Garber. Paxton’s fiancée.”
Elias removed his hat and bowed from the waist. “It’s a pleasure, ma’am. I’m Elias, Paxton’s brother.”
“Yes, Paxton said he had six brothers.”
“And you’ll get to meet every one of us.”
“I’m so excited,” she gushed like a little girl. “I’ve never been on a ranch and I can’t wait to meet everyone.”
Elias thumbed toward Quincy. “This here’s Quincy, another brother.”
Lisa fanned her face. “My, so many handsome brothers. What’s a girl to do?”
“Nice to meet you,” Quincy said, and wondered what it was about the woman that annoyed him. It didn’t take long for him to figure it out. Her voice, sort of a sugary squeal that could get real tedious. When a woman looked like Lisa, though, the voice didn’t matter. He was sure Paxton would agree.
“Have you seen Paxton?” she asked.
“Isn’t he upstairs with you?” Elias nodded upstairs.
Lisa leaned over and whispered, “Your mother wouldn’t let us sleep together in her house. That’s really old-fashioned, but Paxton said we had to follow her rules and I didn’t want to make waves. I really missed my Teddy Bear.”
Elias laughed before he could stop himself and then coughed and tried to cover it up.
“I’m sure he’s at the bunkhouse,” Quincy told her.
“Oh, is that where the cowboys live?”
“Sort of.”
Quincy had a suspicious feeling Paxton hadn’t told this woman a thing about his life, except that he was a rodeo cowboy who lived in Texas on a big ranch.
Paxton came through from the kitchen, interrupting the conversation. Quincy and Elias stared. It wasn’t often they saw Paxton dressed up. He wore starched jeans and a white starched shirt and his hair was slicked back. Quincy could swear he smelled cologne.
A fun and exciting bull rider, and a ladies’ man to boot, Paxton could smooth talk any woman into anything he wanted.
“Hey, babe.” He took Lisa into his arms and they shared a long kiss.
“There’s a bedroom upstairs,” Elias said with a snicker in his voice.
Paxton turned to them. “Quincy, talk to Mom about her rules. I don’t want to sleep away from Lisa.”
Quincy shrugged. “Her house. Her rules. You can always sleep in the bun—”
“That’s okay,” Paxton cut him off, and Quincy knew his brother had definitely not told Lisa where he really lived. But that wasn’t his problem and Quincy was going with his plan to get away from the party as soon as he could.
As he walked toward the kitchen, he thought Paxton had traded something real for something fluff. But then Paxton always went for the looks. Beautiful women gravitated toward him and he took advantage of that. Jenny was beautiful in a natural, sweet way that would last a lifetime. It was a shame Paxton couldn’t see that.
His mom made sandwiches for lunch and introduced Lisa to the family. Quincy went back to the house to check on Grandpa, needing to get away from the circus.
“You have to wear your white shirt tonight, Grandpa.”
“Fiddle-faddle. I can wear what I want.”
“Mama wants everyone to look nice.”
“Then, I really will wear whatever I please.”
His mom and Grandpa didn’t get along, which was a source of tension for the whole family. Quincy hoped his grandpa would comply, but that was like whistling Dixie in Bangor, Maine. No one was listening or cared.
The day passed quickly and Quincy made several trips to the house to help his mother, as did all his brothers. The food was ready and the tables were set. Now they waited for the guests to arrive. Quincy even managed to get Grandpa into his white shirt and nice boots. Quincy also wore his best duds.
Eden and Phoenix were in charge of music and had the stereo blaring loudly in the den. Falcon’s wife, Leah, his daughter, Eden, and Egan’s wife, Rachel, had decorated the house, and everything looked festive with streamers, balloons and candles. Guests started to arrive and his mother, Paxton and Lisa went to the front door to greet them.
Although Quincy was busy handing out drinks, he kept one eye on the door, hoping Jenny wouldn’t make an appearance. Phoenix was up to his usual tricks in the den. After supper, he rolled back the area rug and he and Eden started dancing. Paxton and Lisa joined them.
Before the crowd got too noisy, his mother called everyone to attention and welcomed Lisa into the family again. They clapped and cheered and Phoenix turned up the music. The party was on.
Quincy was serving beers to some rodeo guys when he noticed Jenny at the front door. His heart sank. This wasn’t good. Paxton and Lisa were dancing close together to a slow number and Phoenix, Eden and Zane were clapping and cheering. Jenny, in jeans and boots, a look on her face Quincy had never seen before, walked straight toward them.
His mother motioned to Quincy and Quincy groaned inwardly. Why was this his battle? Being a dutiful son, he walked toward his mother.
“Do something,” she whispered. “Jenny doesn’t need to be here. She’s going to get hurt.”
“Mom, I don’t know what I can do.”
She gave him one of those looks he knew well.
“Okay.”
The music stopped as Jenny walked up to the couple. Paxton and Lisa drew apart and came face-to-face with Jenny.
Color drained from Paxton’s face and sweat popped out on his forehead.
“I’m Jenny Walker. Congratulations.” She held out her hand.
“Thank you,” Lisa replied, taking the outstretched hand. “Are you a friend of Paxton’s?”
“I dated him for over fifteen years.”
Not a sound was heard in the room as Jenny made the declaration. Even the half-drunk cowboys went quiet. Quincy paused behind Jenny. She had a right to say what she wanted and he wasn’t going to stop her.
“Oh.” Lisa looked at Paxton.
“Jenny...”
“You remembered my name. How nice. It would have been nice if you’d had the guts to answer my calls and I wouldn’t have had to come here.”
“Jenny, this isn’t the time—”
“No, it isn’t. I would’ve had the decency to call you if I had fallen in love with someone else. It’s a shame you didn’t feel the same way. Fifteen years of my life I shared with you and it didn’t matter.”
