Page 105 of Wylder Ranch
“Nope.” He holds his hand up to silence Alex and pulls out his phone. “Give me fifteen minutes.”
Alex rolls his eyes but doesn’t reply. Wefollow Miles down the steps, where the porters are already unloading all the luggage we brought for the trip and placing it by the SUVs.
Between the skis and snowboards for the boys and Clementine, plus Lando’s equipment, there have to be two dozen suitcases and bags. It would have been significantly more if Alex hadn’t sent a couple of guys ahead of time to my house to ready it for our arrival and unload all of Everly’s things.
I’m double-checking that Alex’s and my cases are kept separate, because while we’re going back to my place, everyone else is staying at the cabin they had last year, when a squeal of excitement has me spinning around.
Saylor whizzes across the tarmac in a golf buggy being driven by an airport porter, arms stretched as wide as her smile.
“Ohmygod, ohmygod. Havey. You’re back.God, I missed you so much.” She jumps off and squeezes me so tight she nearly cuts off my air supply. Even though I’ve spoken to her almost every day, the happiness and excitement I have at getting to hug her again come out in a big ball of laughter.
“Where’s Everly?” she asks, finally releasing me enough to realize I’m not holding her.
“Right there.” I jerk my chin over to where Alex is laughing with Miles, who still has the phone to his ear.
Ever theatrical, Saylor gasps loudly. “Jeez Louise, I’d forgotten what a bunch of straight-up hotties this family is. And look how big Everly is! She’s so tall.”
I beam my response. “I know.”
“C’mon, I have to hug her.”
Because her arm’s still around my waist, I’m dragged over to Everly, who looks up at Saylor with wide eyes.
“Hi, Everly, d’you remember me?” she asks, holding her hands out only for Everly to arch back with a grunt. “Oh.”
“She’s a bit cranky. She just woke up,” Alex replies. “Also, hi, Saylor.”
“Hey, Alex. How’s it going?” Saylor steps back. Her eyes drop to the ground and move back up. I know she’s only messing around, but in his cream cable-knit sweater with Everly in his arms, he looksgood. “Really living that baby-daddy vibe, I see.”
He doesn’t get a chance to reply, though, because Miles throws one arm around Saylor’s shoulders, the other around mine, and pulls us in. “Okay, kids, here’s the plan. . .”
Saylor gets that look in her eyes where she’s trying to act cool, but it’s anything but. If I’m not mistaken, Miles has added another member to his fan club. I should warn her off, but she deserves a bit of fun.
“There’s a polo match this afternoon. What do you say about a quick freshen up, and then we all head down to the club?”
“Sounds awesome,” Saylor responds without a beat.
“Haven?”
“Um. . .” I look at Alex, trying to see what he wants to do. I thought our plans once we arrived would be to go back to the ranch and settle in.
But I hadn’t counted on Saylor peering at me with big, wide, pleading eyes. Alex notices them too.
“I’m happy with whatever you want to do, babe. The house is ready, and we can ask Birgitta to stay with Everly and Max. Let me go and see what Clementine wants to do.”
“Yes,” Saylor adds, “please go see what Clementine is doing.”
With a chuckle, he jogs back up the plane stairs, and the second he disappears inside the cabin, Saylor is on me.
“Please, can we go? Please. It’s been so boring without you. I haven’t been out in forever.”
“Wehaven’t been out since I found out I was pregnant,” I correct.
“Exactly. We owe it to ourselves. And I bet there are some hotties, the polo club would be so fun. Forme, I mean,” she adds as I raise a brow. “You’ve already got yourself a hottie.”
“Just see what Alex says. There’ll be lots of time to party this week, which is why everyone else joined on this trip.”
Truth be told, I’m so happy they joined us. It made leaving Valentine Nook a little bit easier. I’ve gotten used to seeing them every day, and I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.
