Page 125 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bargain

Today was chaos.

The kind that gets people killed.

We should have heeded Sheriff Wilson’s warning, should have anticipated they’d try something like this…

Maybe we were stupid to believe we could remain up here on the mountain, living the way we do, without interference from the outside world forever.

It always manages to find us.

First, it took Mom and Dad.

It almost took Davey today.

And for all we know, Dave could have been an unwitting victim.

I release a heavy sigh as the water starts to fill and reach my hand down to check the temperature.

“What are you doing?” Davey’s soft voice drags my focus to the door as he stands there with his new action figures clutched in his hands.

“I’m drawing a bath for your mom.”

His pale-blue eyes still rimmed with red from his earlier ordeal widen, instantly filling with worry. “Is she okay?”

The frantic responses from Pops and me when she announced her water broke must have terrified him. We swept him and Camille into the house so quickly that I haven’t even had a chance to sit with him and explain what’s happening.

I motion for him to come over, and he steps between my legs as I rest my ass on the edge of the tub.

Running my hands through his thick, dark hair, with the same shimmery shade of amber underneath it that’s in Camille’s, I try to tell him what I would have wanted to hear if I was his age and in this situation.

“She’ll be fine, buddy, and your baby sister will be here before too long. You might hear Mama crying a little because having a baby sometimes doesn’t feel very good, but I promise she’ll be okay. Pops and I will be here with her the whole time, and I knowyou’lldo everything you can to help.”

He nods vigorously.

“Why don’t you go in and sit with her for a few minutes right now?”

“Okay.”

I kiss his forehead, and he rushes off, leaving me alone with my thoughts and the running water.

Murmured voices float from the bedroom, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. Camille’s laughter cuts through the air, though, and my shoulders sag slightly at the pleasure that simple sound can bring.

We can do this.

Shecan do this.

After everything she’s been through, this will not be the thing that takes her down.

God, please let her and the baby be okay…

It seems like I’ve been asking an awful lot of Him recently, especially today, but praying for a miracle seems like the only solid plan at the moment.

The water finally fills high enough to cover her once she climbs in. I flip off the tap and step into the hallway when the sound of the radio from downstairs hits my ears.

Of course, people are calling to check on us after seeing the smoke, and chances are, we’re going to need help to get down the mountain once the snow stops, to have both Camille and the baby checked out at the clinic.

Doc already knows what’s happening since he was our first call after her water broke—both because of the impending labor and to determine what we should do to address any smoke inhalation issues Davey and I might suffer.

It could be him checking in…

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