Chapter 4
Chapter Four
D allas rested his elbows on the counter in The King’s Inn kitchen, then leaned in close with narrowed eyes. “Is this your best attempt at negotiations?”
The only response was a gurgle.
He leaned in farther. “Oh yeah? Say that again. I dare ya.”
A little chubby fist swatted his cheek, and Dallas pulled back, rubbing his jaw. “So that’s the way you want to play it, huh?”
Brandon’s voice came from behind him, laced with amusement. “That’s what you get for taunting my son.”
“Taunting?” Dallas pretended to be offended. “Who was taunting? I was bonding with my nephew. Besides, it’s never too early to learn the fine art of negotiations.” He turned to Baby Nate. “Isn’t that right?”
On cue, the infant made another gurgling noise in his baby carrier.
Dallas grinned. “See?”
Brandon laughed as he scooped up his son and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. His voice went all high and sappy as he spoke in baby talk. “Did that nasty ol’ Uncle Dallas scare you? Hmm?”
Dallas chuckled.
Brandon turned to him, still smiling. “When’d you get in?”
“Just now. Giselle asked me to keep an eye on Nate until one of you got back from…I don’t know. Whatever it is you guys actually do here.”
Unlike Bailey, Brandon rarely took the bait. And this time was no exception. “Work.” His tone was bland. “The word you’re looking for is work .”
“Ah, right.”
“Where’d Giselle go?” Brandon asked.
Dallas shrugged. “She didn’t say.”
Brandon hitched Nate up in his arms. “Let’s go find Mommy, huh? What do you say?” He headed toward the swinging kitchen doors before looking at Dallas over his shoulder. “You coming?”
“Nah. I’m good here. I was hoping to chat with Willow.”
Brandon’s eyes scanned the kitchen and his brows hitched like he was surprised to discover she wasn’t there. In all fairness, Willow was typically found in the kitchen. It was, in her words, “my happy place.”
“Huh. I didn’t realize she’d taken off.” Brandon patted Nate’s back when he squirmed. “Can you tell her that the Jensens need a vegetarian option when she gets back?”
Dallas no sooner agreed than Brandon was hurrying out the swinging doors in search of his fiancée.
Dallas was far from offended. From his brief stint here, he’d become familiar with the pace at which everything ran. There was always some task to be done, a message to be relayed, or guests to appease.
He loved this pace. It was so much more interesting than working at the well-oiled machine that was the family business.
Of course, if you asked Bailey, she’d moan about how hard it was. No time to take a day off, always understaffed and behind on the to-do list.
Dallas supposed the downside of a successful new business was it didn’t leave one much time to sit around and revel in the win. There was always too much to do.
Which was why Dallas wasn’t surprised when Bailey’s boyfriend barely slowed down as he passed through, acknowledging Dallas with a big grin and a wave that Dallas returned.
“Good to see you, bro!” Drew called as he darted out the side door.
“You too.” The fact that Dallas meant it was still a little surprising. He’d been ready to despise Drew the first few times they’d met.
After all, the guy was best friends with the archenemy, Eric Spencer. He’d lied by omission to Dallas’s twin sister and had very nearly broken her heart.
Dallas frowned at the memory. He and Bailey might not always get along, but that didn’t mean Dallas didn’t love her.
He’d have personally destroyed Drew for hurting her.
But, luckily for all involved, Drew had groveled, Bailey had forgiven, and Dallas was spared having to ruin the guy’s life.
And now, after working alongside Drew for a few weeks…Dallas actually liked the guy.
Not that he’d ever admit it to Bailey. It was way too much fun to rile her up by pretending he was still holding a grudge over his friendship with the enemy.
Although, if her boyfriend ever did anything to betray this family and side with a Spencer over a King, those amicable feelings Dallas had for Drew Olsen would disintegrate in a heartbeat.
A few seconds after Drew left, the doors swung open again and Willow finally entered.
She stopped short. “Dallas?” Not even a microsecond passed before she was racing across the kitchen and launching herself at him.
He caught her with a grin, laughing as she squeezed him tight. “Hey, kiddo.”
She pulled back and gave him a glare that would have been terrifying if she wasn’t cuter than a floppy-eared puppy. “I’m not a kid anymore. Can’t we come up with a new nickname?”
He pretended to think it over. “It’s kiddo or Tinkerbell. I’ve got nothing else.”
She swatted his arm. “Fine…” Her smile turned into a smirk. “Cowboy.”
His smug smile faded, just a little. He’d never been a fan of that nickname, and his littlest sister knew it.
When he was no more than six, he’d heard about the Dallas Cowboys and thought they were his personal football team.
He’d just assumed that they’d named themselves in his honor and every game was played for the glory of all things Dallas King.
Well, his parents thought that was adorable and laughingly told everyone they knew .
It went on for years…and leave it to his annoying siblings to latch on to that lil’ nugget and never let it go.
He held his hands up in surrender, making Willow laugh. The sound was a tangible reminder of his childhood. Or maybe it was being here in his grandmother’s kitchen.
True, it’d been changed quite a bit to accommodate so many guests, but it still felt like a home away from home. And Willow’s laughter was a reminder of all the good times they’d had here when they were young.
“How’ve you been?” He trailed her around the kitchen as she got back to work, clearly picking up a recipe right where she’d left off.
She tossed him a smile over her shoulder. “Good. You?”
He nodded. “Fine.”
A silence passed, and he had Antony in his head, reminding him of why he was here. “Find out what’s up with her.”
Easier said than done. Talking had never been his strong suit. If one of his siblings had a problem, he’d always been the first to step in.
Bullies? Handled.
Fear of heights? Nothing a shove off the diving board couldn’t fix.
But when it came to talking stuff out…
He was not the sibling one came to. This was Bailey’s turf. Or Brandon’s. Or, heck, even Antony was better at getting people to open up than he was.
He cleared his throat, listening to her melodic hum as she cubed potatoes with a speed and efficiency that would slice most people’s thumbs off. He shifted against the counter, his lips twitching as he tried to come up with a good opening line.
Then he shifted again when he was clearly in her way.
“Hand me that spoon, please.” Willow pointed to a spoon beside him, and he realized he’d been just…standing there, watching her cook like she was hosting a YouTube show.
You need to start talking or get out of her way!
His brain gave him a sharp reprimand, and the words tumbled free before he’d even thought them through. “So, where were you when I first got here? I couldn’t find you.”
He could practically hear Antony’s sigh. “Very smooth, bro.”
Bailey would have bristled at the prying question. But Willow, being Willow, just laughed. “Excuse me?” Then she turned to him with a mock scowl and jabbed the wooden spoon into his chest. “Where were you, Miss King? I expected to find you shackled in this kitchen, slaving away over a hot stove.”
“I didn’t sound like that.” Dallas swatted the spoon away, laughing, then forced a shrug. “Just curious is all.”
She shot him a sidelong look but didn’t answer.
“Why?” He nudged her arm with his. “Is it a secret?”
Her brows drew together, and she looked torn between confusion and amusement. “Why would it be a secret?”
“I don’t know. It just seems like you disappear a lot, and?—”
“And you haven’t been here in weeks,” she interrupted with a tinkling laugh. “What are you talking about?”
“Yes, but when I was here…,” he started.
She arched her brows. Waiting.
He sounded like an idiot. Worse, a paranoid idiot.
He scrubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I’m not accusing you of anything.”
“Phew!” She wiped away imaginary sweat. “I was really scared there for a second.”
Okay, this…was not going as intended.
“I’m just checking up on you. As your big brother, it’s my duty.”
“Your duty?” she mocked.
“My privilege.” He quickly corrected himself and winced, grateful she wasn’t looking at him.
“I’m good. I swear.” She rested her hip against the counter as she turned to face him. “You don’t have to worry about me. I’m all grown up now, bro. And you don’t have to do anything but be my friend.”
His eyebrows crinkled, the idea of not being her protective big brother anymore sitting wonky in his chest. There was no way he was just going to give up that role. He’d been watching over her since the day she was born.
He still remembered the first time he’d met her.
She’d been all of five hours old. Her father had walked him and Bailey into the hospital room and let them take turns holding the little pink bundle.
She’d had no more than soft fuzz for hair and the cutest button nose.
When she’d opened her eyes and stared right at him with those bright blue orbs, he’d known right then and there that he was gonna keep his baby sister safe no matter what it cost him.
And just because she was all grown up didn’t mean he was suddenly going to relinquish that responsibility.
He clamped his teeth against letting that all spew out and settled for “So…nothing’s wrong?”
“Nope.” She popped the p just in case it wasn’t abundantly clear that she was humoring him.
He narrowed his eyes, playing up the suspicious older brother act. After all, he’d come this far. Might as well lean into it, remind her that they were gonna stick with the big brother/little sister status quo. “Are you dating someone?”
In all honesty, he’d been kidding. So it was a shock when her cheeks turned pink and she stammered, “W-what?”
Wait, had he been onto something?
A rush of protectiveness had his earlier teasing tone evaporating. “Who is he? Do we know him? Does Bailey know that?—”
“No!” Willow’s cheeks were still pink, but now her eyes blazed with irritation.
He’d never been one to be put off by negative emotion and met her glare head-on. “No, we don’t know him, or no, Bailey doesn’t know?—”
“I’m not seeing anyone!”
He blinked, taken aback. He wasn’t sure he’d ever heard Willow raise her voice—and definitely not at him.
Her hackles fell almost as quickly as they’d risen. She blew out a sharp exhale and a blonde curl went flying. “I’m not in a relationship, okay? There’s no secret love affair going on. Happy now?”
He stared at her as she turned back to her cooking. She didn’t seem annoyed anymore, but he thought he’d caught a hint of something else…
Disappointment, maybe?
He stared hard at the side of her face, trying to figure it out.
There was something going on that she wasn’t telling him about. He was more sure of that than ever.
But he was also pretty certain it wasn’t some secret boyfriend. If anything, she’d seemed a little salty that she didn’t have a relationship.
His brows came down. Was that it? Was she bummed because she was single?
He scratched his beard. It was possible. She was young and lively—maybe she didn’t love the fact that her job kept her from having a love life.
Or…a life. Period. She worked in this kitchen morning, noon, and night.
He crossed his arms and studied her some more. “Are you working too hard? What happened to that part-time girl who was here last time? Is she?—”
“Dallas!” Bailey’s scolding tone echoed off the kitchen walls. “Leave my head chef alone.”
Willow grinned up at him. It was that mischievous little smirk she wore whenever he got in trouble with Bailey.
He saw that smile often. In response, he gave Willow his best long-suffering sigh before turning to face his twin. “Bailey. Pleasure as always.”
Her fist landed on her hip, her gaze sharp and suspicious. “What are you doing here?”
“I called last week to tell you I was coming for a long weekend?—”
“I meant here . In the kitchen.” Bailey crossed her arms. “Bothering Willow while she’s hard at work.”
“I wasn’t?—”
He stopped short when Bailey exchanged a wordless look with Willow.
He gasped and clutched his chest. “Willow, you’ve betrayed me!”
Willow giggled, and Bailey took up a baster and wielded it like a weapon. “Let her work in peace.”
He held his hands up and backed away from his crazy twin. “Fine.”
Bailey gave him another narrow-eyed glare but finally set down the utensil and turned on her heel.
Dallas instantly trotted after her. “Where are you going?”
“To the boathouse.”
“What boathouse?” he teased. “It hasn’t been built yet.”
“It’s in the works,” she bit out.
“Right. But it’s not a thing yet. It’s weird to refer to something that doesn’t exist. That’d be like me saying?—”
“Shut it, Cowboy.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He waited two whole seconds before starting in again. “You know I’m just here because I could sense you needed my help?—”
Bailey groaned and smacked her forehead. And Dallas heard Willow giggling behind his back as the doors swung shut behind them.