“Why?” asked Cord.
“Dunno, but maybe you should find out.”
When my brothers left, I wandered into the kitchen, realizing they were right about there not being anything for me to do.
After checking everything was set for the next day, I left. Normally, I would’ve hung out, tried out new recipes, or just puttered around. It was weird to leave and not have anything in particular to do.
Instead of going to the ranch house, I drove out of the Roaring Fork gates and went to Gunnison to see if Nina still had the dresses set aside for me.
“Hey, Flynn. Your brother was here earlier,” she said when I walked in. “You’re Buck’s sister, right?”
“Right.” I looked around the store. “Um, do you still have those dresses I tried on?”
She came around the counter. “Of course I do. That was just yesterday.” She winked. “By the way, how was the concert? Lucy and I were so envious!”
I told her about it and that my brother played in the band. It felt weird to be telling so much to a stranger, but she was so friendly, I found myself jabbering away.
“After you left yesterday, I pulled a few more things for you to try on, if you’re interested.”
“Uh, sure. What kinds of things?”
She pulled on my belt loop. “Women’s jeans for one. Something that will flatter your figure more. And some blouses that will do the same.”
I followed her over to the dressing room area and waited while she went into the back. My eyes opened wide when I saw all the clothes she was carrying.
“Don’t worry, you can just pick a couple of things, but at least you’ll know what we have.”
Once I graduated from high school, my father started paying me to run the kitchen. I knew it wasn’t as much as he’d paid Johnny, but he’d also worked at the ranch for years.
Since I didn’t do much, didn’t have rent to pay, and hardly spent any money at all, I had enough in the bank to buy as many clothes as I wanted.
I thought about my conversations with my brothers and how I always worked, never did anything else, and decided that whatever I liked from what Nina had picked out for me, I’d buy.
I was pulling on a pair of jeans when I heard the chimes of the front door opening. A few seconds later, I heard Lucy holler at me.
“Hey, Flynn.”
“You come out here and let us see,” said Nina. “Lucy wants to hear about the concert too.”
I spent two hours at the store, mainly chatting with the two women. I bought almost all the clothes Nina chose for me and some other things Lucy thought would look nice. I did have to reassure them more than once that I could afford it all.
When I told them my brother was playing a show at the Goat in Crested Butte, Lucy insisted she do my hair again, and since I had no idea how to fix it myself, I let her.
I left, promising I’d come into town next week and we’d all have lunch together.
Before I had a chance to start the truck, a call came in on my cell from Paxon. I held my breath, hoping he wasn’t calling to say he didn’t want to go tonight.
“Hi,” I answered.
“Hey, Flynn. It’s Irish. Sorry, um, Paxon.”
“It’s okay. I know they call you Irish.”
“Anyway, I was just calling to see if you were still going tonight.”
“I want to. Are you?”
“As long as you are.”
I laughed. “Then, I guess we’re both going.”
“Sorry, I can be kind of an idiot sometimes.” He sounded down, which threw me.
“Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s all good.”
“You don’t have to go tonight if you’re not up for it.”
“No, I’m looking forward to it. Really. I just wanted to make sure you were since we went to see a band last night.”
“We’re a pair,” I said, laughing again at how we both kept reassuring each other.
“Bye, Flynn.”
I stared at the phone when the call ended abruptly. Was it my imagination, or had he been short with me throughout the conversation? For a minute, I thought about going back in the store and returning all the clothes I’d just bought. It wasn’t like tonight was a date. We were just two people going to see my brother play at a bar. I was making so much more of it in my head.
As Cord said, Paxon was too old for me, or maybe it was more that I just wasn’t the kind of woman men would ever find attractive—even if I did buy a bunch of new clothes and have someone fix my hair.
When it was time to get ready, I was almost tempted to put on my “regular” clothes and pull my hair up in a ponytail but knew, if I did, it would make me feel worse, not better.
Instead, I picked a blouse that reminded me of the Icelandic poppies that filled the flower beds throughout Crested Butte. I pulled on a pair of new embroidered jeans and slipped my feet into the red booties Nina said would match the top perfectly.
I knew I should probably eat something since all I’d had today was a salad, but then my jeans would probably feel too tight and I’d be miserable.
“Hey, Flynn. You ready?” Cord called out to me.
“Yep.”
“Wow,” he said, looking me up and down when I came out of my room.
“What?”
“I like it. You look gorgeous, kid.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Now let’s go.”
“Are we picking anyone else up?” I asked once we were in his truck.
Cord shook his head. “The secret service caravan is meeting us there I guess.”
“It does kind of seem that way, doesn’t it?”
“Do you ever wonder what the hell the big secret is?”
I shrugged. “I guess I’m used to it, given Buck could never talk about where he was or what he was doing.”
25
Irish
“Aren’t we picking anyone else up?” I asked Rock when we drove past the main ranch house.
“Everyone else is meeting us there.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, hoping I hadn’t been so much of an asshole earlier that Flynn decided not to go along tonight. Evidently, I wasn’t very good at separating work from fun since it had been so long since I’d done it. I was so accustomed to being wrapped up in the mission, I hadn’t realized until I hung up that I’d probably given her the impression I wasn’t interested.
But, Jesus, did I have any right to be interested? She was Buck’s little sister, for God’s sake.
“What’s wrong?” asked Rock.
“Nothin’.”
“Come on, now. Five minutes ago, you seemed almost happy. Now you’re miserable again.”
“It’s been a long time since I’ve lived any kind of normal life. It isn’t like I can, even now.”
“Why not? Missions are missions. It doesn’t mean we can’t also be human every once in a while. Even you, Irish.”
I breathed a sigh of relief when we walked into the bar and I saw Flynn seated at a table in the back. At least she’d come tonight and I hadn’t ruined it for her.