Page 14 of Wolf's Midlife Baby

Pierce turned his mind back to the real matter at hand. He could feel sorry for himself knowing that Holly wouldn’t stay, but it wouldn’t change the fact that they had a lot to deal with now that the house was gone. “You know we’ll help you out with all of that, Dad. And you should take some time off of work, too.”

“You don’t think I will?” Rick asked.

“We know you won’t,” Hayden replied.

“Can you blame me? I think I’ll need to work to distract me from all of this.” Their father gestured helplessly at the wreckage.

Just as Pierce was hoping Holly would be around long enough to distract him for a while, she slipped out from under his arm. She moved over to the side, where a row of oak trees separated their property from the neighbor’s. The trunks of the trees still remained, but the leaves and limbs closest to the home were singed badly. She hunted through their remnants for a moment until she found a sturdy stick. With her new tool in hand, Holly walked over to the remains of the home and poked the stick down into the ashes.

Pierce moved to her side, cautiously watching what was left of the home. “The house was always sturdy, but it’s not right now. It could be dangerous.”

She didn’t look up at him, focused only on digging in the ashes. “But look.”

He looked down at his feet, where his boots stood on the scraps of his life, and caught a glimpse of something shiny. He stepped back and used the toe of his boot to move a half-burned board out of the way. The movement uncovered the rest of what Holly had been excavating, and he let out a breath that collapsed his lungs. “No way.”

“What are you two doing?” Hayden asked.

“Give me your gloves,” Pierce commanded.

“What?” But he stepped forward and handed them over.

Pierce pulled them on, knowing everything there would still be deceptively hot. It would take a long time for anything to cool down enough to be touched. If Holly’s discovery was what he thought it was, he wasn’t going to wait. He bent down and lifted the corner of a picture frame. The wood was badly damaged, burned and then soaked. The photo inside was mostly preserved between two pieces of glass, with only the corners taking on some discoloration. “Look what Holly found.”

“I’ll be.” Rick leaned in to see, and he didn’t fight the tear that ran down his cheek. “I haven’t been able to find that photo for years. I actually went looking for it a few months ago, on what would’ve been your mother’s birthday. It must’ve slipped behind some furniture or something.”

The Westwood men took a long moment to study the scene in the picture. Rick, young and proud with his arm around his wife. Linda, beautiful with her hair curled around her face and her chin lifted. The couple stood in front of their home, with freshly bloomed flowers standing out against the siding. Their boys were just in front of them on the steps. Hayden was twelve, right in the middle of that awkward stage just before his teen years hit. Pierce stood next to him, still boyish and goofy at ten.

There had been other family photos, Pierce knew. There were even times when they’d gone to the trouble of getting dressed up and going into a studio, but this one had always been Rick’s favorite.

“That was a good year,” Rick said, just as Pierce knew he would. “Thank you, Holly. I’ve lost a lot tonight, but you’ve given me back a little piece of it. It’s like a miracle, and I needed that.”

Sadness moved across her face. “You’re welcome.”

Rick sighed. “Well, it’s late. I have a lot to do, but I can’t do any of it until the morning. I think I’ll head over to the packhouse for the night. I’m sure Joan and Lori can set me up with a room, and their beds are far more comfortable than what we have at the firehouse, anyway.”

“You don’t have to do that, Dad,” Hayden began, but Rick stopped him with a wave of his hand.

“I’ve already thought about it. Your house is full, and I can’t exactly stay here unless I want to sleep under the stars. I’m not too keen on camping these days. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Just come stay at my place,” Pierce insisted. “I know it’s not huge, but I do have an extra bedroom.”

“I know, but…” Rick hesitated as he glanced in Holly’s direction. She’d stepped slightly away from the group of men to give them their privacy. “I don’t want to be in the way.”

It was kind of him to consider Pierce when he was the one suffering so much. The truth was, Pierce would probably be better off if he didn’t give himself much more of a chance to get any closer to Holly. Everything indicated she was his mate, but that didn’t mean they could work out the distance between them. And what if they tried? He’d already seen Hayden go through the process of marrying someone that he thought was right, only to suffer when it all came crumbling down. It hurt him, but it would only hurt worse if he tried to force it. “As long as you’re not counting your sit-ups at five in the morning, I think we’ll be fine.”

7

“You’re in big trouble, young lady.”

Holly smiled at the voice hissing in her ear. “Oh, look. They have cheese Danish. My favorite.”

“Give me some of that.” Dahlia held out her plate, her eyes widening as she looked at the flaky crust of the pastry. “Okay. I’m a smidge less upset with you now, and I’ll be a smidge less than that once we get some coffee, but you’re still in trouble.”

“What did I do?” Holly asked with a smile, though she knew precisely what was happening.

Dahlia followed her down the buffet table, which featured every delicious snack and treat Eugene had to offer. Marshall Newman was big on supporting small businesses. She put on her best mom voice: “Coming in after midnight, young lady, without so much as a holler to let me know you were home safe! Why, I’ve got a mind not to let you see that boy again!”

Holly laughed. “Don’t worry, Ma. I probably won’t.”

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