Grant smiled, and the effect was devastating. “Nice to meet you, Amelia.”
“You, too, Grant. And hi again, Mia.”
“Hi, Amelia,” Mia said.
One of the hostesses motioned to her. “I’d love to stay and talk, but I have to run. Carol will take you to your table. I hope you have a wonderful dinner.”
She ran off and attended to a mixed-up reservation, but kept her eye on Flynn and the others while they were seated. Hopefully everything would go smoothly for them. In fact, she’d make sure of it.
“So that’s Amelia, huh?” Grant asked after they put in their dinner orders.
Flynn watched Amelia handle something one of the waiters asked her. She motioned with her head, then was immediately off in the opposite direction. She looked beautiful in her gray skirt and white blouse. And those heels defined her legs in ways he shouldn’t be imagining while in the company of his brother and sister.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?” Mia asked. “And she’s smart and accomplished and she’s funny. I don’t know why she likes Flynn.”
Flynn managed to hear the last part enough to pull his gaze away from Amelia and center it on his sister. “Hey.”
Mia laughed. “I was wondering if you were even listening to me, since you couldn’t seem to take your eyes off Amelia.”
“She is beautiful,” Grant said. “She seems out of your league, though.”
“Like Katrina is out of yours?”
Grant smiled. “Yeah, like that.”
Dammit. Hard to insult his brother if he wouldn’t take the bait. Their drinks arrived and Flynn took a long swallow of iced tea.
“How’d your practice go today?” he asked Grant.
“Perfect. We’re prepared to kill you on the field on Sunday.”
Flynn knew better than that, but since Mia was there, he decided not to argue the point.
“Did you know that Mom and Dad are looking to buy the two hundred acres of property adjacent to theirs?” Mia asked.
Flynn frowned. “No, I didn’t. Which one? The one to the north?”
Mia shook her head. “No. East. The ones the Clearmonts owned. They’ve decided to retire and move to South Carolina to live near their son and daughter-in-law and grandkids.”
“That’s some prime grazing pasture. Is Dad looking to get more cattle?” Grant asked.
“I have no idea,” Mia said. “Mom mentioned it in passing when I talked to her on the phone last night. Bud Clearmont talked to Dad last month about the whole thing, and Mom and Dad discussed it and I guess they’re in negotiations now.”
Grant looked at Flynn, who shrugged. “I’m surprised he didn’t mention it to any of us.”
“He didn’t say anything to me, for sure,” Grant said. “Then again, maybe they were waiting for the sale to be finalized, just in case it didn’t go through. Either way, it’s a big addition to the land.”
“Yes,” Mia said. “And if he’s adding more cattle, he’ll need more hands. Leave it to Dad to be a big cattle mogul.”
Flynn laughed. “Yeah, but he loves it. Now I can’t wait to get out there this month and find out what’s going on.”
If there’s one thing his father never did after retiring from playing football all those years ago, it was settle down. He’d made a go of his ranch and both he and Flynn’s mother loved working the land. His dad had loved playing football. He loved being a rancher just as much. Now that Dad could spend all his time with Mom, he might love the ranching part even more.
Flynn hoped to do the same someday. He wanted to buy land, definitely, but he wasn’t sure about becoming a rancher. He just hoped he’d find something to be as passionate about as his father was.
It was something he thought about after their dinner arrived and the table quieted while they ate.
“You know, we can only play football so long,” he said to Grant. “At some point we’ll have to live the next stage of our lives.”
“Yeah,” Grant said. “I think we all ponder what that’ll be. I imagine yours will involve food.”
Flynn tilted his head. “You think so?”
Grant looked around. “I don’t see why not. This place looks pretty good and you seem to have a passion for it.”
Grant was right about that, but Flynn wasn’t near retiring yet. He honestly never thought past the current season. He invested the lion’s share of his income, knowing that someday he wouldn’t be playing football. Beyond that? It wasn’t time to think about it yet.
“How are we all doing?”
Flynn looked up to see Amelia standing at their table.
“Great,” Mia said. “The food is amazing, of course.”
“I’m so glad to hear that. I hope you enjoy the rest of your meal.”
She turned to walk away, but Flynn grasped her wrist. “Don’t leave. Have you eaten yet?”
“No. I’ll grab something later.”
“How about now? It doesn’t seem busy.”
“Yeah, stay and eat with us,” Grant said.
Amelia hesitated. Flynn was right in that it wasn’t busy, but her job didn’t include sitting and eating. Still, she was absolutely starving. Normally she never worried about grabbing a meal because she tasted everything in the kitchen when she cooked and she always ended up perfectly full.
She looked around to make sure no one needed her for anything. It seemed they didn’t, so she nodded. “All right.”