I decide to keep my mouth shut. Drawing the ire of Beau ranks pretty low on the list of things I’d like to do anytime soon. Peyton can weather this one on her own.
Now it’s awkward. Quiet. Forks and knives scrape plates. And then, in a miracle that rivals manna raining from heaven, Dakota walks from the kitchen into the dining room. She’s holding a dinner plate.
She stands beside Juliette and grins at the table. “Would you believe me if I said I smelled dinner all the way from my house?”
Juliette snorts. “No.” She takes Dakota’s plate and passes it to Warner. He adds casserole and salad to her plate, then lifts it above his head.
Dakota walks up behind Warner, mussing his hair before taking her plate. He shifts it back into place. Dakota takes the empty seat beside me and starts to eat.
“So good,” she says around a mouthful. She looks down the table. “Nice work, Mama H.”
Juliette lifts her two eyebrows in acceptance, and that’s it. My mother would have purred her pleasure at having her cooking skills complimented, would have rushed to write down the recipe and passed it off as her own when it was most certainly someone else’s. It’s amazing how different people can be.
“Dakota, do you know if the wine bar is booked solid tomorrow night?” Warner asks.
She shrugs. “Not sure, but I can text Jo and ask. Why?”
Warner looks at me. “It’s Tenley’s birthday tomorrow.”
I narrow my eyes at him. He chuckles.
“She thought she was going to keep it a secret, but her cover was blown, so—”
Dakota interrupts him by clapping her hands together. “Yes, I love it. Perfect idea.”
“I haven’t even told you what I’m thinking.”
“You don’t have to. I’ll take it from here.” Dakota beams at me and pulls her phone from her pocket. She types out a message and puts the phone down.
“I don’t usually do anything big for my birthday,” I tell her. “I’m really low-key about it.”
Dakota’s phone buzzes and she looks at it, then back up to Warner. “Bring Tenley to The Orchard tomorrow evening at seven.”
Warner’s eyes meet mine. “I can do that.”
“Good,” Dakota replies, taking a bite. “I’ll take care of everything else.”
It’s only seven in the morning and I’ve already fielded phone calls from my parents, my sister, and Gretchen. I haven’t left the bed yet. It’s too warm in my spot, I can’t get up. And there isn’t anything pressing to get out of bed for anyway. Warner has to do something with Wes so there won’t be any ranching lessons today. My phone, still warm from my most recent conversation, rings again. Morgan.
“Hello there,” I say as I press speaker.
Morgan’s off-key voice floats into the air, the ‘happy birthday’ tune bobbing up and down like it’s avoiding punches in a fight.
I thank her when she’s finished. “It was like the sweetest symphony.”
“So good, right?” Morgan laughs. “How’s the big three-oh?”
“Very much the same as two-nine and 364 days.”
“Do you have plans? I wish I were there.”
“You can be. Get on a plane to Phoenix, rent a car, and drive two hours. Boom.”
“I can’t…”
“Because…?”
“I met someone last weekend and tonight I’m meeting his mother. We might be in love. Me and Pax, not me and the mom.”
I sit up. “Wait, what?”
Morgan does this embarrassed giggle thing. “I know. It’s crazy.”
Throwing the comforter aside, I get out of bed and make it as far as the couch, Libby in tow. “Tell me all about him.”
“No. I don’t want to jinx it.”
“Telling me about him will jinx it?”
“Possibly.”
“You’re weird.”
“I know. Tell me about your plans for tonight.”
I frown. I don’t like letting her off so easy, but I know Morgan, and she won’t budge once she’s made up her mind. “Dinner at a local place.”
“With whom? Calvin?”
I shake my head at the same time I tell her no. “Remember the family I told you about?” I don’t wait for her to respond. “I’m going out with some of them.”
“The instructor?”
I clear my throat and shift so I’m parallel with the cushions. “Among others.”
Morgan groans.
“What?” A defensive edge creeps into my tone.
“You like him.”
I sigh, as if her accusation is an egregious transgression. Actually, I’m buying time.
“Quit stalling.”
Dammit.
“He’s nice, Morg. Just a friend. I told you that already.”
“Right. Three times. And that’s all you’ve said. Which is how I know you like him. Economy of words isn’t something you’ve been known to practice.”
“Are you calling me a motormouth?”
“I would never. I’m just saying that you tend to clam up when you like someone. You’re not a gusher.”
“Ew.” My lip curls. It’s official. I do not like the word ‘gusher.’
“I know. I don’t like it either. Strike it from the record.”
“So stricken.”
“Anyway,” she says with exaggeration. “Are you going to come clean, or what?”
I sigh. “He’s… pretty great.”
“Can you do any better than that?”
“Gorgeous. Charming. Funny. Tall. I like his nose.” It’s a good nose. Straight. “But he’s also fresh out of a divorce and has two kids, one of whom is basically a teenager and she’s figuring out how much she doesn’t like me.”
“If she’s basically a teenager then she doesn’t like anybody.”
“Especially me.”
“Understandable.”
“I agree.” I can see it from Peyton’s point of view, and it’s not pretty. “But it doesn’t even matter. Warner and I have agreed to be just friends. It’s not the right time.”
“Leave it to you to create your own real-life romantic comedy when you’re shooting your last one.”
“I don’t know if I’d call this a romantic comedy.” I pick at a speck of lint on the cushion. “Maybe a Greek tragedy.”
“Let’s hope not. Those end very…”
“Tragically?”
Morgan laughs. “Yes.” She pauses. “Go have fun tonight, okay? Don’t think about all your stuff. Your parents are fine, I saw them two days ago. Your mom was bitching at your dad and he ignored her. Nothing has changed. Your handsome, funny, and charming cowboy won’t have his daughter with him tonight, right?” She doesn’t wait for me to answer. “So you don’t have to worry about her, either.”
“True.”
“I want a full report tomorrow, got it? And it had better be good. If you tell me you were in bed by nine, I’m going to be pissed off.”
Morgan’s using her mother’s stern voice. It makes me smile. “I promise when we talk tomorrow, I’ll have something good to tell you.”