Her Four Cowboys

We did, and soon enough, we were all sitting down on the comfortable couches that had been a fixture of our house since before we could all remember, taking our usual perches throughout the room.

After reaching for the bottle opener that sat at the ready on the table for us to use, I sat in my usual spot on the floor, taking a long pull of the cold, refreshing beer.

“I’ve never understood why you prefer to sit on the floor than on literally any of the other seats in this room, Adam,” Austin said, taking a gulp of his own beer. “This isn’t a holiday, and you don’t have to give up your seat for Mrs. Gunter from church.”

I shrugged, grinning at him. “I just like it down here. Maybe I got used to it after all the years of sitting on the floor as a kid.”

“Well, you know what I’m not used to?” Andy asked, leaning forward and setting his elbows on his knees. “How quiet you’ve been over the last couple of days, especially the way that you went radio silent during dinner.”

All of my brothers looked at me, and I felt pinned under their sharp, caring gazes.

“What’s going on, baby bro?” Aaron inquired, leaning forward and setting one of his enormous hands on my shoulder. “What’s been on your mind lately?”

I shrugged. “Nothing worth talking about.”

“Come on, Adam,” Austin said. “It’s easier to read you than a book. There’s something going on.”

“I think it has something to do with what Mom said at dinner,” Andy said, and both of our other brothers looked to him. I felt a sudden relief as their glances transferred, as if a pressure lifted. “You know, about bringing someone new to a meal for a change.”

The reprieve ended suddenly when my brothers looked back at me, raising each of their eyebrows in turn.

“Is he right?” Aaron asked. “Is there some special someone who you’ve been interested in?”

I said nothing, just taking a slug of my drink and shrugging one of my shoulders.

“That’s a yes,” Austin said. “Who is she? Come on, lil’ bro. Unburden yourself.”

“Well, what about you guys?” I said, unable to help the defensive tendency that had always seized me when I felt like I was being ganged up on by my brothers. “I don’t think I’m the only one who was thinking of someone special when Mom said what she did.” I looked right at Austin. “You looked almost dreamy at the table tonight.”

All of us looked around at each other, saying nothing as we all took sips from our beers and measured our next few responses. I knew I’d hit the nail on the head. Aaron seemed a lot less tense, somehow, and Austin seemed to have a spring in his step. I knew Andy had been writing more lately, too.

“But we’re not the ones who’ve attracted Mom’s notice because of how much we’ve been pining,” Andy countered.

“Dude, shut up,” I said, unable to help myself. “I am not pining.”

“Wow. Okay, high school,” Andy teased. “Be honest, you are a little. Just a little bit?”

I looked over at him to see him holding up two fingers half-an-inch apart.

“I’m not saying anything,” I said, reaching for another bottle from the pack on the floor next to me.

“You don’t need to; your face says it all,” Austin said with a smile. “Have you thought about talking to this girl? I have to admit, I’m curious to know about her.”

“I’ve thought about it, but I’m hesitant. She’s really amazing, and I keep thinking that she’ll realize that she can do better.”

“I don’t know how amazing she can be if she thinks she can do better than you,” Aaron replied, setting both hands on my shoulders and holding my gaze with his. “Seriously, if she can’t see what a catch you are, she’s either blind or stupid, and we don’t need any stupid around here.”

“Agreed,” Andy put in. “Talk to her. You’re not losing anything by saying it, and right now, you look flat-out miserable.”

I looked around at my brothers, feeling my heart lift as I met their eyes and saw the warmth there. Molly might use the nickname of A-Team as a tongue-in-cheek tease, but she had no idea how right she was. I was pretty fucking lucky.

“You’re right,” I said, nodding. “I’ll talk to her.”

21

ANDY

The next day dawned bright and cold. It was the perfect Colorado day, and the snow was just sticking to the ground enough to have us make tracks on our way to the barns. I’d gotten to the ranch early that day to do some maintenance on the insulation in the walls. With the temperatures dropping the way that they had been, I wasn’t willing to risk any of the mares getting sick, especially not with some of them being pregnant. It was critical that we keep them healthy, now of all times.