Page 49 of Fearless Bond

Could I be so lucky? Could I be safe and protected but have more freedom than ever?

“Okay. One step at a time.” I’d get rid of Father and Damian, then I’d have a baby, and then… I grinned. “I’m pregnant.”

Chuckling, Barclay hugged me to him. “You most definitely are.”

“I like it.”

“Good.”

We looked at each other, both of us smiling. We’d be a family. In comparison, everything else felt insignificant.

16

CALVIN

When we were putting away the dishes after dinner, Barclay paused with a towel over his shoulder, gazing at me inquiringly.

“You’ve been cooped up in here for days. Now that the heat is over, I was wondering…”

“Yes?” I prompted.

“How about we go to the pub tonight? You can meet my friends.” He grimaced as if he was already reconsidering the suggestion.

I blinked with surprise. “Um. Are you sure? You don’t look sure.”

Barclay’s chest expanded, and he gave me a grim nod. “I’m sure.”

“Why do you look like you’re steeling yourself?”

He snorted out a short laugh. “They can be a lot to take sometimes, but they’re good people. Except for Monty. He’s a pain in the ass.”

I frowned. “We don’t have to…”

“I’m kidding. Mostly. I want you to meet them, and they’ll be nice to you, don’t worry. They’ll only givemeshit, not you.” He winked, making me grin.

“I’d love to see the town and the people. But…” I didn’t have to finish. Barclay hugged me around my shoulders.

“I thought about that. The pass to Green Peaks is closed because of the weather, and the road won’t be cleared until morning. And even if your father appears out of thin air, you’ll be as safe as ever at the pub. Nobody will dare to come close to you with Monty and Jordy looming behind us.”

It sounded tempting. Then I looked down at my borrowed, cinched-up sweats and deflated. “Barclay, I have nothing to wear.”

“It’s just a local pub, sweetheart. Your jeans are clean and dry. You can take my parka over your jacket, and we’ll ride the snowmobile. It’s barely five minutes from here.”

Meeting new people could make me anxious as hell, but not with Barclay at my side. I was even cautiously optimistic about the plan.

“Let’s go out.”

Half an hour later, we zoomed through the forest toward the flickering lights ahead. The trees opened, but I didn’t see much as I was hunched behind Barclay with a helmet on my head. We rode up to a cleared parking lot and stopped on the edge next to a group of other snowmobiles. Barclay pulled my helmet off, and the world around me brightened.

Beauville looked exactly as I’d imagined. Log cabins huddled together, their roofs covered with snow blankets and lined with icicles. Only a few buildings were taller than one story, and even those were built in the rough lodge style. Squat cottages dotted the steep slopes surrounding the town, illuminated by yellowporch lights. The mountains hugged Beauville from all sides, their silhouettes silver in the moonlight against the inky sky.

“It looks like a Christmas postcard,” I breathed.

Barclay chuckled. “I guess. Just wait until they put up the decorations next week. Our mayor goes full-on Santa’s Village.”

He pointed out the town hall, the school, the grocery store, and the road leading to the B&B on the forest’s edge. Then he pointed at the door behind us. The wooden sign dangling on iron chains simply saidPub.

“Ready?”

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