“So the six week ban on sex after the birth? How on earth did you make it through that?”
“I went to the doctor two weeks ago and she gave us the go ahead. I adore my husband. I especially adore sex with my husband. I can’t wait to make it up to him when we have more than five minutes before one of the babies needs something. But right now if I had the choice between sex and sleep? Sleep wins.”
Channing gasped, “No.”
“Yes.”
Macie looked positively ill.
AJ changed the subject. “Guess who I saw dirty dancing together at the Golden Boot two weeks ago? Your husbands’ cousin Chassie West and Trevor Glanzer.”
“Really?” Channing and Gemma exchanged a look, which was lost on Macie and AJ.
“Yep. Rumor is they’ve been seeing a lot of each other.”
“How long has this been going on?” Gemma asked.
“A few months. I’ve heard from a couple of sources that they’re serious.”
“Wow. Surprised that hasn’t made it into the McKay gossip channel.”
“Like the situation with Colt did?”
All eyes zoomed to AJ.
“What?”
“You were there. What really happened?”
AJ retold the story with as much detail as she’d remembered.
Channing took Ella to burp her. “Do you know what Colt said to Cord that’d make Cord act like that? Because Cord never acts impulsive.”
He’d acted pretty damn impulsive earlier when he’d had her naked in his truck. “No one knows.”
Macie, Gemma and Channing gossiped about other members of the McKay family.
AJ already knew most of it, since she’d lived in the county her whole life. Since she’d known the McKays her whole life.
So why did she still feel like the outsider?
The conversation swam back into focus.
“Dag and Chassie are brother and sister?” Macie asked Gemma, “Didn’t Dad team rope with Dag on the circuit a couple of times?”
“Yep. Dag roped with Trevor after Edgard went back to Brazil.”
Channing said, “I overheard Carolyn and her sister discussing Dag. Since he quit the circuit he’s been drinking. A lot. Even more than Colt.
“That’s why Harland West hired Trevor, to keep an eye on Dag. So it makes sense that’s how Trev and Chassie hooked up. I can’t believe Colby didn’t tell me that part.”
Channing kissed the top of Ella’s head. “She’s asleep. Want me to put her down?”
“Yeah. Ryder’s out too. I’ll come with and tuck him in.”
They left the room and AJ looked at Macie. “I think I’ll head home.”
“Why?”
Because I feel awkward and out of place. “I’m tired. I have a bunch of packing to do tomorrow.”
Macie stood. “Would you give me a ride back to Carter’s folks’ house? My car is packed with baby stuff and I might as well leave it here rather than unpack it.”
“Sure.” AJ and Macie said a quick good-bye.
Once they were in AJ’s Jeep, Macie sighed. “I’m sure they were glad to see me go.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Don’t get me wrong, Gemma and I get along great. She’s more than just a stepmother; she’s a good friend. But she still is sort of like my mother. Whereas she and Channing are great pals and they talk about everything. Gemma won’t discuss her relationship with my father when I’m in the room, which is completely understandable.
And Channing and I are still feeling our way around our relationship to each other and our places in the McKay family. Sometimes I wonder what it’d be like to already know all the ins and outs of this family.” Macie grinned at AJ. “Someone like you.”
“Doesn’t make me a part of it.”
“What’s going on with you and Cord?”
“Sex.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep. Great sex, not that I have anything else to judge it by, but the man definitely knows what he’s doing between the sheets.”
“And in the barn, and in the pasture, and on a horse if he’s anything like Carter.”
“Haven’t tried it on a horse.” AJ grinned and turned onto the paved highway. “Yet.”
“Does he know how you feel about him?”
“No. I’ll bask in his sexual attention and expertise for as long as I can. But we both know it has a finite end—when Ky comes home.”
“I worry about you, AJ, because I think you’ll take whatever little Cord McKay offers you just to be with him.”
“That might’ve been true if I hadn’t moved away last year.”
“But?”
“Even though this is my first sexual relationship, it’s opened my eyes about a lot of other things. I believed the sex was good because I love him. But Cord doesn’t love me and the sex is still good for him. Which shows me that I might have a skewed idea of what love is, now that I know sex and love aren’t intertwined.”
“That’s a bit cynical, isn’t it?”
“Maybe. Or maybe I stopped being naïve.”
“So if he asked you to marry him—”
“He won’t. His family comes first. His ranch second.” She wasn’t his family and he now owned her ranch.
A quiet pause hung in the tepid evening air.
Macie stared out the window across the moonlit fields. “It’s so beautiful here. I can see why Carter wants to divide our time and have the best of both worlds.”
At the McKay homestead, AJ said, “Drive safe tomorrow. Let me know when I can tell my mom your good news.”
“Will do. I’ll call you soon.”
AJ watched Macie disappear into the house. Cord’s truck was parked next to Colby’s. When she remembered what’d happened in that truck a few short hours ago…her toes curled in her flip-flops. She left before she found a reason to track Cord down for a repeat performance.
Jenn was still awake and sipping a glass of Jim Beam. Straight up.
“Is Mama asleep?”
“Yep. The kids wore her out. Everything wears her out these days.” Jenn shoved the bottle across the table. “Join me in a drink. I could use the company.”
“Sure.” AJ grabbed a juice glass, ice, and a Coke to mix with the whiskey. “What’s got you drinking alone?”
“Alan and I met this morning. I wanted to talk about visitation rights, summer vacation and school breaks over the holidays, you know, normal stuff that most fathers should care about.” She sipped her drink and didn’t look up. “Not him. As I sat across from him, the man I’d been married to for the last twelve years, I realized I didn’t know him at all.