Unexpected Rush (Play-By-Play #11) (28 page)

Harmony turned to see a beautiful, dark-haired young woman walk in, wearing shorts and a sleeveless cotton shirt. She looked to be in her early twenties, but Harmony instantly caught the resemblance between her and Barrett.

She held out her hand. “I’m Mia.”

“Harmony Evans. Nice to meet you, Mia.”

“Hello again, Mia,” Harmony’s mother said.

“It’s nice to see you again, Diane. I hope the flight wasn’t awful for you two. Personally, I hate flying, but sometimes it’s an evil necessity.”

Harmony laughed. “That’s true. Barrett told me you’re in college?”

“Yes. I’m doing postgraduate work at the University of Texas. I’m working on my MBA.”

“Good for you.”

“Thank you. Right now I’m enjoying the summer off before classes start up again.”

“Oh, Drake and Barrett detoured to the university with Easton,” Lydia said. “He wanted to show them off to his alma mater. They’ll be here later.”

“Okay,” her mother said.

“Tucker—that’s Barrett’s twin—should be arriving soon. Flynn is already here. He’s out in the barn.”

She wanted to mention she had already seen Flynn last week, but of course she couldn’t say that without revealing she’d gone to San Francisco with Barrett.

“I heard you’ve been harvesting the corn crop,” her mother said to Lydia.

Lydia grinned. “Yes. Oh, and you should see the tomatoes this year, Diane. It’s been hot, but we’ve been lucky with the rain. The garden is thriving. Would you like to see it?”

“You know I would.”

“We’ll be right back,” Lydia said.

“You two have fun with that,” Mia said, sliding onto a barstool at the island next to Harmony.

After they left, Mia turned to her. “Mom has a thing about her garden, and is willing to show it off to anyone remotely interested in vegetables.”

Harmony laughed. “My mother loves her garden as well, though she doesn’t exactly have a ranch-sized one.”

“Those two will likely spend an hour in that hot sun, waxing poetic about various tomato varieties. Me, I don’t get the appeal.”

“Neither do I. So tell me about school. What will you do with your MBA?”

“I’d like to eventually get my PhD. With a concentration in managing the sports business arena.”

Harmony’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s ambitious. Planning to start your own dynasty someday, or possibly buy a team of your own?”

Mia laughed. “Not sure about that, but the whole sports thing has been ingrained in me for so long I think it’s rubbed off. And I love management. I’m not sure where I’m headed with it, but it fascinates me. I may end up studying the dynamics and psychology of sports at some point.”

Uh, wow. Talk about ambition. “I’m absolutely fascinated by your career trajectory.”

“Thank you. Me, too. What do you do, Harmony?”

“I’m an interior designer.”

Now Mia’s eyes widened. “Get out of town. Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“You must love that.”

“I do.”

“Would you mind awfully if I picked your brain? I moved into an apartment in Austin last semester, and it’s bare bones. I have some ideas, but I could use some advice.”

“Of course. It’s my favorite thing to do.”

“Great. I have some pics of the place on my laptop. Hang on.”

Harmony grinned as Mia dashed out of the room. She returned a few minutes later with her laptop, then scooted her barstool closer.

“You sure this isn’t an imposition?”

“Of course not. I love design.”

“Awesome. Anyway it’s a one bedroom, very open and industrial.”

She brought up the photos and handed them off to Harmony, who perused them, her mind sparking ideas right away.

“The space is so light and spacious. And you’re right about the industrial feel. But the windows—you must love all those windows.”

“I do. It was the biggest selling point for me on the place. A lot of my college years were spent in tight, dark spaces. This open, airy feel is so freeing. Plus, the balcony space.”

“I totally agree. You could set up a desk with study space over
here, which affords your best use of natural light. Sofa here, a couple of tables here. A conversation area here.”

Within twenty minutes she had sketched out furniture placement and had provided several design links for Mia to consider, from accessories to pillows to furniture.

“This is awesome,” Mia said. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. It’s a great space. All you need are a few key pieces of furniture and some accessories to set it off, and it’ll be perfect.”

She heard male voices—a lot of them.

“And it was so quiet while it lasted,” Mia said, winking. “The boys are home.”

Lydia and her mother came through the back door at the same time as a horde of people walked into the kitchen.

“What, did you all show up at the same time?” Lydia asked.

“Seems that way,” Barrett said, eyeing Harmony and giving her a big smile.

She felt a burst of butterflies flitting around her stomach. Ridiculous, but there they were.

Flynn was there, and Grant and Tucker with their respective fiancées and families. Flynn gave her a grin that told her their secret was safe with him.

There was also an older man who looked just like his sons.

“Okay,” Lydia said, “introductions all around since I don’t know who has met whom yet.”

She met Grant’s fiancée, Katrina Korsova, whom she recognized because she was a world-renowned fashion model. She also met Katrina’s younger siblings Anya and Leo.

Tucker introduced his new fiancée, Aubry, who Harmony learned was a doctor.

Then she met Lydia’s husband, Easton, who shook her hand. “Last time Diane was here with Drake she raved all about you.”

Harmony looked over at her mother, who beamed a smile at
her. “Mama does like to do that. And it’s very nice to meet you, Easton. I’ve heard amazing things about you.”

Easton grinned. “I like the amazing part.”

She also met Easton’s brothers, Eddie and Eldon, and their wives. And then there was Elijah.

Oh, Elijah was quite handsome. She could see why her mother had mentioned him.

Drake came over to hug them.

“Hope you two had a good flight.”

“We did,” her mother said. “I’ve already been out back with Lydia checking out her garden. Makes me want to expand mine.”

Drake shook his head. “Of course you do. Do I need to buy you a bigger house?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I need to move to Texas.”

“Bite your tongue, Mama,” Harmony said. “We’d miss you too much.”

Her mother patted her cheek. “You know I’m just joking, honey. Home is Tampa. Always has been, always will be.”

“Unless I get traded to Houston,” Drake said.

“Now you bite your tongue,” Barrett said. “Nobody wants to get traded to Houston.”

Everyone laughed.

Lydia grabbed a clipboard off the kitchen counter.

“Tucker, you and Aubry will be in the cottage. Grant, you, Katrina and the kids will stay in the eastern guesthouse because it has three bedrooms. Barrett and Flynn will be in the downstairs guest room. Diane, you and Harmony in the upstairs room to the left because it has its own bathroom.”

Harmony’s mother smiled. “Thank you, Lydia. You know that’s my favorite room.”

Barrett’s mother gave her a smile. “I remembered that. Drake, you’ll be right next door to them.”

She saw the look Barrett gave her. The one that said they were going to have to fight for alone time.

“Shall we go settle our luggage upstairs?” her mother asked.

She dragged her gaze away from Barrett and smiled at Mama. “Yes. Let’s do that.”

Great. Barrett couldn’t imagine how he’d be able to sneak any time with Harmony with Drake in the room right next to hers, and her sharing a room with her mother. Plus, Barrett would have to share a room with Flynn, who gave him a knowing smirk.

Asshole.

He’d figure it out somehow. Because he wasn’t going to spend a weekend on the ranch and not be with her.

He wandered into the kitchen, grabbed a beer and stepped out onto the front porch. Tucker was out there with a beer in his hand.

Sometimes it was like radar with him and his twin. They always gravitated toward each other. They’d fought like wild animals when they were kids, but they’d always had each other’s backs.

“Saw the game the other night,” Barrett said, as he pulled up a chair next to Tucker. “You didn’t suck when they finally felt sorry for you and let you pitch.”

Tucker’s lips curved. “Thanks.”

“Where’s Aubry?”

“She and Mom and Mia went over to the cottage to unpack the luggage, which I think translates to girl talk about the weddings.”

“So in other words, you weren’t invited.”

“Yup.” Tucker took a long swallow of beer.

“I can’t believe you’re getting married, man. You and Grant.”

“Yeah, sometimes I can’t believe it, either. It’s happened pretty
fast, at least for Aubry and me. But we just decided we wanted to make it happen, and neither of our lives is going to slow down or get simpler, so why wait?”

“Grant and Katrina’s is coming up next March and then you and Aubry’s next November.”

“Yeah. Mom’s loving it, though. Marrying off two of her sons in the same year. She’s in heaven right now. Aubry said she sends her links all the time.”

“Well, you know, it’ll probably be a while before Mia’s in the wedding zone. At least as far as I know. So Mom has had to wait for one of us to decide to settle down.”

“Aubry’s having fun with both of the moms helping her with wedding stuff. She’s busy as hell with her residency. She can use all the help she can get.”

“I’m sure she can.”

Tucker turned to him. “What about you? Any weddings on the horizon?”

Barrett laughed. “No.”

“Come on, man. Time to jump in, find a woman and commit.”

Was it? He hadn’t yet found a woman he was interested in committing to.

But just then Harmony walked outside.

“Hey. Have you seen Drake?”

Barrett shook his head.

“He’s out at the barn with Grant and my dad,” Tucker said. “Dad bought some classic car that he’s showing off to them.”

“Okay. Thanks, Tucker.”

“Is there something you need, Harmony?” Barrett asked.

She gave him a sweet smile. “No. I’m good. But thanks, Barrett.”

“Okay.”

Harmony disappeared inside.

“Oh . . . I see,” Tucker said, his lips lifting.

Barrett frowned. “You see nothing. Especially with those glasses you wear.”

“I see just fine. And speaking of just fine . . . Harmony definitely is.”

Barrett looked around, but no one was in sight. He cradled his beer in both hands and stared straight ahead. “Nothing to see, Tucker.”

“I’m not blind, man. I’m also good with keeping secrets. Is it a secret?”

Damn his twin brother for ferreting out what was going on between him and Harmony with one look. “I don’t want Drake to know. Not right now. It’s complicated. He and I are best friends and Drake’s protective of Harmony. Like . . . way overprotective. I don’t know how to explain it well. I just feel it could put a wedge in our friendship.”

“I get it. You need to figure out if what you and Harmony have is real before you get into it with her brother.”

Tucker was the first one who truly understood. “Yeah.”

“I won’t say anything. Didn’t see anything. Don’t know anything.”

He grinned. “Thanks.”

Tucker stood. “Come on, let’s go ogle Dad’s new hot rod and pretend it isn’t some midlife crisis he’s having.”

Barrett laughed. “Sure.”

Harmony quickly discovered that dinner at the Cassidys’ was a lot like dinner at Mama’s house. Noisy, crowded, everyone talking over each other, and absolutely awesome.

She’d made fast friends with Mia, Aubry and Katrina, so the three of them sat together and talked about everything from business to medicine to fashion and design while they ate. She almost forgot about Barrett, who sat at the other end of the table with his brothers and Drake.

Almost. But not quite, since she couldn’t help but occasionally drag her attention away from the girl talk and catch a glimpse of the hot man at the other end of the table. Every now and then he’d look up at the same time, their gazes would collide and there’d be a quick smile between them. Careful not to call attention to each other, she’d look away.