Page 27 of Major Love

Then a Los Angeles voice sounds behind me, all husky and feminine, “Hey Jace.”

I swallow my mouthful and glance upwards, gently wrapping my palm around the hand on my shoulder. I give it a little squeeze as my brother’s fiancée stands beside me.

“Hey, Harper,” I say, before tipping my chin at Mitch.

His large forearm is wrapped casually over Harper’s shoulders, and he rests his other elbow on the diner’s counter.

He jerks his chin at me, then glances behind the till, waiting for the server.

I take another mouthful as I glance at Harper’s hand, resting gently over her stomach.

She isn’t showing yet, but we all know what’s going on in there.

I swallow down another bite of meat and ask, “What’re y’all doing in here?”

I’ve never seen Mitch bring his fiancée to this diner because he cooks for her every night, but if I was to hazard a guess, I’d say it has something to do with pregnancy cravings.

Mitch glances down at me and then vaguely rumbles, “Cobbler.”

The waitress appears in front of him and he repeats the same one-word response.

“Busy week?” Harper asks, as I shovel in the remaining greens.

I breathe out a low exhalation and say, “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

Between the team of guys who have been working on our hush-hush project in town, myself and Madden finishing up the annex at End of the Road Ranch, and the three search-and-rescue missions that I was called out on, the past five days have been packed from start to finish.

This meal at the diner is the first time that I’ve seen most of the guys since last week, and we’ve barely spoken since we sat down because we’re too hungry to speak.

I tip my chin at Harper as I spear the last forkful on my plate.

“You see what Mitch picked up for you last week at the hardware store?”

Mitch’s eyes flash to mine like a strike of lightning.

Then, when Harper smiles up at him over the curve of her shoulder, his expression instantly softens, a rogue dimple popping in his cheek.

Even Knox groans at that. “Jesus, man. Get a room.”

But Mitch just drops a hand to Harper’s belly and turns back around to wait for their cobbler.

“Uh-huh,” Harper says, trying to hide her playful smile. “But we aren’t painting the room yet, ’cause we don’t know if it’s a girl or a boy.”

And even though I know Mitch wants a mini-Harper, he’d be proud as hell if he got another son.

The thought of his son Tate, my nephew, has me glancing back across at Madden, one of his closest friends from high school, who started working for me part-time as soon as I set up Coleson Construction. He had a small break from the crew when he was on the road with his band, but now that things are official with his girlfriend he’s staying in town so that he can be close to her.

He’s the reason why we’re building the annex at End of the Road Ranch in the first place – seeing as Madden wanted to live with his girlfriend, and it’s ranch culture to keep the whole family on the land.

And, considering the fact that they’re both adults, they probably didn’t want to be in the same house as her parents twenty-four-seven.

Madden takes a big bite of his second burger and smiles down at something on his phone, immediately typing back with his thumb and then staring at the screen with a patient expression.

He’s totally whipped, and it’s sweet to see.

I’m just about to grab a drink when Beckett’s next words capture my attention.

“Guess who I saw riding Casey’s truck last weekend?” he drawls, shooting Knox a smirk when he glances up to question him.

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