Chapter 4
ROYCE
“Seriously? Another one?” Morgan grumbled as she dropped down beside Royce. The cushion dipped, and she cut him a pointed look. “Please tell me you think this is ridiculous, too.”
Royce’s arms were folded as he slouched back against the couch. Lincoln was the oldest and the one most like their father. He was set in his ways, and he took it upon himself to remind everyone why their family had to keep holding a grudge against the Taylor family.
Royce was second born, and he couldn’t bring himself to care.
His grandparents’ decisions didn’t hold weight in how he viewed the world, but heaven forbid he say anything.
Bentley was the next youngest, and if anything, he followed the rules because he didn’t want to rock the boat. Morgan had the opposite mindset. She was the most vocal about their family’s feud. But for some reason, her opinions about stopping the nonsense weren’t important enough to cause change.
Royce glanced around the room at his youngest siblings.
Technically, they were half siblings from his father’s second marriage.
There were four of them—two sisters and two more brothers—and he couldn’t tell which side of the line they stood on.
For all he knew, they were all for the feud because their father had taught them to be.
He blew out a breath and shrugged at Morgan’s quiet grumblings. “Just let Lincoln do his thing. It’ll be over shortly, and then we won’t have to deal with another family meeting for a whole month.”
Morgan huffed. “There’s nothing wrong with the Taylors. The only bad thing about them is that they were born into the wrong family. I bet they don’t even care that our great grandfather stole the affection of their great grandmother.”
Royce arched a brow. “I don’t know. George was her grandson. I bet when his grandmother left their grandfather for Gramps, it shook him up.”
“Yeah, okay, but…”
“And then they got hit by that drunk driver, and she was the only one who didn’t make it. I get why George Taylor hates our family.”
Morgan groaned again. “I can understand him holding a grudge against Gramps, but Dad? Us? There’s no rhyme or reason.”
Royce shrugged again. “You can’t control feelings like that. Love. Hate. They’re near impossible to control. All we can do is try to keep the peace.”
His sister rolled her eyes. “You’re wrong. What we could do is convince Lincoln to drop this whole feud regardless of how Dad reacts. What will Dad do, anyway? Not pass down the farm to us? We’re his only family.”
“You know that’s why Lincoln won’t back down. This farm is his birthright. And besides, that Rose woman doesn’t exactly make it easy on him. Did you know she let her goats roam free through the new crops that border our properties?”
Morgan made a decent attempt to cover up her amusement, but she still failed.
Royce couldn’t help but grin right along with her.
If there was anyone who could hold her own against his oldest brother, it was Rose Taylor.
She might not care a lick about the family feud, but she was more than happy to antagonize Lincoln for refusing to back down.
One day, those two were going to either destroy a fence, a crop, or each other’s last nerve.
Maybe all three.
Lincoln marched into the room, the epitome of seriousness. He had his arms folded tightly across his chest and his trademark scowl in place. “I called you all here today to inform you that they’re at it again.”
Morgan snickered and shared a knowing look with Royce. That earned her a sharp look from Lincoln.
“What happened again?” Royce asked. “Did Rose’s goats file another formal complaint against your fence?”
Lincoln pointed a finger in his direction. “Another word from you, and I’m adding chores to your list.”
Normally, Royce would have continued to egg Lincoln on. One thing he had in common with the oldest Taylor sister was his love of pushing his brother’s buttons.
But the last two weeks had been torture. Lincoln had followed through with a similar threat, and Royce had been stuck doing more work than was fair, which meant he hadn’t had nearly enough time to get his plans for Penny in order.
And if he’d shown up at her house without warning, he was fairly certain Penny would never speak to him again.
Yes, he knew her address, but she didn’t know that, and he wasn’t about to make himself sound worse than he already did. He had asked around more than he should have. He knew that. The last thing he needed was to prove every cautious instinct Penny had ever had.
Lincoln watched him for a long moment. If Royce wasn’t mistaken, there was a flicker of surprise in his eyes when Royce didn’t snap back. There was definitely a ripple of surprise from his other siblings. He caught Bentley looking at him and winked.
His younger brother rolled his eyes. At least he wasn’t adding fuel to the fire. He was already suspicious that Royce was crossing a line into enemy territory with his interest in Penny.
The family meeting droned on without incident. It was one of the shorter meetings, and when Lincoln told everyone they were free to go, Royce jumped to his feet, fully intending to head to town and check a few things off his list so that he could give Penny her day.
“Not you,” Lincoln muttered, placing a hand on Royce’s shoulder.
Groaning inwardly, Royce turned to face his brother. No one else lingered, not even their father—though he rarely came to these meetings anymore. “What do you want, Lincoln? I kept my mouth shut like you asked.”
“Not good enough.”
He lifted his brows. “Not good enough? What more did you want?”
Lincoln sighed, and for the first time, he actually looked tired. He dragged a hand down his face. “You’re the second oldest. You need to start taking this seriously.”
“What?” Royce laughed out the word. “What exactly do you need me to take seriously? We operate a large family farm. It’s not like we’re responsible for saving the planet or something. We produce food for local grocers.”
“This farm is our family’s legacy. And we have a competitor right next door who is bent on sabotaging us.”
“What, because of the goats? You know there’s a fix for that, right? Taller fences. Heck, electrify them.”
Lincoln leveled him with a flat look. “That’s not our responsibility. Besides, that woman next door would just figure out how to bypass anything we try to install.”
Royce laughed again.
“Will you stop that?” Lincoln demanded. “Do you realize we have ten mouths to feed here? One bad season, and we could go destitute.”
“That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?” Royce folded his arms in an attempt to hide the glance at his watch.
He had a good excuse to head to town, but Lincoln wasn’t going to let him go if he didn’t think it was good enough. And the longer this argument took, the less likely Royce would be the one to go.
“Going somewhere?”
Shoot. Lincoln noticed.
Royce cleared his throat. “Was going to run some errands. Lucy wanted me to grab a few things from the grocery store for dinner.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. His stepmom had told him she wanted a few things, but they weren’t urgent.
Lincoln’s eyes narrowed. Royce looked away, hating the way that stare could make him say things he wanted to keep private. It was like a superpower.
“When are you going to grow up, Royce? You’re getting closer to your thirties, and there are no signs that you’re ready to settle down.”
Royce scoffed. “Speak for yourself. Your birthday was last week. How old are you now?”
“I don’t see anyone else taking up the mantle to run this farm.”
It took a great deal of restraint for Royce not to point out that getting married and having kids was also important. Without a stable relationship, Lincoln’s bloodline would end with him.
Thankfully, his thoughts of Penny kept him from causing more problems. For her, he’d make sure to be on his best behavior. The last thing he needed was to get Lincoln to start paying more attention to him.
Then it hit him.
Lincoln had just given him the perfect excuse to spend less time at home and more time around town.
More time he could spend getting to know Penny.
Royce relaxed his stance and rubbed the back of his neck. “Actually, now that you mention it, there is someone I’m interested in.”
Lincoln relaxed too. “Really? Why didn’t you say anything?”
Royce shrugged. “You’ve been keeping me pretty busy around here. There’s a lot to do, and you’re piling on even more lately.”
“Well, that’s because you think this whole thing is a joke—” Lincoln started. Then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, Royce. I didn’t know. Is it serious?”
He couldn’t help it. He grinned wide. “I’d like it to be.”
“How long have you been seeing her?”
Royce made a face and glanced away. “I’ve known about her for a while. But we’ve only talked once. Well, twice, I guess.” He cleared his throat. “We’re taking it slow.”
But not by choice.
Lincoln’s smile matched his own. “That sounds great. When can I meet her?”
All the air whooshed from Royce’s body, and Lincoln noticed the change in his demeanor immediately.
“You don’t want us to meet her yet?”
“Like I said,” Royce hedged, “we’re taking it slow. I don’t want to scare her off. Our family… it’s a lot. Eight kids. And then there’s the whole thing with the Taylors.”
Lincoln frowned. “Yeah, I get it.”
“Do you? Because one moment you’re trying to get me to settle down, and then you’re willing to back off and let me take things at my own pace.
” Royce was skirting the line again. He really shouldn’t be pushing his brother, especially knowing exactly how Lincoln would react if he knew Royce was interested in someone connected to the Taylor family.
When a sigh escaped his brother’s chest, Royce finally allowed himself to relax a little more.
“Yeah, you’re right. But now that I know you’re interested in settling down and you’re done messing around, I’ll make sure you have enough time set aside for your girl.”
Royce’s smile returned. “It’s great to hear you say that. Because I wanted to do something really romantic with her. It’d be an all-day sort of thing, so I wouldn’t be able to stick around here much.”
Lincoln waved a hand through the air, dismissing his concerns. “Whatever you need. As long as you tell me a few days before, we’re good.”
“Yeah?” Royce couldn’t believe how easy this was going to be. He could take Penny to the city, and they could spend the day really getting to know each other. “You’re not pulling my leg?”
“No legs to pull.” Lincoln placed both hands on Royce’s shoulders. “Just promise me one thing.”
Royce waited with bated breath. If his brother wanted him to promise not to date a member of the Taylor family, that would be a hard no.
Then again, it was all about the phrasing of the promise, right? He wasn’t going to date a Taylor. Technically, Penny was a Klein.
But then Lincoln surprised him again.
“Promise me when it gets serious that I can meet her. I know I’ve been hard on you, but when it comes to family, I’m going to have your back. I want to make sure she’s good enough for you.”
“Believe me. With this one, she deserves even more than me.”
Royce believed it. He didn’t know Penny well enough yet, and he wasn’t going to pretend he did. But there was something about her he couldn’t shake. She made him want to show up better than he usually did. Less coasting. More like the kind of man who might actually deserve a woman like her.
“Right, well, that’s good then. Congrats, man.”
“Don’t congratulate me yet.” Royce chuckled. “I still have to convince her I’m worth the trouble.”