Must Be Wright (The Wrights 3)

Belle and Cooper traded places.

“Wow.” Miranda’s wrist made a small circle, swirling the wine in her glass, watching the admittedly mesmerizing scene in the kitchen. “He’d make a great addition to the family.”

Time to change the subject. “The only addition I’m interested in is another cousin for Coop. When are you and Jack getting on that?”

“We’re working on it.”

“Really?”

She grinned. “Really.”

“Aw, that’s awesome.” The sweetness of the idea of another baby in their family eased the stress in Gypsy’s shoulders. “That

’s the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.”

“Except for hitting that.” She grinned and tipped her glass toward Wyatt. “That’s by far the best idea of the year.” When Gypsy rolled her eyes, Miranda added, “I’m just saying. You deserve a little fun.”

“I’m the mom of a three-year-old. Fun for me is an early bedtime.”

“That’s my point.”

“I don’t need a man to be happy,” Gypsy told her. “I have an amazing life.”

“As amazing as that? Because that’s the best kind of amazing. All the pleasure. None of the strings.”

Miranda refilled their wineglasses, and they spent the next hour watching Wyatt fry the breaded steaks, make grits and gravy and string beans, all with four little hands in the mix. All while the three of them laughed and sang and cheered when they achieved another step in the cooking process.

And in that time, Gypsy started to see Wyatt very differently. As more than a fun-loving, sexy extrovert. He was so sweet with Belle and patient with Cooper and a good sport about Miranda’s not-so-subtle meddling.

By the time he brought over a fresh bottle of wine and announced dinner was ready, Gypsy was beginning to think that having a little no-strings fun wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

11

Wyatt had needed this night worse than he’d realized.

Pulling the kids into cooking dinner had probably been a mistake—he’d be cleaning up for a couple of hours, but that would give him a couple of more hours to spend with Gypsy, and he’d take more time with Gypsy any day of the week and twice on Sundays. If the only way to get it was to include the kids, then so be it.

When they’d finished eating, Cooper and Belle returned to the living room while the adults lingered at the table over wine. Gypsy and Miranda talked about the bar and Cooper and Gypsy’s search for a manager. Wyatt enjoyed watching Gypsy interact with her sister. Enjoyed seeing her at home. Enjoyed cooking for her. This was the most relaxed he’d been in what felt like weeks, but had only been days.

“So, where’s the next stop on your tour?” Miranda asked Wyatt.

His mind veered that direction, and trouble immediately filled his head. He pulled in a breath to speak, but his cell rang first, and he glanced at the display. “Speak of the devil. It’s my manager. We’re going to discuss that very thing. I’ll take it outside.”

He stood and headed toward the door, with Gypsy calling behind him, “You’re not getting out of cleaning up, Jackson.”

He shot a smile over his shoulder. “Wouldn’t think of it.”

On the porch, he answered the call and wandered toward the railing, bracing himself there with one hand. “Hey, Aaron.”

“Hey, how are things?”

“Not good. I’m sick over this.”

“Well, I bought you some time. I was able to reschedule the morning show, and Jimmy Kimmel agreed to go to Nashville for an onsite interview with the Opry as the backdrop. I’ve cleared it with the Opry, so you’re good to go there. But we’ve got Little Rock, Dallas, and Chicago coming up.”

“My parents will be back in time to help with Chicago, but we’re going to have to cancel Arkansas and Dallas.” He knew it had to be done, but, God, he hated canceling. “Put the arena bills on my tab. I don’t want this affecting the guys any more than necessary.”

“I figured that’s the way this would go. When I talked to the guys, they all agreed to canceling concerts until you had things figured out.”