Page 26 of Eighteen Bowties and Counting

Definitely a dream, and a good one. Maybe one that could come true, he thought. Yeah…maybe.

“There he is,” Preacher Glover said when he opened the door to his beautiful, new farmhouse. “Howdy, Beau.” He grinned in a rare display and stepped out onto the porch to give Beau a hug.

“Howdy, Preach.” He clapped the man on the back softly, so as to not make his bad leg buckle. “Something smells amazing inside.”

“Holly Ann catered dinner for us.”

“You’re joking.” Beau stepped back. “I’d have been here an hour ago if I’d have known.”

“She just brought it,” Ace said. He’d married Holly Ann several years ago, and they had two kids now. In fact, she was pregnant with their third and would have the baby this fall.

Beau stepped into the house and hugged Ace too. “Thanks for getting us dinner.”

“Holly Ann’s already filling every fridge and freezer up here at Shiloh Ridge.” Ace grinned and indicated his wife standing at the back wall, in front of the kitchen sink. Charlie, Preacher’s wife lingered there with her, their two-year-old clinging to her pant leg as if Hank never saw strangers.

And Beau wasn’t a stranger here. Hank loved him; he simply looked like he’d been crying.

She and Preacher had just announced they’d welcome another baby to their family this winter, and Beau had congratulated them heartily via text.

Beau had gotten used to literally everyone around him getting married and building families—he’d literally been a witness to it for almost two decades now—and it had never bothered him.

Until the past several years, that was. Until he’d finally matured enough to want those things for himself.

Charlie caught sight of him, and she came into the living room. She grinned from ear to ear, Hank stumbling after her. “Did you get into the inner sanctum?”

“Twice,” Beau said as he smiled back. He bent down and swooped Hank into his arms. “Heya, buddy.”

The little boy smiled, and sure enough, Beau’s heart pinched with want. Then it howled. He couldn’t even imagine how he’d feel if he held his own child, but it was something he wanted to experience badly.

“How was the wedding?” Preacher asked. He had a way of driving nails straight into the heart, because as one of the foremen at Shiloh Ridge, he didn’t believe in beating around any bushes.

“Fine,” Beau said as he lifted his eyes to Preacher’s. “Good, even.”

“How are you?” Preach asked next.

“I’m…coping,” Beau admitted. Ben had been out of town for a week, but he’d been at work today. Beau had eaten lunch with him even. Heard all about New Orleans and the big river boats.

“Did you get a Stable Manager?”

“Is this going to be the extent of the questioning?” Beau gave him a dry look and then switched his gaze to Charlie. “If I answer everything now, can we eat and play without the interrogation?”

Her grin didn’t so much as falter. “I’m sure that’s Preacher’s plan.”

Preacher didn’t apologize, and he didn’t back down. He simply stood back a few feet, and when little Hank reached for him saying, “Daddy, see Rex,” he switched his attention to him. He didn’t take him from Beau, probably because his back couldn’t handle lifting someone or something as big as a two-year-old.

“No, son,” he said. “Rex is asleep for the night.”

“Like you will be soon,” Charlie said, reaching to take Hank into her arms. “Let’s eat.” She threw Beau a look that said she knew he had more questions to answer, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay, but outside Ben and Garth—neither of whom lived at Three Rivers Ranch anymore—these were his best friends.

He’d been playing online games with them for years, and he even tried a brief relationship with Ace’s sister, Etta. That had been a disaster, and Beau hadn’t tried to meet anyone new since then.

He hadn’t tried to meet Charlotte either, and as they shifted toward the dining room table, he said, “I met someone.”

Preacher stilled, only his eyes drifting up to meet Beau’s. “Oh?”

“Is everyone going to want to hear the story?”

“I’m sure,” Preacher said. “You’ve met my family, right?” He rolled his eyes and led the way toward the table. “Charlie, Beau’s met someone new.”

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