Bluegrass Undercover (Bluegrass Brothers)

Cade has missed three Sunday dinners at my parents’ house. He’s never done that before.” Paige leaned her head back as Kenna attacked her with the green gunk.
    “Would you care to revise your previous statement?” Kenna asked as she dipped the paintbrush in the bowl. If her tone had been cold instead of joking, Annie could see why she was rumored to be such a good attorney.
    “Okay, so maybe it’s not casual.” That was the closest she was going to get to telling them the truth, the truth that she was starting to feel way more than she had ever felt before. She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard laughter. “What?”
    “Just tell him you love him. It’s so obvious that you both are crazy about each other, but if you want to keep being delusional, I guess that’s your business.” Kenna put the paintbrush back into the bowl. “I have to go to the bathroom again. I swear, this kid is doing jumping jacks on my bladder.”
    Paige and Dani started talking about weddings as the Rose sisters started in about a pie contest they were sponsoring. Annie rested her head against the back of the couch and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to show the women the fear in her eyes. They were sharp enough to see it. It was fear that her face was going to be ripped off by whatever this goop was. It felt like her face was pulled so tightly you could bounce a quarter off of it. Who was she really kidding? It was fear they would see the confusion in her eyes. The more she thought about it, the more she thought they were right, all those feelings she was having that couldn’t be defined or explained. Oh no, she was totally in love.
    Her eyes popped open and she found the three wise faces of the Rose sisters looking at her. “Told you, you loved him,” Miss Lily said as the other sisters nodded their heads.
     
    Cade accepted the beer Will handed him and took a long slug of it. He was under attack. It didn’t look like an enemy ambush but it was. Instead of the mountains of Afghanistan, it was a bonfire and cornhole boards. Instead of insurgents, it was his brothers and his best friends, which only made it more dangerous.
    “Come on, Cade. Just admit you are in love with her.” Will sat down on the bench next to him.
    “Just because you are whipped by your wife doesn’t mean I’m in the same situation.”
    “I’m sorry, my friend, but I agree with Will. You’re very much in love with her,” Mo said as he tossed a cornhole bag.
    “Yea, Bro, you’ve missed three Sunday dinners. Ma is already picking out places to hold the wedding.” Marshall laughed as his bag knocked Mo’s from the board, and Mo murmured something he guessed was a curse word in his native language.
    “A real man is one who can admit his true feelings.”
    “Give me a break, Ahmed. You have never expressed any kind of feelings.”
    “That is because you are not my true love.” Ahmed turned away from the group and walked away.
    “Deep, but true.” Cade rolled his eyes at Miles. He looked at his watch and hoped it was late enough for him to get home and away from these busy bodies.
    “I’m about to head home. Want me to give you a ride?” Cole asked.
    “That would be great. Thanks for the victory party guys. Good night.”
    Cade followed Cole to his Explorer and climbed in. They were at Marshall’s farm, and it was only a matter of minutes to his place, but he couldn’t get there fast enough. The truth was catching up with him and he didn’t want to face it in front of anyone else.
    “You know, I fought like crazy to not love Paige.”
    “You really think this conversation is appropriate with her being my sister and all?” Crap. Now he was trapped in the car. He should have walked.
    “Love happens. It’s what you do with it that matters. If you embrace it, it will give you a joy you have never known was possible. If you ignore it, it has the power to haunt you.”
    Thank goodness. There was his house. “Thanks for the lift.”
    “Any time. Think about what I said.”
    Cade nodded and practically leapt out of the Explorer. He didn’t want to hear any more about love. He just wanted to have a beer, watch SportsCenter , and pet his dog.
     
    Cade set down another empty beer bottle and was still no closer to where he wanted to be. He wanted to be comfortably single again like he had been before Annie. Then he didn’t have to worry about if she felt the same. So, he had set out to drink himself stupid in hopes to forget