“Like I said, I like her. She’s been through a lot.”
“What did you have to go into Marble Falls for?” he asked.
“You know what? I think you’ve been spending too much time with Sav. You never used to be such a nosey bastard. Did she put you up to all these questions?”
“Well… she may have asked me to see what I could find out,” Josh admitted, running his hand through his hair. “Man, you know how persistent she can be. It’s easier to just do as she asks.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “See, pussy-whipped! She’s got you doing her dirty work. I bet she’s sitting with Quinn right now asking her a million questions, just like you are. Are you planning on swapping notes later? What about you, Mason? Anything you want to know?”
Mason laughed and held his hands up. “Nope! You know Lib, she’s pretty easygoing.” I nodded and focused my attention back on Josh.
“I like her okay? She’s young, and that’s what held me back in the beginning, but I’m taking her out on a date tonight. And as for my trip into town. I went to pick her up a phone. She shouldn’t be on the ranch alone, with no way of contacting anyone.” I paused and waited for him to say something. “Anything else you want to know?” He looked suitably sheepish, and I nodded. “Good.”
“I told you some girl would come and change everything. Looks like I was right,” he said cockily.
“Take it easy, Josh. We haven’t even been on a date yet. It’s not like I’m marrying her.”
“Not yet!” I rolled my eyes, throwing my cowboy hat at him. He laughed and bent down to pick it up off the floor. “Seriously though, have you found out the deal with her? Why was she in the stables?” He held out my hat to me, sighing, I took it from him and placed it back on my head.
“She started to tell me this morning. We’re going to finish talking tomorrow. I wanted her to enjoy today and not have to think about it.” I paused and took a deep breath, trying to calm down the anger forming in my stomach. “It was her stepdad though, that much she did tell me. God, what sort of a man puts his hands on a woman? He wants to hope he never shows his face here!”
Mason slapped my shoulder. “Only a coward puts his hands on a woman, Brode. I bet he’s a sniffling piece of shit.” He paused and glanced across at Josh. “Just know we’ve got your back. I can see Quinn means a lot to you. I know this asshole has been winding you up about her,” he cocked his head toward Josh who feigned ignorance, “but I can only imagine how I’d feel if anyone hurt Libby like that.”
“Thanks, guys. I hope to God he never finds her. She’d be terrified, and I’d probably end up killing him.” My fists clenched at my side. I really did hope I never laid eyes on him as I couldn’t be held responsible for my actions if I did. “I want to know about him though, so I thought I'd get Ethan to run his name through the police database, see if it throws anything up.” Ethan was a friend from school who was now a police officer at the Marble Falls police department.
“So, how does it feel to know you’re going to be a dad in a few weeks, Josh?” I asked him, steering the conversation away from the path it had taken.
“To be honest, I’m shitting myself. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait to be a dad, but I’m going to hate seeing Sav in all that pain.” He pulled his face and shuddered. “We went to a childbirth class last week, and they showed us a movie of a woman giving birth. I swear to God I’ve never seen anything so disgusting. I’m definitely staying near her head!” His face screwed up in disgust, and Mason and I burst out laughing.
“You might laugh. You’ll be next, Mase, although who knows, it could be Brody, he could shock us all.” I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head. Picking up a fork, I started to muck out Titan’s stall.
“Whatever. I think it’s safe to say as Mason and Lib are married, it’s likely to be them, dickhead.”
“Whatever you say, Brode.”
After finishing off in the barn, there wasn’t much left to do around the ranch and we all headed home to shower before meeting back in the den for a beer. We’d been watching a football game when we heard a car pull up in front of the house.
“I bet that’s the girls,” Josh said as he shot up out of his chair and headed outside. Since the fire, Josh had been particularly protective of Savannah, not wanting to let her out of his sight. I can’t say I blamed him after thinking he’d lost her. Following Josh and Mason outside, I hung back, standing on the porch while they went to greet the girls. I watched Quinn climb out the back of Savannah’s Bug. Her long blonde hair was damp, and loose in waves over her shoulders. She threw her head back, laughing at something Mason had said. I smiled as I watched her. She was beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to have her to myself later on.
As if sensing I was watching her, she looked up and gave me a small wave. I waved back and made my way down the steps toward her.
“Hi, did you have fun?” I asked, coming to stand in front of her.
“I did. It was amazing. Thank you. Savannah and Libby are great. They’ve offered to help me get ready for tonight.” She paused and bit down on her lip. “If you still want to go?”
“Of course, I still want to go. I’ve booked the country club.” I winked at her and watched as her eyes went wide.
“I’ve never been to a country club.”
“You’ve booked the restaurant at Lakecliff?” Savannah exclaimed, overhearing our conversation. “It’s beautiful there, Quinn. I’ve got the perfect dress you can wear. Come on.” She took Quinn’s hand and dragged her toward the house. Quinn turned and met my eyes, her shoulders shrugging as Sav pulled her along.
Laughing, I called after her, “I’ll be waiting for you at six thirty.”
Quinn
I sat on the bed with Libby as Savannah threw dress after dress out of the closet, a huge pile forming on the floor.
“How many dresses is she wanting me to try on?” I whispered to Libby.