Page 26 of Redbird

LATE SPRING

My eyes fix on the lake through the window. At the edge of the water, I see my husband and son, crouched down. Cash pokes at something on the rocks. Probably a shell or a duck feather. He says something to Gerard and laughs, jumping up and throwing it into the water. Probably a rock, then.

There’s a sharp little pain below. I glance down at my daughter, wrapped in my arms. She’s already got a bad habit of nipping at me with her gums when she nurses. If she keeps this up when her teeth come in, I’ll switch her to formula.

I smooth back her tuft of light hair. As far as I can tell, she’s a redhead. It’s hard to know yet if she’s got my eyes or Gerard’s. They’re still a regular steel gray and from her first moment, they looked out at the world like she couldn’t wait to take it on.

She’s brave, like her father.

I flip the corner of the blanket. Cash’s tag is still there and beside it is a new one I added during my pregnancy. Luella Angel Sovereign. We named her for both our mothers, but Gerard just calls her Ella.

He was in love from the first moment the nurse laid her in his hands. In awe, his breath caught. She opened her cloudy eyes and looked right at him, like she’d known him all along. Right then, I saw an entire lifetime between them laid out.

I already know how this was going to go. Cash and Gerard will be close, in sync. Gerard and Ella were going to butt heads and fight until the cows came home, but they’ll love each other so dearly.

I wince as Ella bites me again. She starts crying and I lift her upright and pat her back before setting her down.

She squirms, giving me a sharp stare. I bite the inside of my mouth. I know that look.

It’s a spitting image of my husband.

I stand and shake my skirt out. Ella lays on the bed, gurgling and trying to sit up. She’s four months old tomorrow and she’s already ahead of where she should be. She’ll be bright and quick. My chest fills with pride as I fasten the front of my sundress and pick up my daughter.

She won’t go through the things I did.

Not with Gerard as her father.

Downstairs, we find Maddie in the kitchen. It’s Tuesday and she’s getting lunch ready before the men come in from the pastures. Tomorrow is auction day and they’ll all be gone in the city until Thursday. Gerard, Jensen, and Westin will go with them and I won’t see my husband until all the work is done.

At the counter, Maddie chops carrots for pot pies. I set Ella in her swing by the window and give her one of her rubber toys. She turns her head, gazing out at the laundry flapping on the line. Sometimes I hang the sheets to air out because I love the smell of them, fresh from the mountain air.

“Is your husband going to the auction too?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “He pulled a muscle in his back, so he’s out for the week.”

“Oh, no,” I say, frowning. “Is he alright?”

She nods. “But I thought I’d offer to take Ella and little Sovereign tonight, if you want some alone time with your husband.”

I can’t keep from blushing. She glances up, giving me a mischievous look.

“I remember what it was like to be your age,” she says.

My cheeks burn and I grab a knife and start chopping celery. Maddie and I are good enough friends now that she lets me into the kitchen without protest. As long as I respect that it’s her workplace, not mine.

“I would like to have some time with Sovereign,” I manage. “I haven’t just sat and talked with him in a while.”

She laughs, shaking her head. “I’m sure you’ll talk plenty.”

“Maddie!” I whisper, horrified.

She rolls her eyes, brushing back her graying hair. To my surprise, she taps her neck, right at the base. The same place where my discreet collar sits.

“I wasn’t born yesterday, honey, I know what that is,” she says.

My jaw drops and she starts laughing in earnest. She sets the knife aside and wipes her face with her apron.

“You knew?” I manage.

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