“You’re all sweaty. How was your run?”
“Great. I could use a drink.”
“There’s a pitcher of lemon ice water over on the dining room table,” his mother said, patting him on the back. Then she rubbed her fingers together. “You are sweaty. Go into our bathroom and wash up. And change your drenched T-shirt before you sit down to breakfast.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Feeling good, he took the stairs two at a time, to reach the second floor where his parents’ bedroom was located. He washed up in their bathroom, then went into their closet, where he grabbed one of his dad’s old Green Bay T-shirts to throw on. He knew his dad wouldn’t mind.
When he came downstairs, his dad grinned. “Good choice.”
“I knew you’d think so.” He poured himself a glass of water and drained it in a few swallows. He refilled the glass and headed into the dining room, sipping it this time.
“Good run today?”
He turned to find Katrina’s teenage brother, Leo. “Yeah.”
Leo had filled out a lot since Flynn had first met him. He was a junior in high school now, and a star on his football team. He’d gained about half a foot in height and about fifty pounds of muscle. With his dark brown hair and blue eyes, the kid was a true lady-killer. And from what Grant had told him, a damn good football player, too.
“How’s football this season?”
Leo smiled. “Good. Really good. We made state.”
“That’s great news. You getting a lot of playing time?”
“Every game.”
Flynn saw the pride in Leo’s eyes when he said that. He was really happy for the kid.
They talked stats for a while. Flynn was impressed with Leo’s abilities as a wide receiver, especially since Leo hadn’t played football until his freshman year of high school. But with Grant’s guidance, Flynn had no doubt the kid would do well.
“Okay, everyone,” his mom said, “get your plates and start filling them up. Breakfast is ready.”
“I don’t know about you,” Flynn said to Leo, “but I’m starving, so you’d better beat me to the line or I’m taking all the bacon.”
Leo cracked a smile. “You’re older and slower than me. Not a chance.”
Flynn laughed. When Leo had first met the family, he’d been sort of shy. It was great to see him so bold and confident now. He was quickly becoming a Cassidy family member.
Despite his boasts to Leo, Flynn met up with Amelia and waited for their elders to serve themselves first. Then they got in line behind Grant and his family.
Breakfast was a full meal, as was typical on a ranch. They had eggs, bacon, sausages, fried potatoes, fruit salad, oatmeal, toast and biscuits and gravy, along with coffee, milk and three types of juice, all freshly squeezed. It was more like a buffet than a breakfast.
“I’m going to be fueled for the rest of the day by the time I finish breakfast,” Amelia said.
Flynn smiled. “Mom’s used to cooking for my dad and uncles and several ranch hands, who often don’t stop for lunch. Breakfast is always a big deal. Plus, everyone will be busy cooking Thanksgiving dinner today. So lunch will be light.”
Amelia nodded. “Lydia already has the turkey in the oven. It’s great that she has the double oven, so after breakfast I’ll start on the pies. Once the turkey’s done, we can work on some of the sides.”
He leaned over and brushed his lips against her ear. “I can hardly wait to taste what you’ve cooked.”
“What we’ve cooked. It’s going to be a joint effort today.”
They settled in at the table and Flynn dug into his meal. He was always really hungry after a run, so he ate—a lot.
Then again, so did his brothers. Their plates were piled as high as his, so he didn’t feel too bad about those four pieces of bacon. And two sausages. And all those eggs.
“How did you feed all these guys when they were growing up, Lydia?” Amelia asked, her eyes wide as she surveyed Flynn’s and his brothers’ plates.
His mom laughed. “It was a challenge. We were very lucky that we could afford four growing, hungry boys. And Mia was no slouch in the eating department, either.”
Mia shrugged. “I’m nothing if not competitive. Of course that meant I also had to get out and run with these beasts to burn it all off.”
“If Lydia hadn’t had a job as a lawyer and I hadn’t played professional football, we probably would have had to start selling off kids just to pay the mortgage,” Easton said, then winked at Amelia.
She laughed. “I’m making a mental note to have no more than two children.”
“Easton and I thought we’d only have two kids,” Lydia said. “Then after Flynn and Grant, the twins came. They were a surprise.”
“And what an awesome surprise we were,” Tucker said with a grin.
“Hell yeah we were.”
Tucker and Barrett high-fived.
Mia rolled her eyes.
“Oh, right,” Flynn said. “I was fine by myself. Then I had Grant to contend with. I figured, okay, I can handle him. Then Mom comes home from the hospital with two babies—both boys. God, it was awful.”
Amelia laughed. “You poor thing.”
He looked at her. “You don’t even know how horrible it was. Like a nightmare.”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure it was.”
“And you wanted a girl,” his dad said to his mom, “so we tried one more time.”