Chapter 30
“You two still waiting?”
Trap looked up at Ilsa, frowning and nodding at the same time.
“Maybe he’s not coming,” the waitress said.
“He’s coming, so yes, we’re still waiting,” Ty said.
“If he’s not here in five minutes, we’ll order.” Trap tried to smile, but it didn’t quite come off right.
The waitress smiled and moved away to her next table, taking Trap’s patience with her.
“Colt’s been acting weird lately.” He looked across the table to Ty. “Don’t you think?”
“I don’t know,” Ty said, frowning. “He answers our texts, and I’ve been busy with the weddings.”
Trap nodded because Ty’s brother had just gotten married, and his sister had tied the knot this past June, and his own wedding would be in another six weeks. “Yeah; are you and Winnie ready?”
“I am,” Ty said dryly. “She scheduled the final walk-through at Highland River Gardens, so that’s in a couple weeks. She’s got most stuff done, so it’s just a lot of follow up.”
“They’re right there.” Trap turned at the sound of Ilsa’s voice and found Colt brushing past her with a half-smile on his face.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he drawled, and he slid into the booth beside Trap. “Ah, yes, there’s my Diet Coke.” He reached for a straw like he wasn’t fifteen minutes late.
“Dude, where have you been?” Trap asked.
“I just had something to take care of,” Colt said, and he totally wouldn’t look at Trap.
He tried not to judge him, because Colt ran a four-hundred-acre apple orchard, managed over a dozen staff, a restaurant, a farm store, and had a four-year-old son.
“And I have to stop at the pharmacy on the way back to the orchard for Birdie, so don’t let me forget that.” He poked his straw into his soda pop and took a drink.
“How’s your sister feeling?” Ty asked. “Winnie has a hankering to make chicken pot pie soup, and she said she’d bring her some.”
Colt blinked and then grinned at Ty. “You know, I’m feeling kind of sick these days.” He gave a couple of fake coughs. “Will Winnie bring me some chicken pot pie soup?”
Ty chuckled and shook his head. “She’s been on a soup kick, and she makes gallons and gallons of it. I’m sure she could spare a quart for you.”
“Then yes, Birdie wants chicken pot pie soup.” Colt grinned, though the gesture didn’t reach his eyes the way it usually did, picked up his diet cola, and took a long drink on the straw. “Thanks for getting this for me.”
“You’ve been acting really weird lately,” Trap said, deciding to go straight in.
“I have?” Colt asked.
“Yeah,” Trap said, and he glanced across the table to Ty, hoping for back-up.
Ty didn’t normally get involved in too much, and even now, he sighed and rolled his neck before he spoke. “I hate to say it, bro, but Trap’s right. I don’t pretend to know everything you have going on, but you are acting a little….” He trailed off and looked out the window.
The booth where they sat had a good view of Main Street, and Ty sat almost all the way next to it so his good ear could catch everything Trap and Colt said.
“I don’t know the right word,” Ty finally said. “Just a little…off.”
“You’re late all the time,” Trap said. “And you’ve never been late. And you give answers, but they’re really short and have no specifics.” He leaned back in the booth. “And you still won’t double with me and Lila Mae. I know there’s something going on.”
Colt reached up and removed his cowboy hat, sliding it across the table to Ty’s side of the booth.
“Yeah, I don’t want to go out with you and Lila Mae,” he said.
Trap’s ribs pinched against his heart. “Why not?” he asked.
“I mean, I would if I had anyone to go with.”
Trap blinked slowly at first, and then his eyelids sort of flew out of control.
“Are you saying you broke up with Sariah?” Ty asked.
Colt took another drink of his soda pop, this time drinking nearly half the glass. He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why?” Trap asked. “You seem to really like her.”
“I did,” Colt said. “I do.”
“That’s weird,” Ty said. “I don’t break up with women I like.” He looked over to Trap. “Do you?”
“I absolutely do not break up with women I like.” Trap fully turned toward Colt, his eyebrows raised.
His face turned a ruddy shade of red, and he drained the rest of his Diet Coke. “I like someone else more than Sariah,” he finally said. “All right? Are you satisfied?”
“I’d have been satisfied with any answer,” Trap said. “Why are you hiding this from us?”
“I’m not hiding it,” Colt said. “I just—I can’t ask this other woman out right now.”
“Why not?” he asked.
Colt glared at him. “It’s complicated,” he said. “Something happened, and it’s not my place to say what, and she’s not telling anyone.”
“Is she why you’re late all the time?” Ty asked.
“No,” Colt said. “We’re astronomically busy at the orchards as we try to winterize our trees and meet the county requirements for slash.”
“I told you I’d come help,” Trap said.
“Yeah, well, just like I haven’t been able to ask this woman out, I haven’t been able to ask you to come do that, because I know how incredibly busy you are too.”
“Yeah, how are you even here?” Ty asked.
Trap looked between his two best friends, not liking how this conversation had suddenly turned on him.
“I told you I wouldn’t be as busy once I hired more guys,” he said.
“And it did take a couple of weeks, but I’ve got some good carpenters on my team now, and I don’t have to do everything or be everywhere. ”
“Yeah, he’s practically living with Lila Mae.”
“Hey, I am not,” Trap said, swinging his attention to Ty.
“Well, you’re out there every afternoon and all evening.”
“Yeah, just like you see Winnie every afternoon and all evening,” he shot back. “We’re dating.”
Colt grinned at him. “Well, I’m glad it’s going well and that you’re to the daily part of the relationship.”
“Thank you,” Trap said, because he did like Lila Mae, and while they had just moved into a daily routine of seeing each other in the evening without having to make specific plans, Trap was excited to be there.
He’d never made it this far in a relationship with a woman before, and he loved that he didn’t have to ask to see her and then plan an elaborate date.
He simply texted her a little bit after lunch and asked if she wanted to come to his place, or let her know when he’d be out at Feline Friends.
She’d hired a couple of new people since her visits to Shiloh Ridge and Three Rivers Ranch, and if Trap had any complaints about Lila Mae, they would center around the business part of their relationship, where she wanted to go over designs—and over and over and over them—as she saw other operations and got new ideas.
He didn’t begrudge her for going to Shiloh Ridge or Three Rivers, but it had definitely made his life harder and slowed the progress at Feline Friends.
She’d already been somewhat on the controlling side when it came to the design and construction of the cat houses, but since the tours, Trap would now label her a demanding client.
Now, he dealt with demanding clients all the time, so she was no different in that regard.
The difference was he’d never dated any of them before, and the frustration he experienced at having to meet a demanding client’s needs usually got processed by a good vent session with someone close to him.
But he couldn’t do that with Lila Mae, because she was both who he was frustrated with and who he’d vent to.
“Anyway,” Ty said. “I’m supposed to double-check with you guys that you’re still okay to be in the wedding party. Winnie’s going to be buying ties and vests this weekend.”
“I’m good,” Trap said.
“Yeah, me too,” Colt said.
“Maybe you’ll be dating your new mystery woman by then.” Ty flashed him a smile, but Colt shook his head, as stoic as ever.
“I doubt it. The wedding is six weeks away, and she’s not ready for a boyfriend,” he said.
“So what are you doing? Dropping off flowers and hoping she’ll think of you?” Trap grinned at him, and Colt’s face broke into a smile.
“Something like that.”
“Are you boys ready?” Ilsa asked.
Colt picked up his menu. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “Talk to me about this chile relleno. Is it like super spicy, or if I get it with the green salsa, it’ll be more mild?”
“It’s going to be more mild.” She pointed to the top of the menu. “We’ve got little peppers up here that tell you, and the chili verde sauce is just one pepper.”
“Oh, got it,” he said. “Well, I want the chile relleno then, with the chili verde sauce. Oh, and I need two cheese quesadillas to go, and a pint of beans and a pint of rice.”
“Those to go, too?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and he handed her back the menu.
Trap assumed those were for Jonas and maybe Birdie, who was probably watching him that day. But suddenly, the idea of not having to cook that night and simply taking leftovers from the Mexican restaurant sounded good, and Trap put in his order for huevos rancheros.
Then he added, “I want the taco salad with grilled chicken, and uh…a shredded beef burrito with the medium sauce.” He handed Ilsa the menu. “I want those to go too.”
“What is going on here?” Ty asked.
Trap smiled at him from across the table. “We don’t all have fiancé’s who make vats of soup.”
Ty rolled his eyes. “I guess I’m just going to be boring and get one meal,” he said. “And I want to eat it here, so I’ll have the pork nachos and the guacamole sampler with loads of chips.”
“You got it, cowboy,” Ilsa said, and she took his menu and left.
“My extra food is for my kid,” Colt said.
“And mine’s for dinner tonight,” Trap said. “Then Lila Mae and I can just lay in the hammock and talk.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s what you’re doing in the hammock,” Ty said.
Trap laughed, because maybe there was a little kissing and maybe a little napping that also went on in the hammock. But he and his friends weren’t ones to sit and talk much about their love lives, so he didn’t say any more.