Chapter 46
He took the woman he wanted to dinner at the Talley Inn to help her calm down and find her balance again.
She told him she wasn’t quite ready to talk to the girls yet.
Her cousin and his wife were having a movie party in the home theater or something to distract the kids.
She didn’t want to undo that progress by interrupting.
The inn was quieter than the diner, so that was where he took her.
Somehow, Marin finagled it to where he and Auggie were in the back corner, in an almost secluded, private area.
She’d smirked at Auggie when they’d walked in together.
Cal had tensed, waiting for Marin to say something to them.
He’d felt uncomfortable around Meyra’s older sister since what his father had done.
No denying that. He probably always would.
But he’d also been really angry at her for a long time. For Claudia. Marin and Claudia had been the closest of friends back before his father had become obsessed with Marin and shot her and Brandt Barratt that day. Those two had been together almost daily as girls for years.
Marin had pulled away from Claudia sharply after—and while his sister had acted fine with that, he’d known it had hurt Claudia so much.
Claudia had a sensitive heart and could be easily bruised.
Even if she acted all big and bad sometimes.
He was her big brother—it was his job to protect her. And to know when she was hurting.
He’d understood it from all angles—they’d all been protecting themselves. Everyone had experienced trauma. But he’d hated seeing his little sister lose not only their father that day, but her closest friend. Claudia had been reeling for months after. He would always remember that.
He was beyond glad she’d found Auggie and her sisters and Sage now.
Meyra was there, as well. Cooking as always. That woman could cook, no denying that. Her fiancé was right there, too.
The man Cal’s father had almost killed. Hell. Cal almost stopped. Hadn’t they dealt with the scars from their fathers enough today?
Auggie’s hand wrapped around his. She looked up at him, from those soul-stealing eyes of hers. “I…know this is hard for you. But we can leave, if you want?”
This had been his idea, and he knew she had been friends with the Talleys for years.
Two of her cousins were heavily involved with Meyra and Marin’s cousins Dusty and Dylan now.
It was just what it was; he’d have to learn to deal.
“I’m good. It’s a small town—and this place is owned by them.
I knew what I was getting into. I’d rather be here, with you, than concerned with ramifications of what my father did. ”
“Smooth. This one is smooth. Really pretty, too,” a female voice said behind them.
Cal turned to see Dylan, a young blonde woman no bigger than Em and around her age, standing there in the typical polo for the inn.
“Hello, welcome to the Talley Inn. Well, what’s going on here?
He looks a little sneaky, Aug. Very pretty, though. ”
“Cal is buying me dinner, Dylan. Why are you working? Weren’t you under strict orders to be resting?”
“I am allowed to only take orders for two hours each night, Cousin Auggie. Someone else shall deliver them. No carrying anything. Fletcher is still in a room near the family wing. But my cowboy is a bit of an early bird, considering…He’s probably sleeping right now.
I was going stir crazy in there, listening to him breathe.
But…our new drone is here. I assembled it this morning.
It’s the size of a basketball. I need a relatively flat, large empty field without a lot of cow poop and pine trees to test it in soon…
Know where I can borrow one, by any chance? ”
“I have a few you can use. All we’ve really had in it in years are pumpkins. Lots and lots of pumpkins. It does slope down a bit though, toward a creek.”
“Were they heavily fertilized fields? Did you let some self-seed? What does the snow do to pumpkin seeds, do you think? Can I get some soil samples, sometime? I really want to study what we’ve got in this county. See if I can match seeds to the environment.”
It took Cal a moment to catch up to what the younger woman was talking about. Auggie answered her questions easily, though. Comfortably.
Then they were sitting at their table, alone, waiting for their order to be delivered. “That one was the one with your cousin, right?”
She had left after they’d all been seated. Her fiancé had stayed behind, though.
“That’s Dylan. My father…almost got her killed four weeks ago. I’m very glad Dylan isn’t holding that against us. Now her father…well…that guy is real piece of work. He has a problem with Tylers anywhere in the same orbit as his precious daughters now.”
“But isn’t she involved with Gil’s brother? Like Dusty is the other one?”
“Most definitely. Dusty and Ben are getting married soon. Dylan likes to pester her dad about that, too. She’s threatening to use drones in her own wedding, whenever that will be. I think she’s serious, too. She’s good for Fletcher. He just lights up when she’s around. It’s nice to see.”
What would it take to make Augusta Dawn light up for a man, he wondered?
Cal really wanted to see.
He slipped his fingers into hers, and told her just that.
Her cheeks turned bright red, and he knew…she was thinking the same thing.
He just had to figure out how to make that happen as soon as it possibly could.