I walked into my father’s office and stopped when I saw Trevor shaking his head and cursing.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Fucking hogs got in the north pasture and tore it to shit.”
I panicked. “What? When?”
“Must have been yesterday. It almost looks like a damn pattern.”
My hand clutched my chest as I fell back into one of the chairs in front of my father’s desk. “Thank fuck,” I breathed.
“What?” my father asked, giving me a confused look. “What in the hell do we have to be thankful for, Steed? I don’t want that many hogs on our ranch.”
Before I had a chance to say anything, Chloe came running into the office. “Granddaddy! I’m ready for our date!”
My father all but melted into a puddle when Chloe jumped into his arms.
“Our movie date! It’s time?” he asked with a huge grin.
“Yep! Grammy’s ready, so come on!” Chloe grabbed his hand and pulled at him. “Come on! Come on! We don’t want to be late.”
Glancing back at us, Dad smiled. “We’ll figure this out tomorrow.”
“You want me to go plow up the rest of the field?” Trevor asked.
“Why don’t we go tomorrow and take a closer look?” I suggested.
“That sounds good. Excuse me boys, I’ve got a date with my granddaughter.”
Trevor and I stood and watched Chloe drag Dad out of his office. He stopped to grab his cowboy hat off the hat rack before he was tugged out the door.
“Damn, she’s cute as hell, Steed. She’s got Dad and Mom wrapped around her finger. Not to mention Mitchell, Cord, and Amelia. Tripp’s never around long enough.”
I laughed. “Yeah, she has us all wrapped around her finger.”
Trevor slapped my back. “That’s the gods honest truth right there. All right, I’m calling it a damn day and taking the rest of the afternoon off. You still going flying?”
“Yeah. Hey Trev, before you leave let me ask you something.”
He stopped and motioned for me to talk with a jerk of his head. “Has Tripp mentioned anything to you about Corina?”
He shrugged. “Not really. I mean I know he called dibs on her and that pissed Mitchell off, but then I’m pretty sure Mitchell and Corina hooked up the night you came to the bar to chase off the accountant. I mean as the night went on they were all over each other and Mitchell took her home. Or she took him home. I don’t know.”
“You ever tell Tripp about it?”
He shook his head. “Nah. That shit’s between them. If you ask me though, Tripp’s only dating her because he knows Mitchell has a thing for her. Which is fucking weird cause I didn’t think either one of them were looking for a relationship.”
I scrubbed my hand over my rough chin. “Yeah, well something’s going on. Paxton wants to invite Corina over for Thanksgiving, and I told her she should. Tripp didn’t bother to.”
“Why not? No sense in the poor girl being home alone. And I thought Tripp said she was going out of town?”
I shrugged. “I guess he misunderstood her. Plus, I don’t think they’re that serious with this whole dating. I think it’s more of a causal thing.”
“Then invite her. What harm could come of it?”
Nodding, I agreed. “Yeah, I’ll make sure Paxton does.”
“Make sure I do what?”
We both turned. Paxton stood in the doorway dressed in jeans, converse sneakers, and a light blue sweater that made her eyes stand out all the way across the room.
“Invite Corina for Thanksgiving.”
She smiled. “I didn’t have to. I guess Tripp realized she wasn’t leaving and he invited her.”
Trevor slapped my arm and winked. “There ya go. I’m out of here. Later y’all.”
I followed him and stopped in front of Paxton.
“Hey,” I said, kissing her on the lips.
“Hey. Your mom said you were back here. So what’s the emergency? You broke me away from helping my mother decided between Antique White, Simple White, or Dover White.”
With a chuckle, I replied, “Sounds like I saved you.”
“You did! I was about to pull my hair out. Who knew there were so many shades of white!”
I took her in my arms. “Do you want to go up in the plane with me?”
Her eyes lit up like the Fourth of July. “Seriously? I’d love to! Are you just flying around for fun?”
“Yeah, but Dad needs me to check out a few things as well.”
She did a little jump and clapped her hands. “How exciting! The last time I was up in a plane was when your dad took us to see the Christmas lights that one year.”
“That’s right. You haven’t been anywhere? No vacations or anything?”
She shrugged. “Nope.”
Hell, I was going to have to fix that little problem. I made a mental note to plan a trip for us. Maybe over spring break or something.
Placing my hand on her hips, I motioned for her to walk out of the office. “Come on. Let’s go. Rob is waiting for me.”
My father had a hanger and a small runway adjacent to the ranch. He’d bought the property years ago when he was going for his own pilot’s license. He knew he would want to keep a plane here since the closet airport was a couple hours away in San Antonio.
The drive over to the hanger was filled with Paxton talking about what she was making for Thanksgiving. She had a cooking date planned the day before with my mother, Amelia, and Chloe. My heart ached when my sister Waylynn called. I could hear in her voice that she wanted to come home. But her asshole husband Jack had some fucking fundraiser and he needed Waylynn there. I swear the asshole was keeping her away from her family. I’d flown out twice with Chloe to visit my older sister. I could see the longing in Waylynn’s eyes for a child of her own. Dickhead wasn’t ready.
“Your dad got a new plane?” Paxton asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Yeah. He bought it about a year ago. It seats six.”
Looking over at me, Paxton wore a nervous expression, wringing her hands in her lap.
“You okay?” I asked.
“I think so. You’re sure you know how to fly it?”
I reached for her hand. “I wouldn’t take you up in this plane if I wasn’t sure I could fly it. I’ve flown bigger planes before.”
Her brows lifted. “Really? That’s kind of hot.”
Drawing my head back, I stared at her. “That turns you on?”
She nodded and chewed her bottom lip.
“Well, let’s see how you feel after we land,” I said.
Nervously giggling, she nodded.
Jumping out of the truck, I waved to Rob as I jogged around to open Paxton’s door. With her hand in mine, we headed to the plane. I hadn’t been the least bit nervous taking her up, but now anxiety swirled in the pit of my stomach.