Page 46 of His Noble Heart

“Mr. Townsend, I hope you like a good bourbon.”

Rowdy gave my father the bottle of Uncle Nearest, and the grin on my father’s face said it all.

“I definitely enjoy a good bourbon. I appreciate the gesture, young man. Is it safe to assume you’re dating my daughter?”

“Yes, sir, I am.”

“That’s interesting because she hadn’t mentioned she was dating anyone,” my father said, looking at me suspiciously.

“I knew Indy would tell you before I had a chance,” I defended.

“That’s true, and if you told Indy, you expected her to tell us anyway. I’m glad you invited him over. Rowdy, we’re getting ready to eat, but I’m sure we’ll have time to talk later.”

“Sounds good, sir.”

We left him on the deck to finish prepping the food. Shyne stood at the bottom of the stairs and didn’t wait for me to introduce him to Rowdy.

“I’m Noelani’s big brother, Shyne. You are?”

“Wassup. I’m Rowdy, and this is my little sister, Ramina. I’m not sure if you saw the woman who arrived with us, but that’s our mother, Dawn.”

“What’s your intentions—” Shyne began.

“Sonny! Cut it out! He’s only been here for five minutes!” I shouted, pulling Rowdy away from my brother. “Let me introduce you to everyone else.”

A few feet away, my sisters were looking at us with wide grins.

“These have got to be your sisters because the resemblance is undeniable,” Rowdy said when we reached them.

“You guessed it. This is Rowdy and his sister, Ramina. Y’all might remember them from the mall.”

Surprisingly, my sisters were on their best behavior. By the time I’d introduced Rowdy and Ramina to the whole crew, my father was ready to bless the food. A few minutes after theblessing, music played in the background, plates were being made, and conversations were being held all over the backyard.

“You ready to eat?” I asked Rowdy.

He looked at me with seductive eyes as he licked his lips.

“It depends on what’s on the menu,” he whispered.

I looked around because it felt like all eyes were on us, but thankfully, everyone was making their plates or already eating.

“Now is not the time or the place to be nasty.”

“I’ll stop if you promise to be my dessert later.”

“I promise. Now let’s go get food. I’m starving.”

“It looks like Mina and my mother have made themselves at home.”

They were seated with my parents, along with Melodie’s parents, already enjoying the food. We climbed the stairs to the deck for the second time in twenty minutes and piled our plates with a variety of food.

“Give me your plate while you go down the stairs, baby,” Rowdy said.

“I can?—”

“I gotchu. Why don’t you get us something to drink?”

“Okay. What do you want?” I asked as I handed him my plate.