The Delivery of Decor (Shiloh Ridge Ranch in Three Rivers #7) - Liz Isaacson Page 0,89

for him in the Ranch House when he returned tonight. At the very least, she’d show up before dawn with her newborn and Judge’s favorite box of cereal.

He loved cold cereal more than life itself, and every time something happened to bruise his ego or worsen his mood, Sammy brought him a new box of breakfast food. The last one had been miniature chocolate chip cookies, so he wasn’t exactly sure if they counted as a healthy option for breakfast. He wasn’t complaining, he knew that.

The only thing he wouldn’t eat was raisin bran, and Sammy had been steadily moving through the entire cereal aisle to see if there was anything else he simply couldn’t stomach.

The thoughts of Sammy’s kindness caused a smile to come to his face, and Judge found himself in front of June’s house only a few minutes later. “Here goes nothin,’” he said to himself, checking the mirror once more.

Still good.

You’ve got this. The thought flowed through his mind, and he could hear his father saying it in that voice that sounded halfway like Bear and halfway like Cactus. They’d gotten so much of their dad that it felt like there had been nothing left for Judge by the time he’d come along.

Perpetually third, he thought. The third son. Always third in the Christmas light show too.

This is not going to be your third strike, he told himself. It’s not.

He got out of the truck and reached back in for the flowers. He gripped the glass, thinking it slick, and turned toward the house. June kept a pretty yard in the spring and summer. She loved putting bulbs in the ground in the fall and seeing what would poke its head through the dirt in March. She’d planted a few trees when she’d moved in, and Judge would like to see them in twenty years when they were fully mature.

Deep down, though, in twenty years’ time, he wanted to be married to June for a good long while, the two of them living in the Ranch House at Shiloh Ridge. There were plenty of mature trees up there, and Judge could just see June in his life permanently.

You’re going to keep that to yourself, he commanded himself silently. No emotional outbursts tonight, John. None.

He cursed his emotional side from time to time. Other times, he didn’t mind that he felt things so keenly. Tonight, though, he needed to be one cool cowboy.

He stepped down the sidewalk at the same time another car turned into the driveway. He looked over his shoulder to see a little blue car pulling all the way into the garage. A moment later he heard a car door slam, and he expected to see June’s daughter come out to greet him.

She didn’t come, and Judge waited a few more seconds just to be sure he wouldn’t be rude to her. Surely she’d seen him—no way she could’ve missed his giant pickup truck in the driveway.

Lucy Mae didn’t come out front, and he assumed she’d gone into the house through the garage entrance. He continued toward the front door, and the moment his boot touched the top step, he knew something was wrong.

Yelling came from the house. Female yelling, and it sounded very much like Lucy Mae shouting something. Since only two people lived here, Judge could only assume she was yelling at her mother, and his heart did a full somersault in his chest. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be a good night for a date.

He didn’t hesitate as he reached for the doorbell. Lucy Mae had already seen him. The ding-ding-doooong sounded behind the door, and the yelling stopped. In its place, however, a round of barking started.

Judge smiled, because he loved June’s dogs. He’d met them before, and they’d loved him. They’d loved him so much and obeyed him so well that it had actually annoyed June.

Footsteps sounded, and June yelled, “You be nice!” to her daughter. Or maybe the dogs. Either way, she opened the door a moment later, and her two rascals bolted straight at him.

“Hey guys,” he said, laughing as they both tried to jump up on his legs. Holding the slippery vase and trying to pat two crazy, whining dogs didn’t seem like a good idea, so he met June’s eyes.

Boy, he could lose hours looking at her. “Hey, beautiful.” He extended the flowers toward her. “Rescue these so I can get your beasts.”

She smiled at him, but Judge saw how tired she was. His heart bled for