The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,52
ruin everything you’ve been planning for Bear’s party.”
The smile vanished from Sammy’s face. “You wouldn’t dare. He’s your brother.”
“Yeah, you can’t do that to him.” Bishop glanced up at Mister as he put a plate of food in front of him. “Thanks, Mister.”
“Yeah, but don’t get excited. They’re frozen meals.”
Bishop knew what kind of food his brothers made, and this was better than soup in summer. He stuffed his phone in his back pocket and cut into the chicken as Preacher said, “You don’t have to be embarrassed that you like a woman.”
“I’m not,” Judge said. “I just don’t want to talk about it anymore.” He glared at Mister. “I don’t force you to talk about those watercolor classes you’re taking.”
Bishop swung his gaze to Mister, this night getting so much more interesting with every passing sentence.
“I hate you,” Mister said, moving his gaze to the others at the table. Bishop wasn’t sure what to say or do. He hadn’t known Mister liked painting, and he catalogued that for a future conversation when he and his brother were alone.
Silence hung over the group, and it was Sammy who said, “All right, this isn’t helping. Can you guys just, I don’t know, table all of this for an hour? Lincoln made brownies with Bear this afternoon.” She nodded to her son, and he jumped up to get the pan of brownies from the table near the front door.
Sammy smiled and pulled a notebook out of her bag. “Thank you. I mean it, you guys. Thank you for helping me with this.” She smiled around at everyone, and Bishop wondered—not for the first time—how his moody eldest brother had managed to get her attention. And keep it.
Bishop could get a woman’s attention, no problem. It was keeping it that he couldn’t seem to do. Yet Charlotte had come back to him….
He ate his chicken and mashed potatoes while Sammy outlined what she’d managed to set up and confirm.
“Now, this is where I need you guys,” she said, surveying all of them at the table. “You have to get Bear down to the bowling alley at six. Not before six. Not even one minute before six, I was told.” She shook her head and scoffed. “Harlan made that very clear. Not one minute before six.” She stacked her papers and took a deep breath.
“We can do it,” Bishop said when no one else spoke, wondering if he could ask her how to keep a woman’s attention.
“I’m going to call that afternoon and say something’s gone wrong on the car I’m working on, and I’ve promised it to a client,” she said, looking at Lincoln.
“And I’m going to ask Bear if we can go bowling,” Lincoln said. “He’s going to say no, so Bishop will see if he can convince him.”
“Does Ranger know about the plan?” Bishop asked.
“I’ve been texting him,” Sammy said. “Since he doesn’t have an easy reason to be gone for our meetings.” She continued to collect their ideas, and Bishop enjoyed the good, easy vibe in the house.
“Sammy,” Judge said, his voice kind. He did care about others, and Bishop wasn’t sure who June was, but she’d be lucky to have Judge for a boyfriend.
Bishop shifted in his seat, because while he was the youngest and none of the Glovers—not even the women—had gotten married, he really wanted to find someone to spend his life with. He wanted a family and children. He wanted to have someone to work this ranch with, while he could still work it.
“We’ll get him there,” Judge said.
“You guys never do anything for his birthday?” she asked. “He said you did. Dinner and cake.” She reached for her phone. “Oh, I need to text Zona about that.”
“We do,” Preacher said. “We’ll make it mobile, so when Lincoln begs to go bowling, we can just load up the cake and the food and go.”
“I’ll have food there,” Sammy said.
“I’ll put it in my truck,” Bishop said. “But ride with Ranger.”
Sammy nodded, and Bishop was sure she’d think of a thousand other loose ends. Then she’d tie them all up. She wanted this birthday to be special for Bear so badly, and Bishop would do whatever was necessary to help her.
A few minutes later, the meeting broke up, and Sammy herded Lincoln toward the front door. Bishop thanked his brothers for the food and went out the back door. Instead of calling the dogs and jumping into the saddle, he hurried around to the driveway.