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“I have a couple of half sisters,”she murmured. “I should go and find Tally to see if she needs me tonight.”
A tall guy with a The Barn T-shirt on walked up,placing a couple of napkins in front of them. “Hey, Livie. New Girl. Tally’snot in tonight. Are you Nicole?”
She nodded.
He winced. “I’m sorry. I was supposed to call to let youknow everyone came in tonight.”
Damn it. She’d come all the way for nothing. Now she wouldactually be in the hole.
“Sorry. I got caught up in the rush. She told me not toexpect you until around midnight and you’re early,” he said. “How about somefries? On the house.”
Olivia groaned. “We can do better than that. Nicole here ismy brothers’ latest crush, so I thought I would get to know her. We’re going toneed a pitcher of margaritas and some nachos.”
Wait. What? “Your brother?”
“Brothers,” Olivia corrected. “There are two of them, thoughyou should know one is more of a found-family brother meaning my dad found himhiding out in one of the dorms because he got kicked out of his house.”
The waiter huffed. “Best fucking day of Grim’s life. I thinkabout it a lot. That boy went from a nasty cult movie set to the nicest familyin the county. And he got to have Abigail Barnes as his new momma. She could bemy momma any day.”
“Eww,” Olivia protested with a frown. “She’s my actualmomma, you know, Ed.”
Ed winked her way. “And you look it, Liv. I’ll get thosenachos in.”
“I’m sorry. I’m confused. I haven’t met your brothers.”
Olivia shrugged. “Yeah, sometimes you don’t need to. Butthey’re great guys, and I think they would like to get to know you. And thenachos and margs are totally on me. Unless you wantto head back to the rattrap and spend the evening counting the meth deals. Thatcould be fun, too. Or you could let me ply you with liquor and we could dance,and at some point my brothers will show up because they totally saw you walkingin here. It’s why I hustled you away. If they got to you first, I wouldn’t havethe opportunity to get to know you. So, half siblings. Were they evil?”
Nicole sat there for a moment. The smart move would be towalk away because this woman confused her, and she wasn’t sure she could trustthe whole big sis/best friend vibe she was giving off.
Would it hurt to sit here and have a margarita and talk tosomeone interesting? She wasn’t even considering the whole gorgeous cowboys hada crush on her thing. Again, she wasn’t about to come between two brothers. Butit might be fun to dance and pretend like she wasn’t in a Lifetime movie for anight. She could pretend she was in another movie. A comedy.
“We don’t have to talk about your family, if you don’t wantto.” Olivia’s voice had gone softer, like she was trying to coax a scaredpuppy. “We could talk about something else. I have a lot of crazy stories aboutmy brothers.”
“They were kind of evil.” No one had asked about her inforever. She’d become invisible, and it felt good for a moment to be seen. Andshe didn’t want to count the meth deals. “Like from birth, I think. You knowmost babies are sweet and cute, but my stepsisters were crazy demanding, andthat did not stop as they grew up. They can throw a fit, if you know what Imean, and I’m talking about as teens. I was in college by then. I had to workfull time, too. My dad used my college fund as a down payment on an SUV.Because he knew I wouldn’t mind. I minded.”
“That’s awful. I have to admit, despite the fact that Icomplain about the amount of my parents’ public displays of affection, they areawesome,” Olivia said as Ed placed a pitcher of margaritas in front of them.
“Jack and Sam and Abby are all kinds of awesome. Don’t letthe pearl clutchers of the town tell you otherwise,”Ed said with a nod as he started pouring a drink for Nicole. “I have no ideawhere this town would be without the Barnes-Fleetwood family.”
So they probably did a ton of charity work. It alreadysounded like they’d taken in a kid who needed a home. But she was confused.“Your dad’s name is Jackson Sam? That’s unusual.”
Olivia’s lips curled up, and Ed laughed as he finishedpouring her drink.
He stepped back, holding his hands up. “And I will leave youto the explanations. The nachos will be right up, ladies.”
Olivia shook her head. “Nope. Jack and Sam. As in JackBarnes and Sam Fleetwood.”
Her parents were two guys. That was totally cool with her.“That’s nice. It’s probably hard in a small town. Is Abigail your birth mom?”
“She is,” Olivia agreed. “She’s also married to my dads. I’m going to lay this out to you so there’s notiptoeing around it. Everyone in town knows, but I rather thought you mightnot. You seem to keep to yourself. My parents are a threesome and have beensince before I was born. They’re married and committed to each other.”
Nicole felt a smile cross her face. Like a kinky romancenovel. “That’s cool. Like, good for your mom.”
Olivia laughed. “That is the reaction I was hoping for.”
“I don’t judge. Never. Love is love, and if it doesn’t hurtanyone else, I say go for it. Besides, if your parents have been together forthat long, they sure as hell beat my mom and dad’s traditional marriage andequally traditional divorce.”
“Our parents are anything but traditional,” a deep voicesaid, and she found herself turning and looking up into green eyes that shecould get lost in. Josh gave her a smile and frowned his sister’s way. “Ithought you were here to meet friends.”
