Nate (A Texas Jacks Novel) (2 page)

“At the moment, I can’t complain.” I answer her, as I open the cabinet and reach in to pull out plates for dinner. “Though I can’t say anything exciting is going on in the life of Charlie Davenport,” I add, realizing how boring that makes me sound.

“By the way, those are really cute sandals you have on, Rach.” I bump her hip with mine as I turn my attention back to my mom. “So, how many settings do we need tonight, Mom?”

“Ten. Lindsay’s bringing someone home for the family to meet,” she responds with a big smile on her face. She would be smiling about this. She wants grandchildren in the worst way.
Well, at least the focus will be off of me tonight. I hope.

Two Sundays each month my siblings and I make it a point to get together with my parents at their home for dinner. This gives us a chance to catch up with everyone’s lives, enjoy each other’s company, and have a really good, home cooked meal.
Okay, who am I kidding?
It’s mostly to appease Mom so she can dote on her ‘babies’ and harass us about coming home more often. Or maybe it’s just me that she likes to hassle about not making an appearance more often. Either way, I love these dinners, and wouldn’t miss them for anything. Well, I try not to at least.

“Rach, could you help me set the table, then? I’ll grab the plates and silverware if you can get the glasses and napkins.” And just like that, we fall into step. We set out to get the table done before Lindsay shows up with her new boyfriend.

About ten minutes later, we hear Jen yell, “Ma, we’re here!” I guess we wouldn’t be the Davenports if we didn’t always yell something out the minute we walk through the front door.
Loud
— that’s the word I would say best describes my big, crazy, loving family.

Jen and Jaxon stroll into the kitchen holding hands, and on their heels is Bethany. Mom sets down what she’s doing, wipes her hands on her apron, and goes over to give all of them hugs.
Yep
,
Mom’s a big time hugger.

Jaxon leans down and kisses Mom on top of her head before pulling away and flashing her his brilliant smile. He wraps his arm back around my sister and tugs her closer to him. Yeah, he’s swoon-worthy, and Jen’s a lucky woman. She’s my oldest sibling, and Jaxon’s her hunky, cowboy husband. They live just a bit outside of town, where Jaxon works on their sprawling horse ranch and Jen runs the books.

I love to watch these two as they’re so cute together, and I’m sure I could take a page or two out of their book for my future husband.
When—or if—that ever happens.
I sigh just thinking that maybe, someday, I could be just like these two. Jen’s really pretty, with long and wavy brown hair. She stands proudly at a full 5’4” with a curvy figure, dressed today in her standard cowgirl boots and a white, knee-length, flowing sundress. It’s also worth mentioning that Jaxon showed up in tight jeans, a button up black rodeo shirt, and cowboy boots.

Lindsay comes in right behind Jen and Bethany. You know, I have to give it to Lindsay — that was good timing on her part, to show up with the rest of my sisters. She’s probably hoping that some of the attention would be off of her if she tagged along behind the rest of the group. Too bad for her — that’s
not
going to happen.
Mom will be all over her like white on rice.

As a burst of laughter escapes my throat, I can’t help but look forward to the interrogation by my brother and dad.
This should be fun
, I think to myself as I look over at Lindsay with a grin on my face.

Lindsay shoots me the evil eye and then looks back over to Mom, who’s making her way to them with a big smile on her face as she envelops her in a hug. Then she turns to the tall, handsome blond standing next to my sister. “Hi, I'm Natalie. We're pleased to meet you, Greg. Welcome to our home.” Mom says, gesturing to Dad as he walks over to shake Greg’s hand. “This old, handsome man over here is my husband, James.” And not surprisingly, Mom decides to hug Greg instead of shaking his hand. That’s my mom for you — all loving and affectionate, no matter whom you are.

I do have to admit that this new guy is pretty good looking. If I had to guess, I would say he’s probably around six feet tall, which is the same height as my brother, and close to my dad’s as well. He’s got broad shoulders, lean in a muscular way, and has a good tan going on. He looks pretty clean cut with his khaki pants, white striped polo, and tan Sperry’s. And then there’s Lindsay, looking cute in her knee-length, pale yellow sundress.

Wait a minute, what’s going on here? Is Bethany in a dress, too?
I look over at my sister, only to realize that yes, she’s sporting a navy blue sundress. What is this?
Did Mom and I not get the memo to put on a dress for tonight?
Not that I love dresses that much, but come on! If I had known that Lindsay was bringing home a man, I wouldn’t have come over in my butt-hugging Wrangler jeans and a nice blouse. I would have tried to look a little nicer.

“Heads up, big sis,” I whisper to Bethany. “When you decide to bring someone home, a little warning would be nice, please and thank you.”

“Well, that would require me to have to choose between Cash and Ty. When I figure it out, I’ll make sure I send out an announcement to the national media,” she whispers back to me, and then laughs at me before sticking out her tongue.

I take in Bethany’s appearance and reflect for a moment on how strikingly pretty she is. All of us girls inherited my mom’s fair complexion, curvy figure, and pretty features. Bethany, standing at 5’7”, is the tallest of the girls. She has brown hair with blonde highlights that goes halfway down her back, and blue eyes. I can see why she would have the attention of two guys at the moment.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, buttercup. One of these days —”

But then I decide to drop it and leave the subject right there. I’m supposed to be flying under the radar, here — not attracting unwanted questions. So I just shoot her a grin and turn my head back to the new man in our sister’s life, but not before I catch Jen and Jaxon grinning at me.
Uh-oh…I don’t think I want to even go there with these two.
I might love their relationship, but I’m the last one looking for love advice. That would require me to actually find someone first.

I shoot them both a look. “Don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know when I sign up for one of those television dating shows in search of a husband. Then you can shower me with all of the advice you want.”

“How are you supposed to even rope a guy in when you don’t put yourself out there, Charlie?” Jen questions me.

“Well, thanks for
that
mood killer,” I say over a nervous bubble of laughter and look back to Lindsay.

Jaxon touches my arm, letting me know not to take any offense, and that they love me and want the best for me. I sigh. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired of being hassled. Let’s just get through one sister’s man at a time, shall we?” I semi plead, giving a meaningful glance Bethany’s way and sending an apologetic look over to Jen.

Watching Lindsay’s man make the rounds of meeting my family, he does look like he could be a good fit. Lindsay matches his height perfectly at 5’5”, not too short or too tall. She looks pretty good standing next to him, with her blondish-brown loose curls, creamy complexion, and generous curves in all the right places. But I guess we shall see if their personalities match when we sit down for dinner.

Looking over at Lindsay, I see that she’s smiling from ear to ear, and I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen her so happy about someone. The thought makes me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. I’m such a hopeless romantic. Although, I’m still hoping that all of the attention will be off of me tonight. If I’m lucky, they’ll pester Bethany about finally settling down before they start on me with a 20-question inquisition. She’s older than I am, so naturally it should be her turn, right?
Go in pecking order? Oldest to youngest is best, I say
.

“Greg, this is my sister, Charlotte,” Lindsay introduces as I shyly hold out my hand to shake his — which is so big that it completely dwarfs mine.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, and the rest of your family. Lindsay talks so much about you all, I feel like I already know everyone,” Greg says through a grin and kind, knowing eyes.
Oh,
I bet he knows about us all right
, I think to myself, and I have to wonder what exactly he knows already about this crazy family of ours. I have a feeling he knows all about our antics, and Dad’s obsession with being Mr. Competitive with any type of game, since he always has to win.

“It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“All right, everyone’s here, so let’s head to the table before this dinner gets cold.” Mom announces as she starts herding us like cattle to the dining room.

No one has to ask me twice to be seated. I look forward to coming home, as I miss Mom’s hearty meals. She usually out does herself every time we get together, but who’s complaining? As I sit down next to Jennifer, my stomach starts to growl. Jaxon sits on the other side of her, where he lays his hand on her thigh as he gives me a smile and a wink. He really is a good guy, and is very sweet to my sister. She couldn’t have picked anyone better, in my opinion. He’s got a funny sense of humor, beautiful, piercing ice blue eyes, sandy brown hair, a golden-brown complexion from being outside at his job most days, nice muscle definition, and he towers over me. But then again, all the men in this family tower over me, and it looks like Greg will be the next in line to make me feel more like a tiny shrimp, being only 5’2” and all.

“Greg, how did you meet my daughter?” I hear my dad ask matter of factly, which brings my focus to him. I look down the long table to where he’s sitting at the head, and notice the laugh lines around his eyes with his face in profile, hiding behind his glasses. His hair has become more salt and pepper in color, probably thanks to us kids and all of our shenanigans. He’s staring Greg down like he’s on trial and my dad’s the judge, jury, and executioner. I find this funny, since we all know Dad’s a big pushover, but don’t get him started when it comes to games, or sports, as he really is a competitive guy. Growing up, we used to hate playing board games as a family once we learned that Dad
never
loses. Now, as adults, we try to team up against him and overthrow his victory. It doesn’t happen often, but there have been times when we’ve beaten him, which makes him call for a rematch, right then and there. The guy really can’t stand to lose.

Looking over at Greg, I see that he has Lindsay curled up under his long, toned arm, and she’s resting her head on his right shoulder with a tiny, knowing smile on her face.

“I met Lindsay at work.” Greg smiles down at Lindsay, before turning his eyes back to my dad. “I had to come to her side of the building for a business meeting, and noticed that she was a bit caught up,” he tells Dad through a chuckle. He tries fighting a smile, as his lips start to rise up on the left side. Lindsay automatically blushes, and I catch her as she pulls her lips in between her teeth to hide her embarrassment. There’s obviously a story here to be told.

“Oh? And how’s that?” Anson pipes up, wanting to get the dirt on our sister, probably so he can tease her for the rest of her life. You know brothers, always up for some good embarrassing stories to blackmail you with later.

Anson is an awesome brother and our biggest protector, but don’t give him any ammunition to use against you. He will exploit it at full force. He’s quite the funny man, but can still be a big old softy, like our dad. In addition to personality, he takes after our dad with his good looks and hazel eyes. He’s a hard worker, and often finds himself down at the beach on the weekends, trying to catch a wave, leaving his skin kissed with a golden brown color from the sun.

“Don’t you dare tell him, Greg!” Lindsay laughs. No way does she want any fodder for our brother to rib her with later.

“Oh come on, we won’t laugh,” Bethany says with a conspiratorial wink thrown our way.
Oh yeah, like that will stop us from howling like hyenas at our poor sister.

“Nope, we would never laugh or make fun of you. Our lips are zipped,” Rachel throws in.

“All right, everyone, settle down. Let Greg share his story, and we promise, Lindsay, we won’t laugh. No matter what. Right children?”
Mom, ever the diplomat and peacemaker.

Jen’s light brown eyes meet my deep blue ones on an exaggerated roll, and we both laugh a little bit before we look back at my sister and Greg.

“Fine. You want to know what happened? I’ll tell you what happened,” Lindsay says. “I had my arms full of documents that I needed for our meeting. I was trying to juggle the papers, my bottled water, and send a text to my assistant, all at the same time. I didn’t want to be late, so I was multitasking. Anyway, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was walking, and snagged my high heel on the area rug next to this ridiculously big potted plant that we have in the hall. And that’s when—”

“She tripped, but managed to not go down for the count,” Greg smoothly cuts in, all the while trying not to laugh his head off. “Instead, she ended up being smacked in the face by the fronds on this big palm tree as she passed by it. It caught her hair, and it snapped her head back a bit, causing everything in her hands to drop to the ground. I decided to be the knight in shining armor guy and tried to help her get untangled.”

“Oh, is that what you call yourself? It’s more like the harbinger of bad luck, since you managed to get my earring caught up in the palm leaves, too,” my sister shakes her head at him. “One of my earrings was almost ripped out of my ear, and the leaves smacked me in the face, again!” She all but dares him to say otherwise. He wisely keeps his mouth shut, grins at her, then squeezes her tightly with his right arm and kisses the top of her head. She darts her eyes at the rest of us, challenging us not to laugh, and that’s when we all lose it.

What does she expect from us?
She grew up with us, she should know how we were going to react to that story. We can’t help it, and we laugh ourselves silly, until my left side is hurting.