“What the hell are you doing here?” Ross drew the blanket up and tucked it beneath Elisabeth’s arms. She loved that he took care of her before sitting up and facing his brother with a frustrated sigh. “What time is it?”
“Half-past a monkey’s ass and time for you to get your scrawny ass up.” Jake flopped into a chair and sighed. “Elisabeth, right? Nice to meet you.”
“Hi.” Oh. My. God. I’m naked.
“I might get up if I had a stitch of clothing on.” Ross’s lips spread into a smile.
“Shit.” Jake went inside mumbling about coffee. Elisabeth heard him take the stairs two at a time, then bound back down and return with a pair of Ross’s shorts. He tossed them at him, and Ross caught them in one hand. “I guess this means the ex is out of the picture?”
Elisabeth felt her cheeks flush. “He was never in the picture.”
“There was good money being bet about the outcome of that,” Jake said. “Good thing I bet on the right side of the fence.”
“Christ.” Ross pulled Elisabeth against his side and kissed her temple. “Where have you been all night?”
Jake’s lips quirked up. “You want all the juicy details?”
“Oh, hell no.”
“Tate had somewhere to be today, so he asked me to help you with your…thing,” Jake said.
“My thing?” Ross wrinkled his forehead.
“Something he was supposed to bring to Mom’s this morning? I brought it here. I figured you guys would be asleep and it would be a nice surprise. It’s up by the road. I didn’t want to wake you, which is why I came creeping around your house.”
“What thing?” Elisabeth was totally confused.
Ross stepped into his shorts and reached for her hand. He held the blanket tight against her body and slid Jake a look that could only be read as, Don’t even think about looking at my girlfriend’s naked body. That look was new, and she loved it.
“I had a little something fixed up for you,” Ross explained.
“You did? Ross, you didn’t have to do that.”
He tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s barely a token of what you deserve for how hard you work.”
“All this lovey-dovey stuff is cool and all, but do you mind if I make coffee?” Jake asked.
“I should get dressed anyway.” Elisabeth gathered the blanket around her and hurried inside.
“Nice tat,” Jake said as his eyes rolled down Elisabeth’s back.
“Shut the fuck up.” Ross kissed Elisabeth and pulled the blanket up higher on her back.
“Probably a good idea since we switched breakfast to your house, and everyone will be here any minute.” Jake headed for the kitchen.
“What? Why? And how come nobody told me?” Ross brought the dogs in and closed the door, then followed Elisabeth and Jake into the kitchen.
“It wasn’t planned. I texted Em to see if I could crash at her place for a few hours so I didn’t wake Mom, and she said Mom’s up because she was baking for the fair. She asked me if I did…the thing…and when I said I was about to, she said she’d get everyone and meet here.” Jake shrugged.
“At six in the morning?”
“Well, I told them to come closer to six thirty in case you weren’t here and I had to, I don’t know, break into Elisabeth’s or something because you didn’t hear me knock at the door. I needed a little leeway.”
“You’re unbelievable.” Ross turned to Elisabeth. “I guess you should shower, babe. I’ll be up in a sec.”
On her way upstairs, she heard Jake’s voice. “Bro, go with her. I’m a big boy.”
She stood on the stairs listening to them for a minute. Maybe she should be bothered by Jake showing up unannounced at the crack of dawn, but Elisabeth grew up without brothers and sisters, and with a mother who was more interested in being pampered than taking part in family-oriented activities. She loved the way Ross and his brothers pitched in and took care of one another and helped out with those they loved. She even enjoyed their gruff brotherly banter. Jake’s showing up just proved how close they were.
By seven o’clock there was so much testosterone in the house that Elisabeth, Daisy, Callie, Emily, and Catherine escaped to the back deck. Knight lay at Elisabeth’s feet as the girls sipped coffee and talked. It was a brisk, sunny morning. The birds chirped, and the dogs played with Sweets in the yard.
“I heard Jake was looking for Fiona last night,” Emily said just above a whisper.
“Oh, no.” Catherine leaned in closer. “Is that why he didn’t come home last night?”
“No, he was with someone else,” Emily said. “But I know he was looking for her because I stopped at the diner this morning and Margie asked me if Jake caught up with Fiona.”
“Well, from what I’ve heard from Luke, she would have been just another conquest if he had, even if she was his long-lost love. Luke seems to think Jake will never find that part of himself again. That he’ll never allow himself to fall in love again,” Daisy said. “So it’s probably a good thing. Rumors around here. Sheesh. Can you imagine?”
“I don’t know. Braden love runs deep, and he never did get over her,” Emily said.
Silence settled in around them, and Elisabeth tried to break the tension.
“So, who was your money on last night? Ross or…?” Elisabeth asked Emily.
“What money?” Emily furrowed her brow, but Elisabeth saw the way her fingers tightened on her coffee mug.
“Mine was on you and Ross,” Daisy answered.
“Mine, too,” Callie said.
“I refused to feed into it,” Catherine said. “But if I had, my money would have been on you and Ross.”
“Oh, that money.” Emily shrugged and shifted her eyes away.
Elisabeth gasped. “You thought I’d leave Ross? After I told you how I felt about him?”
“Actually, I bet double or nothing on you and Ross.”
Elisabeth swatted her arm. “You…That was so unfair.”
“If you’re going to be in this family, you’d better grow thicker skin,” Daisy said with a little nudge.
Luke and Jake came flying out the door. They were a tangle of arms and big, burly bodies as they pushed past Elisabeth, weaved around Daisy and Emily, and leaped off the deck. Jake tackled Luke as Wes ran out the doors, past Elisabeth and Daisy—stopping for half a second to kiss Callie—dove off the deck, and piled on. Ross walked leisurely out of the house and handed Elisabeth his coffee mug. He kissed her lips and sighed.
“It’s that time, I suppose.” Within seconds he was rolling around on the grass with his brothers as they wrestled and laughed and pinned one another down.
Callie turned her back and covered her eyes. “I can’t watch. I’m always afraid someone’s going to break a bone.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Daisy assured her. “My medical degree will be put to good use with these guys around.”
Elisabeth watched Ross wrestle with Jake. They stopped, midtackle, and stared each other down. It lasted only a second or two, and then they were mangling each other once again. She smiled at them. Ross looked so happy, and she loved seeing this playful side of him.
“This is what family’s all about.” Elisabeth sipped Ross’s coffee, happy as could be. She had a man she adored and she was surrounded by the nicest friends a girl could ever ask for.
“Okay, boys, time to stop.” Catherine marched off the porch in a pair of blue capris and a white blousy shirt and stood over the pile of men, hands firmly planted on her hips.
All four men stopped cold and shared a knowing look. In the next breath, they had Catherine up in the air, her butt on Luke’s and Wes’s shoulders. The dogs barked at them.
“Put. Me. Down!” Catherine’s smile was priceless.
Elisabeth couldn’t imagine her mother ever looking so carefree and happy, and she felt sad. Not as much for herself as for her mother. She wished her mother were happier, but she knew that wasn’t something she could do anything about. Happiness, she knew, came from within first; others only enlivened the feelings that were already present.
“To the driveway!” Emily hollered.
They carried Catherine out to the driveway, and when they set her on the ground, she hugged each one of them, then immediately swatted their backsides with a loving hand.
“I’m too old for that. I could have broken a hip,” Catherine said through her laughter.
Daisy raised her hand. “That’s what I’m here for.”
Ross laced his fingers in Elisabeth’s and pressed a kiss to them.
“My money was on us, too.” Ross reached into his pocket and pulled out her aunt’s key chain.
She looked at the keys, then back up at Ross. “I don’t understand.”
“Come on.” He led her down the driveway, and like the Pied Piper leading mice, the others followed along.
“I never got rid of the van. I knew how much it meant to you, and my intention was just to fix it up for your pie deliveries, but then you started the pet business.” He shrugged and pointed behind the berm of trees.
There, on the other side of the trees, sat her aunt’s van, repainted bright pink. It had bold black lettering on the side that read, TRUSTY PIES & PET PAMPERING, along with a picture of a dog—complete with bows on her collar—sitting on its hind legs, holding a pie in one paw.