Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 536(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
A couple of sessions in Stef’s dungeon and they were finding their groove again. She’d heard they had started using the tiny house as their own playroom. They had used the Farley brothers’ babysitting service several times now, but they didn’t go out. They ordered in and spent hours locked up in that tiny house together, reminding themselves of how they got to be the parents of three and a half kids. Rachel had started talking about the new baby with enthusiasm. “They’re trying. Jen’s excited about giving Little Logan a sibling. You know I wonder if we’re always going to call him Little Logan.”
“Probably. That kid will be six foot three and we’ll call him LL. Anyway, I’m happy for them,” Brooke said, sipping her champagne. She’d made the rounds as the artist’s fiancée. And his brother’s. She had a placeholder ring for now, but Bay was learning the art of jewelry making from the strangest of places. Mel had explained that he’d spent a lot of time on the Ren Faire circuit during his active alien hunting days. Because aliens liked those big turkey legs, and apparently lute playing soothed them. His cover? He was a blacksmith who made rings as well as swords—all blessed with beet juice to keep the aliens away.
She loved her hometown so much.
“Me, too. I have no doubt she won’t be far behind me. You know I will be thrilled with any baby we get, but it would be fun for all of us to have girls. Lucy Brooke and my and Jen’s daughters could be a girl gang. We could do girls days. Let me tell you I wish Paige would spend more time with girls. She runs through the woods with Charlie and Zander, and I think she forgets she’s a girl sometimes.” Rachel took a long breath and let it out, her expression going soft. “Or I should let Paige be Paige and not worry about it. That’s the hardest thing about parenting. Letting them be who they are even when you think they’re headed for rough times.”
Paige would handle the rough times by kicking a shin or two. Her niece was a force of nature, and she would figure out who she was. But that wasn’t all Rachel was trying to say to her. “We’re good. I understand. Rye and Max are more like my dads than my brothers. I think I was also an easy place to focus all their worry on. Like it was easier to worry about me than their marriage.”
Rachel grinned. “Oh, you have been reading the same books as Alexei. He said the same thing. You should know how much we love you.”
She glanced over and Max was holding a beer, standing next to Shane. He and Rye had become mentors to her men, and they were soaking up the big brotherly affection and advice. Sometimes too much. They were taking the jail thing seriously and looking for reasons to get locked up so they could pay her back in servitude.
Her nights were interesting.
“I love you, too. All of you, and I can’t wait to meet the new baby,” Brooke said. “I promise we’ll be back in time to greet this one properly.”
Rachel sighed, but there was a smile on her face. “I’m going to miss you. So when do you leave?”
Plans were already in motion. “Cleo has the financial backing she needs. Turns out she ended up talking to Seth at the opening night party and she coaxed a nice check out of him, so now Seth and Georgia are producers.”
She’d been working on Georgia’s Met gown for a solid month, and it was coming together beautifully. It was a full-on statement gown to be worn by a queen taking her rightful place in society. That gown offered no apologies for taking up space and shining the way the woman who would wear it did.
It didn’t matter if some critic didn’t like it. She was designing for Georgia, and only her opinion mattered.
It was deliciously freeing, and now her ideas flowed, her art like breath in her lungs again.
Rachel hugged her. “I’m going to miss you so much, but I’m excited for you. Remember you always have a place to come home to.”
She hugged her sister back, a sweet sense of belonging flooding her veins.
All her friends were here. In the last month she’d spent time with Lucy and River and their families. River and Jax were trying to get pregnant, and Lucy was thinking about it. She’d gotten to know Sawyer’s family. Sabrina and Wyatt were lovely, and her sister Elisa was wonderful.
She would miss this place so much, but she would always come home to it. “I will. We’re going to start looking for a cabin.”
Rachel’s head shook. “Don’t bother. You should know Stef plans to get you a place in the valley for your wedding present. When you get married.”