Chapter 8
Dylan
“Are you feeling alright, bro?” Levi asked me. He nudged my arm with the tip of his elbow. “You’ve hardly touched your potato salad. I’ll have you know I spent all day making it.”
I patted my little brother on the back. “It’s delicious, buddy. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
It wasn’t a lie, either. Between the boisterous and lively discussion between my eldest brother Boone and my brother-in-law Logan about the upcoming rainfall warning, Clay and Brody playing rock, paper, scissors over who got the last bread roll, and my nieces and nephews running about on their sugar highs from Irene’s cupcake dessert, it was frankly too loud and busy to sort out my thoughts.
Try as I might, I couldn’t stop thinking about Julia. Our almost kiss at the restaurant, how good she looked wrapped in Cash’s arms, and then her hasty getaway.
It had been almost a full day since the three of us heard anything from her. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.
“I think I know what the problem is,” Irene teased from the other side of the table. She was seated between Robin, Clay’s wife, and Liv, Boone’s.
“Do tell,” Levi replied.
Irene leaned in and smirked. “I think Dyl’s got a crush on someone,” she whispered conspiratorially.
“Ooh,” Brody’s wife, Kate, cooed. “Now that you mention it, hedoeslook like a lovesick puppy.”
I was stone-faced. “I’m not going to dignify that with a response.”
“You’re not denying it,” Boone said from the head of the table. “I think that’s proof enough.”
Robin snorted. “As Sunville’s sheriff, I guarantee you that line of thinking would never fly in court.”
Clay kissed her on the cheek. “Sure, but this is the Callaghan Court. Things work differently around these parts.”
“Who’s the girl?” Levi asked. “Do we know her?”
I sighed, smooshing a bit of potato salad under my fork out of spite. “No,” I grumbled.
“It was that lady from the other night,” Irene said. “The one you and your friends brought to my restaurant. Don’t think you can pull a fast one over me. Not after what I saw in the bathroom.”
A scandalous gasp echoed around the table.
“Dude,” Brody gawked, kicking my shin under the table. “What did you do in the bathroom? Details, please!”
“Hold on,” Liv warned, “there are children present. Kids, go play in the living room!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “There’s no need to do that. Nothing even happened.”
“So who is she?” Clay interrogated. “Is she a local gal?”
“I’m not answering that question.”
“Are you keeping her a secret because she’s got a dodgy past?”
“No, I just—”
“Robin, can we use the police database to run a background check? I don’t want my little brother getting caught up in something nefarious.”
Robin shot her husband a stern glare. “That’s not what the police database is for and you know it.”
“Leave him alone,” Logan said, coming to my defense. “He clearly doesn’t want to talk about it.”
Irene waved him off. “Oh, hush. Nothing fun ever happens around here. Besides, I’d much rather hear about Dyl’s new girlfriend—”