Page 44 of Her Silver Fox Mountain Men

“If she sees you as a threat in her path to get James and the boys back, yes, definitely. I wouldn’t put anything past that bitter bitch.”

I reach for another cookie and take a bite.

“Be cautious around her but don’t worry about any residual feelings between them. There aren’t any.”

“That’s good to know,” I say.

It’s also good to know that Shauna might’ve been the one to send those flowers, if only to mess with me. If Janice says I shouldn’t put anything past her, then I shouldn’t. Nothing else tracks at this point. There’s been no sign of Igor anywhere.

The sudden roar of an engine outside makes me nearly jump out of my skin.

“Whoa, honey,” Janice laughs. “Relax.”

“Sorry,” I mumble, my heart beating a million miles per minute. “That startled me.”

“I can see that. Are you okay?”

Tricia and Ainsley are wiping their hands on a couple of clean rags, feet tapping with excitement.

“Daddy’s here!” Tricia says.

“Go get your Crocs on,” Janice tells them.

Within seconds, the girls are out the door, cheering and jumping all over the porch.

“Daddy!”

My pulse starts coming back down. That was an unnecessary reaction but proof that I am still very much on edge and then some. I give Janice an apologetic smile.

“All good, Jan, I promise.”

“Now, let’s see what all that ruckus is about,” she says as she squeezes my hand.

We join the girls outside just as Roman and Oliver are unloading the back of James’s truck, each carrying two large pumpkins over to the porch, beaming with pride and satisfaction as the ginger-haired twins dance excited circles around them.

“Jack-o’-lanterns!” Ainsley exclaims.

“We’re carving pumpkins!” Tricia chimes in.

“Oh, wow, that’s a lot of pumpkins,” I laugh as I watch James get out of the truck and join his best friends in carrying the load over to the porch. “How many did you buy?”

“They were cheaper by the dozen,” James says as he stops beside me to briefly kiss my cheek. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

“I can see that,” I reply.

Janice takes a seat on the porch bench swing, teacup in hand as she smiles, watching the guys bring in the pumpkins. They linethem up one next to the other, and ideas of how we’re going to carve them swirl in my head.

“Thankfully, it’s a big porch,” Janice says.

“And you two little devils are in charge of scooping out the guts and helping design the faces,” Roman adds as the girls run around him, jumping with excitement.

Tricia gives him one of her signature pouts. “Daddy says we can’t use knives, Uncle Roman.”

“That’s why you’re going to scoop,” James says.

“I hate scooping,” Ainsley mutters.

“You can draw the pumpkins’ faces right on them,” I offer. “And we’ll carve them as per your instructions. How does that sound?”

---