“So, she’s been Grandma Kate’s for a while, then.” Trace said.
“She has,” Adam said. “And while we originally gathered here to ask your intentions toward Rachel, once we assembled this morning, Jesse told us of the entirety of your conversation yesterday. So we changed the purpose of this little meeting. Especially in light of the information Jake gave me yesterday.”
Something in Adam’s tone alerted Brandon. He sat straighter in his chair and didn’t take his gaze off of Lusty’s sheriff.
“What new purpose? And what information did Jake just give you?”
“This here is a little something we’ve begun referring to as a war council.” As Adam said that, he used his finger to indicate everyone sitting there. “And as for the information, well, it appears that Buck Cosgrove, after nearly five years of total neglect and desertion, has begun to search for his ex-wife.”
“Well, hell, that can’t possibly be good,” Trace said.
“Most likely isn’t,” Grant said. “So let’s talk strategy.”
* * * *
“We need to talk strategy,” Mercy Carter-Quest said.
“We do?” Rachel was on her break, and her best friends, Mercy and Iris Kendall, had dropped into Lusty Appetites. Sunday was brunch day at the restaurant, and although a body could order from the regular menu, it rarely happened. The servers were kept busy bringing fresh drinks and taking away used plates.
In other words, Sundays could be steady, but not taxing. She’d been delighted to see her best friends, of course. She thought of the news she had to give them and wondered if she could grab a little private time with them. And then it all worked out.
They’d begged her to join them, and Kelsey had overheard when she’d come out to put her eyes on the buffet. She’d told her to go and take her break, so she did just that.
“Mercy’s right,” Iris said. “Word is already getting out. So you need to decide what your story is, going forward.”
“Word is getting out about…what?”
“Why, about you, Ms. Cougar, and those two hardbodies newly returned to Lusty. Now, if what you want to do is just indulge yourself, something we both, by the way, think would be awesome, why then, we’ll be with you, shoulder to shoulder.” Mercy grinned. “I might even sweet-talk Damion into giving away a few Dom-frowns. You know, in case anyone gives you a verbal hard time.”
Rachel couldn’t help it. She giggled then covered her mouth, hoping to stop it. When the giggle turned into all-out-deep-in-the-gut-laughter, she dropped her hand from her mouth to her stomach. She knew practically everyone in the restaurant was smiling and that her two friends were just wondering what they’d said that set her off.
Finally, she got herself under control. She took a sip of her sweet tea and caught her breath. “I really love you guys, you know that?”
“Well, I was beginning to wonder,” Iris said.
Despite the words, Rachel knew neither of her besties was upset over her laughter—just confused by it.
“Okay, first, Mercy, I haven’t been here as long as you have, but even I know that no one in this town would give me a hard time over being with Brandon and Trace, even if it was all just a casual fling.”
“Well, yeah…I’m still not all the way there yet. I know, I know.” Mercy sighed. “I keep looking for the ‘but.’ It’s the investigative reporter in me.”
“You’ll get over it, girlfriend,” Iris said.
“Maybe.” Then Mercy looked at Rachel. She tilted her head, and then her eyes widened. “Ohmygod! This isn’t cougar-ism, is it? You’re actually seeing those two men!”
“I see them every time I’m with them, and there’s nothing wrong with my eyesight.” Rachel grinned. Then she leaned in closer. “I’m not altogether certain if I think of them as my men…or my Doms. Though we haven’t begun to explore the dynamic yet, but we will be. In fact, later tonight, I’m going online to do a bit more research and set up my list of hard and soft limits.”
“I finally understand the word gobsmacked,” Mercy said. She sat back, a look of wonder on her face. “It’s one of those words you read but not one that represents something you experience very often.”
“I’m stunned, too,” Iris said. “Happy, but stunned. I mean we all know Robert is a Dom, but who knew his stepson would be?”
“I think there’s no ‘step’ involved in either of those men’s minds,” Rachel said. “Brandon told me about his mother coming here and finding Robert and David. He also told me that, when they first met via Skype, he and Robert recognized the Dom in each other. He told me that really pleased him at the time. That he knew his mom was finally going to get the care and attention she deserved.”
Quiet words spoken after loving in the middle of the night had shown her even more of Brandon’s heart. There wasn’t anything about either of those two men that didn’t appeal to her.
“So…um, do you think that you’ll be going to Houston with us? We see Robert, David, and Jillian there sometimes so…oh.”
Rachel chuckled. “We’re experiencing early days, yet. I don’t know how things will turn out. I do know that the guys are volunteering on Saturdays at Healing Rides and that they’ve met Libby.”
“How was she with them?” Mercy asked.
“So far, so good.” She decided not to share with her bffs that Libby had actually thought to set her mother up. That was Libby’s secret—well, Libby’s and Trace’s. She felt the same way about her daughter’s relationship with the guys as she did about her relationship with Shar. And she’d told them, too, that she didn’t need to know every little thing. Sure, it was tempting as a parent to want to be able to examine every little nanosecond of her daughter’s life.
But Libby was a person and had the right to some privacy. And Rachel trusted the guys to tell her if there was anything she really needed to know.
Understanding Brandon
