Page 109 of Filthy Fae

“I could eat.”

“Help yourself,” I said, sliding mine out onto a plate. “There’s eggs in the fridge.”

If he thought I was going to wait on him, he was in for a rude awakening. I didn’t even wait on the guys I was sleeping with. They liked to wait on me.

I sat down at the table and dug in, not even feeling a little guilty that Cody was sitting there watching me eat. If he wanted to eat our food, he’d have to fix it himself after calling me selfish.

“Did you give any thought to what I said?” he asked. “About me helping out and taking over some of the ranch duties?”

“I’ll float the idea at dinner,” I said.

“Then I’ll be going to have a look around,” Cody said. “Oh, and Ma expects to see y’all at church tonight. Christmas Eve service.”

“Oh, we’re not really a church family,” I said.

Cody just looked at me.

“I mean, I wasn’t,” I said. “My family, like, me and my parents. Not your family. I’m sure you’re all into church and whatever good country people do.”

“See you tonight,” Cody said before I could really get going.

“Um. Isn’t there supposed to be a blizzard or something tonight?”

“Not until after midnight,” he said. He stood from the table and tipped his hat before disappearing out the door.

Damn it. I didn’t know if I had made things worse or better. All I knew was that I needed to find a dress that covered my ass before this evening.

I set about doing some last-minute cleaning since the guys’ mother was coming for Christmas. In usual Lidia fashion, she was sure to criticize everything in the entire house from the wreathe I’d chosen to the boughs on the mantel to the decorations on the tree. She would no doubt find burnt cookie remnants anything but amusing, especially if she knew I’d been hurling them at one of her precious sons. The only saving grace was that she was a total lush, and as soon as I got a glass or two of wine down her, she thought I was the best thing since the frying pan was invented.

When the guys came in, I had the fireplace roaring, the candles burning, and Christmas music on drifting from the speakers.

“Smells like Christmas in here,” Sawyer said, whisking me into his arms and giving me a kiss.

“Were you trying to summon a spirit?” Waylon asked, gesturing to the candles lining the mantel and set strategically around the room.

“Yeah,” I said. “I was trying to summon your holiday spirit. Guess it didn’t work.”

“It looks great, Am,” Holden said. “Real cozy.”

“Thank you,” I said, standing on tiptoes to give his scruffy cheek a kiss. I squeezed his hand and smiled up at him. “Ready for dinner?”

I didn’t even give Waylon a second glance as we all settled around the table. If he was determined to be a Grinch, I wasn’t going to stop him.

“Your mother invited us to church tonight,” I said, pouring a glass of wine for Sawyer.

“Is Cody going to be there?” Waylon asked.

“I’m sure he is,” I said. “Look, he’s not going away. You can either let him take you to court, which costs a lot of money, and you’ll lose a fourth of the ranch, or you can figure out some way to live peacefully with him around.”

“I can think of another option,” Waylon said, forking food into his mouth.

“He’s been calling you every day for over a year,” I said. “He’s sorry, and you know it. And I’m not even saying you have to forgive him. But he owns one of those cabins, and he’s planning to move into it. Like it or not, he’s going to be a part of our lives. He might as well help out around the ranch.”

“He’s got a mind for business, I won’t deny,” Sawyer said. “Nobody could squeeze a dollar out of a quarter like Cody. I swear he’s magic when it comes to the business side of the ranch.”

“Well, I like taking care of the horses, but I wouldn’t mind a little oversight,” I said. “No offense, but shoving medicine down their throats just seems cruel to me.”

“It’s for their own good,” Holden said, frowning. “We’re not cruel to them.”