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Instead, her head tilted to the side, her voice bending with emphasis. “You’re where you belong, Savannah. Right here with us. And I hope you accept the love we already have for you. And I know you’re afraid of accepting that. Of letting us. But we are right here, waiting for you when you’re ready.”
She stared at me for a beat before she pulled me into a hug.
Hers was fierce and unrelenting.
The one I returned was desperate and pleading.
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
“Love is on the house,” she murmured back.
She hugged me tight for the longest time before she cleared her throat. “Now we better go check on our men before they come up with some harebrained idea. The two of them are dangerous together.”
Opening the door, she stepped out into the hall.
“Our men?” I swiped the moisture from my face and went for the casualness that was getting harder and harder to find. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
Twisting around to walk backward, she dragged me out, a sly grin on her pretty face. “I’m not ahead, Savannah. You just need to catch up.”
THIRTY-EIGHT
SAVANNAH
I sat at the island, doing my best to fly under the radar while Ryder had peppered Ezra for more details over the last thirty minutes, watching from the sidelines though Ezra kept cutting glances my way, like he needed me to know that he was very aware of my presence.
“And you’re sure you didn’t get a look at his face?”
“Nothing. It was pitch black out and was impossible to make out anything.”
Ryder scrubbed a tattooed palm over his face as Ezra gave him the same answer he’d given him the last fifteen times Ryder had asked.
The front door suddenly burst open, and I jolted since I couldn’t help being on edge. Though it was a smile that took to my face when a riot of excitement and clattering feet filled the walls. “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!”
Their three little voices were distinct, their grins so wide as they barreled into the house like they hadn’t seen their father in days when he’d only dropped them off at Caleb and Paisley’s ranch the evening before.
“Ah, there are my love bugs.” Ezra spread his arms where he remained on the couch.
I winced when I realized no one was stopping the three of them from colliding against his chest.
Ezra didn’t seem to register any pain, his own joy riding free as he snuggled them close. “I missed my yahoos. Did you have fun at the Ranch?”
“It was really fun, Dad,” Olivia said in her serious way.
Paisley and Caleb stepped through the doorway, along with an adorable little girl with a mess of brown hair and the biggest brown eyes I’d ever seen.
Evelyn.
I’d never met her, but I knew her name.
She threw her arms in the air and came bounding in. “Yes, Uncle Ezra. We had the very best time ever in the world at our sleepover. We made a fort in the living room with all the blankets, and then we went out to the barn when we woke up, and we visited my best horse in the world, Mazzy, but we didn’t get to take a ride because my cousins Olivia, Oliver, and Owen don’t know how yet, but my mommy said she will teach them really soon if you want her to.”
The rush of words spilled from her without pause.
Chuckling, Ezra stretched out his arm for her, too, accepting her into the fold. “I think that sounds like a great plan.”
“As if she would have it any other way,” Paisley said with a grin as she stepped inside, though concern dimmed her demeanor, questions toiling through her expression.
Clearly, they had kept a tight lip about what had happened last night around the kids, being careful not to let them pick up on anything being wrong.
Caleb vibrated behind her, trembling as hard as Ryder had been, and I glanced out farther to see that Dakota’s brother, Cody, was also there. Apparently, word really did spread quickly between these friends, and everyone had congregated to make sure that Ezra was fine.
“That’s right, there is no other way because my cousins need to learn to ride so they can always go with us,” Evelyn peeped, grinning back at her mom.
“I think it’s a really good plan, Dad,” Olivia agreed.
“Me, too,” Oliver said.
“Me, fee,” Owen chimed.
Every cell in my body compressed before they expanded. How was it possible these children could be so sweet?
“Well, then it’s settled,” Ezra said. “I do hope there’s a family discount?” He quirked a teasing brow at Paisley.
She rolled her eyes as she strolled the rest of the way inside. “Like I would charge for my sweetums? Who do you think I am, Ezra? A monster?”
His smile was soft. “What you are is the best, Paisley.”
“This I know.”
Her brow creased, unable to contain the worry any longer.
