Chapter 19
It had been two days since the dance, and chaos reigned supreme.
Avril and Tobi had some type of upper respiratory infections—Nate, her cousin Perci’s husband, had assured her they weren’t contagious, just cranky.
They were currently at home with Junie now, and Jules and January had been dropped off on their aunt Pam for the day.
They had had to split the girls up for everyone’s state of mind.
But that led to her being here now. With two girls in tow.
And a major meeting was about to start as soon as everyone required got there. She didn’t even know who they were waiting for now. And she was supposed to take notes on what Gil would need to remember and do going forward. She didn’t know how she was going to make that happen.
Auggie was going to lose her mind. Every last bit of her sanity.
Maeya was screaming in her ear, and Gil needed her full attention.
This was not where they expected to do this.
Or when. Gil had that overwhelmed look in his eyes that she recognized for what it was.
As much as the man tried, sometimes this world he’d found himself in was one he didn’t fully understand.
It didn’t quite fit that cowboy cousin of hers.
For one thing, the man was one of the straightest shooters she knew.
And he expected the same in return. The art of the deal and politics was not Gilbert Tyler in any way.
And she adored him for it, but sometimes when dealing with men like the ones sitting at the table with them now…
she wished Gil had a little bit more tact.
Aaron Masterson was one of the shrewdest men she knew.
And he enjoyed wheeling and dealing and winning.
He had three sons—Jack and Eli and Gage—and a nephew Dane—who were just the same.
Shrewd, calculating, and just too beautiful for their own good.
It was Jack, the attorney, with them now.
Jack, Aaron, Gil, a slightly lopsided Fletcher—that man should still be in bed, right now, in her opinion—and a hovering Dylan.
Dylan didn’t stray too far from Fletcher right now.
Auggie fully understood—her cousin was barely back on his feet. And Dylan wasn’t too steady, either.
Now, they were just trying to figure out another land lease that she had no idea of the terms of.
All she had to do was take notes, but this kid in her arms was not cooperating; she was struggling to calm her down.
And they were still waiting for the rest of the group.
She was going to use that time to calm the baby and get her own head clear.
“I’m sorry,” she looked at Dylan, who was next to her and trying to hand her the bag of Maeya’s supplies, while Auggie did her best to juggle the most stubborn and determined Tyler in existence almost one-handed.
“I think she’s just started really teething.
It’s my first go around with teething. I’m still figuring it out. ”
“Poor little thing. I remember Dorie teething a little. She screamed bloody murder. Still does whenever she gets mad, you know. That one has a temper.”
Bloody murder was a good way to put it. And she felt warm. Auggie didn’t know if she had the same kind of respiratory infection starting—all of her kids seemed to have seasonal allergies, too—or if it was the teething making her cranky.
There were some days she didn’t know if she could do this. Or how.
Junie had sounded just as frazzled when Auggie had called to check on Tobi and Avril. Apparently those two had been nothing but a mix of whining and fighting all morning.
“Here. I can take her for a minute, sweetheart. Until you get settled,” a male voice said behind her. One she most definitely recognized. Her stomach clenched and she turned shaky in an instant.
He had to stop doing this to her. He just had to.
This was not the time to be getting all flustered over Calloway Ellis Grady.
She was going to have to make a decision. And soon.
She couldn’t keep living this way—the man just did something to her without even trying now. He should come with a warning label.
Then he was reaching over Dylan.
For the baby in Auggie’s arms. Maeya, the little baby traitor, reached right for him, snuffling as if her heart was breaking and Calloway Grady was the only answer. He jiggled the baby and just settled her against his chest as he took the empty chair to Auggie’s left.
Aaron had said they were waiting for some people to join them—apparently one of those someones was Cal. Damn it; Auggie hadn’t come up with her plan with him yet.
Maeya just pressed her face into his neck and drifted off to sleep. Just like that.
He shot Auggie a look from those green eyes that were so dark they looked brown sometimes. “You okay, honey?”
“I am not your honey, Calloway. No matter what you are up to now.” And she wasn’t going to back down now.
Every inch of her was ready to rise to the challenge of him. She liked how her body hummed when this man was in range. She was starting to understand what that meant.
“Are you not? We’ll have to…discuss it…again.”
Dylan was looking at her, curiosity in her big green eyes. Both Gil and Fletcher were glaring at Cal now. Seriously? They took the overprotective caveman thing too far, those two. Well, all of her cousins did, actually. They were such Neanderthals.
He reached for the baby’s blanket, and Auggie handed it to him. Well, Maeya was just fine. And apparently, they were waiting for more people to join them. She was going to make a strategic retreat to regroup for a moment. “I’m going to the restroom. Do you think you can handle her for that long?”
And she would just not sit there and drool over him. She was seriously becoming pitiful here. Auggie hurried to the restroom as fast as she could, passing Dusty and three of Dusty and Dylan’s sisters, Claudia, and Sage on her way.
Good. There were girl reinforcements, at least. There was that.
She finished in the restroom, then joined them at the hostess podium, where they were clustered and talking. Claudia just looked at her—from eyes the same shape as her evil big brother’s. “What are you shaken up about?”
“A man, what else?” Dusty asked, snickering. “Isn’t that always the answer?”
“You’d know,” Daisy said. “We need a crowbar with you and Ben. Spill, Aug.”
“He’s driving me insane and he knows it.
” No sense hiding it—Claudia knew that Cal was…
up to something. Everyone probably knew that.
Except, hopefully, her male cousins. Although she suspected Gil and Fletcher might just be catching on at the moment.
“And I still don’t know what this is. Or if he’s even serious. ”
“If he’s even started something with you—he’s serious, Aug.
Cal has never been the type to play it casual with a woman.
Especially…since…well…lately.” Claudia shot a look at Marin—and Meyra, who had just walked up with her fiancé and Kameron Neilson.
Apparently, the party was all there now.
“I personally am all in favor here, Augs. My bestie and my big brother. I’m good with that. ”
Meyra had dated Cal a few years ago. Right…
before Cal’s father had almost killed Marin.
She strongly suspected Cal still felt awkward about Meyra.
Claudia was beyond awkward with Marin. Auggie hurt for both of their friends.
Marin and Claudia had been besties forever for almost two decades.
But after what had happened with Claudia’s father, Marin had shut down from Claudia completely.
Marin had tentatively tried to mend that relationship with Claudia since what had happened to Claudia and Auggie on the street that day, but Claudia was very resistant to the idea.
Claudia didn’t want to get hurt again. Well, Auggie understood that. Claudia had lost her father to the prison system and lost her closest friend in the world through no fault of her own. Of course that would make her leery of Marin. Why wouldn’t it? No one liked to be hurt like that.
It was a sucky situation for them all.
And she suspected what Jasper Grady had done had hurt Cal deeply, too. He just wouldn’t let it show. Because he thought he had to be big, brave and strong for his little sisters.
Scars from their fathers.
Something else they had in common.
And…now…she needed to get back in there. She had a Gil Tyler to assist, after all. And well… “I have to go. Cal and Gil have Markie and Maeya now. Chaos can be happening.”
But somehow…she doubted it. For one thing, it was too quiet in the dining room for that.
She was strongly suspecting Cal was good at dealing with anything. Even whatever her sisters could come up with.
He just seemed the type.
Lucky jerk. Auggie wasn’t so sure she could handle what would happen in the next hour lately.
But she just kept going.
What other choice did she really have?
She headed back into the dining room, eyes meeting his from clear across the room.
His sister said he wasn’t the kind to mess around. And deep in her gut—Auggie believed it. She did know him, and yes, she trusted him.
She was seriously going to have to figure out what she wanted to do about that man now. Because one thing was clear—he was up to something. And it involved her.
And if he was serious…
She seriously did not know what to do next.
Chaos. Life was utter chaos now. She was going to have to get used to it.