“Thanks.”
“You don’t sound too happy about it.”
“I am. It’s just… There’s so much more to bein’ a husband and a father than I imagined. It’s like calving all the damn time.” Colt shot Kane a dark look. “And if you ever repeat that to Indy I will beat you bloody.”
Kane held up his hands in mock surrender.
“Just when I think I’ve got a handle on it all, the kid is sleeping through the night, the puppy is house trained, and I’ve got my sexy wife back…I find out I knocked her up again. And that day, when I looked at you, without all the damn worries about this family stuff, I was jealous of your freedom. It only lasted a minute or so, but it was there.”
He shook his head. “You’re a lucky man. Your life wasn’t such hot shit before Indy, remember? And I’d give my left nut to have those kind of family worries.”
“Speakin’ of…” Colt pinned him with a look. “What’s goin’ on with you and the fireball attorney?”
“Who the hell knows? One day it’s great. The next… I can’t get a bead on her.”
“Then it’s probably the real deal and she’s running scared.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m not the type of guy she thought she’d end up with,” he said, hating he sounded like a f**king whiner.
Colt frowned at him. “What the f**k are you talkin’ about? You feelin’ like you’re not good enough for her? So she’s a lawyer. Big deal. That just means when you do something stupid and get your ass tossed in jail she can give you a helluva defense.”
Kane laughed. “Asshole.”
“Listen to me. Don’t be a dumbass and waste any more time. Do the adult thing and quit mopin’
around. It’s annoying as hell.”
“How the hell do you know I’ve been moping? You ain’t been around.”
“Like anything can be a goddamned secret for long in this family.”
Before he could tell Colt to mind his own f**king business, the door blew open and a whole mass of people crowded in. Kade, Cord, Colby, Cam and Quinn.
Kade spoke up. “We’re staging an intervention.”
Kane glared at Colt. “Was this your doin’?”
“Yep.” Colt smirked. “Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it?”
Unbelievable.
All the guys grabbed a cup of coffee and took a seat.
When he couldn’t take their amused stares and total silence any longer, he snapped, “What?”
Evidently Kade was the designated spokesman. “We’ve all been where you are, so we’re gonna give you the benefit of our experience.” Kade leaned forward. “Buy a goddamned ring and marry the woman.
Don’t take no for an answer.”
Heads nodded in agreement.
Kane looked at his relatives like they’d all gone insane, because the road to happily ever after hadn’t been easy for any of them. “That’s your advice? That’s why you’re all here?”
Colby exchanged a look with Quinn and Colt and said, “Partially.”
“They’re using this ‘intervention’ as an excuse to avoid their wives, since they’re all pregnant,” Cam tossed in.
“Fuck off, Cam,” Colby said.
“But it’s true,” Cam argued.
“They’re all pregnant?” Kane asked. “Did you guys plan that or something?”
“No. Blame the last blizzard,” Colby said.
Quinn nodded.
Kade said, “Well, Skylar ain’t pregnant.”
Colt said, “And Indy was pregnant before the blizzard.”
“Far as I know, AJ ain’t pregnant.” Cord grinned. “Yet, but it sure ain’t for lack of tryin’.”
Cam sighed. “As for why they’re here tonight, they each told their missus that they had to talk some sense into you about Ginger. Which if they’re anything like Domini, they’re all teared up thinking we’re the greatest guys in the world, looking out for you.”
Kane snorted.
“As much as we do care about you finally strapping on that old ball and chain like the rest of us,”
Quinn said, “we are here for another reason.”
“Which is?”
Colby crossed his arms over his chest. “Poker.”
That jarred him. “What?”
“We know you’re playin’ poker regularly with Brandt, Tell, Dalton, Bennett and Chase. We’re pissed you didn’t invite us, and we want in.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. We admire the hell outta you, Kane,” Cord said. “You’ve actually tried to fix the rift between our families and Uncle Casper’s. None of us could do it, even when we all wanted to. Hell, even when some of us tried.”
“So the next poker game after calving? We all expect an invite,” Cord said.
“Besides, if it was just supposed to be a gathering of the single McKays, then you’re gonna get kicked outta the club pretty soon, anyway,” Kade pointed out.
Kane muttered, “God I hope so.”
Cam threw a deck of cards on the table. “We’ve got an hour before we need to check cattle.”
“Love the way you said ‘we’, little bro, when you’ve got no intention of climbin’ on an ATV when it’s ten below outside,” Colt said.
“Hey. I’m handicapped.”
Boos rang out, followed by laughter and trash-talking.
Kade leaned over. “Seriously. Don’t wait to tell Ginger how you feel about her until you think she’s ready to hear it. If she’s anything like Sky, and I suspect she is, she already knows how you feel. She just needs tangible proof.”
“Thanks for the advice, but I ain’t getting a tattoo.”
“Oh, you’ll be surprised what you’ll do in the name of love.”
“Are you two done sharin’ hairdo tips and secrets so we can play poker?” Colt rubbed his hands together with glee. “I’m feelin’ lucky.”
That reminded Kane he was wearing his lucky ball cap. It also reminded him that he missed Hayden as much as he missed Ginger. Rather than dwell on what he couldn’t change tonight, but what he was goddamned sure he was gonna change as soon as humanly possible, he readjusted his cap and grabbed the cards. “Ante up, boys.”
Chapter Eighteen
Ginger missed Kane. It was an odd feeling. She’d never had a man in her life that she cared enough about to miss.