Keegan smiled at the waitress. “Thanks, doll.” He peered over at his brother. “What? With Walker Demo? That’s gonna be our claim to fame?” It was his turn to shake his head. “In case you didn’t notice, it just kicked over leadership again.”
Granted, that was because Reese Tavoularis had moved on to the governor’s task force, another brainchild of their cousin Travis Walker. In Reese’s place, Autumn Jameson—one of Travis’s many cousins on his mother’s side—had come on board to run things. She’d been in her new role for nearly a month, and to his surprise, she was doing pretty darn well. He was tempted to say she could pinpoint an issue with an engine faster than he could. But that didn’t change the fact that even the family business didn’t seem all that stable.
“What about the time we’re puttin’ in on the ranch?” Kaden asked.
“Key word there bein’ the. The ranch infers that it doesn’t belong to us.”
As much as he enjoyed working on the Walker ranch, which belonged to Uncle Curtis and Aunt Lorrie, it had always been a dream of his to have one of his own. And yes, Keegan was keeping his eyes open for that opportunity. If it were to arise tomorrow, he’d drop every damn thing else and follow his dream. Until then…
Silence settled between them as Kaden covered his scrambled eggs in tabasco sauce. Rather than stir him up more, Keegan took a sip of his orange juice, stared at his pancakes. He always had pancakes. Every damn day. Why? At what point in his thirty-seven years had he gotten so damn … boring?
“Are you really serious about this? Openin’ a place of our own?” Kaden finally asked, his voice lowered.
“Hell, I don’t know. I’m just…” He met his twin’s eyes. “I’m tired of watchin’ everyone else doin’ their thing while we settle for bein’ along for the ride.”
Kaden sighed.
Keegan sat up straight, picked up his fork. “Tell you what. I’m gonna stuff my face with these pancakes and we can pretend this conversation never happened. Deal?”
Kaden’s blue-gray eyes locked on his face, but Keegan didn’t flinch. He knew how he sounded. Petulant, whiny, sullen. Take your pick.
In his defense, Keegan had always allowed Kaden to make the final decisions. Sure, he threw in his two cents, like where they were gonna put down roots. His choice had always been Coyote Ridge, and since they were metaphorically attached at the hip, where one of them went, the other followed. When they arrived here, they’d thought it would be a fruitful venture. Years later, although they’d technically settled in, they weren’t completely settled.
“Fine,” Kaden huffed, grabbing his coffee mug. “Let’s talk to Travis. Get his thoughts.”
Great. Go to the man with the plan and tell him what? That they didn’t have a plan? Yeah, no thank you. Their cousin Travis was not just paving the way here in Coyote Ridge, he was the way. Hell, after Travis’s daughter was kidnapped a few weeks back, a task force governing the state of Texas had been formed to search for other missing people. Thank the good Lord, Kate had been located and returned seemingly unharmed two painfully long days after she went missing, but still. Guy had some serious pull. Not to mention, half the town went to Travis for advice. Keegan didn’t want to be another in that long line.
Keegan sipped his juice, glared at his pancakes.
They finished their breakfast in silence, although it was obvious Kaden’s mind was running a million miles a minute. That was the way his twin’s brain worked. Whenever Keegan planted an idea, his brother would veto it immediately, then spend considerable time mulling it over until he came to a final decision. Generally, Keegan would go along with whatever his brother wanted, because truth was, Keegan was the laid-back one. Most things he could simply take or leave. Didn’t matter. But something hadn’t been sitting well with him lately.
While living and working in this small town had always been a dream of his, there was only one teeny tiny problem… They hadn’t really put down roots. When Keegan took stock of what they had to call their own … besides their trucks, there wasn’t much of anything.
Take the house they occupied, for instance. Someone else’s. Technically, it was now just one of seven separate structures Curtis had built for his boys when they were old enough to venture out on their own. Originally, it had been Kaleb’s place. Then it was Jared’s for a bit. Now it was theirs until they figured out what they wanted to do.
To buy or not to buy? Coyote Ridge or bust? For the moment, their options were open although real estate in Coyote Ridge was scarce and what did come available was usually snatched up within hours of being listed. If it ever made it to listing at all. Just like the building on Main Street. If they didn’t make their play, it would be gone before they knew it. There wasn’t even an apartment to be had. Not that Keegan had any desire to live in an apartment. He preferred wide-open spaces.
Sure, he loved Coyote Ridge. Had since he was a kid, when their parents would bring them and their brothers and sister down to visit their aunts and uncles. He remembered one summer—they were probably twelve, maybe thirteen—his brothers and sister all ganged up on their parents, tried to convince them to move to the small town their father had grown up in. Their parents won in the end, determined to hold down the fort in El Paso, but they’d all talked about moving here eventually.
Their oldest brother was the first to take the leap, relocating to Coyote Ridge permanently. Jared had fled a bad situation only to have it all turn around for the best once he settled down here. Of course, Quinn and Eve had rolled in only a month ago, with Wesley promising to pull up the rear sometime in the next year. At the very least, Wesley had promised to make it down here at some point during the holidays. Keegan was looking forward to seeing their overachieving doctor brother as well as their parents.
Even having his family close wasn’t doing what it used to though. Keegan wanted something more.
Then again, perhaps that didn’t have anything to do with the house they lived in or the jobs they held or the hobbies they’d picked up along the way. In most ways, they had the life they’d hoped for. Perhaps his settling-down issue had more to do with a someone, not necessarily a something.
That, of course, was Kaden’s fault. His twin was still adamant they would eventually have the big wedding and greet some sweet young thing at the end of the aisle where they would vow to love endlessly, blah, blah, fucking blah. Keegan was no longer disillusioned in that area. Been there, done that. Twice. Another ride on the merry-go-round that was shitty relationships? No fucking thank you.
Unfortunately, he was starting to suspect Kaden had a specific woman in mind.
Did he still want to share women with his twin? Damn straight. He didn’t know any other way. Their desire to share women between them was something that had come naturally since they were old enough to don a condom. Then it had been sealed thanks to Mrs. Whitley, the sexy housewife who’d turned two horny teenagers into men. Some found their untraditional need an abomination, but that had always been the way it was for them, and Keegan wasn’t the sort to make excuses for it.
It was the marriage part he wasn’t on board with. Nothing permanent, either. Fucking for the sake of fucking, that was his motto. Why, you ask? Well, that was because their attempts at happily ever after had blown up in their faces not once but twice in their history. Thank the good Lord, they’d never made it to the altar either time, but that had been the plan.