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wasn’t surprised word of his date with Fallon—and the fiasco afterward—had already fueled the gossip channels. Still, www.samhainpublishing.com 75

    Lorelei James
    that was fast, even by Sundance standards. “Nope. No date. Sorry to disappoint you.”
    “Oh. No, son, I’m not disappointed. I’m looking forward to catching up. You’re not around as much since you built that house out in the middle of nowhere.”
    “Everywhere in Wyoming is out in the middle of nowhere,” he said dryly. “Besides, it’s only thirty miles.”
    “Seems like you’re three thousand miles away,” she murmured.
    Sometimes I wish I was .
    As he hung up, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d looked forward to Sunday dinner with the family, instead of feeling a sense of dread.

    The McKay house was complete chaos. Kids running around, babies crying, his mother and his sisters-in-law jabbering like they hadn’t seen each other in months.
    He’d been hanging out with his nephews in the family room, when he realized he was the only male adult in the room. He tracked his brothers and his father outside, lounging against the split rail fence running along the front of the house, drinking beer and shooting the shit. Even after three years of sobriety, they weren’t comfortable popping a top or two around him. Which was just another reason Colt only stayed long enough to be polite. Not that he contributed much to any conversation.
    Carson said, “I don’t know what the hell Charlie was thinkin’.”
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    Branded As Trouble
    “Why didn’t Quinn and Bennett say something?” Colby asked.
    “’Cause I don’t think they knew.”
    Cord tipped his long neck beer bottle toward Colby. “I’ll bet you fifty bucks Aunt Vi had something to do with it.”
    “You’re on.”
    They chinked bottles.
    Colt shifted his stance and dropped his water bottle, reminding Cord, Colby and his father he was not part of the fence.
    “What do you think about it?” Carson McKay demanded.
    “So they bought a pair of llamas, big deal,” Colt said. “I don’t see how it affects us. Besides givin’ us ample opportunity to razz our cousins to no end with the question: Is your mama a llama?”
    Laughter broke out. Cord’s son Kyler’s obsession with that book as a toddler meant they’d all been forced to read it until they could recite the thing from memory. That’d been a happy period in Colt’s life, one of the memories of that time not tainted by alcohol.
    “Seems Ky’s reading skills will come in handy with the new baby.”
    All gazes zoomed to Cord.
    He grinned like a loon. “AJ’s pregnant. She wanted to wait until she’s past the first trimester to tell folks, bein’s it’s her first baby and all, but I can’t help it.”
    Carson clapped Cord on the back. Colby said, “Congrats. Man, must be something in the water. Channing, Macie and AJ are all pregnant at the same time.”
    “Least they’re not all gonna pop durin’ calvin’ season,” Carson said.

    www.samhainpublishing.com 77

    Lorelei James
    If both his brothers’ wives were pregnant during the busiest time of the year, it meant Colt would shoulder a bigger chunk of the responsibility.
    Big surprise. Didn’t it just figure everyone in the family assumed he’d be around to pick up the slack? Hell, when push came to shove, only Cam and Carter owned less of the McKay herd than he did. They both had other jobs. Colt’s sullen side silently retorted that no one expected them to do more than their fair share. In fact, with Cam’s war injury he couldn’t do much. And Carter split his time between here and his in-laws’ place in Canyon River.
    “Colt?”
    He shoved aside his sour thoughts and focused his attention on Colby. “Yeah?”
    “Carter told me to tell you that you could stay at his and Macie’s place durin’ calvin’ so you don’t have to drive so far.”
    Would it be petty to point out neither Colby nor Cord offered up their