Page 59 of The Last Promise You Made

Addy smiled and reached out a hand to pet Arwen again. My horse stood there silently, taking it all in, as if she could read our minds and was trying to soothe us both.

“Addy! You’re here!” Mila shouted down from the loft.

We turned to see her peeking over the rail with blades of hay in her hair and clinging to her clothes. In her arms, she had an all-gray kitten who was squirming and wiggling as if determined to escape. Sadie’s head appeared behind her, lips turning upward in a smile. “Come on up, and meet the babies.”

I led Addy over to the ladder and watched as she carefully pulled herself up. I followed behind her, stooping out of reflex to miss the low rafters. Sadie and Mila had retreated to the back corner. Dust drifted through a single beam of light from the round window in the barn’s peak, turning the loft into a collage of hazy shadows.

My sister and niece sat by a crate filled with old rags and blankets from which mews could be heard. Addy and I made our way over. The mama was a gray tabby just like the one Mila was holding, but her kittens were all shades. There was a pure-black one, a white-and-gray one that reminded me of the dapple downstairs, an orange tabby, and a fawn-colored one. They were six weeks old, and I’d have to arrange to get them neutered soon, or we’d have another pile of kittens before we blinked.

“Here.” Mila shoved the gray kitten toward Addy, who barely had a chance to stick her hands out and catch the little thing. It wiggled and squirmed, and Addy looked up at me with wide eyes. I helped her adjust it so it was tucked into her arms better.

Mila sat next to Sadie, who was playing with a pipe cleaner the orange tabby was trying desperately to catch.

“Auntie Sadie and I were trying to name them. Do you want to help?”

Addy looked at me, those big round eyes of hers getting even larger, but then she shrugged. My niece didn’t even seem to realize Addy hadn’t responded.

“Auntie Sadie says we need to understand their personality to find the right name, so we have to play with them first. I really want to name the black one Arturo, after the king dragon in The Day the Dragons Saved the Universe. I mean, he even looks like a dragon, don’t you think? And maybe we can name the—”

“Breathe, Mila,” Sadie and I said at the same time. Mila rolled her eyes, but I swore I saw Addy’s lips twitch, and it eased my heart a little bit after the intensity of our morning.

Addy lowered herself to the straw-covered planks next to the crate. The little gray cat escaped, and Addy looked panicked, but Sadie simply picked it up and stuck her in the box with the others. Addy scooted, looking inside. A smile burst over her face as she watched the kittens tumble over each other.

When my gaze met my sister’s, we were both grinning too.

“You need to check on the cabins?” Sadie asked, tilting her head toward the area behind the barn where the construction was taking place.

“I should. Shawn sent me some updates yesterday, but I want to make sure the roof kept the worst of the rain out. We were supposed to have the plumbing and electrical finished by next week.”

“Go. I’ll stay here with the girls.”

Addy looked up at me, over to Sadie and Mila, and then back.

I pointed to the round window in the rafters. “I’ll just be right out there. You’ll be able to see me through that window. You okay with that?”

“Uncle Ryder!” Mila all but screamed. “She’s going to be fine. She has me and Auntie Sadie and the kitties. She’s not a baby!”

“Mila,” Sadie said, warning. “Not everyone is comfortable around strangers like you.”

Even after all she’d been through, Mila was still the least-shy kid I’d ever met. She could talk to a statue and make it talk back.

My niece turned her head to look at Addy, as if seeing her for the first time. “But I’m not a stranger. I’m your friend. We decided last night, remember?”

I held back a little huff of a laugh. I squatted to look Addy in the eyes. “You going to be okay? It’ll just be for a few minutes. You can stay right here. No need to go anywhere.”

She looked at the cats and Mila and Sadie and then nodded ever so slowly.

“Okay.” I backed up and headed for the ladder. “I’ll make it real quick. And if you need me, just have Mila scream. She’s got a voice loud enough to wake a dead raccoon a county away.”

“Uncle Ryder!” Mila objected.

I was smiling as my boots hit the ground. I listened for a minute. Mila was doing all the talking, Sadie adding something here and there. It was good the girls were getting to know each other. Mila had friends, but it wasn’t the same as having family at that age. Brothers and sisters…cousins. My heart squeezed. They were cousins. I had a daughter.

Chills coasted up my arms and back.

I was a father.

Even though I’d known it and thought about it ever since walking into the station, it still kept hitting me in the chest at the most random moments. If Ravyn’s letter hadn’t already convinced me, Addy’s middle name certainly had. Maddox had offered to get a DNA test done off the books, and I’d still go through with it, but it wouldn’t change anything.

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