Texas Cowboy's Protection, - [books you need to read .TXT] 📗

Isaac returned to the table. Noah and Gina got suddenly quiet. He looked at Gina. “Don’t believe anything he says about me.”

Noah winked at her before staring at Isaac like he was crazy. “We would never talk about you behind your back.”

Seeing the two of them get along so well as they sat there pretending they weren’t just talking about him warmed his heart. He’d known something was missing from his life for the past couple of years, probably longer. And he was pretty damn certain this was it, a table full of people he loved talking easily to each other. And despite all the craziness going on around them with the investigation, he hadn’t been this good in longer than he cared to remember. Did T.J.’s apparent change of heart have anything to do with Isaac’s mood? Maybe. He wouldn’t let himself get too optimistic about a real change in the man. Time would tell and Isaac was a patient man.

The door opened and Mikayla Rae Johnson walked in. She scanned the room and straightened her back the minute her gaze landed on Noah. Instead of going to the order counter, she did an about-face and exited out of the door she’d just walked in. Her sour expression had Isaac wondering what his brother had said to her.

“That was weird,” Gina noted.

Isaac reclaimed his seat and stared at his brother, trying to get a good read on him. “There something going on between the two of you?”

Noah threw his hand in the air. “I don’t know what her problem is with me. We went out a couple of times. I thought we were getting along fine until one day I saw her in town and she did this. Saw her in the grocery store a few days later and she stormed off then, too. Good luck figuring out what a woman thinks.” He glanced at Gina. “Present company excluded.”

“From being a woman or someone difficult to figure out?” Gina smirked. It made Isaac laugh.

“Both.”

She laughed in earnest that time.

“Try not to frustrate the entire female population in the vicinity,” Isaac teased.

“She likes me.” He pointed to Everly, who was happily smacking her hand on top of her tray.

“To be fair, she isn’t looking at you.” Isaac needled his brother. That was another thing he missed living so far away for so long. His family. The comfort of being around people he’d grown up with who probably knew him better than he knew himself.

Granted, the Quinns kept in touch as best they could but there was nothing like being part of each other’s day-to-day lives. The idea of moving back to Gunner was growing on him. The thought of working alongside his father was not.

“How’s Eli doing?” Their eldest brother was a single father with two young kids. His wife had left him after the birth of their second, saying she couldn’t take ranch life anymore. She’d gone with a good chunk of Eli’s money and never bothered to come back to Gunner to see the kids as far as Isaac knew.

Apparently, the kids had been financial security to her. Eli was smart, so it was a surprise he hadn’t seen that one coming. But then, people let their guards down every once in a while. He’d been smitten with her. They’d only known each other a few weeks before he came home and announced they were getting married.

To her credit, she’d put on a good show. Isaac and several of his brothers had been fooled. She was either the best actress in the world or got herself mixed up in a life she wasn’t cut out for. Living on a ranch wasn’t for everyone. Isaac should know. Eli’s wife had grown up in downtown Dallas; being on the ranch might’ve seemed like a romantic idea. Once the honeymoon phase had ended, she’d ditched her life and hooked it out of Gunner.

“Between the kids and work on the ranch, he stays busy.” Wasn’t the same as telling how he was doing except to say that he must be putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes, moving forward was all a person could do. It had been that way for Isaac when he’d heard that Gina married Des.

Even though Isaac knew he was the one who’d walked away, it still stung like hell. Des was ready to offer marriage and family to her. Isaac had been a kid, unsure of everything but serving his country. Somehow, even then, he’d known the military would help him get his head on straight. He’d had nothing to offer.

Noah drained the contents of his cup. “Speaking of the ranch, I should probably head back that way. I need to check on one of the calves I’ve been keeping an eye on. When are you stopping by?”

“We’re staying at the ranch tonight. T.J. suggested it. Gina and I thought it was a good idea. We can use all the extra security we can get until the…” he glanced at the baby before lowering his voice, “jerk who hurt Brittany is behind bars.” Another word for him had come to mind but Isaac didn’t want to use it in front of Gina’s daughter. The little girl was innocence wrapped in a pink hairbow.

Noah stared at a spot on the wall for a second. “Damn. Maybe T.J. is turning over a new leaf.”

“Crazier things have happened, right?”

Noah made a show of looking at the floor. “And I guess it’s possible for hell to freeze over, too. I just didn’t think I’d witness it in my lifetime.”

Isaac took a sip of fresh brew. He wasn’t touching that one.

“You staying at the main house?”

“Figured it would be easier that way what with Marianne around to help with Everly. Gina’s been through a lot and she needs to rest if she can.”

“Marianne will go crazy with excitement. Not sure how we got so lucky to end