brother who also happened to be the pastor at the white church in Cowboy Crossing, nodded in understanding. “It’s important to be friends and to marry your friend.”
He eyed Zane, who smirked at him a little bit. Zane had started out with a marriage of convenience and ended up falling in love with his wife. They definitely were not even friends when they were married, having met in a truck stop’s ladies’ restroom where they’d gotten stuck. Definitely an unusual way to meet one’s future wife.
But Zane and Waverley had made it work, despite the ten children they had between them.
If the rumors are true, they didn’t even know they had ten kids between them when they’d gotten married.
Reid had a tendency to believe those rumors, because he’d heard it from his mom. She made it into quite a story and claimed to be a witness. She never lied to him, so he believed her.
“We all had to do it. It’s just the way it is,” Preston said.
Andrew nodded. “I know. But I’ve already done it. I’ve been there. As much as I would love to be married again, I just don’t want to do it. I don’t want to play the game.”
No one suggested he was lazy. They all knew, as fire chief, Andrew would go anywhere and do anything to save or help anyone. It wasn’t that.
It’s just that a lot of work went into dating, and a lot of times it didn’t pan out.
“Maybe it’s just me, but women nowadays seem to be pickier,” Shane said.
Reid nodded along with the other guys, although he really had no clue.
He’d never even thought about dating. Not as long as he had a ring on his finger. And he had no temptation to take it off.
“Aren’t you lonely?” John asked.
Andrew lifted a shoulder and didn’t say anything. Not that Reid thought he would. Who was gonna admit to loneliness? John must be feeling pretty low to have even suggested it. It wasn’t something they normally would discuss. Although probably, his brothers—before they got married—and all the other unmarried men there were absolutely lonely.
Why else would they be here? Especially after working the field all day. They should have gone home and dropped in the bed.
But they were lonely.
Except, Reid wasn’t. He’d had a great day, and he’d been looking forward to spending the evening with Emerson and the boys. Not lonely.
He thought of the texts she’d sent him, talking about their kids.
It was so nice to have someone to discuss the issues with. Every once in a while, they had communicated back and forth, but not much. That was the most they’d talked in a long time.
“You should get yourself a dog,” Preston said to Andrew. “If you’re lonely, a dog will help, and they don’t talk back like a woman does.” He smirked.
There was some general laughter, and some ribbing from his brothers that were married, and a little bit of backslapping.
They were mostly saying that tongue-in-cheek, because no one, least of all Preston, meant to insult women. He was just goofing around.
“You know, you could make a deal with yourself. If you haven’t found anyone by Christmas, you’ll adopt a dog. It could be a Christmas present to yourself.” Deacon spoke again.
Usually when Deacon spoke, people respected what he suggested. Although sometimes he came up with some really crazy ideas. Like the time he suggested they buy Chandler at auction or more accurately that they give Ivory the money to buy Chandler at auction.
Reid had to admit, for a crazy idea, that one worked.
Maybe that was why people seemed to give Deacon the respect they did. Because sometimes the things he said were just totally out there, and they still worked.
That, and he was a darn good preacher.
Speaking of preachers, Reid asked, “Have you heard anything from Pastor Wyatt?”
Pastor Wyatt’s wife, Lynette, had recently passed away after a short battle with cancer, leaving Pastor Wyatt with eight kids to take care of himself.
Immediately Deacon’s face fell, and Reid wished he hadn’t said anything.
“I think he’s adjusting.”
Reid wasn’t sure how long it had been. When Lynette had first passed, Reid had their kids over to his house several times, as had several of his brothers. They’d taken turns—watching them to give Gus time to grieve.
Eight kids was definitely a far cry from the one he was used to. Even two was harder than one.
His phone buzzed as someone asked Deacon if Pastor Wyatt was going to begin pastoring a