Cowboy Casanova (Rough Riders #12)(43)

Who was the early bird? The event didn’t start for an hour.



Keely yelled, “Ben? You decent?”


“Yeah. Come on in.”


“I need you to help me carry stuff in.”


The back end of Keely’s black Escalade was open. She handed him a cardboard box

containing two Crock-Pots. “Damn, cuz, this smells good. What is it?”


“Pulled pork.”


“There’s a lot of it.”


She slid her rhinestone-encrusted sunglasses on top of her head. “I know how much you

guys eat.”


Ben smiled. “None of us are gonna complain there’s too much food, Keels.”


“I’m counting on that because I don’t wanna take this home.”


“Jack doesn’t eat leftovers?”


“Jack is out of town for the next week,” she said, a pout in her tone.


Four trips later his kitchen counter was covered with containers of all sizes. Keely

bustled about, transferring food from one dish to the next.


He brought her a Bud Light from the bar and a Moose Drool for himself. “Need me to do

anything?”


“Nope.” She took a swig of her beer and hopped up on the counter. “I wanted time to

catch up with you.”


Catch up. Right. She intended to grill him until her brothers arrived and forced her to

stop. “What’s on your mind?”


“Your mysterious older brother Gavin.”


Ben leaned against the opposite counter. “What about him?”


“Is he keeping in contact with you guys?”


“He’s called me and Quinn a couple times. When the PBR was in Arizona he went to see

Chase ride. He met Ava too.”


“Any idea when the rest of us get to meet him? It’s bizarre that Aunt Vi had Uncle

Charlie’s baby and gave him up for adoption. And then they ended up getting married

years later anyway?” She shook her head with disbelief. “I hoped Gavin’s status as

an only child in his adoptive family meant he’d be curious about all of us.”


He tried to find an answer that wouldn’t offend. The McKay family was overwhelmingly

large, especially with the influx of babies in the last few years. From the few times

Ben had talked to Gavin, the man defined cautious. It made sense he’d test the waters

with his newly discovered siblings before he plunged into the gigantic McKay gene pool.


After Gavin showed up on their parent’s doorstep a few months back, announcing he was

their firstborn son, Ben figured Gavin had satisfied his curiosity about his birth

parents and that’d be the end of it.


So it’d shocked him when Gavin called. They’d been exchanging emails since then. Ben

kept it casual, waiting to see if Gavin was only maintaining contact out of some level

of guilt. But they had more in common than Ben had initially believed. Gavin liked

working with his hands and had experience remodeling the rental properties he owned in

Arizona. They were both single, although Gavin had joint custody of his fourteen-year-

old daughter. But during their conversations, Gavin never mentioned coming to Wyoming

and Ben wasn’t the type to push.


You had no problem pushing Angel last night.