Page 26 of Stepbrothered by the Mountain Man

“Mother, I don’t want to know who’s all out there. I know Levi, and I know he’s the man that I want.”

“Don’t you two have an age gap, too?” Beau says, pointing between them with his fork. “Like twelve years?”

Dad flushes. “That’s different.”

“The gap between Maya and I is exactly the same.”

“I was forty-four when I married your father,” Kat protests. “Maya is only twenty-one.”

“An adult,” Maya says. “We wouldn’t confess to everyone if we weren’t sure. Mom, it took you two years to introduce Nick to me.”

“Because I wanted to be sure.”

“I’ve been in love with Levi since the moment we met three years ago. I tried to hide it. To get over it, but I couldn’t. So trust me when I say I’m sure. Like I trusted Levi.” She turns to look up at me. “I was thinking with my heart and not my head when it came to that contract. Levi loved me enough to piss me off and save me from making a horrible mistake. That’s how much he loves me.”

“Maya and I will be sharing the property and growing our family there,” I say sternly, looking my father, then Kat, in the eyes. “It’s not up for debate, but I do hope you can accept it.”

Maya’s knuckles blanch as she squeezes my hand tighter, awaiting their response.

Kat lets out a long breath and Dad looks between us, then at our linked fingers.

“I’ve always trusted my children,” Dad says finally. “They’ve never given me a reason to doubt them. I won’t sit here and say I never noticed the bond between you two. Perhaps I just didn’t want to read into it because I didn’t want it to affect my and Kat’s happiness. Gossip and all that.”

“Who’s going to gossip?” Kat asks with a slow smile spreading her lips. “The bears and wolves?”

The table erupts into a bit of laughter as the tension eases. Everly giggles madly, sticking her hands in Grant’s orange juice.

“And even if they do, who cares?” Dad says. “I waited three decades before I found love again. I wouldn’t let it go for anything in this world, no matter what people say.”

Kat’s smile broadens as she places her much darker hand in Dad’s. “No matter what they say.” She nods.

“Does this mean we have your blessing?” I ask.

“I only want my children to be happy,” Dad says. “So if you’re happy I’m happy. But can we keep the PDA to a minimum for a while? It’s going to take a little getting used to.”

“Deal.” Maya grins, but I bite my tongue.

I don’t know if I could do that. My lips itch now to kiss Maya deeply and openly for the first time, but for the two days our parents are in town, I’d try to keep my paws off of her until we were back in our room.

“So Beau,” Dad says, turning to him. “Since I’m out of stepdaughters, there shouldn’t be any more heart-attack-inducing surprises. Who’s your mystery girl?”

Beau chokes. “Mystery girl?”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time in town or so I’ve heard. Way more than usual.”

Emmy shoves a strip of bacon into her mouth, looking as guilty as sin.

“We’re always booked,” he defends. “We’re always running out of supplies and ingredients for the coffee bar and dining room, that's all.”

But that wasn’t all, and it seemed like Emmy wasn’t the only one in on Beau’s secret. Beside me, Maya’s eyes sparkle dangerously, a secret on the tip of her tongue I’d tickle out of her later.

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