30. Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Colt
" S o, how long have you been in love with Brynn?" Callie asks when I sit down beside her on the couch.
"I'm not. I just met her," I scoff. "You don't know what you are talking about, sis."
"I have never seen you act this way around anyone. By the way, if you want to hide your feelings from her brothers, stop staring at her every time she is in your vicinity."
"You really are a pain in my ass," I grumble.
"Uncle Colt! That is a bad word," Millie says from the floor where she is coloring a picture of a horse.
"I'll do better, Mills. Promise." I cross my fingers over my heart.
"We are about to leave and go to town, if the horses get here before we get back, can you handle everything?" Blake asks me as he walks in from outside .
"Sure thing, I'll have Callie help me check them out," I say as I pull my sister under my arm and rub my knuckles in her hair.
"You better quit, big brother," Callie warns.
"If she is anything like Brynn, you should definitely quit," Blake says as Brooks walks in and sees me giving Callie a noogie. "Just ask Brooks."
"Ask me what?"
"About how you learned the hard way not to give our sister a noogie," Blake chuckles.
"My right nipple still hurts when it rains," Brooks says as he lays a palm to his right nipple. "Shit hurts."
"You should listen to them." Callie makes a pinching motion with her index finger and thumb.
"Alright, I give." I lift my hands in the air and away from her head.
"We would appreciate it if you guys could stay at the main house while we are gone. People might stop by, and I want someone to be here. Momma Ann had to leave to take her granddaughter to the doctor. Everything for lunch is in the fridge if we aren't back," Blake says, motioning to the kitchen.
"I'll take care of it, go make your arrangements and we will hold down the fort." I stand to shake Blake's hand. "We got this. "
"Thanks," Brooks and Blake say as they head out the door to drive into town.
"So, tell me more about how you aren't in love with their sister?" Callie giggles.
I groan and slump down on the couch. "It's not love. Maybe just lust."
"Gross." Callie pushes my leg with her foot. "Don't talk like that around me."
"You are the one talking about love. I literally just met the girl. Trust me, she was not a fan."
"Was? As in past tense."
Shit. Nothing gets by her.
"Like I said, it's not love. Just let it go."
"I see it, Colt. Fuss all you want, but I am not blind. You may not be head over boots in love yet , but it's coming."
I run my hand down my face.
"It is okay to be happy. To do something just for you. You deserve to be loved too," Callie says as she pokes me in the side. "I love the way you love me and Millie. You are not him."
I feel the burn of emotion behind my eyes. I have strived my entire life to be nothing like our father. I never want to use someone's love against them. He had my mother so twisted; she didn't know which way was up. "What if I am? What if I can't love someone the way they deserve? "
"I love the way you love me. I love the way you love Millie. Hell, I love the way you love Brynn, even though you won't admit it. You might not see it, but I do. You are completely different around her. Something in her relaxes you, you aren't so surly when she is around. I haven't seen you smile in years, but yesterday you were laughing. I think I even heard you crack a joke." Callie shakes her head in disbelief. "I think you met your match."
"She doesn't live here."
"Not yet. But things change, there is a lot happening in her life right now. Just go with the flow, let whatever happens happen." Callie shrugs, "I think you are going to surprise yourself."
"I think you have read too many of those romance books you like," I say with a laugh. ''I am going to go pull out the stuff for lunch, the ranch hands will be up here soon."
In the kitchen, I find everything Momma Ann prepared. She made chicken salad, ham salad and tuna salad. I pull the large containers out of the refrigerator along with an overflowing fruit tray. I manage to find the bread, pitas and croissants she bought for the sandwiches, and finally gather all the bags of chips I can find.
Hot summer days in the heat equal cold sandwiches and chips for lunch. There are also popsicles and ice cream sandwiches in the freezer. I grab the paper plates and napkins when I hear the first round of boots clomping into the house .
"Grab your plate and eat up guys," I say as they all beeline to the kitchen.
"Thanks Colt, we are sure glad to be inside where it is cool," Matt says, his shirt soaked with sweat.
"Momma Ann also has frozen treats after your lunch before you head back out." I point to the large freezer.
The hoots and hollers remind me of little kids in an ice cream shop. I laugh at their antics and go sit at the table and wait for Brynn, Blake, and Brooks to get back.
I can't help but wonder if Brynn is okay. If her brothers are comforting her while they make all the arrangements. I wish I could take her pain away. All of her pain, even the kind she tries to hide.