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Boone raised his brows. “And why not, Bluebell?”

Tildi stomped her foot. “Just because! That’s why.”

Joy tucked herself close to his side. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her even closer. Not everyone grew up with a large, loving, insane family like his. But he wouldn’t trade any of them.

When Tildi spotted his Little gypsy, she shook her head. “That was no good, Joy. The water stayed liquid. It didn’t turn to snow at all.”

“I can’t imagine what went wrong. It worked on the TikTok video.”

“I know. I don’t understand, either. We’ll have to watch it again and try it on Trace.”

“Hey! What did I do?”

Tildi grinned at him. “You didn’t do anything. But in the Daddy Dearest Award ceremony we held yesterday, you were voted least likely to spank. So, you’re the safest choice.”

Chance hid his grin. The girls had drastically underestimated Trace. He might be the most easygoing of all the brothers, but when he finally did get angry, everyone needed to dive for cover.

Boone stopped wiping his shirt. “What was I voted?”

Tildi’s eyes grew wide, and Kenzie suddenly became very interested in the potatoes on the stove.

“Oh… um… well, I don’t really ‘member, Daddy. And if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. Probably.”

Chance leaned down to his girl. “You can tell me later, Gypsy,” he whispered.

She shook her head. “That would break the Girl Posse Code, Daddy. Kenzie says what happens between girls stays between girls. My hands are tied.”

“Not yet, Gypsy, but they might be later.”

He loved how responsive she was. Her cheeks always turned the cutest rose color when she was embarrassed.

“Well, we are never going to eat if we don’t get busy,” Rose said. “Kenzie, the potatoes need a bit more broth. Tildi, the veggies are already chopped. Can you spread them on the roasting sheet and season them?” She turned to Joy. “And you, Poppet. Can you fix the deviled eggs the way I showed you yesterday?”

Joy nodded, racing toward the kitchen until Chance bit out a sharp, “Walk!”

She didn’t look back, but she did slow down. Shaking his head, he left her in Ruby’s capable hands and went to his office to see what was on the calendar for the upcoming week.

Just as he sat down, his phone rang. Seeing it was Sam, he took the call. It was unusual for the sheriff to call on a Sunday. Best find out what was up. "Hi, Sam. What's going on?"

Sam didn't hesitate. "We have another visitor in town, Chance. Says he needs to see you and Miss Joy. I was hoping Ruby had one of her roasts cooking for Sunday dinner, and we might could impose on your hospitality."

Chance grinned. Sam knew as well as everyone else in the area that Ruby was the best cook in three states. He wasn’t sure his friend’s timing was an accident. "Sam, you're always welcome at our table. You know that. Who's the mysterious visitor?"

"Detective James showed up in my office not ten minutes ago. He has some follow-up questions for Joy he didn't feel comfortable asking over the phone. He'd like to come out and speak with her."

Chance leaned back in his chair and pushed up the brim of his hat. What could the detective possibly need to ask Joy he couldn't have asked over the phone? He guessed he'd find that out soon enough.

"That's not a problem, Sam. You and Detective James are welcome. But if you want any dessert, you’d better head this way. You know how Ruby gets when people come to the table late."

Chance heard the smile in Sam's voice when he said, "Don'twant to miss any of Ruby's good cooking, no matter what it is. We're headed that way now."

Chance disconnected the call. He ought to get back to work planning out next week's schedule, but he couldn't get his mind off what kind of questions the detective might need to ask his Little girl. Was she in some new danger? If that was the case, the detective should've called, not wasted two days driving up here from Texas.

Picking up his phone, he called Boone. "Hey, brother. Just got a call from Sam. He says the detective from Joy's hometown is here and has more questions. Do you think there's anything for me to worry about?"

“I doubt it," Boone said. "He probably just wants more details of what she's already said. Sort of like what Sam did the other night. You need to tell him he's not talking to her without you being present, though, just in case."

"That goes without sayin’. Thanks." He disconnected the call.