Then Jenny grinned and headed off. There were only a couple of guests in the dining room besides herself.
Alice nodded toward Bailey’s food. “You should eat your lunch while you can. I know you. If a tour bus unexpectedly stops in, you’ll leave your lunch and get right back to work.”
“Is that all you’re going to say?”
“No.” Alice shrugged. “I guess I’m not used to having other women—having friends—who’re willing to help me tackle the annoying men in my life—or even hear about the annoyance. And while Chance and Logan hold nowhere near the degree of annoyance as brother Jason does, I’d forgotten, I guess, that they do have some because they are, after all, brothers.”
“It’s something I never knew, growing up, because I was an only child.” Bailey bit into her hamburger and chewed. The aroma wafted over to Alice, and she almost put her hand up to order one. But she’d had a salad for lunch and, in fact, had deliberately chosen the salad over the hamburger.
Alice consoled herself she could have a hamburger the next time she was there.
“I really had little experience of men, period, until I came here,” Bailey said. “I barely dated as a teen, because my mom took ill when I was in my senior year of high school. The one relationship I had, developed near the end of that year, and he didn’t want a girlfriend who couldn’t party when he wanted to.” Bailey shrugged. “Anyway, I don’t have any experience in sibling relationships, so I don’t know what it is to have annoying brothers. However, I’ve lived here for a few years now, and if there is one thing that you’re sure to find in Lusty, it’s family—in every way, shape, and form you can imagine.”
“Family is very important here,” Alice agreed. She set her tablet down and picked up her tea. “I guess it’s difficult for the guys to understand that I’m not the bratty baby sister they became used to, the one they knew growing up.”
“Oh, come on. I bet you left bratty behind when you hit thirteen, at the very least.”
Alice grinned. “Chance and Logan moved away from the farm when I was about thirteen, and I think in their minds—sometimes—I’m still the irritating female human being they remember. I get that. I really do.”
“So, what have they done? Tried to find out what’s going on between you and those two Kendalls?”
“Yes!”
“Oh.” Bailey sighed and shook her head.
“I told them that we were getting to know each other and taking things slowly.”
“And they wanted more than that?”
Alice didn’t think she could control her words, so she just nodded her head.
Bailey’s eyes went wide. “They did not ask you if you’d….”
Alice again nodded. “They did! It was at that point, after a fair bit of sputtering, which was my gentle side holding back my not-so-gentle side from saying some very nasty things, that I left the house and came here.”
Bailey sighed and shook her head. “Even I know that’s not done.” She sighed again. “I’m trying to think of who I know among the men of Lusty who have sisters. There are more females born to the Benedicts, generally speaking, than there are to the Kendalls. That’s one thing I’ve noticed.”
“Ian and Ken each have a sister, but otherwise, I’ve noticed the same thing.”
“Well, the triplets—Rick, Kevin, and Trey—have a sister, Julia. Then Matt, Steven, Josh, and Alex have Susan. Tracey is Terry Jessop’s sister, and, oh! I nearly forgot. Cord, Jackson, Jesse, and Barry have Veronica—she lives in Divine—and Addison, who’s married to Terry and lives here in Lusty.”
“And?”
“And I think it might be an idea to talk to the wives of the men who have sisters and maybe see if we can get some sort of male intervention going for my husbands. Because, seriously, their asking you about your sex life is not cool.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. Sure as heck beats mine, which was hitting them up-side the head with a shovel.” Alice grinned, letting her sister-in-law know she hadn’t really been contemplating such a thing.
“I think perhaps Shar might be the one who’d most readily help us out or,” Bailey said, “barring that, maybe she could give you a pointer or two on how to handle their interference. It’s actually a question of boundaries.”
“Boundaries. Yes, you’re right.” Alice nodded. Whether or not Shar was available to lend a hand, it might be an idea for Alice to speak to her brothers about boundaries. They couldn’t be that dense. After all, they’d managed to get Bailey to fall in love with them. Maybe she’d try asking them some super embarrassing questions about their sex life. It would be kind of nasty, but under the heading of turnabout is fair play, it might be a viable option. And it might get through when a more genteel approach might not.
“And what about those two Kendalls?” Bailey asked. “Where are they today?”
“They went into Waco. They have to make arrangements for some renovations for the store they’ve bought.” Alice took another sip of tea. “We haven’t seen each other since the other day when we met for that planning session at your house.”
Bailey grinned. “The guys got so into their work they hadn’t even noticed you’d left until I got home.” Then she tilted her head. “Do I detect a bit of annoyance on your part, directed toward those two cousins? Do I have to get the women together, hunt them down, and hurt them?”
That Bailey would even consider such an action somehow tickled her. She shook her head and couldn’t hold back her smile.
And she made a discovery right then and there she promised herself she’d think about. Whereas she’d damn near lost it when Chance and Logan had asked her about her relationship with Ian and Ken, she actually didn’t mind discussing it with Bailey.
So that’s what they mean by the word sisterhood.
Alice looked around the dining room, assuring that
