Easy Charm

“Earth to Gabby,” Charly says, snapping her fingers from across the table. “Where’s your mind, baby doll?”

“Sorry,” I murmur and turn back to my two sisters and Kate, my brother Eli’s girlfriend. The girls came out to enjoy Saturday lunch at the inn. I have a beautiful gazebo in the back yard with a table that we often take advantage of. “How are things with Eli?” I ask Kate, purposefully deflecting the attention from me.

“Things are great.” Kate wrinkles her freckle-covered nose and grins. “He’s…” She shakes her head back and forth, as though she’s trying to come up with the word.

“Stupid?” Savannah offers.

“Ridiculous?” Charly adds.

“A pain in the ass?” I say with a giggle.

“Sexy,” Kate replies with a belly laugh.

“Ew,” Savannah says with a shudder. “He’s my big brother.”

“Yes, he is big,” Kate replies¸ still laughing, knowing that she’s grossing us all out.

“Stop it right now,” I demand, covering my ears with my hands. “I’m too young to know this.”

“Right.” Charly rolls her eyes. Charly is the eldest sister. She decided a long time ago that the family business of running Bayou Enterprises, a multi-billion dollar ship building enterprise, wasn’t for her, and instead she owns an adorable shoe boutique in the Quarter called Head Over Heels. She’s classy, put together, and smart as can be.

“I think we’re all too young to know this,” Savannah adds. Van is the middle sister, and Declan, our youngest brother’s twin.

There are a lot of us.

“Why do you ask if you don’t really want to know?” Kate asks and takes a sip of her sweet tea.

“Because Gabby was trying to get the attention off of her,” Charly replies with a sweet grin, her hazel eyes pinned to me.

“You’re not nearly as sweet as you’d like us all to believe,” I inform her.

“Yes I am,” she replies. We all carry the sound of Louisiana in our voices, but Charly’s seems to be the thickest. It always makes me smile.

“Hi Mom!” Sam calls from the barn that he and Rhys just came out of. He’s waving wildly until I wave back, then turns his attention back to the tall baseball player at this side.

Who happens to be grinning this way.

“I think the better question is, how are things going with Rhys?” Savannah’s eyes are lighter than the rest of us, and they are lit with more humor now than I’ve seen from her since she left her husband a few months ago.

That abusive piece of shit.

“What do you mean?” I shift in my seat. Do not look at him. He’s just a man.

“Oh stop,” Charly replies and watches the baseball player unabashedly, licking her lips when he begins pushing some kind of heavy sled thing across the pasture. “He’s a prime specimen of man. Surely you’ve noticed.”

“Ew,” Kate says with a frown.

“Turnabout is fair play.” Van laughs and watches Rhys with calculating eyes while sipping her sweet tea through a straw.

“So spill it,” Charly insists and leans forward in her seat. “Has he kissed you?”

“He’s a guest!” I cover my face with my hands and lean back in my chair. “I’m running a business here.”

“Oh, please,” Kate says with a flick of the wrist. “I mean, yes you are, and it’s awesome, but it’s okay to have a private life too.”

“I have a child.”

“Who loves him,” Charly says and gestures with her head for me to look.

Rhys has taken all the weight off the sled and is helping Sam push it, encouraging him with every step.

And my heart melts, just a little more.

“Yeah, he’s good with Sam.”

I’ve told Sam to leave him be, but every time Rhys insists that he enjoys Sam’s company and that when he needs a break, he’ll tell Sam.

“Rhys loves kids,” Kate says with a smile.

I keep my mouth shut for a moment, and then decide, screw it. These are my sisters. I trust them more than anyone in the world.

“I don’t do the flirting thing well,” I admit and fold a pink napkin into eighths.

“Why not?” Kate asks with a frown.

“Because,” Van replies softly, her light eyes on mine, “she had a baby when she was very young and hasn’t had the chance to flex her flirting muscles since she got pregnant.”

I blink at her for a moment and then nod. “That about covers it.”

“I say you practice on that tall drink of water over there,” Charly says.

“Right.” I snort and shake my head. “The first time I try, he’ll laugh at me. He’s a professional athlete, Charly. I don’t want or need to be another notch in his belt.”

“It’s true that in his rookie days Rhys was a bit of a man-whore,” Kate says.

“Kate! That’s your cousin you’re talking about.” Van looks outraged, then giggles.

“Hey, he’ll admit the same,” Kate says reasonably. “But he hasn’t been that way in a long time, Gabs. We joke about it, but he’s been so focused on baseball, I couldn’t tell you when the last time was that he had a girlfriend.”

Interesting.

“Has he flirted with you?” Charly wants to know. I can’t help but think of the night on the porch when he sifted his fingers through my hair. Or the occasions since then when he makes sure I don’t carry anything heavy, or compliments my hair.