but Keegan didn’t flinch. He knew how he sounded. Petulant, whiny, sullen. Take your pick.
In his defense, Keegan had always allowed Kaden to make the final decisions. Sure, he threw in his two cents, like where they were gonna put down roots. His choice had always been Coyote Ridge, and since they were metaphorically attached at the hip, where one of them went, the other followed. When they arrived here, they’d thought it would be a fruitful venture. Years later, although they’d technically settled in, they weren’t completely settled.
“Fine,” Kaden huffed, grabbing his coffee mug. “Let’s talk to Travis. Get his thoughts.”
Great. Go to the man with the plan and tell him what? That they didn’t have a plan? Yeah, no thank you. Their cousin Travis was not just paving the way here in Coyote Ridge, he was the way. Hell, after Travis’s daughter was kidnapped a few weeks back, a task force governing the state of Texas had been formed to search for other missing people. Thank the good Lord, Kate had been located and returned seemingly unharmed two painfully long days after she went missing, but still. Guy had some serious pull. Not to mention, half the town went to Travis for advice. Keegan didn’t want to be another in that long line.
Keegan sipped his juice, glared at his pancakes.
They finished their breakfast in silence, although it was obvious Kaden’s mind was running a million miles a minute. That was the way his twin’s brain worked. Whenever Keegan planted an idea, his brother would veto it immediately, then spend considerable time mulling it over until he came to a final decision. Generally, Keegan would go along with whatever his brother wanted, because truth was, Keegan was the laid-back one. Most things he could simply take or leave. Didn’t matter. But something hadn’t been sitting well with him lately.
While living and working in this small town had always been a dream of his, there was only one teeny tiny problem… They hadn’t really put down roots. When Keegan took stock of what they had to call their own … besides their trucks, there wasn’t much of anything.
Take the house they occupied, for instance. Someone else’s. Technically, it was now just one of seven separate structures Curtis had built for his boys when they were old enough to venture out on their own. Originally, it had been Kaleb’s place. Then it was Jared’s for a bit. Now it was theirs until they figured out what they wanted to do.
To buy or not to buy? Coyote Ridge or bust? For the moment, their options were open although real estate in Coyote Ridge was scarce and what did come available was usually snatched up within hours of being listed. If it ever made it to listing at all. Just like the building on Main Street. If they didn’t make their play, it would be gone before they knew it. There wasn’t even an apartment to be had. Not that Keegan had any desire to live in an apartment. He preferred wide-open spaces.
Sure, he loved Coyote Ridge. Had since he was a kid, when their parents would bring them and their brothers and sister down to visit their aunts and uncles. He remembered one summer—they were probably twelve, maybe thirteen—his brothers and sister all ganged up on their parents, tried to convince them to move to the small town their father had grown up in. Their parents won in the end, determined to hold down the fort in El Paso, but they’d all talked about moving here eventually.
Their oldest brother was the first to take the leap, relocating to Coyote Ridge permanently. Jared had fled a bad situation only to have it all turn around for the best once he settled down here. Of course, Quinn and Eve had rolled in only a month ago, with Wesley promising to pull up the rear sometime in the next year. At the very least, Wesley had promised to make it down here at some point during the holidays. Keegan was looking forward to seeing their overachieving doctor brother as well as their parents.
Even having his family close wasn’t doing what it used to though. Keegan wanted something more.
Then again, perhaps that didn’t have anything to do with the house they lived in or the jobs they held or the hobbies they’d picked up along the way. In most ways, they had the life they’d hoped for. Perhaps his settling-down issue had more to do with