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“Of course I’m alive.” Charlotte shook her head as she rolled her eyes. “I text you all the time.” She continued inside, where the scent of freshly baked bread lingered.
“Mason’s grilling tonight,” she said. “Ella helped me with the potato salad, and I made rolls, of course.”
“It smells great.”
“Did you want to make strawberry jam for real?” Felicity asked. “I got all the stuff, but it’s okay if you don’t want to.”
“I do,” Charlotte said. “Beau doesn’t eat jam, and I had to resort to buying it from the grocery store.”
Felicity blinked at her like such a thing wasn’t even possible. “We’ll make sure to get it done today. I just—no jam?”
Charlotte giggled and shook her head. “No jam.”
“I don’t even see how he’s Texan.”
“He’s from New Mexico,” Charlotte said.
“Sounds like you two are getting along.” Felicity led the way into the kitchen and opened a cupboard to get down plates. “Garrett, Kennedy, time to set the table. Alice, you’re on napkin duty.”
Ella came inside and put Charlotte’s brown bag on the counter. “I’ll go help Daddy with the chicken.”
“Take the platter,” Felicity said after her, and Ella turned back to grab it before she headed outside. Charlotte got out silverware for the kids to use to set the table, and she wasn’t expecting Felicity to go back to questioning her.
“Sounds like you and Beau are getting along,” Felicity said in a forced casual way.
Charlotte jerked her head up. “Uh, yeah. He’s nice. Great.” She pressed her eyes closed. Nice? Great? What a disaster her mouth had just walked into.
Because Felicity knew her, and she’d heard the lame words Charlotte had just used. “Char….”
“We’re dating,” she said, the words just flying from her. “And I know it’s a little crazy, but it doesn’t feel that crazy to me when I’m there in the cabin with him, and I’m the one who has to handle it, so it’s fine.” She glanced over to Garrett as he picked up the stack of forks, and Charlotte’s eyes moved to the back door to see if Mason was coming inside.
“I know Mason’s going to flip his lid,” Charlotte said. “But he doesn’t get to decide. I like Beau. He’s sweet, and handsome, and hard-working. He’s got these mini donkeys that he loves, and all his cowboys do whatever he asks, because they respect and like him.”
“He sounds nice,” Felicity teased, and Charlotte’s pulse relaxed.
“Could you tell Mason?”
“Heavens, no,” Felicity said. “Believe it or not, your brother just wants what’s best for you.”
“Yeah, sure,” Charlotte said as the back door opened. Ella came inside with a platter of grilled, glistening-with-barbecue-sauce chicken, which meant Mason wouldn’t be far behind. “I just wish he wouldn’t growl so much in the process.”
Felicity laughed, but she knew she’d married a grumpy cowboy. Somehow, he softened for her, and they did love each other fiercely.
“Chicken’s off,” Mason said as he came inside with another plate, this one piled with steak. “We’re ready.”
“So are we,” Felicity said, taking a moment to keep her gaze locked on Charlotte before she faced her husband. “Remember, we haven’t seen Char for weeks, and we don’t want to scare her off again.”
“You didn’t scare me off before,” Charlotte said, though her pulse did drop to her toes with one look at her brother.
His eyebrows had already drawn themselves into a V, and he looked from Felicity to her. “Scare her off? I don’t scare her off.”
“Do too,” Felicity said. “Now, everyone come sit down. It’s time to eat. Alice, just bring the rest over. It’s time to eat.”
The kids started to gather around the table, most of them asking about the steak and whether they could have it or not. But Mason stayed in the kitchen, the plate of meat between them. “Charlotte?”
“I’m dating Beau.” She looked straight at him, feeling stronger than she had in a long time. Her heart beat steadily, the way she imagined it did for someone without a health problem. “It’s going pretty great, actually, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t ruin this for me.”
His mouth dropped open, and oh, a furious fire raged in this eyes.
