losing my mind around her like that. When I glance up from my plate, everyone is staring at me. Everyone except Lemon. She looks like she’s trying her best to ignore that I even exist. I guess it’s really not that hard for her and she’s well practiced at that, because she ignored my existence for the last twelve years.
“What?” I say to Cash, whose smile is smug.
“Nothin’.”
“Then quit starin’ at me.”
“Only if you quit starin’ at Lemon.”
“Shut up, Cash,” Lemon and I say at once. I glance briefly at her and then lean across the table in front of her to grab the pepper.
She snatches up her plate and stands. All eyes turn toward hers and her cheeks pink up as she looks at her mama. “Excuse me.”
“You’ve barely touched your plate.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Cash frowns as he stares at me. “Is it just me, or does Lemonade lose her appetite every time you walk into a room?”
It’s not just him, but I don’t say that because he’s being a goddamn asshole. Everyone is pushing and pulling us like weeds, and it only drives Lemon further away. That’s always been the one thing that’s driven her away, and it seems to be the one thing that draws me closer. I guess that’s where we went wrong. I tried to hold onto a woman who didn’t want to be held and she ran so far in the other direction, she got engaged to another man. Though, come to think of it, I haven’t seen a ring on her finger since she got back.
Cash kicks me under the table and I scowl. “I don’t know what the hell you’re playing at, Cash, but if you don’t stop kickin’ my shin with your boots, you and me are gonna have a conversation outside.”
“Y’all sit and eat your breakfast. If you wanna fight, you do it on your own property and your own damn time,” Mama Winchester says.
“Apologies, ma’am.”
“Sorry,” Cash says glancing at Mama. “I don’t mean nothing by it, ma’am. Just givin’ Colt a good ribbin’ because that’s what friends do.”
“Mm-hmm, friend’s also kick one another’s ass if they don’t shut their damn mouths.”
Lemon scrapes her plate clean and sets it in the sink. “Well, as fun as this was, I’ll see y’all later.”
“Where are you off to? Goin’ to town to get your nails done?” Wade says.
Lemon frowns. “No. I was going to town to do some banking, but I can totally give you a play by play of my day, if you’d like?”
“Bankin’? What the hell do you need to do that for?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Wade, probably because I’m trying to keep my gallery afloat.”
“Gallery?” West says.
“Yeah, you know if you guys bothered to read an email or text at some point, you might know that I sent you all an invite to my grand opening. Three years ago.”
“Hey, I showed up,” Wyatt protests.
“You did, and you were the only one.”
West growls. “Some of us couldn’t leave because we had work to do here.”
Lemon sets her hands on her hips. Fuck. West is in for it now. “Chasin’ cattle around the pasture and mending fences? Like you would have any idea what running an actual business is.”
“Alright all of y’all, that’s enough,” Mama says.
“A real business?” West’s chuckle is dark and more warning than humorous. “Who the hell do you think has been running this ranch for the last five years? Or did you forget we actually live, work, and breathe this land, unlike those who leave?”
“I lived and breathed this land as a kid just as much as you ever did, so don’t you dare get up on your high horse, West Winchester.”
“Oh, darlin’, I never got off it. I never had time, ’Cause I never left. Which is more than I can say for you.”
“You wanna put me to work?” Fiery tendrils spring free of her loose braid, framing her face as she leans closer to her brother. God must have known Lemon Winchester needed a warning label, it’s why he gave her all that fucking stunning red hair. And it’s always been my weakness. Even now, I want to sink my fingers in those curls and pull her to me, devouring her hot little mouth just to shut her up. “Fine. Put me through my paces and see what I can do when tested, you go right ahead and name the place and the day.”
“You wouldn’t last a second out there.”
“Try me.”
“Not that you ever stuck around