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Mackenzie’s cheeks suddenly turned a soft shade of pink as she looked away. “Okay, I hate to admit this to you, but…I googled him last night. Do you realize how wealthy his family is in Texas? I mean, gas, oil, cattle, real estate—it’s insane!”
“Don’t feel bad, I did the same thing. I guess, in a way, I can’t blame Beck’s grandfather for worrying about who dated his daughter. I don’t think Uncle Beck ever told his girlfriend that he came from a wealthy family himself. I wonder if that would have changed her father’s mind?”
Mackenzie gave a one-shoulder shrug. “We’ll never know.”
“Yeah, I think that’s the saddest part of all. I can’t imagine growing up and not really knowing much about my father.” I looked up and met Mackenzie’s eyes. “Oh—I’m so sorry, Mackenzie. That was so selfish of me to say that.”
She gave me a warm smile. “You don’t have to apologize. I knew my father and have fond memories of him. I know my life and Emily’s would have been completely different. But that isn’t the way things worked out. Speaking of Emily, have you two talked about your business venture?”
“Not yet. I sent her a text. Since she’s still in New York, we’re going to try to meet up for zoom lunch next weekend with my mother and father to talk about when we can start planting. I’m so excited, though. Blayze set up a meeting for me with their tech guy at the community center on Monday. He’s going to talk to me about building a website and social media and all of that. I asked Emily if she wanted me to wait for her to get here, but she told me she was fine with me getting things rolling.”
“That’s wonderful, Avery. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thank you! I can’t wait for Emily to get here! We both want to start planting all the flowers!”
“You know I’m here to help with whatever you need.”
“I’m going to take you up on that. It’s not every day your brother’s girlfriend is an expert in growing all the things.”
She laughed.
The back door opened, and my father walked into the kitchen first, followed by my brother and, finally, Beck. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of him. His brown hair looked like he’d run his fingers through it a number of times. And when his blue eyes looked up and met mine, I felt my knees go weak.
Oh dear. You are falling, Avery…you are falling.
“Hi,” Beck greeted, walking over and kissing me lightly on the cheek. “You look beautiful.”
I glanced down at the jeans and sweater I had on, then back up at him. “Thanks. You look…” Feeling the heavy gazes of my father, brother, and Mackenzie, I finished, “Great. It looks like you’re ready to meet your family.”
Beck smiled, and my heart did a strange little jump in my chest. That was new. I’d never felt that before. I had to force my hand to stay at my side and not rub at my chest. I did, however, wipe my hands on my jeans when I realized they had gotten sweaty. What in the hell was that all about?
“I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Don’t worry,” Bradly said. “Grams and Grandpa are going to welcome you with open arms. There’ll probably be some kissing and serious hugging. Then phone calls will be made, the rest of the Shaw clan will show up, and you’ll be totally overwhelmed.”
“Bradly!” Mackenzie and I both said at the same time.
My brother laughed, and Beck tried to keep a smile on his face, but I could see he was nervous.
“Don’t listen to him, Beck,” my father said with an evil-looking grin. “They, at least, won’t insist on a game night for you to meet everyone.”
“Daddy,” I warned as I hit his arm. “Don’t even suggest it.”
Beck looked around at everyone. “I feel like I’m missing something.”
Bradly laughed. “Trust us, you don’t want to know about game night. Not yet.”
My mother walked into the room as everyone, except for Beck, started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” she asked.
“Wish I knew. Something about game night.”
Making her way over to Beck, she wrapped her arm around his. “Trust me, you’re not ready for game night.”
As they walked past me, Beck gave me the most adorable look of confusion, and at that moment, something inside of me changed. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it sure didn’t feel like friendship.
Chapter Six
BECK
Driving around Dirk’s cattle ranch had brought me so much peace. A warm, content feeling I got when I was on the family ranch I felt while driving around this ranch. Of course, it helped that both Dirk and Bradly treated me as if they’d known me for years. I made plans to go with Bradly tomorrow to feed a herd of cattle, and I was honestly looking forward to it. On my family’s cattle ranch, there were so many longtime hands employed, and it had taken me years to gain their trust. It took getting in the trenches with them and doing the hard work, which I loved.
