Page 62 of Keg's Revelation

“Nope, thanks to Katie, Charlie, Macy, Tink, and Gran, everything was unpacked, washed and dried, then put away. Our bedroom is empty of boxes, too. While they helped Gran in the kitchen, I unpacked my stuff in there and put it all away. Pinch broke down the empty boxes and took them to the garage where the others are stacked.”

I stood there and stared at the woman who’d been destined to be mine since the first time I saw her. I couldn’t believe I’d never seen her around town before that day, or maybe I had and overlooked her. It didn’t matter now just like the years apart didn’t. I still nursed a little hurt over time lost with Ry, but he and I had made up ground in the two months since I’d found out he existed. But for the woman in front of me, her fate had been sealed the second she’d moved back. Raven was what made me want to live forever just to be able to wake up to her face every morning.

I sat the bottles of water I pulled out of the fridge on the counter and wrapped my arms around her when she walked in. Pulling her flush against me, I took her lips. She immediately opened for me, and I deepened the kiss.

“Oh, man. Gross, Dad.”

I lifted my head, breaking our kiss and looked at Ry and Reagan as they stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching us.

“Get used to it, and I’ll remind you about how gross you think kissing is when you start dating,” Raven said and patted my chest and laughed.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t find my voice. Raven squeezed my hand, and I looked down at her. She smiled. She realized it, too. It was the first time Ry had called me Dad.

“What are we having for dinner?” Ry asked and moved out of the way for the dog to pass. Evidently, the kid wasn’t as affected by the monumental moment as I was.

Not wanting to make a big deal and embarrass myself or the kid, I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Depends on how much you and Reagan have left to do in your rooms.”

“I’m done. I set the empty boxes outside my door,” Ry answered and walked to the fridge and grabbed a drink.

“Okay. Well, I thought we could eat out to celebrate us all becoming a family.”

“Can we go to the pizza place?” Ry asked.

Before I could answer him, Raven did. Probably because she knew I’d agree with him. “We are not going to eat pizza. We’ve had it twice this past week. We can go to the steak restaurant and eat like a normal family.”

“Uh, Mom. Normally families eat at the pizza place.”

I chuckled at Ry’s comment. “He’s got a point, Rav,” I said and received an elbow in the side.

Ignoring Ry and my shared fist bump, she turned to Reagan. “How about you, baby? Need some help with your stuff before we go out to eat?”

“Just the stuff you make me hang. I can’t reach the bar in the closet.” She walked past Raven and me where we stood at the counter, to the back door. “Come on, Halo,” she said and opened the door and followed the dog out.

Raven stared at the closed door, then turned with a frown, and I asked, “What?”

She bit her lip like she always does when she’s worried. “Not sure. Ry, did something happen upstairs?”

“No. She and Halo came out of her room at the same time I did. She seemed fine,” Ry said as I watched him open and close cabinets. The one thing I found out about the kid when they moved in—he was a bottomless pit.

“Maybe she’s tired, Rav.”

“I don’t think it’s that. She gets cranky and whiny when she’s tired. She seems upset.”

“I’ll go check on her,” I said and walked out the back door.

I looked around, and at first I didn’t see her. Then movement caught my attention. She was on the backside of the shed. As I grew closer, I noticed she had her head bent and was kicking her foot over the ground. I spotted Halo sniffing around just inside the tree line at the edge of my property. It had only taken the dog a week to learn the boundaries of the property. I didn’t know how Reagan knew, but she’d been right about the dog needing her. He’d taken to her right from the beginning, and wherever she was, he wasn’t far away.

“You okay, Reagan?”

She raised her head, and I knew her mom was right when she looked up at me with those little brown eyes filled with sadness. I unconsciously rubbed by hand across my stomach. How men dealt with their little girls being upset was beyond me. No wonder Sami was always saying Ally had Speed and the other men at Black Hawk wrapped around her finger. ‘Cause I would do anything to keep that look from ever entering Reagan’s eyes.

“I guess.”

“You sure? When I came out, you looked as though you were thinking hard on something. I don’t ever want you to be scared to tell or ask me anything, Reagan.”

“I’m sad.”

Christ, two words from her that I could go the rest of my life not ever hearing. I was so out of my league. “What’s got you sad?” I asked, and in my head, I silently added,I’ll kill or maim anyone, or do anything, to make it go away.

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