Cowboy Casanova - Lorelei James [43]
He tore his gaze from her as Dalton and Tell slid into the opposite bench seat. “If it ain’t Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum.”
“Fuck off. Didja order for us? We’re starved.”
“I should’ve since you guys are always dragging ass.”
“Not our fault this time,” Dalton said. “Brandt showed up late this mornin’.”
“Again,” Tell inserted. “It puts us behind every damn day. Them two are gonna have to do something different than splitting their time between Jessie’s place and Brandt’s place. Every time they stay at Jessie’s, he’s late.”
“I’d bet Jessie is late the mornings she’s gotta drive from Brandt’s to her job at Sky Blue.” Ben slid his menu to the edge of the table. “What’s the holdup on them getting one place together?”
“Money, probably. And Dad hasn’t exactly been helpful.”
Like that was news. His uncle was an asshole most days. “What’s Uncle Casper been doin’ in his retirement? My Dad never says much about him.”
“He drinks until he passes out. We stop by to check on him.”
“To make sure he ain’t dead,” Dalton said.
The muscle in Tell’s jaw flexed. “Mom would have a conniption fit if she saw the state of the house. It’s nasty. Dad’s been livin’ like a drunken hermit since their divorce was finalized.”
Dalton scowled. “Even after all the shit Dad did to Jessie over the years, she still tried to help him. Cleaned the place top to bottom. Washed his clothes. Cooked for him. He’s such an ungrateful bastard that Brandt won’t let Jess go over there anymore.”
“Too bad you can’t just move your dad’s stuff to Brandt’s trailer and then he and Jessie could have the house. It’s at least fifteen minutes closer to her job.”
Tell and Dalton exchanged a pained look. “We think that’s what they’re waitin’ for.”
“Waiting for Uncle Casper to die?” Ben said sharply.
“He’s killin’ himself, Ben. He won’t listen to any of us. Believe it or not, Mom had some influence over him, but that’s gone. They haven’t spoken since the day she left. There ain’t a lot we can do.”
Ben hated the huge rift his uncle had caused in the family, but it seemed wrong to write him off and let him drink himself to death.
A highly rude waitress took their order and as soon as she stomped away, Tell set his forehead on the table. “Fuck me.”
“What the hell did you do to her, bro?”
Tell raised his head. “This is why I don’t date women from around here. She’ll probably spit in my damn food.”
“Who is she?” Ben asked.
“Her name tag said Tara if you don’t remember,” Dalton offered.
“Fuck off, Dalton. It ain’t like you don’t have sex amnesia every so often.”
Ben lifted a brow at Tell. “Sex amnesia?”
“You know. Where you have sex with a woman, good sex, memorable sex, but then you can’t seem to recall her name.”
His cousins stared at him when he didn’t immediately respond. “What?”
“Fuck you, gentleman Ben. You remember the name of every woman you’ve banged?”
They had him there. “Not the ones from way back. But the ones from last month? Hell yeah.” His gaze momentarily strayed to the back of Ainsley’s head.
Tell gloated. “See, Dalton, I told you he wasn’t a fuckin’ monk.”
“But that don’t mean he’s a fuckin’ man-whore like you are,” Dalton shot back.
“Boys. Play nice. So what’s so all-fired important you asked me to come to town?” He frowned. “Since it was your idea, I ain’t buying your lunch.”
“Cheapskate.”
“Is this about Uncle Casper?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We heard you took Rielle to the bank yesterday.”
“Yeah, so?” Then he remembered the conversation on Sunday about Rielle. “Christ. I’m not interested in her, okay? I was just bein’ neighborly.”
“We don’t care about that,” Tell said. “We wanna know why she was at the new bank?”
“Why does anyone go to the bank? She needs a loan.”
“Bet they didn’t give it to her, did they?” Dalton said.
“She didn’t say and I didn’t ask. Why?”
“Well, we’ve heard she’s seriously financially fucked.”
Ben’s gaze turned