Chapter 27 #2
“Sorry it took so long to get over here,” I say. “Jace needed extra help with the hogs.”
“Oh, hey!” She walks over and gives me a hug. “Are you doing okay?”
“I am. Thanks. I think it was a godsend—this scare. They caught it early. Dad’s on meds and he’s reluctantly following Mom’s orders for now.”
“I know he’s not making it easy on her,” McKenna says.
“He’s totally not. Why are men such awful patients?”
“Pride,” she says simply. “They can’t admit they’re human.”
“You might be right.”
We walk the barn together, talking about how things will be set up for the rehearsal and ceremony, and then we head into the kitchen for a while, hanging out with Mrs. Lawson while she cooks.
In the later afternoon we drive out to the pastures to see the baby calves.
The Lawson boys are at work—Cody included.
It feels like old times until I see him. I always held a secret when he was around—my feelings for him stayed tucked out of sight, but nagged at me relentlessly. Now that my secret is shared with him it’s infinitely larger and harder to hide.
“Hey, Carli,” Luke says, walking over to the fence where McKenna and I are doting on a calf.
“Hey, Luke.”
“Sorry to hear about your dad. Sure am glad he’s okay.”
“Thanks,” I say, glancing over Luke's shoulder to catch Cody staring at me intently.
I smile at him, hoping he reads everything I’m not able to say.
McKenna and I leave the pastures and cozy up on the porch swing for the rest of the afternoon, talking for hours about the wedding, my job, Westley’s film and everything else under the sun—just not the one subject I wish I could share with her.
The sun starts to dip low and Mrs. Lawson sticks her head out the back door. “Carli, are you joining us for dinner?”
McKenna puts her hand on my arm. “Say you’ll stay. I don’t want you to leave yet.”
“Let me check in with my mom,” I tell them.
“Of course, and I have some food for you to take home to them tonight.”
I check in with Mom. She assures me Dad is fine and the farm is under control, so McKenna and I wash up and help set the table.
The men file into the kitchen, boots on hardwood, rough, deep voices filling the room.
Platters are passed. Plates are filled. Cody’s sitting across from me. McKenna’s to my left.
Mr. Lawson clears his throat. “Carli, you know we’re here for your dad—for all of you—if you need us.”
I nod. “Thank you, Mr. Lawson.”
The table’s quiet for a beat and then Luke says, “So, Carli, McKenna’s getting married. When are you going to make me an honest man?”
I laugh along with the rest of the table and then my eyes meet Cody’s.
He’s not laughing at first, but his wry smile spreads across his face and then through me.
I’ve always thought he was the most handsome of the Lawson boys, but now, he’s devastating.
A warmth creeps up my neck. I can barely look at him.
I glance at the other Lawson boys even though my body and heart remain fixed on Cody.
Cody’s boot taps my stocking foot. I glance at him and he carefully sends an undetected wink in my direction.
“Luke,” I say. “I believe the bride-price my dad has on my hand is way too high for you to afford,” I fix my gaze on Cody’s older brother. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh, Carli,” Luke continues. “I’d pay him a whole herd.”
“What are we going to do with a herd of cattle?” I say with a soft chuckle. “We can barely keep up with all these pregnant sows as it is!”
The table bursts into laughter.
“Stop hitting on my bestie,” McKenna says when the laughter dies down. “Go flirt with another woman. Carli’s mine. She doesn’t want anything to do with any of you Lawson boys. Can you imagine? My brother and my best friend? Just no.”
Cody’s boot finds my foot and rests right next to me, unwavering. His eyes find mine and we share an unspoken conversation.
“He’s only playing,” I assure McKenna.
In the spirit of teasing his baby sister, Luke says, “Am I, though?”
“Okay, now,” Mrs. Lawson says. “Who wants pie?”
Chairs slide backward and our conversation is forgotten.
We’re all digging into the dessert when Cody says, “I’ve got a little announcement to make.”
My stomach swoops.
All eyes are on him. “I applied for the captain position. David is moving up the ranks—taking over as battalion chief.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Mrs. Lawson says.
“Well,” Cody looks me in the eyes. “I actually already applied and they told me I got the position today.”
I smile widely at Cody. I would anyway, even if we weren’t dating. Everyone around the table congratulates him and then the conversation eventually drifts to other subjects.
After dinner, McKenna walks me out. I hug her and promise we’ll get more time together than we’ve had lately.
She shuts the truck door and walks inside the house.
I’m about to turn the key when I see Cody, coming around the side of the main house, heading straight for my truck.
I put it in drive and roll forward so I’m away from the main line of sight from the front windows.
Cody walks up to my truck and I roll down the window.
“What are you doing?” I ask him.
“I had to see you before you left.”
He reaches in the window and runs his hand down my face. I lean out and he kisses me with all the pent-up longing that has been building between us since I first saw him out in the pasture. Being here all day without being able to touch him has been its own kind of torture.
“I can’t get enough of you, Carli. And I might have to kill my brother.”
“He’s harmless,” I assure Cody. But a warmth flows through me at the idea of him being so possessive and territorial.
“What are you doing now?” he asks, as if it’s not obvious.
“Driving back to my cabin.”
“I could come by.” His brows raise and the expression on his face is as vulnerable as I think I’ve ever seen him. As if I’d turn him down.
The question isn’t whether I’d like him to come over. It’s a matter of risk—and he knows it. Even sitting here in front of his childhood home, kissing him with my best friend right inside the house, is treading a thin line that could blow up any moment.
“My place? Isn’t that risky?”
He smiles. “If I drive in on the old back road—the dirt one that comes in from Smokehouse Road—no one will see me.”
He could bypass our farm by a few miles and then come in the back way.
“I’d really like that,” I tell him.
“Me too,” he smiles a full smile and places his hand over mine on the doorframe. “I’ll park my truck where no one would see it if they came by. No one will know.”
“Okay.” I smile at him and mentally run through how I left my cabin.
I think there are clothes strewn around and a few dirty dishes in the sink.
“I’ll see you in a bit,” he promises. “I’ll give you a head start and then I’ll be over.”
“See you there,” I say.
Cody steps back and I roll my window up. He retreats into the shadows alongside the house and I roll down the driveway, my heart hammering in my chest and an irrepressible grin on my face.