Page 20 of It's a Wonderful Knife

I grimaced. “Let’s see if I can survive this trip first.”

“You’ll survive,” he drawled. “I’ll see to that.”

The animal pushed its nose into my chest and snorted, and I stumbled back. Royce laughed and grabbed my arm. “She’s just checking for snacks.”

I swallowed hard. “You sure she’s not going to try and mate me?”

He grinned. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

In the distance, there was the clanging of a bell. I frowned and gave Royce a confused look. “What the heck is that?”

“That, my friend, is the dinner bell.” He smiled and moved toward the trees. “That means grub is on.”

“Really?” I followed him, giving the alpacas a wary glance. “It’s dinner already?” My stomach growled as if on cue. “I’m not complaining, mind you.”

“Dinner is usually six o’clock sharp around here.” He rubbed his hands together, looking thrilled. “I can’t wait to see what Elle fixed us for tonight.”

I stretched my legs to match his long stride. “I haven’t seen you move this fast in a while.”

Chuckling, he said, “Elle’s home cooking will do that to a man.”

I grabbed hold of his jacket. “Slow down. I’m sure they’ll leave us some dinner.”

He laughed and slowed his pace. As we neared the main house, I noticed a couple beneath the big tree in the front yard. It was the guy who’d been arguing with his girlfriend on the hayride and a well-endowed woman with long, curly red hair. The blonde girl was nowhere to be seen.

Royce also noticed them. “They look cozy,” he said under his breath.

“Yeah. I was thinking the same thing.”

The red-haired woman threw back her head, laughing at something the guy had said, and his gaze immediately dropped to her ample, bouncing bosom. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed his girlfriend striding toward the two of them.

“Uh-oh,” Royce said. “This could be trouble.”

I watched as the blonde woman stopped in front of the other two. The redhead recoiled and took a step back from the other woman. The guy put his hand on the blonde woman’s arm, but she yanked it away, and the words “Cheating asshole” floated across the grass toward us.

“This is rather awkward,” I mumbled because we had to pass by them to get into the main house. “Not very subtle, is he? Flirting under his girlfriend’s nose.”

“Just keep walking. It’s none of our business.”

“I wasn’t going to stop and offer relationship advice.”

Royce snorted a laugh and he hooked his arm through mine. “Never know with you, Max. You just never know.”

Chapter Four

Royce

Inside the big house, the scent of fried food permeated. I led the way to the wide-open dining hall, where all the meals would be. It was a large room with wooden rafters and a long table in the center. There was a red-and-white checkered tablecloth and dozens of plates and bowls of hot food. Christmas lights were strung around the ceiling, and there was a tall flocked tree with shining blue bulbs in the corner.

Some of the group was already seated, and for Max’s sake, I steered clear of where River and Lucas sat. The only way he was going to have fun was if he didn’t end up stuck with River the whole time. We ended up next to the older man and his teenage grandson.

“I’m Joe Harper,” the older man said. He had close-cropped silver hair and bright blue eyes. “This here is my grandson, Joey.”

Scowling, Joey said, “I hate that name. I prefer Joe Jr.”

“Oops.” Joe winced. “Sorry, I forgot.”

Joey kept his eyes on his empty plate. “It’s okay.”