Page 79 of Waiting in Wyoming

Bruce was taking him right back to where he had just been.

Why?

“Almost there, pal. Almost there. I just can’t wait.”

71

They were distracting him.It took Quade a bit to figure it out, but Hunter was distracting him on purpose. He’d practically badgered Quade into meeting him at his brother-in-law’s place to screen audition tapes for a project Hunter and their pal Tucker Barratt were going to collaborate on.

Tucker had arrived two hours ago, looked for his cousin Brandt—who had been off with Meyra somewhere—and then they had driven out to the Preston Ranch.

He had to admit Nikki’s brother Gil had a pretty impressive home movie theater in his basement. And Quade liked him. Gil was what Quade had always thought of as an old fashioned “man’s man.” Strong, honest, a little blunt at times, and came across as a little traditional in his views. He was recently married to the sheriff’s deputy that Quade had met before. She was working now, but Nikki and Dusty were there.

They were planning Dusty’s wedding to Nikki’s brother Ben.

Ben and Fletcher were both there, Ben drooling over his fiancée, and Fletcher brooding over something.

Quade suspectedhewas that something.

He’d told the guy to back off of Dylan last time their paths had crossed. He considered Fletcher a friend, but Dylan…she made him want to protect her. Especially after…the dead guys.

Everyone knew they were the guys who had attacked Tucker’s cousin. The town was full of questions. And gossip.

The police had kept Quade’s part of things out of the media, for which he was very grateful, but there was a lot of gossip going around.

The guys had been locals, too.

One thing Quade didn’t like about small towns was gossip. He was used to being talked about—his career rather guaranteed that. But he didn’t like Dylan being hurt.

Quade didn’t even know why Fletcher, normally a nice guy and everything, had so much of a problem with her.

“How’s Charlotte?” Dusty asked, menu in her hand. They were ordering a big order from the pizza parlor. Quade was going to just enjoy hanging out with people he liked and respected. They way he used to before fame and fortune had takennormalaway from him and everything.

“She’s with her friends now. They are taking turns at the hospital with Gunnar. And Daniel, even Charlotte has sat with him,” Tucker said.

“How is Lieutenant Coleson?” Sage asked. “I met her recently.”

Quade tried not to react openly. He hadn’t told Tucker who Heather was to him. He just wasn’t ready yet. Not yet. Tucker had known Quade’s other family for years, apparently. And they hadn’t even realized it.

“Heather is most likely out of the woods, I’ve heard. Antibiotics have worked. She’s going to be very weak for a while, but she should make a full recovery,” Tucker said. “Her family is keeping everything quiet, but my aunt and uncle—Brandt’sparents—are making a point of keeping up with how she’s doing.”

Quade let out a breath he’d been holding. That was what Cara had texted him, but he was glad to hear it from someone else, too.

He’d been worried, no denying that.

Of course, if Royal and Slater ever found out he was in contact with the family in Finley Creek, they’d probably gang up and kick his ass. Not that Quade was too worried—he could more than hold his own with his brothers, after all. If not, well, Tucker was even better at martial arts than Slater was.

Quade was just going to keep that knowledge to himself. His brother’s ego needed to be protected, after all.

He and Tucker were catching up on their latest projects—Tucker was wanting to expand children’s networking through his studio and Quade was a bit of an expert in kids shows—when the sound of a car flying up the drive came.

Nikki stood. She was a beautiful woman with long red curly hair.

Quade liked curly hair best on women, he decided. Dylan’s was almost white and curled in every possible direction imaginable.

That was just one of the random things that stuck in his head. Sometimes, his thoughts went in a thousand and one directions. Drove his brothers insane, but Quade had long accepted who he was, mostly. Okay, so maybe he was working on that.

“Whoever that is, they are driving far too fast,” Hunter said kind of rumbly. He followed his wife protectively.