Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
“I’m rich!”
Huck came out of a dead sleep and sat straight up in bed at Poppy’s screech. Before he could even get his bearings, she dove on him and knocked him back to the pillows. A second later, they were joined by a barking furry beast as Poppy covered Huck’s face in kisses.
“Jesus, Pops!” He pushed her away.
Poppy flopped back on her butt and Wilbur covered her face in kisses, causing her to giggle. Huck had to admit it was nice to see her so happy.
“So I’m guessing you got your money from Mama’s will.” He stretched his arms over his head and yawned widely before Poppy smacked him in the face with a pillow.
“Not yet, but Billy called to say our checks are in the mail.”
Huck stuffed the pillow under his head. “Your checks. My share is going to Cadee.”
“Yeah, well, we had a little meeting about that.”
“Who had a little meeting?”
“Me, Jaxon, and Dawson—via Facetime for Dawson, of course.” She shook her head.
“Our big brother was at the beach trying to surf. Can you believe it? Like in board shorts and everything. It was weird to say the least. Of course, I can’t really talk.
Did I ever tell you about the time Wylynn talked me into wearing stilettos and a mini skirt for one of our gigs?
Not only did I flash the entire front row my panties, but I also almost fell off the stage and killed myself.
” She rolled her eyes. “The things we do for love.”
“I don’t care about Dawson becoming a surfer dude, Pops. Why did y’all call a family meeting without me?”
“To talk about you giving away your inheritance to Cadee.”
He sat up and reached out to scratch Wilbur’s head. “I’m not changing my mind. I don’t care how the family voted. I owe her that for raising my son.”
“That’s not why we called the meeting. We all get why you gave her the money, Huck. We agree that as Camden’s mama, she should get a share.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You all agree?”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t really thinking clearly the other day at Billy’s .
. . or since Wylynn broke things off with me.
But I’m a little more clearheaded now and realize that Cadee isn’t a gold digger.
She’s just a mama looking out for her son.
Although I don’t know why she needs money when she owns a huge ranch.
” Huck chose not to mention the ranch being in debt.
“Anyway,” she continued. “That doesn’t mean you should get nothing from our inheritance.
You put up with the same things we had to put up with.
Which is why we voted to split the money that’s left over after we pay Cadee four ways.
” She shrugged. “I won’t be as rich, but I’ll have more than enough to cut an album. ”
Huck shook his head. “Y’all don’t have to do that. You shouldn’t have to pay for my mistake.”
Poppy squinted at him. “Was having sex with her a mistake, though?”
Huck stared at her. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged. “I just thought you and Cadee were always more than friends. It was like she was your other half, and you were hers. Y’all finished each other’s sentences and had private jokes and were always happiest when you were together.
” She hesitated. “Sorta like Mama and Daddy. They never were good apart.” She smiled sadly. “And yet, Daddy never could stay put.”
Since everything his sister said was true, Huck couldn’t argue. Her words left him with a deep sadness. He and Cadee had been the halves of a whole . . . until, just like his daddy, he’d left and ruined it.
“But it doesn’t really matter if Cadee getting pregnant was a mistake or meant to be. The family took a vote, and it was unanimous. You’re getting a share.” She grabbed a pillow and whapped him in the face. “Now come on. We’re going to Grounds For Divorce to celebrate.”
Grounds For Divorce was run by three sisters who had more divorces between them than all other Promise Springs residents combined. Which is why they’d made a pledge to boycott men.
Like the rest of the town, they didn’t much care for the Hennessy Hooligans, probably due to the penis painting, and had banned them from the coffeeshop when they’d first arrived in Promise Springs .
. . until Tully told Jaxon about their passion for two-stepping and he decided not to charge them a cover charge when they came into Honky Tonk Heaven.
Free cover for access to coffee and mini donuts seemed like a good exchange.
The sisters seemed to think so too. With their pledge to stay away from men, they didn’t dance with male partners when they came to the dancehall.
Instead, they took turns dancing with each other.
Huck had to admit the women were damn good dancers.
Especially Arlene who had a tricky little shuffle step she added to her two-step that Huck would like to learn.
Something he’d told her the other night.
Which explained why she greeted him with a wink when he and Poppy stepped into Grounds For Divorce.
“Just let me know when you’re ready for those dancin’ lessons, Huck Hennessy.”
Huck might have answered with a teasing reply if his gaze hadn’t landed on Cadee sitting with Camden at a table by the window. Sunlight cast them both in golden light. He wished he could pull out his phone and take a picture. A dozen pictures. Two dozen. A thousand.
He had never seen anything more beautiful in his life.
But he knew the A-Sisters were watching. So instead, he only stared like a starving man at a bakery window as Adele yelled from behind the coffee counter.
“Absolutely not, Ar! There will be no giving lessons to Huck Hennessy. Have you learned nothing from Tully and Magnolia? Hennessy men make even strong women fall like a November acorn in a stiff Texas wind. And we are anything but strong where men are concerned.”
“Amen to that!” Ada’s voice rang out from the pass-through of the kitchen.
All the yelling drew Cadee and Camden’s attention. Cadee didn’t look happy at all to see him, but Camden’s face lit up. Which caused a warm feeling to spread through Huck’s gut.
“Hey, Huck! I didn’t know you were meeting us for breakfast.”
“He’s not meeting us for breakfast, Cam,” Cadee corrected.
Yesterday, she’d worn her hair in two braids that Huck had wanted to tug.
Today, her hair fell around her face in soft waves he wanted to run his fingers through .
. . before he fisted it and drew her lips to his so he could see if the red lipstick she wore tasted like cherries.
But those sexual impulses were what had screwed things up between them before, so he pulled his gaze away from those Bing cherry red lips and looked at Camden.
“Your mama’s right, Cam. I came to breakfast with my sister.” Huck glanced at Poppy who was staring at Camden like she’d seen a ghost. Worried she was going say something in front of the A-Sisters, he quickly spoke. “Why don’t you order, Pops, while I grab us a table.”
Poppy finally snapped out of her shock and nodded. “Yeah, I’ll do that.”
While she gave Arlene their order, Huck took off his hat and walked to the table across from Camden and Cadee and sat down. She still didn’t look happy, but he couldn’t have planned it better. He wanted all the time he could get with his son.
“So y’all always come to breakfast on Sundays?”
Camden’s smile faded as he grumbled. “Before church.”
Huck bit back his smile. “That’s nice. Church is good for the soul.”
Camden perked up. “So you’re going too?”
“Uhh . . . well . . . I . . . have an appointment this morning so I can’t.”
Poppy arrived with two cups of coffee and a greasy bag. She handed him one of the cups before she flopped down in the chair across from him and opened the bag.
“Don’t let me interrupt you, Huckleberry.” She pulled out a mini donut and ate it in two bites before sending him an evil smile. “I believe you were telling Camden about your appointment. What is it exactly? Funny, but I don’t remember you telling me about an appointment.”
He shot her an annoyed look. “Just an appointment I’m sure Camden isn’t interested in.” He quickly moved on to introductions. “Poppy, this is Camden Stockton, Cadee’s son. Cam, this is my sister, Poppy.”
“Poppy?” Camden tipped his head. “That’s as weird a name as Huckleberry.”
“Camden Stockton!” Cadee scolded, but Poppy just laughed.
“Are you kidding me? My name is way better than Huck’s. Poppy is a stunningly beautiful flower. Huck is just a character in a book who went on a dumb rafting trip.”
Camden lowered the cup of hot chocolate he’d just taken a sip of. Foamy whip cream covered his top lip. Again, Huck wanted to pull out his phone and take a picture. “A rafting trip? That’s not dumb. I would love to go on a rafting trip.”
Poppy rolled her eyes. “Figures. Well, if you like rafts, then you should probably come see the treeboat that Huck and my other brothers built.”
“A treeboat? What’s a treeboat?”
“Exactly what it sounds like. A boat in a tree.”
Camden looked like he was about to explode from excitement as he looked at Huck. “You put a boat in a tree?”
“It’s not exactly a boat,” Huck said. “Just a raft my brothers and I made that didn’t float.”
He had found the scarred ship’s wheel when he’d been playing hide-and-seek with Poppy and Dawson and had chosen to hide in the attic. As soon as he’d seen the wheel, it had brought up visions of him and his siblings cruising down the river aboard a magical pirate ship. With Huck at the helm.
But the ship he’d envisioned had turned out to be more of an unseaworthy raft. It sank the first time he, Dawson, and Jaxon had pushed it into the water. Luckily, the river had been running low that year so all they had to do was pull it back out.