Page 186 of Burn the Wild

“Here we go,” Fallon mutters, then glares at Wyatt.

“Shut up and eat your cake,” Dakota instructs. She hands out plates with fat slabs of red velvet. Then passes more around the bar for everyone to have.

I laugh. “Everyone tell me something happy and good. Something real.” At that, Fallon gives me a proud nod. “That’s what tonight is for.”

Ford gives me a wink. “Good things, huh?”

I kiss the tip of his nose. “Good things.”

“Let’s start with that drink,” Fallon says, smugly gazing at her sister. Dakota instantly avoids eye contact. Davis too. “You don’t expect me to believe that’s vodka soda.”

“Fallon!” Koty squeals, but the pink tinge on her cheeks says everything.

Wyatt grins. “Holy shit.”

Ford nods at his twin. “Congrats.”

Davis grins and scruffs a hand over his dark hair. “We weren’t really trying, but…”

A chuckle from Ford. “Next thing you knew…”

“Yeah.” Grin fading, Davis scans the table. His and Dakota’s eyes move apologetically to Ruby and Charlie. “We wanted to wait to say something…”

Charlie holds up a hand. “We’re happy for you.”

“We are. So happy.” Ruby inhales a deep breath. For a second, I think she’s going to burst into tears, but then she smiles and her hands go to her heart. “We’re going to have a baby, too.”

Beside me, Ford hitches a breath.

Charlie laughs and strokes his wife’s shoulder. “We’re going to use a surrogate.” A mischievous expression crosses his face. “That’s why we’ve been going to Bozeman every weekend. We’ve been doin’ all the tests and everything to get us there.”

“It might be a while,” Ruby says resolutely. Bravely. “But it’ll happen.” She’s not crying, but there are tears in her voice. In Charlie’s eyes.

“Damn right it will,” Ford murmurs, his voice cracking.

Wyatt and Davis lift their beers. “Congrats,” they say in louder than normal voices, as if to mask any emotion chipping away at their tough cowboy facades.

Dakota wipes her eyes while Fallon stares out the window with that stubborn strength of hers.

“And you? What about you?” I ask Ford.

He fights a smile. “What about me?”

“Don’t you want to tell your brothers something?”

Davis eyes his twin with suspicion. “Tell me you didn’t elope.”

Ford barks a laugh. “Not yet.”

His words go straight to my core. My heart hammers.

His face turns serious as he takes a fortifying breath and says, “That land at Old Mill’s Farm…I bought it.”

The table falls into stunned silence.

“I turned down the offer from Donovan. I’m going to put a baseball diamond on the land and start a camp for kids. A baseball youth training center.” He grins at his brothers. “And if you assholes are lucky, maybe I’ll let you use some of the land, too.”

A laugh goes up around the table.

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