The men all laughed.
Kaeden lagged behind as they all turned to head to their vehicles. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. Through his spectacles he watched Jade’s Wrangler go driving by.
The Strong family Sunday dinners were tradition. Lisha Strong used to prepare the meal alone—with minimal chopping by her daughter Kaitlyn and her granddaughter Kadina. But now that two of her sons had married, she had two daughters-in-law to help lovingly prepare their families’ meal. They laughed. They joked. They shared stories. And they cooked one helluva meal every single Sunday.
Kaeden stood in the entryway to the kitchen, watching them cook and joke around. He smiled as he remembered the Sundays helping his mom while his brothers would ride horses and explore the hundreds of acres of land encompassing the Strong ranch. He probably could cook a macaroni to put any woman to shame—even if he had no clue how to rope a steer.
“Kaeden? Why are you just standing there?” Lisha called out to him.
Suddenly four pairs of eyes were on him. Kaeden shrugged as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants and strolled into the kitchen.
Garcelle, Bianca, his sister Kaitlyn, and his niece Kadina all smiled at him.
“Where are the rest of the Strong men?” Bianca asked as she used the side of her wrist to push her riot of curls off her forehead.
“On the porch talking horses and cattle,” he drawled, hating that he wished he knew more about the family business than the financial aspects. Although his brothers were a far cry from the typical cowboy with the tight jeans, plaid shirt, and Stetson, Kaeden had always secretly dreamed of working alongside his brothers on the ranches.
“Kadina, go and tell the men dinner is ready,” Lisha said, wiping her hands on a hand towel. “Ladies, please start to carry the food into the dining room.”
“I’ll help,” Kaeden offered, unbuttoning and rolling up the sleeves of his crisp white shirt.
“No, I need you to help me, Kaeden,” Lisha told him.
Kaeden nodded as he placed his hands on his hips. “What’s up, Ma?” he asked.
“What’s wrong with you, son?” Lisha asked with concern as she watched him closely.
Kaeden shifted his eyes from hers. One thing that made Lisha Strong a good mother was her ability to miss nothing—good or bad. He shrugged.
“One thing that makes us a family to reckon with is the fact that we are all in this together—”
“No matter what role we play,” Kaeden finished for her with a smile.
“You got it.” Lisha picked up a huge dish of her homemade peach cobbler. “Now let’s go eat. Your father has a big announcement.”
Kaeden took the cobbler from his mom’s hands. “This should be interesting,” he said as he followed her into the dining room.
Kaeden sat the cobbler on an available spot in the center of the six-foot wooden table before sitting between Kaitlyn and Kaleb.
“Good food. Good meat. Good Lord. Let’s eat,” Kael said loudly as soon as everyone was seated.
Kaeden’s mother shot him a hard stare.
He winked at her before he grabbed a serving spoon and scooped a heaping portion of macaroni on his plate.
Their father was a churchgoing man but not an overly religious man—thus there would never be sweeping blessings of the food from Kael Strong.
“I am starving,” Kaeden announced as he eyed the heaping bowls of fried chicken, collard greens, candied yams, macaroni and cheese, rice, and the still hot and steaming peach cobbler.
Kaitlyn elbowed him. “So am I, Specs, so…am…I,” she said, reverting to her childhood nickname for him.
“You eat like a man,” Kaeden told her. “One of these days you have got to gain weight.”
“That’s an understatement,” Kahron drawled from across the table.
Bianca rose from her chair to pile a plate high with food. “Only dogs like bones. Real men like meat on them bones,” she said, sitting down and placing the plate in front of her husband. With a sly smile she added, “Like myself, and Garcelle, and Lord knows, Jade Prince. Right, fellas?”
Kaeden choked on the lemonade he just sipped from a frosted glass.
Kahron focused on watching Kadina feeding his two-year-old son KJ.
“Heck yeah,” Kaleb answered in a heartbeat.
“Right, Kade?” Garcelle asked, her Spanish accent as prominent as the voluptuous curves of her frame. There was a twinkle in her bright eyes as she cut her eyes up at her handsome husband.
Kael chuckled as he ate, obviously enjoying his sons being ribbed by their wives.
“Jade is not all that,” Kaitlyn said with attitude, pushing her jet-black dyed hair back from her face.
“Yeah, right,” Kaeden muttered in disbelief.
He looked up to find all eyes on him.
“I thought Felecia was more your speed, big brother,” Kaleb joked.
“Trust and believe…. I am ready, willing, and able to handle whatever woman I have in my life,” Kaeden said firmly, completely fed up with his brother’s teasing.
“All right, now,” Lisha Strong said.
“Since Jade is the center of our Sunday conversation, this is as good a time as any to tell everyone about my surprise,” Kael said.
Kaeden focused his attention on his father, just as curious as everyone appeared to be about the news…and very happy that Jade was no longer the focus.
“Next weekend my sons and I are going camping,” Kael announced.
“We are?” they all asked in unison.
“Y’all are?” the ladies asked as well.
Kaeden was completely disappointed because that surprise had absolutely nothing to do with him. He returned his attention back to his food.
“Don’t worry, Uncle Kaeden, I’ll come stay with you that weekend,” Kadina offered.
“Oh no, Kaeden, you’re going too,” Kael said around a mouthful of food.
Kaeden looked up and his eyes fell directly on his mother, who gave a conspiratorial wink. He knew that his mom had a hand in his addition to the camping trip. The thing was, he wasn’t quite sure if that was truly a good or a bad thing.
Jade stretched her arms high above her head as she walked out onto the wraparound porch of her grandfather’s house. He was sitting on the top step with his elbows on his knees as he looked up at the sky. His naturally wavy jet-black hair was pulled back tightly into a bushy ponytail. Jade smiled softly as she fondly remembered the many hours she’d spent, as a little girl, on this very porch standing behind him brushing his hair as he sat on that same top step.
“Hey, old man,” Jade teased as she walked across the green painted porch to sit down beside him.
Esai Rockwell knocked his bony shoulder against hers in greeting. “Peanut?” he asked, motioning toward the cup of boiled peanuts sitting on the step between them.
“No thanks, Pappy,” Jade said with a shake of her head. “I’m still full of the rabbit stew you cooked.”
“Your favorite,” he said.
“Yup,” Jade agreed, leaning over to rest her head on his bony and broad shoulder in the white long-sleeved T-shirt he wore.
Pappy