The Final Score by Jaci Burton

Author:Jaci Burton [BURTON, JACI]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Headline Eternal
Published: 2017-09-25T04:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-TWO

NATHAN PULLED INTO THE DRIVE OF THE DOUBLE C ranch.

“One hell of an impressive place,” he said to Mia.

She sighed. “To me, it’s always been home.”

“It must have been great to grow up here.”

She unbuckled her seat belt and turned to him with a smile. “It didn’t suck.”

They were surrounded by barking dogs of all shapes and sizes when Nathan exited the rental car. He bent and petted all of them, until a whistle sent them scurrying. He recognized the man on the porch right away. It was Easton Cassidy, football legend and Mia’s father.

“Hey, Dad,” Mia said, making her way to the front porch to give her father a hug.

“Hey, baby girl.” Easton surrounded his daughter with a tight hug. “It’s been forever since I’ve seen you.”

She laughed. “Only a few months. You look good.”

“So do you.”

Nathan stood on the ground, waiting.

“Nice to see you again, Nathan,” Easton said.

“You, too, Mr. Cassidy.” Nathan made his way up the porch steps to shake Easton’s hand.

“I’ve told you before. Call me Easton. How’s your dad doing with his retirement?”

“He seems fine with it. He’s happy to be able to spend time with my little brother.”

“I’ll bet he is. I’ll have to give him a call and tell him all the fun things he can do now that he’s retired.”

“Like buy a ranch?” Mia asked with a teasing smile.

“He should definitely buy a ranch.”

“Yeah, I can’t see my mom being ready for that just yet,” Nathan said. “But maybe several years down the road.”

Easton laughed. “Come on inside. Your mom just made some fresh lemonade, Mia, and some of your brothers are here.”

Easton held the door for them and they walked inside. It was hot as blazes out, so Nathan was happy the air conditioner was cranked to arctic levels in the house.

The Cassidys’ house was huge. Nathan could tell it had been designed with four boys in mind. Lots of room to run around, no precious trinkets sitting about on the tables. Everything had a rustic but modern feel to it with dark hardwood floors, exposed beams on the tall ceilings and one hell of a dining room table that looked handmade. The house was pretty enough that a woman would love it, but also comfortable and somewhere a guy would like to live. Kind of a best of both worlds thing.

They made their way into the kitchen, which boasted an oversized island. Mia’s mom, Lydia, leaned against the island talking to Grant, Mia’s oldest brother, and Tucker, one of the twins, along with their wives. It was always easy to recognize Tucker since he wore glasses.

“Oh, you’re here,” Lydia said, coming around the island to fold Mia into a hug.

Mia hugged her back. Then she had to hug Grant and his wife, Katrina, and Tucker and his wife, Aubry.

“You all remember Nathan Riley? And if you don’t, this is my friend Nathan Riley.”

“Hey, Nathan,” Grant said. “Good to see you again.” Grant introduced his wife, Katrina.

“We haven’t met yet,” Tucker said.

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