a good portion of Stonewall Crossing out to enjoy the live music and family-friendly atmosphere. His brother Ryder had invited the whole family to the Shots dance hall that night.
His brothers—minus Archer—their wives and his cousins from Montana would all be there. Ryder’s wife, Annabeth, was getting close to delivering their twins so there weren’t a lot of nights out in their future. Annabeth wasn’t really up to dancing, but he suspected Ryder and their young son, Cody, were trying to cheer her up. She’d been pretty uncomfortable the last few weeks.
Knowing he’d see Kylee was an added incentive. She was a prickly little thing, someone he didn’t understand—yet. But that hadn’t stopped him from thinking about her throughout the week or hoping he’d see her when she checked in on Chance.
“Eye’s lookin’ better,” Cutter greeted him as he walked into the bar.
“Thanks. Feelin’ a bit better, too.” Fisher smiled.
“Here’s hoping this weekend is downright uneventful,” Cutter laughed.
“No arguments from me,” Fisher agreed, heading through the open doors and into the dance hall in back.
Most of his family was there already, crowded together around two tables. They smiled, waving him over.
“What happened to you?” Renata, his twin sister, was on her feet. “And why didn’t I know about it?” She frowned at her brothers.
“Nothing to tell, really.” Fisher hugged her.
“Way I hear it, he took one in the eye for Archer.” Ryder, the youngest Boone, grinned.
“First his roommate, now his stunt double,” his cousin Tandy said, wincing and shaking her head. “Archer owes you big time, cuz.”
“I’m with Tandy. Being the oldest means I have to look out for all of you, but—” his big brother, Hunter, pointed at Fisher’s eye “—taking a punch to the face for Archer is going above and beyond brotherly duty.” Hunter grinned. “I’m betting Archer didn’t shoulder much guilt over it. Or is he coming to buy you a thank-you beer later?”
“Nope,” Ryder shook his head. “He bowed out, something about some new something-or-other at the refuge needing his attention.”
“He needs a girlfriend,” Renata sighed.
Fisher, Ryder and Hunter burst out laughing.
“Hey, Fish— Your face!” Annabeth, Ryder’s very pregnant wife arrived, almost dropping the pitcher of water she carried.
“He’s fine, princess.” Ryder stood and pulled a chair back for her. “Don’t get yourself all worked up.”
Annabeth rolled her eyes.
“What are we laughing over?” Josie, Hunter’s wife, joined in. “I’m assuming it’s not Fisher’s face?”
“Sort of.” Hunter kissed his wife’s cheek.
“I was just saying Archer might benefit from the company of a lady friend,” Renata offered.
“What about the new bartender?” Annabeth asked. “She’s gorgeous.”
“She is, at that.” Toben, his cousin and Tandy’s twin, tipped his beer bottle at the bar. “I don’t think Archer could handle that one.”
“Kylee and Archer? As a couple?” Fisher asked before he could stop himself. He didn’t like the way Toben was looking at her. He heard the shock in his voice, and so did everyone else around the table. He didn’t miss the grins the women exchanged.
“Kylee, huh?” Hunter piped up, hiding his smile behind his beer.
Ryder was looking at him wide-eyed. “Huh,” he murmured before craning his neck to see the bar at the back of the room. “Where is she?”
“Working at the back bar,” Annabeth answered. “Long black hair. Biggest blue eyes. Other than yours, of course.” She grabbed Ryder’s chin and pressed a kiss to his lips.
Fisher watched, seeing the satisfied smile on his little brother’s face. His brother, the player...he never thought he’d see his brother so happily settled, but then Fisher had never had a woman look at him the way Annabeth was looking at Ryder. “Guess I’ll get a beer,” he mumbled, pushing himself up from his chair.
Which led to a few giggles from the women.
He didn’t respond as he made his way across the dance hall, smiling and exchanging pleasantries as he went.
Kylee didn’t see him, she was busy filling mugs and popping tops off beer bottles. Cutter didn’t serve hard liquor when the dance hall was open—only beer, water and soda. Cutter said it kept things from getting out of control and was more family friendly.
“What can I—?” She paused, her gaze meeting his. She caught sight of his face and wrinkled her nose.
“Evening, Kylee,” he said, smiling.
“Doc.” She nodded. “How’s the dog?”
“Getting stronger. Jarvis said you’ve stopped by a couple of times. Sorry I missed you.” He smiled. “You should come see him again. Nothing perks a fella’s spirits up like a visit from a pretty lady.”
Her eyes narrowed.
He held his hands up. “He told me to say that.”
“He? As in, the dog?” Kylee asked, smiling even though he could tell she tried like hell not to.
“Yep.” He nodded. “The dog.”
“Good to know he’s feeling well enough to talk.” She shook her head, looking uncomfortable as she murmured, “Thank you for looking after him.” She was pretty when she blushed. Who was he kidding? She was pretty all the time. Especially when she wasn’t frowning at him.
“Hey, lady, can we get a beer?” someone called from the other end of the bar.
“Cutter got you workin’ alone?” he asked.
“Joni called in sick.” Kylee shrugged. “Meaning her boyfriend is in town. Bobby’s coming in about an hour.” And with that, she went back to work.
“How’d I know I’d find you here?” Jarvis asked, sitting on one of the bar stools. “You should know, your whole family is watching.”
“More reason to stay here.” He sighed.
“Fisher,” Kylee called out, sliding his preferred beer down the bar toward him.
He grabbed the bottle—even though he hadn’t told her what he wanted. He shouldn’t read too much into it. She was a good bartender and he’d been a regular customer. That’s all. A bartender who was working...so he should leave her alone and stop giving his family a reason to talk.
“Feel free to join me.” He pointed to his family. “My cousins are new in town. I can introduce you to Tandy, if you promise to behave.”
“Making no promises,” Jarvis said.
Fisher took his beer, trying to dodge a group of kids—his nephew Eli, Hunter’s son, included—and stepped back, bumping into something. He turned to find a boy bent over, collecting papers and shoving them into a notebook.
“Sorry, mister,” the boy murmured, looking up at him.
“No problem.” He stooped beside the boy, picking up several papers. The boy liked horses; he’d drawn a lot of them. One in particular caught Fisher’s eye.
“I’ll meet you over there,” Jarvis said, leaving him for his very blonde, very pretty cousin.
Fisher nodded, still inspecting the sketch. “Did you draw these?”
The kid nodded, thick black hair flopping onto his forehead.
“These