Page 74 of Rocky Mountain Devil
Rafe eyed him for a moment. His Aunt Marion went to church, but Mike didn’t—but it didn’t seem to have caused them trouble over the years they’d been together. He wondered if maybe he wasn’t seeing the big picture. “Pastor Dave is coming over, if you want to say hello,” Rafe offered.
Gabe bumped him lightly on the arm. “Sounds serious. Isn’t this a little fast, bro?”
Confusion hit hard. “He’s coming over to see the new lambs. What’s wrong with—?”
Oh.
“You’re an ass,” Rafe said.
“You should see your face right now,” Gabe taunted.
“Jerk.”
“I told you some day it would be payback time for all the teasing you did about me and Allison.”
“Butthead.”
Mike turned toward Uncle George. “It’s so much fun to listen to the children argue, isn’t it?”
George laughed, patting Mike on the shoulder. “They’re quieter at it than my three girls. Of course, Tamara isn’t around as much anymore. And Karen only argues with me, which puts me in closer range. Increases the volume.”
“That girl takes after her old man,” Mike said. “Stubborn, good with horses.”
“Stubborn.” George cracked a grin. “Yeah, she’s that, all right.”
Rafe checked his watch. “I should look in on Nathan before Pastor Dave gets here.”
“We’ll take care of the boy,” George assured him, peering out the window at a car pulling into the yard. “Go on.”
“Yeah, don’t make Laurel’s dad wait,” Gabe deadpanned. “You never know what he’ll do.”
Uncle Mike leaned in closer. “Have him put in a good word for me.”
“With who?” Rafe glanced over his shoulder as he hurried toward the door. All three men were pointing a finger toward the ceiling, angelic expressions twitching into grins.
He ignored the lot of them as he exited the barn and went to meet his girlfriend’s dad.
Pastor Dave got out of the car and looked around, a pleased smile on his face as he took a deep breath before answering Rafe’s hello.
“Thanks for indulging me,” he said as Rafe led him toward the barn.
“Any time. Although, if you stay too long, I’ll have to put you to work.”
He chuckled. “Seems a fair trade.”
Rafe unlatched the side door and led Laurel’s father in by the back way. “I forgot to ask earlier, but did you want to get out on the horses today, as well?”
“No. Thank you, though. I don’t want to keep you from your work for too long. And my wife would never forgive me if I got to go riding and she didn’t.” Pastor Dave followed closely after him deeper into the barn. “If the invitation still stands, maybe you can take both of us out some other time.”
“How about when Laurel can come along? I could arrange that.”
Pastor Dave nodded, his expression indicating he was thinking hard.
Was he worried about Rafe’s involvement with Laurel? Trying to come up with a polite way to tell him to back off and leave his daughter alone?
Rafe attempted to keep his concerns under wraps as he led the man deeper into the barn to where the most recent arrivals were. The barn was quiet, his uncles, brother and nephews vanished into thin air. Either they were hiding, or they’d high-tailed it for safer ground.
He kind of wished he could do the same.
