Page 3 of Defending Our Ever After

“Would you mind picking up Jace’s shift building the fence? Aiden and Russ can show you what they’ve been doing,” I ask him. While Eddie’s been helping out with smaller tasks, we were holding off on giving him strenuous work until he’d gained some weight back.

“If you think you’re up to it now?” Jace asks him, with more than a hint of sarcasm, and I cringe at the pained expression that flashes over Eddie’s face.

“How is Sara sleeping nowadays?” I ask Eddie, trying to change the subject as I cross the room to relieve him of his daughter.

“Well, I think I have a good grasp on what her noises mean now, so it’s getting easier,” Eddie answers me, ignoring Jace altogether. “Oddly enough, babies seem to react well to being fed regularly and kept warm.”

Or, maybe he’s not ignoring Jace altogether, as he drops in that less-than-subtle reminder of the lengths he went to, getting his newborn daughter here alive.

“It’s funny, isn’t it? How you start to notice the different cries for hungry, needing a diaper change, or just a snuggle?” I ask him more questions in return and hope Jace will keep his mouth shut; especially since he was never around much when our children were infants.

I lift Sara above my head and blow a raspberry against her stomach before inhaling her scent. With a lucky swipe of her tiny fist, she gets a handful of my hair and holds on tight.

“I think Rachel’s been doing really well with Sara, so between her and Elsbeth, she’ll be taken care of,” my dad contributes, trying to talk over Jace when he opens his mouth again and taking mercy on me—as he crosses to coax Sara into releasing her grasp on me, before I lose any hair.

“MOM! Grandpa!” Dylan’s scream cuts through our conversation and I nearly drop the baby as I spin to look at Jace.

“Wasn’t he in bed when you came down?” I snap at my ex, quickly giving Sara back to Eddie. Dylan and Jace are in a room with several bunk beds, and I had hoped Jace knew he was supposed to keep track of our son.

My dad crosses to the front door, yanking it open where we see Dylan panting for breath as his strides bring him closer to the house; that’s when it occurs to me, we all have to start a workout routine.

“Grandpa, your friends are at the gate. Dale and Steve,” Dylan says, huffing and puffing. “They said they have some things for you, but Aiden told me to come get you. He said we never talked about what to do with visitors.”

“Shit, it’s a bit early for visitors, isn’t it? I hope it’s nothing serious,” Dad asks, not expecting an answer. “Jace, would you mind making some more coffee for us and heating up yesterday’s biscuits? Dale knows I have bees, so just put out a little honey, but not your mom’s jam. Shelby, you can either come with me or figure out how no one knew where your son was.”

With that, Jace and Dylan both manage to look guilty while Dad moves to the door to pull his boots and coat on.

“Jace, you’re sharing a room with our son,” I say, as I cross to pull a handgun from a drawer in the kitchen island. “I expect you to know where he is, especially at night. Dylan, we’ll talk later.”

I’m not far behind my dad, my need to pause to give everyone dirty looks waylaying me. Unfortunately for Eddie, he catches a glare from me also.

We don’t use it often, but I’m happy to see Dad firing up his ATV. It may be just under a mile down to the main road, but I’d rather not have to walk it right now.

Chapter 2

Shelby

“Would have been worried about you, Mike,” Dale says, addressing my dad as we’re getting off the ATV. “If Dylan hadn’t been here when we pulled up. Christ, Shelby, you just get prettier every year.”

“I’d suggest you get your eyes checked, Dale, especially considering the state of things,” I say, smarting back to the man I’ve always considered an uncle. He and Dad have been friends as long as I can remember so I quickly walk forward to hug him, before thinking to initiate introductions. “This is Aiden. He’s, um, he’s with me. Aiden, this is Dale and his son, Steve. They’re the ones Dad dropped the excess food from the train off with.”

“Shelby doesn’t like saying ‘boyfriend’ at her age,” Dad helpfully adds to the introduction. “Come on up to the house, will ya?”

“We’ll need to,” Dale responds, a smile lighting up his face. “We made it out to that train you told us about, plus Steve found another one further east of us. We’ve got a few things in the truck that I thought you might need. The roads have been iffy, and I wanted to get here early so we didn’t get robbed on the way.”

“Most people on the roads aren’t armed like we are,” Steve adds, shifting his hand that’s holding his rifle for emphasis. Like the majority of gun owners around these parts, I’m sure it’s been modified and is now fully automatic. “But they tend to travel in good-sized groups, so we don’t like to draw attention to ourselves by driving more than we have to.”

Dad tosses me the key to the ATV and jumps into their truck with them, giving me a few minutes to visit with Aiden.

“Dylan wasn’t supposed to be out here this morning,” I tell him, and his eyes widen. I hold up my hand to finish when he opens his mouth to respond. “I know he likes spending time with you, but he apparently slipped out while Jace was sleeping. I’m not upset with you, but the next time he unexpectedly joins you, please check to see if he let anyone know where he is.”

“I’m sorry, babe,” Aiden says, gathering me into his arms. “I didn’t think and to be honest, he was keeping me awake so I didn’t consider sending him back. I can’t imagine he slept much last night, with all the questions and ideas he ran past me about booby traps for trespassers, and such.”

“Plus, I would have been upset if Dale had shot you,” I say, thinking of another upside of Dylan being out here, as I rub my face against Aiden’s soft fleece jacket.

“Since your dad broke out the ATV, any chance you’d mind getting me some coffee and maybe something to eat?” he asks, turning to duck into the ground blind that was set up and returning with my old thermos within seconds. “Shelby, I know you worry about Dylan, everyone really, but when I heard the truck approaching, I sent him back to the trees. He’d have been ready to run if things went south. That worked today, but once the snow comes, we’ll all have to learn how to cover our tracks.”

“Do you know I love you?”

---