Page 108 of Dangerous Redemption (Paths to Love 4)

I wasn’t certain I’d ever set foot on this sand again, but one day it would Gabriel’s to do as he pleased.

The malinche tree came into view. The blooms were bright orange and beautiful.

“That tree.” Holly gasped. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

I smiled. “I planted it for Mama. It was her favorite. I like to think this is her place of peace.”

Her returning smile was wobbly. “You are the sweetest soul.”

“You and Gabriel and our unborn children have me beat by a mile.”

“The Jacobs way of talking is rubbing off on you.” Her face grew even more radiant. So maybe I’d picked up a few of their sayings along the way.

“Daddy, am I getting a sister?” Gabriel perked up. His radar ears never missed a thing. I still couldn’t get used to what that one powerful word did to me every time he said it. “I’d be okay with a brother too.”

“How about both?” I asked.

Holly gripped her knees. “How about we slow down?”

“When are they coming?”

Firecracker let out a sharp bark as Gabriel bounced in his seat. Lucy, Firecracker’s sister, peeled her eyes open from where she lay at Gabriel’s feet to see what the commotion was about. Once she decided it wasn’t worth getting up for, she went back to sleep.

“If it were up to Daddy, soon,” Holly said in mock annoyance.

I smirked. “I haven’t heard any complaints.”

Gabriel tilted his head, trying to decipher what this conversation meant. “Like tomorrow soon?” he asked.

Holly coughed, and I chuckled. “Not that soon,” she said. “Maybe later this year. Or next.”

“That’s forever away,” he complained.

While I intended to try my hardest to expand our family, if it never happened, I had everything I needed. My entire purpose in life had been to avenge the wrongs against my sister. In doing so, I’d found the reasons I breathed.

“Forever isn’t as far away as it seems,” I said.

“Maybe eight months or so,” Holly said casually.

I nearly jerked the controls as I stared at her. “Are we?” Words escaped me.

She nodded, and it took everything I had not to bolt up from my seat. She unbuckled her seat belt and snaked her arms around my neck. Her lips were warm as she pressed them against my cheek. “Think you can wait until Christmas?”

“No. But I will.” I kissed her with everything I had before she returned to her seat.

When I’d left this country, there’d been nothing but death and hopelessness. I took in my beautiful family. They’d given me life and a future I hadn’t known existed.

Second chances did happen even to the worst of us. And I was living proof.

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