Page 155 of Forever After All

He lifted his head and raked his gaze over her face. “How was your day?”

She smiled–a bright and genuine one that set his world on fire. “Perfect.”

“Good.” He scanned the desk. “How much longer do you have here? What can I do to help?”

“I’m finished. Just need to clean up.”

“Hey, guys!”

Linc and Jess both jerked at the sudden words.

Jess rested a hand on her chest. “Brett, announce your presence first.”

Brett propped against the doorway and folded his arms. Thea stepped up beside him and wrapped her hands around his arm. “I wasn’t necessarily tiptoeing.”

“Have you seen the babies?” Thea asked. The sparkle in her eyes was unmistakable.

Baby fever. Linc had always thought it was a figure of speech. Now, he was wondering if it was contagious and came with a raised body temperature.

“Not yet,” Jess said beside him.

Thea did a little dance and giggled. “They’re adorable!”

Jess straightened the papers on her desk. “I’m sure they are.”

“She’s right. Although, Ron lost his mind for a minute, and I thought he was going to break glass with that scream.” Brett shuddered.

“We might head over there later. I still have a few things to finish up here.”

Interesting. Jess suddenly had things to do when someone brought up the babies. They’d talked about kids a few times, but Jess was undecided on kids. Linc understood her hesitation. Neither of them had grown up in model households.

Plus, Jess didn’t like to jump into things unless she knew what she was doing. He admired her confidence, but she avoided getting herself into situations where she was at a disadvantage.

“Sounds good,” Brett said. “We’re helping Ridge and Cheyenne move the horses back over here tomorrow. Did you mark the stalls you want them in?”

“I did.” Jess picked up a page from her desk. “Here it is.”

Thea took it and scanned the chart. “Looks good. We’ll get it done.”

“Linc, you helping?” Brett asked.

“I’ll meet you there.” Linc’s attitude toward Brett had changed lately. Mostly because he understood why the guy was so happy. Having a good woman beside you changed a man for the good.

The happiness was ridiculous. Almost unbelievable.

Yet, Linc was living in it every day, and he’d never take a second for granted.

“Great. I’ll bring breakfast,” Thea said.

“See you in the morning,” Brett said with a tip of his hat.

“Bye.” Jess didn’t look up from the papers she shuffled into folders.

Linc propped his hip against the side of the desk. “Everything okay?”

“Mhm,” Jess hummed. “Yep. You ready to go?”

“You don’t want to see the babies?” Linc asked, hopefully leaving room for her to casually decline if she didn’t want to go.

---