yep. This is what I needed. A good kick in the ass to move on. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Mitchell leaned in closer to me and asked, “What’s going on? Waylynn didn’t seem too pleased to see Jonathon here.”
I faced Mitchell and forced a grin. “I’ll tell you later, but everything’s okay.”
He looked at me like he knew I wasn’t telling him the truth.
Everyone said hello to Jonathan and his date, Bethany. Even Waylynn was pleasant—and putting on a total show. I couldn’t help but notice how Jonathon kept stealing glances and peeks at Waylynn. There was no doubt in my mind; he liked Waylynn. A lot.
When Jonathon and Bethany sat down at the table, Waylynn jumped up and made her way across the room.
“What’s going on with Waylynn and Jon? He can’t keep his eyes off of my sister, and she can’t stop looking back at him. I know you know. Spill it,” Mitchell said.
Cheese and crackers.
I swallowed hard, trying to think of something to do or say that would alter the course of this conversation.
Leaning in, I placed my lips against Mitchell’s ear.
“I want you. Now.”
He drew back and smiled at me. “Oh yeah? You’re gonna have to do better at convincing me to change the subject. And you’re not getting me to leave yet another party.”
My cheeks heated. Moving in closer so no one would hear us, I whispered, “I want you to fuck me. Now.”
And like that, I’d worked my witchy magic, and Mitchell had forgotten all about Waylynn and Jonathon.
I walked into the kitchen and smiled when I saw my brothers and Wade sitting there.
“You ready for this shit?” Trevor asked before pushing a forkful of eggs into his mouth.
Mom reached across the table and slapped Trevor on the side of the head. “Do not swear at my table, Trevor Parker.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied with a wide grin.
“How are you liking your new job, Mitch?” Cord asked, leaning back in his chair with a cup of coffee.
“I’m sore as shi…um…I’m sore as heck,” I answered, peeking over to my grinning mother.
Trevor and Wade laughed.
“I forgot how much daily work goes into this place. I don’t know how you did it before Wade,” I said to Trevor.
“We made do with the other ranch hands and y’all when you could make it.”
A large plate of pancakes sat in the middle of the table along with bacon. Damn, it smelled good, and my stomach let me know how hungry I was.
Mom clapped her hands and said, “Eat up, boys. You’ve got a lot of work to do today.”
Steed walked into the kitchen with Chloe at his side.
“Good morning, uncles!” she shouted as she shot by us and made her way to Dad’s office.
Trevor laughed. “I see where the uncles fall in the order of most-loved.”
Mom laughed and added, “What about me? She ran right on by me.”
Steed kissed Mom on the cheek. “She loves you all equally. It’s just Dad has promised her she can drive one of the tractors today. Good Lord, that girl couldn’t even go to sleep last night she was so excited.”
Steed sat across from me.
“Eat up, Steed,” Mom said.
“No thanks, Mom. Paxton made us a big breakfast this morning.”
His eyes caught mine, and he smiled. He and Paxton were the only two who knew Corina and I were trying for a baby. “How’s the planning coming?” he asked.
Everyone else probably thought he meant the wedding planning, but I knew what the bastard was asking.
“It’s going great. Stayed up half the night working on it.”
Steed laughed and shook his head as he said, “Damn.”
Reaching for Steed’s hat, my mother took it off and set it on the long buffet table. She did the same thing with mine when she walked by.
“You boys know better than to keep those hats on during breakfast.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we said together.
Our mom sat down and glanced around the table. Anytime she had all her boys there, she went in for the kill. We were all holding our breath, waiting to see who would be the first victim.
“Wade, how are things going with you and Amelia?”
The rest of my brothers and I breathed matching sighs of relief.
Poor Wade’s head snapped up like he had been called to attention. “Things are going amazing, Mrs…”
She tilted her head and held up a finger.
“Melanie. Things are going great.”
“Do y’all have the house where you want it yet? I haven’t been there in a few weeks, I’d love to stop by.”
Wade nodded. “Please do. I know Amelia would love that. Her office on the second floor is finished. The only things we really have left to do are the guest bedrooms and the kitchen.”
Wade shifted over to me to throw the conversation. Bastard. He was a quick learner. “How about you, Mitchell? Y’all getting your place fixed up?
”
I took a bite of toast and nodded. “Yeah, it’s coming along. We didn’t have much to do. A little bit of painting. Corina has been focusing on her old place, getting it ready to make into a bed and breakfast.”
“I just love that idea!” Mom said. “Now, is her mother still coming down next week for Thanksgiving?”
“She sure is.”
“Good! I can’t wait to talk to her about the wedding.”
I flashed my mother a smile. Before I focused back on my food, I caught Cord giving me a shit-eating grin.
“What?” I asked.
“Dude, I still can’t believe you’re getting married. I mean, Tripp I can see getting married ‘cause the bastard is getting old and all.”
“Hey!” Tripp said. “You do know I’m only four years older than you, Cord.”
Cord ignored Tripp and kept talking. “But man, oh man, never imagined Mitchell would be settling down.”
“He’s found love,” Trevor said with a laugh.
Steed grinned widely as he took a drink of coffee. “Y’all wait until it happens to you. You’re gonna be knocked flat on your asses.”
“Language, boys,” Mom purred happily. She loved having us all together.
“I’m not afraid of love.” Cord stated. “I mean, I don’t want to walk around looking like a Smurf all the time.”
My mother wore a confused expression. Leaning over, I whispered, “Let it go, Mom. Trust me.”
She nodded.
“When love comes walking through my door I’ll let it in. But it ain’t happening anytime soon,” Cord announced.
Trevor lifted his glass of orange juice. “I’m with Cord. This cowboy plans on living it up for as long as he can.”
Mom cleared her throat. “And by living it up, what exactly do you mean, Trevor?”
His smile dropped. “Um. You know.”
She folded her hands in her lap, and I tried like hell not to laugh. “No, I don’t know. Why don’t you fill your mama in on this plan. Seems to me like it’s time you found yourself a nice girl to date.”
Dropping his fork to his plate, he sat back. “I’m not going out with her.”
“Why not? Trevor, she is a sweet girl!”
“Who are we talking about?” Tripp asked, looking between Mom and Trevor.
Trevor pointed to Mom, grimacing. “Our mother has been trying to fix me up with one of her friend’s daughters. She went to some fancy school in Austin for high school, then went off to Boston for college and is now back in Oak Springs.”