Page 40 of Wolf's Midlife Baby

Pierce nodded. “He’d hate it if he knew we were standing around planning his life out for him.”

His brother grinned. “All the more reason to do it.”

“I know those looks,” Rick said once Verna had gone off to visit with Joan. “The two of you are up to something.”

“Always,” Pierce promised. “Are you ready to go?”

With one more round of hugs under their belt, Pierce and Holly got in the truck and Rick hopped up into the moving van. They rolled down the windows and waved until the packhouse was just a tiny speck in the distance.

EPILOGUE

Holly tapped out the last words of her article and sat back, stretching her arms as she looked out the window. The second-story room she’d converted into an office when she’d bought the house was the perfect place to work. The long dormer with its row of windows offered a stunning view of the bay and brought in tons of natural light. She gazed out at the white puffy clouds that drifted by, stained orange by the setting sun.

A ping on her computer brought her back to her work. It was a company-wide email from Marshall Newman discussing the annual meeting that would be coming up in about a month. She and Pierce would have the perfect excuse to head back to Eugene, and this was bound to be the first annual meeting she truly enjoyed.

Scrolling further down, she spotted a photo of Kyle Freeman. His hair was still the shocking white it’d been when she’d last seen him. Everyone in the company knew about it and whispered speculations about what had happened, but Kyle had never opened his mouth. Marshall proudly boasted about Kyle’s article making the front page of not only one of Newman Media’s papers but also a nationally recognized paper. He’d been working on an expose of a large corporation near Portland that was covering up their environmental transgressions, and Marshall was excited to announce it was getting such massive attention.

Apparently, the information they’d planted in his hotel room on that fateful night had been more valuable than she or the Glenwoods could’ve imagined.

A cry sounded on the floor below her. Holly was instantly out of her chair and heading for the door. She even surprised herself sometimes with just how quickly she could react when she knew that little Ruby needed her.

The front door closed before she could get down the stairs. “I’ve got her. You can go back to work.”

“It’s all right.” She managed to land a quick peck on Pierce’s cheek before he headed down the hall to the nursery. “I’m finished, and dinner should be done.”

“Dinner?” The back door slid open, admitting Rick. Holly’s cousin Dylan, the Alpha of the Brigham clan, was on his heels. “I could use some dinner after that jog on the beach.”

Holly lifted the lid off the slow cooker. Grabbing a cutting board and utensils, she lifted the chicken breasts out of the pot and began shredding them for barbecue sandwiches. “Dylan, you’re not wearing him out, are you? He’s got plenty of work to do around here,” Holly teased.

Dylan took off his hat and swept a hand through his thick, dark hair. He set his hat on the breakfast bar with the Cape Cod National Seashore logo showing. “I think he’s got more energy than I do. He can sure keep up, even when we get into the rougher spots where most people don’t go.”

“I told you he’d be a great guide,” Holly told her father-in-law. “I’m glad you’re finding plenty around here to do, although I hope you’re not overdoing it.”

Rick edged around her in the kitchen so he could wash his hands. “Never. My father always said you can sleep when you’re dead. I’m not going to say that was exactly accurate, but I can understand the sentiment.”

Pierce stepped into the room with a sleepy Ruby in his arms. Her dark hair was in fuzzy tufts where she’d rubbed against her sheets during her nap, and she blinked sleepily at the family standing around her. “Maybe so, but you still could’ve actually retired like you said you were going to do.”

“Are you trying to tell me you don’t like serving on the fire department with me?” Rick asked with a grin. He dried his hands and reached his arms out. “Let me have that sweet baby!”

Ruby happily went into his arms, snuggling against her grandpa’s chest.

“I’m just giving you hell,” Pierce admitted. He brushed his hands across Holly’s back. “What can I do to help?”

“I need the sauce from the fridge, and you can get the buns out.”

Pierce opened the fridge door. “No, Dad, the only thing I want to know about your job is how you have time for it. You’ve still got several projects going on in the apartment, and you’re always here to help with Ruby anytime we need it. You’ve been out on the beach or working in the yard. Adding a job to that doesn’t sound like much of a retirement.”

“Don’t forget all the energy he expends fending off the local women,” Dylan added. “I used to think jogging along the beach would be a great way for me to find the right one, but they’re all too busy looking at him.”

Pierce grinned. “It’s the same way every time we go out on fire calls. We show up and battle the blaze, then this guy takes his helmet off and they’re all shocked at the gray hair. He’s had more than one of them try to slip them his number. Or worse, they give me their numbers to give to him.”

Rick gave both of the other men a scolding look as he cradled his granddaughter in his arms. “It’s not like that.”

Holly smiled as she put the chicken back in the crock and added the sauce, stirring it to warm it up. “I’m sorry, Rick, but they’re right. I can’t take you in the grocery store with me anymore.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked indignantly.

She laughed. “Don’t you remember what happened last week? That woman at the register had her eye on you the moment we got in line. She chatted you up the whole time we checked out and was still trying to talk to you as we went out the door.”

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