Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 113270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113270 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“What’s got you so giddy?” I ask as I walk toward him, my long satin nightgown trailing lightly behind me as I pad toward the bed.
Now that we’re in the new house, all of my stuff from New York is finally here. I even sold my Chelsea apartment last week. Thanks to the crew Logan hired, we’ve been moved in for three weeks, and for the first time in forever, everything feels settled. I haven’t tripped over a box in days.
“You. Me. Our boy,” he says, voice low and content. Then his grin turns wicked. “And you looking so fucking sexy I’m already hard.”
My giggle is obnoxious—and I love it so much it hurts. I’m not the serious, overworked woman I used to be, and with every moment I spend in my new life, with my new love, it shows.
“What doesn’t make you hard these days?”
Tad laughs. “Other women. Your absence. Cold soup.”
I snort.
“Hey, can I help it if I landed the sexiest woman on the planet who’s only getting sexier by the day as she grows my baby?” He launches forward from his spot on the bed, pulling me close with splayed hands at my hips and his mouth dangerously close to mine. “You’re it, baby. You’re the turn-on.” His lips dive forward, capturing mine in the sweetest, hottest kiss of the last five minutes.
It’d have a more impressive record if it weren’t for the fact that my guy always knows what he’s doing.
“Tad,” I whisper, climbing onto the bed on my knees as he pulls me gently back.
“Yes, baby.”
“Tad, I should get some sleep.” I don’t mean it, of course, but man, he’s fun to tease.
“After,” he says easily, spinning me around until I’m lying on my back with my head on the pillows. Slowly, painstakingly, he lifts my satin gown until I’m exposed from the breasts down, my growing baby belly protruding obviously now that I’m getting further along. “For now, though, you just relax. I’ll do all the work.”
“You’ll do all the work? Can I get that in writing?”
He laughs before leaning down to kiss my belly, then my chest, and finally, my lips. When he pulls back, his eyes are as serious as I’ve ever seen them.
“Just tell me where to sign, Breeze. I’ll do anything you want, and I’ll do it forever. For the rest of our lives.”
“Tad.”
“I love you,” he says, pressing a soft kiss to my lips again. “And I know, without a shadow of doubt, I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”
Epilogue
Breezy
A year later
Saturday, June 17th
Our newly fenced backyard is a sea of whispered laughter and terrible hiding spots. Friends, family, and half the town are crammed behind trees, picnic tables, and lawn chairs—everyone buzzing with excitement as we wait for Tad to get home.
“Shh, shh!” I say loudly, grinning as I try to hush the crowd. I swear, the more I shush, the louder they seem to get.
Pete, of course, is elbow-deep in the chip bowl instead of taking cover. Josie smacks his hand and pulls him down beside her on the blanket where she’s hiding with our babies—three squirmy, sun-dappled miracles lined up like the world’s cutest parade.
Rose and Danny, Josie and Clay’s fraternal twins named for her late grandmother and father, are little carbon copies of their parents. Rose, with her blond hair and bright green eyes, is Josie’s tiny twin in a ruffled pink romper and a sun hat that keeps sliding sideways over her face. Beside her, Danny is Clay’s mini-me with the same dark hair, same golden eyes, same mischievous grin, wearing a little blue onesie that reads Ladies’ Man across his chest.
And then there’s Hayes McCoy Hanson, Tad’s and my whole world. He’s a perfect mash-up of the two of us, with my blue eyes, Tad’s mouth and hair, and a grin that already gets him out of trouble.
His outfit is the simplest of the bunch—a soft white tee and tiny denim overalls—but on him, it looks like perfection.
It’s hard to believe the babies are already seven months old now, but they’re growing like weeds, and I know, very soon, we won’t be able to contain them this easily.
Across the yard, Clay and Bennett take their places at the sign I made them hang between two of our trees, ready to unfurl it at the perfect moment, facilitated by my having texted Tad ahead of time to tell him Hayes and I were playing in the backyard.
Even Tad’s dad and Uncle Cal have traveled to Red Bridge for the occasion and are chatting with Randy from camp chairs on the far side of Josie and the babies.
As expected, the gate unlatches with a click, and when it opens, we all jump in excitement. “Surprise!”
Tad takes a step back, his smile catching joy like a thief who just got away with the world’s biggest heist. I clap, which is copied quickly by Sheila and Marty and Autumn, who’s playing with the water table in between them in a strawberry-adorned swimsuit and little bitty heart sunglasses, and the sign in between Clay and Bennett in the back of the yard rolls open with a snap.