“Aunt Corina! What are you dressing up as?” Chloe asked, her eyes wide with anticipation.
“I think a school teacher.”
Chloe’s smile faded. “You can’t dress up as something you already are! That’s cheating!”
Laughing, I bent down. “I’m going as a witch.”
“Me too!” Chloe shouted.
Paxton told us Chloe had been secretly hoping we were all dressing like witches. “The Parker witches,” she wanted to call us. Even though I wasn’t an official Parker yet, Chloe had already deemed me so.
“You are?” I asked, pretending not to know.
Jumping, Chloe said, “Now we will have six witches at the party.”
I frowned. “Six?”
Paxton sighed. “Oh, you haven’t heard yet? Patches will be joining the birthday party dressed as a witch.”
“Well, he’s actually a warlock, Mommy. You know, ’cause he is a boy and all.”
With a lift of her brow, Paxton replied, “That’s right. How silly of me.” When she looked at me and rolled her eyes, I couldn’t help but giggle.
Chloe climbed onto the stool and rested her chin on her hands, watching me decorate pumpkin cookies. “You know, Aunt Corina, you’re gonna have to paint your face green.”
“Green!” I gasped. “Why?”
“Um, hello, you’re a witch, and they have green faces.”
“Are you painting your face green?” I asked.
Chloe laughed. “Well, no! I’m a witch princess, and they don’t have green faces.”
“Does Aunt Waylynn know about this?” I asked, peeking over to Paxton, who made a face that said Waylynn had no clue.
Chloe shrugged as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “Don’t know.”
As if on cue, Waylynn came rushing into the kitchen, dressed in her Halloween costume. She looked more like an angel than a witch. Chloe gasped. Paxton whispered, “Oh hell.”
I prepared for a six-year-old meltdown.
“Stop being so difficult!” Amelia said, pushing Waylynn’s hand away.
“You’re putting so much of it on my face! I look like a…”
“Witch?” I replied with a grin.
Waylynn shot me a dirty look. “You need to hush. You look cute in your little blonde ponytail and green face. Besides, you’re engaged so it doesn’t matter that you look hideous. I need every opportunity I get to find a man! I’m not going to find one with a green face!”
With a shocked expression, I replied, “Hey! I don’t look hideous! You said I looked cute!”
Waylynn half shrugged. “Fine! Meli looks hideous. You look adorable. I need to look hot!”
Amelia gave Waylynn’s hair a tug, causing her to cry out.
“I still can’t believe you’re engaged!” Amelia said, looking my way.
“It’s been surreal. The trip up to Canada was amazing.”
Waylynn wiggled her brows. “That’s because y’all got snowed in. What wouldn’t be crazy nice about being stuck in a beautiful cabin for a few days.”
I chuckled. “That’s true. We did make good use of the time.”
Mitchell and I had decided not to share the fact that we were hoping for a baby. Until it happened, there was no use talking about it.
“Whatever happened with you and Jonathon? Y’all not getting it on anymore?” Amelia asked.
Letting out a gruff laugh, Waylynn rolled her eyes. “Please. It was one time. He’s too young for me.”
“He is not,” I said.
Waylynn turned to me. “Corina, I’m going to be thirty-three soon. He’s twenty-six.”
“Almost twenty-seven!” Amelia added.
“That makes me feel tons better. Thanks, sis.”
Gently hitting her leg, I said, “Oh, come on, Waylynn. That’s only six years’ difference. That’s not a big deal.”
I couldn’t help but notice how sad Waylynn’s eyes looked. Was it from not being with Jonathon—or was she just lonely? She’d moved into the other guest house on the ranch, but from what Melanie had told me, she stayed in her old room more than she did in her own house.
With a raised brow, I asked, “Was it only that one time y’all were together?”
When she didn’t respond, I had my answer. “Waylynn Parker, are you still sneakin’ ‘round with that boy?” Amelia asked with a shocked tone and deep southern accent.
Waylynn grinned. “I told him it wasn’t going to work. And yes, it was only that one time. Although, I wouldn’t mind another round with him. Preferably in a bed and not up against a wall.”
“Mmm… Still sounds hot, if you ask me,” Amelia added.
“It was hot as hell! The boy gave me two orgasms that rocked my ever-loving socks off.”
“Who gave you two orgasms?”
We all froze as Cord appeared in the doorway of Amelia’s old bedroom, where we were getting ready for the party. It took us five seconds to start laughing hard. Cord was dressed in all black, with a giant piece of bacon that ran down his entire body. His face was framed by the end of the bacon. He looked adorable and ridiculous, all at the same time.
“What the hell, Cord? Bacon!” Waylynn cried out as she held her stomach laughing.
Cord looked down at his costume then back at Waylynn. “That’s right. Chloe picked out the bacon costume for me because she said I loved bacon.”
“You look ridiculous!” she added.
He walked into the room, and I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing harder. “You ever wonder why she wanted you to be a witch?”
“Okay, now, wait,” Amelia said. “You just insulted all three of us. If you haven’t noticed we are all witches.”
Cord smirked. “If the shoe fits.” He glanced over to me. “Except for you, Corina. You’re like the good witch from The Wizard of Oz.”
“Why thank you, Cord. I appreciate the love.”
He shrugged. “Don’t get used to it. The moment you become a Parker…all bets are off and you’re open game.”
My grin faded.
“Now, let’s get back to what I overheard. Whose ass do I need to beat for having sex with you?”
Waylynn lost it laughing. “Right. Because I’m only thirty-two years old, jerk-face.”
Cord attempted to sit on the bed but the bacon pushed into his chin.
“Besides, you don’t see me trying to run after every girl you poke your dick into,” Waylynn added.
“You’d be running all over Texas,” Amelia added.
“Don’t be jealous because I have a good sex life. I can’t help it if I like sex. It’s fun.”
Amelia put more green make-up on Waylynn’s face.
“You don’t have any desire to settle down with someone, Cord?” I asked.
He looked my way, tilted his head like he was really giving it thought. “None at all. I like the way my life is. If I met the right woman, would I settle down? Yes. But I’m young, in good shape, and I like to fuuu…ahh… Hey, Chloe! I see you’ve got Patches.”
All of us snapped our heads to find Chloe standing in the doorway, holding Patches the goat with a lead rope.
“Chloe Lynn Parker, you know you’re not allowed to have Patches in the house!” Waylynn said in a firm voice.
“But I’m the party planner. Daddy said I could invite whomever I wanted.”
“Not a goat, Chloe,” Amelia added.
Chloe’s eyes filled with tears. “I say Patches should be a part of the party.”
Everyone looked at me. “Chloe, I’m sure your Grammy won’t mind, as long as Patches stays outside, in case he has to go potty. We’ll be outside mostly anyway, so Patches won’t miss anything.”
The wide smile on Chloe’s face told me she was happy with this.
“You best get Patches out of the house before your mommy sees him, though,” I said with a wink.
“Okay!” Chloe said as she pulled on Patches’ lead.
Waylynn took a few steps back. “Do you see how the goat is looking at me? It’s like he knows I don’t like him.”
Cord laughed. “You did try to convince Wade to slaughter the poor thing.”
“Waylynn Parker!” Amelia gasped.
“I wasn’t serious,” Waylynn replied with a half shrug.
Cord lifted a brow and gave his sister a look that screamed he didn’t believe her.
“Fine. Maybe I was a little serious.”
“Hey, I came up to ask if you’ve talked to Jonathon the last couple of days?”
The three of us froze. Had Cord overheard our whole conversation? Was he fishing to get more information?
“Um, he stopped by the other day to check on the progress of the dance studio, but I didn’t have a chance to talk to him. I was with the interior designer. Why?”
Cord shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on with him. He’s been acting strange and hasn’t been by the bar in weeks. I invited him to the party.”
“The party?” Waylynn asked. “This party? As in the birthday party?”
“Ah, yeah. Why? Do you have a problem with that?”
Waylynn let out a fake laugh. “Why would I have a problem with that?”
With a shrug, Cord replied, “You seemed like you didn’t want him here.”
Waving Cord off, Waylynn smiled. “Nonsense. Amelia, we better get this make-up finished.”
That was Cord’s cue to leave. “I’ll see y’all downstairs.”
Sinking down into the chair, Waylynn stared at herself in the mirror. She looked adorable, even with the green make-up.
“Well, Jonathon will take one look at me and probably be glad we only screwed once.”
Amelia and I looked at each other. Then I got an idea.
“Pigtails.”
“Little girls,” Amelia said with a laugh. “Your turn, Waylynn!”
“Um, what?”
I lightly pushed Amelia to the side. “No, we need to put Waylynn’s hair in pigtails.”
Waylynn stared at me. “Why in the hell would I put my hair in pigtails?”
Smiling, I pulled her hair down from her pony and started dividing it evenly on each side. “I had my hair in pigtails the other day, and when Mitchell got home from work something happened. He went all caveman and we…well…we had a bit of fun.”
With a huge smile on her face, Waylynn playfully said, “Oh, my, my. To think I thought you were the innocent one.”
“If you put your hair in pigtails, it will drive Jonathon insane. Y’all might even sneak away for a quickie!”
Amelia and Waylynn both looked at me with their mouths gaping.
“Who are you and what did you do with Corina Miller?” Amelia asked.
I giggled and pressed my lips together before saying, “What can I say? The Parker boys really are naughty cowboys.”
All three of us started laughing. I curled Waylynn’s pigtails a few times and then we were ready to go.
“I don’t want to sleep with him again, y’all,” Waylynn said as we headed downstairs. “It will never work between us.”
“Sure, keep telling yourself that,” Amelia replied.
When we walked outside, Amelia rushed over to Wade. “Excuse me, y’all. I need to dance with my hotter-than-hell husband.”
I couldn’t help but smile when I saw Wade two-stepping with Chloe across the makeshift dance floor.
My eyes scanned the area until I saw Mitchell. He was dressed as a scarecrow, Chloe’s pick.
“Well, maybe I can at least find someone to dance with me,” Waylynn said, adjusting her black dress. The moment I saw Jonathon walk up the driveway, my heart dropped for Waylynn. He had a girl on his arm.
“Why don’t we head on over Paxton,” I said, trying to guide Waylynn away.
Paxton was also dressed like a witch, but had gotten out of painting her face green by using Gage as an excuse.
Right as we walked up, Cord looked past us.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
“Hey, there’s Jonathon. Jon! Hey, over here!”
Waylynn glanced over her shoulder, and it was hard not to notice her disappointment.
“He brought a date,” she whispered.
Amelia pulled Waylynn into the seat next to her. I sat down, and Mitchell sat on the other side of me.
“Wipe that look off your face right now, Waylynn,” Amelia said, pointing her finger at her sister.
Snapping out of it quickly, Waylynn smiled again. “Right. No big deal.”
I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Are you okay?” I asked in a hushed voice.
Nodding, Waylynn replied, “Yep. This is what I needed. A good kick in the ass to move on. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Mitchell leaned in closer to me and asked, “What’s going on? Waylynn didn’t seem too pleased to see Jonathon here.”
I faced Mitchell and forced a grin. “I’ll tell you later, but everything’s okay.”
He looked at me like he knew I wasn’t telling him the truth.
Everyone said hello to Jonathan and his date, Bethany. Even Waylynn was pleasant—and putting on a total show. I couldn’t help but notice how Jonathon kept stealing glances and peeks at Waylynn. There was no doubt in my mind; he liked Waylynn. A lot.
When Jonathon and Bethany sat down at the table, Waylynn jumped up and made her way across the room.
“What’s going on with Waylynn and Jon? He can’t keep his eyes off of my sister, and she can’t stop looking back at him. I know you know. Spill it,” Mitchell said.
Cheese and crackers.
I swallowed hard, trying to think of something to do or say that would alter the course of this conversation.
Leaning in, I placed my lips against Mitchell’s ear.
“I want you. Now.”
He drew back and smiled at me. “Oh yeah? You’re gonna have to do better at convincing me to change the subject. And you’re not getting me to leave yet another party.”
My cheeks heated. Moving in closer so no one would hear us, I whispered, “I want you to fuck me. Now.”
And like that, I’d worked my witchy magic, and Mitchell had forgotten all about Waylynn and Jonathon.