Chapter 6

COLTON

Iwalked into my sister Thea's backyard on Sunday and was immediately swarmed by a gang of toddlers. Poppy, the oldest of the trio, and Beau, who was barley toddling, were Thea and Brock's kids, and then right behind them was Brenley's mini-me, Allie, who launched herself into my arms. The other two were not having that and started jumping up and down.

"Up, up. Uncle Colt, pick me up!"

Hayden walked up to me, put his arms out to Allie, who happily snuggled into her father. "No candy this time, Uncle Colton. Otherwise, your sister will have a fit and the last thing I need is my very pregnant wife stressing over our amped up daughter."

"Lesson learned, man. Its carrot sticks and raisins from now on. Scouts honor." Then I took off with Poppy and Beau who were now securely tucked against me in football holds. One on each side. I ran the perimeter of the backyard and ended at the play set.

"Man, you were never a scout. From what Bren says, more like a scoundrel." Hayden's laughter reached me from where he stood next to the grill.

Allie wiggled out of Hayden's arms to join us, and I spent the next twenty minutes pushing them all on the swing set.

Still breathing hard and even with all the physical activity at work, I'm not ashamed to admit I was a bit winded. Since retiring and starting up the business, I'd let my daily workouts go, thinking I'd get enough exercise working with cement. Which it was great for my major muscle groups, but I got little to no cardio. With a fourth niece or nephew on the way, I was going to have to up my game, especially if I wanted to keep my fun uncle title.

"You really should have one of those for yourself." Brenley handed me a beer and settled in next to me.

I ignored her comment, because that was exactly what I was thinking. But I was more interested in finding what kind of stories she'd been telling her husband about me. "So why does Hayden think I'm some kind of player? You know me, sis. I've never led a woman on. My life until now wasn't set up for a family."

The kids saved her. "Mama, can we eat now?" The whine of hungry toddlers filled the air and right on cue, Brock called out. "Food's ready! Where are my customers?"

Cries of "Me! Me!" and "I'm coming, Daddy!" rang out. And just like that, I was forsaken for hot dogs and potato chips.

Instead of following the troops, I wrapped an arm around Brenley's shoulder and waited her out. "Don't think because you're pregnant that I'm going to let you off the hook. So, what gives?"

She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she cradled her bump. "Okay, you know I hate gossip."

"But…."

"But I ran into Laci Hart at the store this morning and she's typically not a gossiper either, but she was curious and happy to see you in the pub with a date. And she mentioned that there was some serious PDA going on, but?—"

"That's a lot of buts, sis. Just spill it. What do you want to know?"

Brenley slipped out of the hug and gave me a hard glare. Like the one I used to get when I annoyed her when we were kids. "You pretty much declared your intentions with Shayla the other day and now you're lip locked in public with some other woman. So, yeah, I was irritated with you and I may have shared that with Hayden."

I could let her stew about it for the rest of the afternoon or I could let her off the hook and reassure her. Part of me understood why she was upset, but another was hurt that she would believe I would do anything to ruin my chances with Shayla after I told her how I felt.

"Did Laci recognize the woman?" I wasn't sure if Shayla had ever been to Hart's Pass Pub before or if she knew Laci, but it was possible that the women hadn't ever met.

"No, she only saw her from the back. She was only in there to drop something off for Luke and didn't have a lot of time to stop by your table to say hi. But she did say she could tell how into this woman you were. Like the two of you were in your own little world."

My face split into a grin at the description because it was true. I couldn't even say what our waitress looked like. I was so focused on Shayla. "Look, you know me, so you should know that when I'm committed to something, or in this case, someone, I'm laser focused. And that woman I was with? It was Shayla. We met to go over the samples I had made because we were interrupted by a bridal emergency."

"This is why I don't do gossip! OMG I was so freaked out, Colton." Brenley pinched me in the side, then hugged me.

Her bump got in the way, so she grabbed both sides of my face and pulled me down and looked me in the eye. "I'm sorry. I've never been so relieved in my life. So, what does this mean? Are you two dating?"

I wish I knew. It had been two days since that unforgettable kiss, and she still hadn't texted me. I wanted to text her so many times this weekend, but I really wanted her to reach out to me first.

Brenley didn't give me time to respond. She clapped her hands in excitement and said, "Wait, she's coming today. With Aria. They should be here soon. Oh, I can't wait to talk to her and?—"

"Hold up. She's not quite there yet. But I'm not giving up. But I know she's the one, Bren. I'm going to give her time. So please, no pressure, okay?"

"Pfft. I've got this. You can count on me. Have you forgotten I still haven't told Mom who broke her favorite pie dish? Oh, they're here!"

Shaking my head, I watched Brenley waddle off toward the sliding doors where Shayla and Aria had just stepped out. The look on Shayla's face at seeing me wasn't exactly encouraging.