Page 55 of Rocky Mountain Home

Jesse gripped Luke’s wrist, pulling hard to make it to vertical. He stepped out of the metal tank, dripping over the hay-strewn ground. “You plan on baptizing me on a regular basis?”

“Nah. You just looked like you needed a little cooling off before dinner, since Dare’s not here and all.” Luke straightened his hat. “Consider it my welcome to the family gift.”

“And what’s Dustin going to give me? A shotgun in the back?”

“Ah, he’s all talk. He’ll settle down.” Luke slapped Jesse on the shoulder and walked him toward the cottage. “See, the thing you need to understand is she’s been ours to take care of for a long time, and in some ways, we feel as if we screwed up.”

“You don’t need to protect her from me,” Jesse promised.

“Well, glad to hear you say it, but you see, I don’t know that for sure. You mean well, offering to marry her and all, but she’s our sister. We want what’s best for her, and…” Luke shrugged. “Go on. Get changed. I didn’t mean to talk your ear off. We’ll take it as it comes.”

Jesse wasn’t sure what that meant. Not then, and not when, after he’d retreated to Dare’s place and showered up, he made his way to the main homestead.

The barbecue was going, smoke rising from the back deck of the house. Jesse rounded the corner cautiously, checking to be sure Dustin wasn’t preparing another surprise.

It looked safe enough. Caleb was turning over thick steaks, and Luke grinned as he walked out the door with long necks dangling between his fingers.

“Look who’s here, boys.”

Which was when Jesse noticed there were no longer three of them, but four.

A day of herding her nieces through more than a dozen stores had left Dare exhausted. Heck, forget Emma and Sasha—Ginny was worse than both of them, constantly wandering off in a new direction, distracted by window displays.

What Dare wanted was to go home and crawl into the tub for a long soak. She’d stopped at the main house to help Ginny get the girls headed to bed, only to find music blaring and lights on everywhere.

Her friend rolled her eyes then ushered Sasha toward the back of the house, Emma draped over her shoulder, fast asleep. “I’ll take care of these guys. You go convince the wild animals to turn the music down.”

“If they don’t agree fast enough, I’m shutting off the power to the house,” Dare warned.

“Works for me. I’m tossing the girls in bed then I’ll be asleep the instant my head hits the pillow.”

“Me too. No more marathon shopping trips.” Although it had been necessary—Dare’s expanding waistline wasn’t going to put up with her regular jeans for much longer.

Ginny was already out of sight, so Dare made her way to the sliding doors off the kitchen, flipping off light switches as she went.

What the heck had Caleb been doing? This wasn’t like him—the entire place was lit up like a Christmas display.

She paused in the doorway wondering if she was hallucinating.

Hallucinations would explain so much.

But no, in spite of a second harder glance, the scene didn’t change. Her brothers were all gathered around the outdoor picnic table on the deck, a mess of bottles lining the edges of the table’s surface as Luke dealt the cards. All of the guys looked a little rough around the edges, and bags of chips and empty plates were piled haphazardly on the counter beside the barbecue.

It was a classic men’s-poker-night setting, but the guys themselves—

Caleb had a glittering tiara on his head, the sparkling silver princess gear looted from his daughters’ dress-up trunk. Luke wore a matching gold one, a purple robe draped over his shoulders.

Dustin wore a set of rabbit ears, a red cowboy bandanna pulled over his nose as if he were in the middle of a stickup.

Dare stepped onto the deck, squinting to see if the weirdness vanished. “I swear I haven’t had a drink in months.”

Five faces turned toward her, Walker and Jesse both rising to their feet.

Walker was on the same side of the table as her so he made it to her side first, scooping her up and giving her a tight hug. “Good to see you, baby girl.”

“I didn’t think you’d be home for a while yet.” She offered a quick squeeze in return, but pushed him away rapidly so she could stare up in horror. “Can you even see me through that monstrosity?”

He’d had a gorilla mask shoved up on his forehead, and now he pulled it into place before lifting his arms and pounding on his chest as he made obnoxious noises.