“Do you think Hal would ever refuse your aunt?” Uncle Drake asked as he came over and looped his arm around his wife’s waist. “I think he’d give her the recipes if she asked with a smile. Pretty woman like her is just dangerous to a man.”
“Oh, stop it,” Cady said with a smile, pushing at his chest.
Uncle Drake smiled back, then pulled Mal in for a hug and a kiss on her cheek. “Hi, baby.”
“Hi, Uncle Drake,” Mal replied, catching the familiar whiff of Old Spice and peppermint. “You’re grayer than I remember.”
“It’s dashing. Or so your aunt tells me.”
Her uncle held her close for longer than she expected, and when he released her, she looked up at him with a smile. He returned it with a grin, his eyes crinkling. “Missed you, kiddo,” he said, as if that explained everything.
She suddenly had trouble swallowing. “I’ve missed you, too,” she finally replied, her voice raw, and she was surprised at how sincerely she meant what she said.
He touched her cheek fondly. “Smile, hon. We got Hal Barney’s, and Lucas got us a keg of Doc Porter’s root beer. If that’s not a happy thought, nothin’ is.”
Mal laughed and hugged her uncle again, then made her way to the line.
“Your uncle is the most attractive man over fifty I have ever seen,” Taryn whispered as they each took a plate. “What is it with those bloodlines and how do I dip my toe in the gene pool?”
“Are your hormones always this raging?” Dan asked in exasperation as Mal barked a laugh.
“Yes,” Taryn said simply. “It’s exhausting.” She looked at Mal again. “Mallory Jo? I thought your middle initial was S.”
“It is,” Mal said softly as she picked up a warm buttered roll. “But Aunt Cady has called me Mallory Jo since I was four, so it stuck.”
Taryn smiled. “Cute! Little Mallory Jo running around and eating… what is this, anyway?”
Mal grinned broadly. “This is Hal Barney’s barbecue. The best food in the entire world, and it’s from this little place almost smack-dab in the middle of Knoxville and Nashville, and we used to get it all the time, isn’t that right, Tucker?” she said, turning to smile at the familiar face standing by the meat.
The big man smiled, his gold tooth glinting in the light. “Sure did, Miss Mallory. Best part of the year was seeing all y’all come in and eat us out of house and home.”
“We did not!” she laughed, spooning more sides onto her plate.
Tucker raised a thick brow. “Oh, really?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, fine, so we did. But only because it’s so good.”
He chuckled warmly. “Sure is, Miss Mallory. Sure is. What can I get you?”
Mal opened her mouth to reply when she heard some of the girls whispering nearby.
“Don’t they have any idea how bad this food is for you?” Bethany was saying to Brittany and Sophie. “The calories alone are shocking.”
“Oh, what do you expect?” Sophie said with a sneer. “This is a very backwoods, country-loving hick group, despite their money and fame. I’m surprised we don’t have checkered tablecloths and plastic silverware.”
Bethany whimpered. “There’s not even a salad. What am I supposed to eat?”
“Just say you’re not hungry. You can have a salad when we get back to the house.”
“I wish they would have considered this. We have dresses to fit into, and I’m not about to have a food baby.”
“Is it going to be like this all week?”
Mal’s jaw tightened, and her grip on her plate became more of a clench. She met Caroline’s eyes and saw that her cousin had heard and was just as furious. The girls had been speaking in low voices, but not low enough. She didn’t know who else had heard, but she knew how mortified Aunt Cady would be if she found out. Mal lowered her chin just enough to assure Caroline she would do something, then turned back to Tucker.
“Brisket, please, Tucker,” she said in a calm, but carrying voice. “A bit extra, if you don’t mind. I’m starving. And lots of sauce.”
She picked up the spoon for the baked beans she’d just loaded on her plate, looked over at the girls standing nearby, who were watching now, and pointedly spooned another helping on top of the rest. Then got extra potato salad as well.