“Is Chelsea running on you?”
“No, no. Nothing like that.” Dallas hadn’t even considered that possibility. He wasn’t sure he gave a damn. “I want to check out Dusty O’Donovan. There’s got to be some reason why she ran away from Zach.”
“I had thought the same thing. The girl’s in love with him. I’d bank on it.”
“Then let’s see what we can find out, okay?”
“Sure. I’ll call Larry as soon as I get back home. He ain’t cheap, though.”
“Who cares?”
“Not me.” Chad laughed. “I’ll get in touch with you tomorrow after I talk to him.”
“Great.”
“No problem.”
Dallas breathed in and swallowed a gulp of air. “Hey…Chad?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you and Zach really hate me growing up?”
“Dallas, what the hell are you talking about?”
It was now or never for Dallas. He wanted to end his estrangement with his brothers. Chelsea had always been against him being close to his family. Yeah, that was reason enough to repair the bridge. He sighed into the phone. “You and he are so close, and I’m the odd man out all the time. I know I’m five years older than Zach and eight years older than you, but…”
“Brother, I’m gonna need a drink if we’re trekking down memory lane.”
“You want to meet me somewhere?”
“Whoa. You really want to talk, don’t you?”
Dallas nodded, though he knew Chad couldn’t see him. “Yeah. I think I do.”
“You want me to call Zach?”
“Nah. He’s got enough on his mind. I’ll grab a bottle of Macallan out of the cabinet and meet you at your place. Will that work?”
“Sure enough. I’m on my way there now. You eaten?”
“Nope.”
“I’ll pick up a bucket of chicken. See you there in about half an hour.”
“Sounds good.” He hung up, deposited the phone in his pocket, and turned to see his wife. When had she come in?
“Who were you talking to, Dallas?”
“Chad. I’m meeting him over at his place for dinner and a drink.”
“Oh. I didn’t realize you had made plans.”
“Just made them two minutes ago. Did you need me here for anything?”
“Well”—she fidgeted—“I was sort of hoping we could have dinner together.”
“We haven’t had dinner together in months, Chelsea, except when we were in Denver.”