She answers by tightening her arms around my shoulders.
Several seconds pass, and then I pull back. “You’re sure you’ll be okay managing Dad? Because I don’t know how long I’m going to be gone.”
“Positive. I promise to call if there’s a problem.”
“Okay. I better get going. I’m meeting Rhett in Heaven at Dirty Dicks in an hour.”
“Want me to come with you? You know, for moral support—or maybe to identify the body?”
I scowl, and she laughs.
“What? That was funny. But I really am being serious. He’s going to kill you.”
God, I hope not.
Rhett nods at me from his spot behind the bar. He’s standing next to his twin brother, Cooper. Most people can’t tell them apart, but it’s never been a problem for me. Probably because I ran around with Rhett for almost a year before I met his brother.
“Well, well, well… Look what the cat dragged in,” Rhett says, leaning his elbows on the wooden counter.
“You actually let this fucker behind your bar?” I say to Cooper, feigning shock.
“Fuck no, I don’t let him. Ever since he moved back to town, he just keeps showing up. I don’t have the heart to kick him out, but feel free to take him back to Houston with you.”
Rhett punches Coop in the arm, but Cooper just laughs.
“Mo would murder you if she heard you say that,” Rhett tells him.
“Well, then, it’s a good thing the ol’ ball and chain isn’t here now, isn’t it?”
Rhett tries to punch Coop again, but this time Coop evades him.
“You just wait, brother. One of these days some girl is going to come along and knock you on your ass, and you’ll be on the receiving end for once.”
“Not gonna happen. Settling down is the furthest thing from my mind. There’s nothing better than being a bachelor. I bet Linc here feels the same way.” Coop looks over at me.
“Actually, that’s what I came to talk to you about.”
“Son of a bitch. Not you too.” Coop shakes his head, grabs a bottle of beer from the cooler, pops the top, and holds it out to me. “Seems like this might be necessary this evening.”
I take the beer and tilt the longneck at him before taking a drink.
“Well, I’ll be damned. Lincoln Bennett, self-proclaimed bachelor, might finally settle down. Who’s the lucky girl? Anyone I know?”
Here goes nothing. “Let’s grab a booth, and I’ll tell you about her.”
“Sean, cover the bar.” Coop waves one of his bartenders over, and we head to a table.
I wasn’t planning to have this conversation with two of Adley’s brothers. But I guess it’s better to get it over with now. We take a seat at a table in the back.
Funny enough, the last time we were here, I sat at this same table with Rhett and Coop and their younger brother, Trevor. Their older brother, Beau, was on the phone via Skype. Rhett asked Coop to be his best man and the rest of us to be groomsmen. Of course we gave him shit for settling down, but secretly we were all happy for him.
But it’s a good thing we haven’t ordered our tuxes yet, because he’s liable to rescind that offer to me after our conversation.
“All right, let’s have it,” Rhett says, leaning back in his chair. “But please tell me you didn’t knock up some buckle bunny.”
I flinch. Damn, he almost hit the nail on the head. Adley would die if she heard her brother call her a buckle bunny. “Nope, didn’t knock up a buckle bunny. But I did find a girl.”
He cocks his head to the side. “Yeah? Is it serious?”