Page 72 of Solitude

Beth stands at the threshold with her hands on her hips, hair in that same cream colored clip as always. She’s wearing a denim apron today, relatively unstained.

“Winifred Carmichael.”

My eyes flicker to Beth’s dark blue orbs, and I shrink back slightly.

She leans closer and hollers over my shoulder. “Beckett Hale, you better get your ass out here!”

I hear a crash, cursing, then the door opens as Beck trudges out into the living area, scratching at his hair. His jeans are unbuttoned and his t-shirt is backwards, but it doesn’t matter. Not really. He looks beautiful no matter how disheveled he is.

“Beth…”

She scoffs. “Beth? That’s all you have to say!”

Beck winces. He stands behind me and places a reassuring hand on the small of my back. “I?—”

“You listen to me,” Beth cuts him off. “We’re going to have averylong talk about impulsive decision-making and how you shouldnotdo that. But I remember being younger than you and marrying Cal. Not much I can say about that shit, so I’ll let it slide this time.”

A grin tugs at the corners of my mouth. She’s not mad. Well, she is, but she’s not mad we got married. She’s mad no one told her.

Beth wags her finger in my face. “Don’t smile at me like that. Cole is beside himself. You know he gets these crackpot ideas where he thinks you might ask him to do something wild like walk you down the aisle.”

My eyes widen. “Cole would do that?”

“Cole loves you to bits. Don’t go fishing for compliments right now, missy.”

Beck chuckles behind me, but he stops when Beth narrows her eyes.

“Now you’re having this baby, and he’s worried to death you’re leaving.”

My brows pull together. “I can’t tell if you’re mad or not…”

Beth sighs. “My son is hurting. Not to make it all about him, but I don’t like seeing my kids hurt, Winnie. I don’t like seeing you knuckleheads hurt either. So we’re having family breakfast to talk through some shit.”

“Family breakfast… You don’t mean…”

Beth stares a freaking hole through Beck as she says, “Family. Breakfast. All of the family.”

“Fuck.”

I glance up at Beck and back to Beth. “What’s going?—”

The words die in my throat as a familiar van and pickup truck come flying down the winding driveway leading up to the farmhouse, and my eyes widen as I watch the vehicles slam to a stop and park.

Beck’s siblings, parents, and Gus spill out of the cars, running amuck around the farm as Cole and Blake, Matt’s little girl, come out of the house with smiles on their faces to greet the chaos. I turn my head enough to meet Beck’s eyes, but instead of the terror that I expect to be mirrored in his expression, I find happiness, a grin stretching across his face.

“Why are you smiling?” I whisper, my face scared as I watch Beth walk off after shooting a warning glare our way. “This is bad. So bad.”

Beck laughs. He laughs, turns me back around to lookat the scene, and leans down so his mouth is next to my ear.

“Look at everyone, Winnie. All the people who care about us.”

Cole and Blake hold hands as they walk down the front porch steps before Blake releases his hands and clings to Millie, Beck’s youngest sister. They take off toward the barns together where I’m sure Matt is finishing up his morning chores. Beck’s younger brothers are crouched low, playing with the dogs happily, and Ben and Gus are leaning against the porch railing, heads close as they talk and laugh.

Calvin joins the chaos then, and Matt trails not too far behind him from the barns with Millie and Blake hoisted up in his arms. The girls are giggling as he marches around with them.

As if he feels me watching, Cole’s eyes drift over to the guesthouse, and my breath freezes in my lungs. When he smiles softly and gestures for us to come over, I release the breath I was holding and nod.

“Yeah… There’s a lot of love in Magnolia Hollow, huh?”

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