Page 90 of Bailey

Bailey nodded and stepped in to hug her brother. When she’d left town, she’d left him too, and in fact, she’d been closer to Stockton than her brother. Of course, he’d been away at college quite a bit, and had just finished up his Master of Business Administration with a minor in Electrical Science.

When the Whittakers had joined her and her mother’s life, they’d brought Springside Energy, their family company, with them. Graham had been running it for almost thirty years now, and seeing as how he’d be turning seventy at the very beginning of next year, he’d finally decided to retire.

Bailey’s phone went off, and she glanced at it on the kitchen counter, catching the notification that her mother had sent a message. “She’s here,” she said, and she led the way outside to help Momma with the desserts.

Reeves pulled up as they were getting out cake boxes and plastic clam shells with tarts and croissants in them. Bailey immediately abandoned the cartons she’d already picked up to go greet him.

“Hey,” she said as he dropped out of the truck. He curled one arm around her and leaned down as he drew her close to kiss her. “Thanks for coming over.”

“You said there’d be a free meal. What man in his right mind wouldn’t come?”

Bailey giggled and cuddled into his chest as she turned toward her mom and Ronnie. Ronnie hadn’t been at the family barbecue a few weeks ago, and she found him watching her with wide eyes and his chin practically on the ground.

“Stop it,” she said to him. “Ronnie, this is Reeves. I told you he was my boyfriend.”

“Clearly,” he said, and he stepped forward. “It’s great to meet you, man.”

“You too,” Reeves said. “And if I remember right, you’re what? Eight or ten years younger than Bailey?”

“Eight and a half,” Ronnie said. “I’ll be twenty-eight early next year.”

“That’s right,” Reeves said.

“How are you, Reeves?” Momma asked, and she took Bailey’s place in his embrace and swept a kiss across his cheek.

“I’m doing great, ma’am,” he said. “I’m here to eat, and Bailey said I can give my opinion, but I think I should let you know that right now I’m not going to do that.”

“You’re not?” Bailey asked, surprised. “Why not?”

He grinned at her. “I’m just going to agree with whatever you say.”

Ronnie laughed, and Momma gave him a kind smile, and then turned to her SUV. “Well, it would be great if you could help us inside with these desserts. They gave us so many.”

While Bailey had seen firsthand what money could do over the years, it bloomed to life in front of her again. Momma had originally wanted to have the retirement party at Whiskey Mountain Lodge, but Bailey had said there would be no way they could fit everyone who knew and loved Daddy and who wanted to come celebrate with him.

She’d convinced them to book The Oaken Barrel, which actually had an on-site hotel for people who needed to stay overnight, and the party-goers could easily flow from one room to another for dinner, a meet and greet, and then dancing. Daddy supposedly didn’t know anything about the event, though Bailey doubted that Momma could keep it a secret much longer. After all, Uncle Beau knew, and he didn’t keep secrets very well.

She took the remaining deserts and managed to close the back of her mom’s SUV before following everyone into her house. “You don’t have the dogs,” she said to Reeves when she realized his canines hadn’t mobbed her.

“Nah, I left them out on the farm,” he said. “Because nobody needs a canine begging them when they’re doing a party meal-tasting.” He grinned at her as he slid the desserts onto her counter.

A high-pitched bark filled the house, and all eyes turned to the little white dog Bailey had brought home. “Well, that’s too bad,” she said. “Because I was going to introduce Miss Hydrangea here to your dogs, and see how she did.”

“Oh, she’s adorable,” Momma gushed, as she too had a soft spot for strays and rescues. In fact, she’d taken some of Georgia Young’s dogs just a couple of years ago, and Bailey had thought her crazy for doing it.

Hydrangea was a fluffy little white dog, a Maltese mix, though Bailey wasn’t exactly sure what mix of genes she had.

“Wow, this is a really nice dog to be a stray,” Ronnie said.

“She’s not a stray,” Bailey said. “Her family was moving and couldn’t rehome her, so they brought her to the clinic.” Bailey swooped in and picked up the little dog. “I’m thinking of keeping her.”

“You absolutely should,” Momma said as she ran both hands down the side of Hydrangea’s face. Bailey grinned at the dog, and then her mother, finally moving her gaze to Reeves.

“But I kind of need to know how she fits in with Sir and Pansy.”

“Oh-ho, she doesn’t fit in with Sir and Pansy,” Reeves said with a grin. “She’s a tiny little thing. Can you imagine me picking up Sir like that?” He laughed, and Bailey joined him.

“If you two can stop flirting for five seconds, we can start eating.” Ronnie got plates out of Bailey’s kitchen cupboards and threw a handful of forks onto the table as well. He faced her and Reeves, a semi-disgusted look on his face.