Page 59 of A Montana Secret Admirer
She grinned, and before she turned from him, she caught him winking at her.
A flurry of excited chatter occurred in her chest. It was like her heart was talking to the other parts of her body, riling them up until she had a hard time staying on her feet.
Reese leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. The last she saw of him was a horde of children attacking him to the point his chair toppled backward.
She laughed to herself as she moved closer to Tegan. When she reached him, she dropped down to a crouch and brushed his hair from his forehead. “What’s the matter, buddy?”
“My stomach hurts,” Tegan murmured. His focus darted to Reese, who was currently buried in giggling children.
“I’m sorry. Do you want to go home?” Serenity pulled his attention back to her.
“Yeah.”
She frowned. “Okay, I’ll go grab your brother, and we can head home. Then you can get right to bed, and hopefully, you’ll feel better in the morning.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
She brushed her fingertips around his face lightly and headed toward Reese. Jessi was part of the group of children who were so drawn to him that they couldn’t help themselves. She plucked Jessi from the fray, and he squirmed in her arms, laughing as he lunged toward Reese.
Serenity’s eyes locked with Reese’s for a moment, and she mouthed, ‘Goodnight.’
He mouthed back, ‘See you later.’
The whole way home, she smiled to herself. Their relationship wasn’t easy, and there was no telling if it ever would be. But for now, she was determined to enjoy it.
But then she got home, and there was a flower waiting for her on the front porch.
She picked it up, and Tegan gazed up at her.
“Who’s that from?”
There was a notecard with a single line scrawled on its surface.
Your happiness is your responsibility—love yourself enough to prioritize it.
Serenity ruffled his hair. “I don’t know, buddy. Just someone who cares.” Now, more than ever, she wanted to ask Reese about the flowers, about the pond where they grew. But she couldn’t. It might break the spell. She brought the flower to her nose and breathed in deeply. “Come on, boys. Let’s get ready for bed.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“You wantto know what I don’t get?”
Reese shot a look over his shoulder to where Leo was collecting the rope they’d used to lasso a wandering calf. Thankfully, leading it back to its mother and the rest of the herd hadn’t been too complicated. Today was a short move, mostly because they’d heard a storm was coming in, and they wanted the cattle closer. He grunted when Leo didn’t continue.
“What I don’t get,” Leo drawled, stepping closer, “is why you haven’t officially told anyone about you and Serenity.”
Reese stiffened. It wasn’t that he was surprised. His brother could be attentive when he wanted to be. And Reese hadn’t exactly hidden his attraction to Serenity. But he hadn’t thought that folks would assume they were an item. Not this quickly, and not without them openly holding hands. Two dates didn’t mean they were an item. Even if people were paying attention to the times they’d gone off on their own…
He shook his head more out of resignation than anything else.
“Don’t bother denying it. The amount of time you spend with her is probably more than any other married couple. Between the dates, the kids’ lessons, and the sunsets?—”
Reese’s head snapped up, and he stared openly at his brother. Now he was surprised.
Leo chuckled. “What? Did you think that Mom and I hadn’t noticed when you consistently started sneaking out around that time every day?”
“Mom knows?” he asked weakly.
“Of course Mom knows. She was the one who pointed most of it out. She only told me because she didn’t think you’d be receptive to her after you asked about Dad. Whatever that means.” Leo muttered the last bit to himself. “Anyway, this has been going on for a couple of weeks now, and you haven’t said anything—done anything—to let people know she’s yours.”
