Page 62 of Colton On Guard
“You look great,” he said, admiring her yellow sundress.
“Thanks. I changed four times.” Her self-depreciating smile made him want to kiss her.
“I even put on makeup,” she continued. “Which means no kisses, or you’ll be wearing my red lipstick.”
He held out his hand and she took it. They walked out to his truck together. Genna had been instructed to bring chips, so she carried a cloth tote with four bags of them. “They didn’t want me cooking,” she said. “Which is fine, since they don’t know me yet. There’ll surely come a time when they’ll be begging me to make my signature cheesecake.”
Since the drive to headquarters wasn’t long, he took his time. Unusually quiet, Genna kept her head turned so she could watch the landscape out the passenger’s-side window.
When they turned onto RTA’s long driveway, they could see the parking area already had numerous vehicles. A large sign had been hung from the covered porch: Closed to the Public. Private Party in Progress.
“Just in case,” Parker said, finding a spot and pulling into it. “You never know when some customer is going to take it upon themselves to just show up and expect to be included in the festivities.”
“Seriously?” She shook her head. “Has that actually happened?”
“More than once,” he replied. “We treat our customers like family, so sometimes they actually think theyare. That’s why we’ve learned to put up a sign to discourage them.”
Once he’d killed the engine, he went around to her side to help her out. The sun blazed up above from a blue sky, with little wisps of perfect white clouds dotting it like fat, woolly sheep in a field.
“Do you want to go in together?” he asked, guessing she wouldn’t want to hold hands as that would be making too much of a statement. The scent of meat on the grill filled the air.
Glancing sideways at him, she nodded. “Of course.”
Relieved, he took her arm. “Then let’s do this.”
“Okay,” she replied.
Though they kept moving forward, he squeezed her arm. “Nervous?”
“Surprisingly, not really.”
“Good,” he said.
Inside the small office, two older women stood behind the counter, chatting. They fell silent as Parker and Genna moved toward them, though they both smiled. Genna recognized them from when she’d worked at RTA as a teen. The taller, curvy woman with the short brown hair was Abby Colton, Ryan’s wife.Though he hadn’t been by since she’d started working there, in the past he’d stopped by frequently because he loved to fish.
And the petite woman with the beautiful silver hair in the messy bun was Sasha Colton, Will’s wife and Parker, Eli, Mitchell and Lakin’s mother.
“Hi, Mom,” Parker said, smiling back.
“Come here, you,” she said fondly, holding out her arms.
The two hugged and then, to Genna’s surprise, Sasha pulled Genna in for a hug, too. Then Abby hugged them both, before dragging them out back to see the rest of the noisy family.
Almost immediately, Parker and Genna got separated. Lakin, Kansas, and Hetty dragged her over to a buffet table where they were setting up a huge charcuterie board. Since Genna appeared to be having a great time, Parker decided not to worry about her and went over to help his dad, uncle and cousin Spence man the grill and smoker.
The next couple of hours flew past, with lots of laughter, good food and great company. Despite Eli’s usual focus on work, he didn’t once mention the Fiancée Killer. No one did. It was as if everyone needed a respite from the ominous shadow that hung over their town.
As things started to wind down, Spence and Hetty, holding hands, slipped away. Next, Mitchell and Dove said goodbye. Lakin and Troy claimed they needed to check on something they were doing in their hotel renovations. Parker and Genna glanced at each other. With a slight smile, she gave a tiny nod and they, too, made their excuses and left.
“That was fun,” Genna enthused, practically bouncing in her seat. “You’re lucky to have such a large family. They’re a lot of fun. Growing up, I always wished I had a brother or a sister or both.”
“Thanks. I guess your family cookouts are a lot quieter.”
“When we had them, yes. Since I’m an only child, I’d often invite one of my friends. But that was a long time ago. Both my parents embraced a vegan lifestyle after they retired, so there hasn’t been a lot of grilling out.” She shrugged. “When I stayed with them after my divorce, they didn’t even allow meat inside the house. If I wanted a burger, I had to eat out.”
They turned onto his street. She sat up straight, her expression eager. “I can’t wait to see my little June Bug. I almost took her to the cookout today, but wasn’t sure how that would go over.”
“Same with Revis,” he admitted. “Hopefully, they’ll both enjoy camping.”