Page 181 of Beyond the Blue Horizon
A raucous commotion suddenly came crashing out through the glass door that sat open behind Raven, and two of the most precious little faces I’d ever seen scrambled for the patio railing.
“Hi, Finn, hi! I’m Nolan!” Nolan was barely taller than the railing, his wavy blond locks blowing around his face as he hollered down.
The little girl at his side was shorter. Her warm blond hair was braided, though it was wrapped in a halo and had the same flowers that Raven wore in her hair adorning it.
Holding on with her tiny hands, she stretched up on her toes as she attempted to see over the top. “I’m Maci! We got a lot of toys up here for you to play with because it’s real cold outside and we better be by the fireplace so we can stay really warm. But we got two stairs in here, and my mommy said we have to be really careful and not play rough so you don’t fall and get hurt, but don’t worry ’cause I’m gonna take really good care of you.”
My chest squeezed.
Fondness racing in and gripping hold.
Instant and complete.
But that’s what I’d worried would happen. I’d fall in love with these people, and they’d only become another loss.
“Okay,” Finn agreed, bobbing his head and kicking his heels into Theo like he was a horse.
Theo chuckled. “What, you think you want to play with them?”
“Ipwaywith Maci andNowan.” More of that bobbing.
Theo glanced at me, a beat of need ripping between us, before he gestured with his head for me to go ahead of him. That cool arrogance rode back to his delicious mouth and his voice turned all kinds of gravelly as he murmured, “Ladies first.”
The tattoo on my inner forearm throbbed.
In sorrow we must stand.
It was time.
A chance I had to take.
Because love was always worth the risk.
I wanted this. I wanted tofeel. I wanted the loneliness not to ache so badly.
Shoving off the questions evoked from last night, I gave him a little roll of my eyes.
“Pretending to be that gentleman again, I see.”
He leaned in close to my ear. His hot breath sent a chill that scattered and lifted the hairs at the nape of my neck. “Nah, just want you climbing the stairs in front of me so I can get a view of that delectable ass.”
Redness flushed and need bloomed in my belly. I chewed on my bottom lip, and I forced myself to move ahead of him.
I started to climb up the exterior steps.
So what if I put a little extra sway into my hips.
Glee covered every inch of Raven’s face as she grinned down at me. “I am so excited you’re here! I mean, I knew you would come because we’re kind of impossible to resist, but still.”
Overeager, she stamped her feet on the porch floor at our approach, and I suppressed a giggle.
Only she would be wearing five-inch stilettos to a family gathering when she was seven months pregnant.
“Well, I was threatened,” I told her.
“It was only so you would know how serious we are about you. We’ve claimed you, which means we’re forever going to keep you.”
When I made it to the top landing, she wrapped her arms around me. Her belly and the bowl of potato salad were pressed between us, but she didn’t seem to mind as she squeezed me tight and rocked me back and forth. Her voice was soft as she murmured so only I could hear, “Truly, so thankful.”
