Page 95 of The Meeting
Chase walked in and toward them, Jane no longer with him. He chuckled when he approached.
“I can’t believe Mama believed that,” he said.
Derek laughed. “She believes everything. You should have known she would have fallen for it.”
Chase only shrugged and then turned his eyes on Kailynn. “We are doing dinner at my parents’ house tonight. Sound good?”
She nodded. “Of course.”
“And if she gives you grief over the prank, tell her it was my idea. She won’t let you live it down if she knows it was yours.”
Derek snorted. “Wow. Kailynn. I’m impressed. Pulling the big guns at the first meeting.”
“Well, Cindy shouldn’t have made a comment about me being pregnant. I mean, that could be taken several ways. Was it a rumor? Was she calling me fat?” Kailynn shrugged and winked at the both of them.
“Ba—” John poked his head into the barn and then flushed. “Uh, hey everyone. Derek, I need to borrow you. I think I need to buy some parts for the tractor.”
“See you two in a bit,” Derek said, before following John out of the barn.
Kailynn watched the two of them leave and then looked back at the horse. Once she finished brushing Buttercup, she and Chase went back up to the house. It had already been a very long day, and it was only the late afternoon. She had genuine respect for Derek and all the physical labor he put into taking care of his ranch.
They went into their bedroom, and Kailynn sat on the edge of the bed.
“I’m exhausted,” she said. “I don’t know how Derek does this. And I haven’t even done anything!”
Chase laughed. “It’s a lot of work.” He sat down next to her and untied his shoes. “Let’s get in the shower before we head over to my parents’ place.”
They took a shower together, and Kailynn let Chase wash her back. His fingers kneaded into her sore muscles as he went, and she sighed. She didn’t want to leave this warm cocoon. She wanted Chase to herself and to cuddle up in his arms to fall asleep—to not worry about whether or not they moved too fast.
The shower ended far too quickly before they were getting dressed. Derek rapped on their door and called through.
“Leaving in a minute. Be out or you’re riding Buttercup.” And then he laughed as he walked away.
Chase shook his head and looked at Kailynn. “Ready?”
She nodded.
The three of them filed into Derek’s truck and drove the short distance to their parents’ house. Kailynn watched the land roll by with the occasional house peppering the landscape.
“So how much land do you own?” she asked.
Derek glanced at her through the rearview mirror. He pointed out to the left.
“I have around fifty acres. I probably own the least out of most people in town, but my land hugs right up to my parents’ property. They own around five hundred acres.”
“Wow. How did you manage to grab the house near your parents’?”
“Mr. Donovan used to live there, but he passed away. He left it to his kids, but none of them live here anymore, so they put it on the market. I jumped on it immediately. They kept most of the land and sold it off to various people, but I got as much as I wanted. I don’t need a ton of property for what I want to do.”
They pulled up to the house, and the conversation ended. Derek looked at the two of them.
“Good luck.”
Chase only laughed and took Kailynn’s hand in his own. The skin crinkled around his eyes. She hadn’t seen him this happy back in California. He truly was happiest with his family.
They walked through the door and were immediately greeted by Jane and Rob. Jane had made a turkey for dinner, along with various side dishes to go along with it. Kailynn stared at the spread, completely amazed. Her family was more of a takeout kind of family, which was probably why she never learned to cook. And having a turkey for dinner when it wasn’t Thanksgiving definitely wasn’t normal in her life.
“Wow! This look delicious,” she said to Jane.
