Page 4 of Daddy Reed

I saunter over to his crib and scoop my son up. He smells like Devon, which I love.

“You were almost a cockblocker,” I say, playfully grumbling at him. “Almost.”

Dawson cackles like I’m the most hilarious person on the planet.

“Yeah, yeah,” I tease. “You’re still my favorite child.”

But that’s a lie.

Devon willalwaysbe my favorite.

Chapter2

Devon

My children worry me.

Sure, like most moms I worry about them getting hurt or sick. With the younger kids, I definitely have a healthy amount of worry when it comes to that stuff. It’s the older children, though, I worry most about.

Especially Raegan.

Raegan is my most difficult child. A daughter with a fighting spirit like her father. The girl can hunt and fish and build like the boys—a true pioneer princess of the wilderness. She’s fearless and stubborn. One day, when she marries, her husband is going to have his hands full.

That girl has a mouth on her.

My God, does she ever.

I can’t help but smile thinking about my daughter as I hang clothes on the line behind the house. Dawson is strapped to my back and chattering to himself. Kota and Declan are following their daddy around his workshop. At five and three, those boys are always in Reed’s hair. Not that he ever gets annoyed. Destiny asked Rowdy to take her to the orchard since she’s nearly blind and isn’t allowed to go alone. Raegan’s probably giving Ryder hell per usual or glued to Ronan’s hip. It’s a rare peaceful moment—one where I can get lost in my thoughts.

Raegan is still at the forefront of my mind.

She’s nearly an adult. When she turns that magical age, she might find a way to leave us. To pick up and try her fate in town, like sweet Rowdy did. But knowing her, she’d thrive like he didn’t.

Except she won’t leave.

Not without Ronan.

My quiet, sensitive son still seems so young to me, even at nineteen. As a child, he’d always let his siblings do all the hollering and crying and sit without muttering a peep. Anything I ever asked of him, he’d do without argument. To this day, he does as he’s told. Ronan is a gem and so different than his unruly sister. I’m thankful he has Ryder, despite being a year younger, to look after him.

Ryder, like his father, is protective to a fault. He thinks it’s his duty to keep everyone in our family safe. Naturally, this means he and Raegan butt heads endlessly.

Sometimes I wish Raegan would connect with Destiny more. Sure, they share a bedroom, and only have three years separating them, but the two couldn’t be more different. That’s on Raegan. She pushes everyone but Ronan away.

Nagging worry gnaws at my gut as I finish the laundry. I scoop up the basket and make my way to the back door of the big house. Reed assures me I have nothing to worry about, but he doesn’t see how Raegan moons over Ronan. One day, that adoration might turn into a crush.

Andthatcan never happen.

I won’t allow it.

It’s probably hypocritical because of my and Reed’s relationship. He’s my father—the same father who read me stories way before I could read them myself, took me to my first day of kindergarten, and held me through my tears when my twin died. It’s not fair for me to forbid my children from loving each other in a way that goes beyond sibling love, knowing they’re in the same situation I was in when my own feelings changed for my father.

Secluded.

Alone.

Sheltered from people and the outside world.

Still, I won’t let it happen.

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