Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“Well… I’m sure your mom is thrilled that you and Dayne have come home.”
“Danica, too, since we’ll be running it as a family. We’re doing this for Mom. Dad, too. He wanted us to take care of her and that was a huge factor in our decision to come home. How about you?”
“How about me, what? I never left,” she murmured. “You know that.”
“I meant, are you thrilled I’m home?” he asked more sharply than he should. But the long-buried bitterness was bubbling to the surface.
She pinned her lips together. “I have to go. It was good seeing you, Dylan.” She turned and strode away.
“Talk about whiplash, Erin,” he called out. “You’re all open and welcoming when you think I’m only home for a minute, then as soon as you find out I’m here to stay, your reaction changes. Are you no longer up for coffee and small talk?”
She stopped abruptly and spun on her boot heel. “Do you want the truth, Dylan?”
No. “Always.”
“Because it’s easy to fake it for a short bit of time. It’s too much work to do it forever.”
Damn. “Then don’t. I’ll be busy out at the farm turning it into a resort. I don’t have time to play those types of games, either.”
She nodded. “Welcome home, Dylan.” She turned and began walking again.
“Good to see you, too, Erin. Tell your husband I said hello,” he yelled, no longer bothering to hide the jealousy in his tone. He was done pretending.
She stopped dead in her tracks, then stood there for far too long.
She didn’t bother to face him when she finally responded, “Next time I visit his grave, I’ll pass along the message.” With that, she strode away.
He was so focused on her and what she said, he jumped when Dayne came out of nowhere and bumped a shoulder into his. “Who’s the hot piece of ass?”
Dylan pulled in a sharp breath through his nostrils. When he finally managed to loosen his jaw, he muttered, “Erin.”
“No way!” burst from his brother.
“Yeah.”
“Well, hot damn! Too bad she ditched you and married that Kyle guy.”
She didn’t ditch him and apparently, she was no longer married. “He’s dead.”
Dayne ripped the baseball cap off his head and slapped it against his thigh with a thwap. “Sounds like she’s available, then.”
Normally, he’d think Dayne was being heartless about Erin losing her husband, but his brother had been pissed at Kyle Hart when he married her not long after Dylan left.
“Not to you,” Dylan informed him.
“All’s fair in love and war, brother. I figured you learned that when Kyle stole her away.”
Dylan gritted his teeth. “He didn’t steal her.”
Dayne chuckled, knowing the truth. “No? Then why doesn’t she have your ring on her finger and your babies right now?”
Erin was the reason no woman had his ring on their finger, and he didn’t have any children. “She didn’t want to leave, and I never wanted to stay. Apparently, that no longer made me a viable option.”
Dayne elbowed him. “Well, now you have your chance.”
“That ship has sailed,” he mumbled.
“Ships don’t only sail in one direction, Dyl Pickle.”
Dayne using a stupid childhood nickname wasn’t helping his mood. “She’s probably dating someone.”
“So?”
He turned to face his brother and shook his head. “Really?”
Dayne shrugged.
“Anyway, I’m surprised Mom didn’t tell me that Hart died.” She had to have known but decided to keep it from him. Her children might be in their thirties, but she still protected them like they were children.
It was both endearing and annoying at the same time.
“What did he die from?”
“How the hell do I know? I certainly wasn’t asking his widow how it happened, jackass. I wonder about you sometimes.”
“I wonder about you all the time,” Dayne responded on a laugh. “Wanna grab some lunch while in town?”
“At Mom’s?”
“No, at Patsy’s Diner, Dyl Weed.”
“Are you five, Great Dayne?”
Dayne chuckled. “God, I miss making up names for each other.”
“Again, are you five?”
“Oh, good to see that stick is back in place… Lodged up your tight ass.”
“At least I can say my ass is tight. I’m sure as hammered as yours is—” Dylan shook his head. “Why am I letting you drag me down to your level?”
“Because deep down we’re the same, brother. You might not want to admit it, but it’s true. You coming up with the idea of an adult amusement park proved that.”
“It’s not an…” He grimaced. “I’m not sure I want to sit across from you at the diner. You’ll probably give me indigestion.”
Dayne threw an arm around Dylan’s shoulders and steered him in the direction of Patsy’s. “I’m buying. And you’re in luck, I have a roll of antacids in my pocket in case you need them.”
Chapter Three
Erin wasn’t surprised to see the paved parking lots packed since the Lyons children coming home to turn their parents’ farm into an adult-only ranch resort was the talk of the town.