Page 79 of Pretty Little Scars

I go to walk away, but he pulls me in close and covers my mouth with his.

“What if you don’t get called out?” he asks.

“I plan to bake this afternoon,” I reply, leaning into him. “There’s a crème brûlée recipe I want to try. With huckleberries. Because Montana.”

He smirks and brushes his lips over my forehead. “I’ll grill steaks for dinner.”

“This isverydomestic,” I inform him. “Just saying.”

“We gotta eat, Duchess. I’ll be out at the north pasture with the guys for a while.”

He squeezes my hand, and then he walks away, and I’m in a nice little daze as I return to the greenhouse. Yeah, it’s domestic as fuck, but it’s not boring. Not even a little.

It’s kind of . . . nice.

And the kind of relationship that I never witnessed as a kid, so I’m kind of floundering here. My parents were the definition of abusive marriage. My older brother only recently settled down with Millie, so it’s not like I grew up around strong relationships.

I don’t know how to do this. I don’t have any kind of handbook of what a healthy connection looks like.

But this feels healthy.

So, I’m going to go with it for now.

Sylvester’s waiting for me by the garden gate, taking a bath in the sunshine, and when I get closer, he stands and stretches before winding his way through my legs.

“Hey, buddy,” I say before scratching behind his ears. “Let’s plant the rosebushes, and then we have some arnica to gather.”

I already have one batch of arnica soaking in oil for a salve, but a few more blooms opened and are ready to be harvested.

I wonder if Tucker would let me use the cabin kitchen for salves and oils, keeping it separate from the kitchen in the house. It would make things simple, that’s for sure.

With that in mind, I finish up with the rosebushes, but my phone rings. I’m expecting Dr. Fisher, but instead, it’s Holden.

“Hey, big brother,” I answer as I pull my gloves off.

“Darbs,” he says, and I know that something’s not right. His voice iswrong. “Are you in the middle of something?”

“No. What’s going on? Just tell me.”

“Millie’s pregnant.”

My heart stumbles and then speeds up. “And?”

“And what? My wife’s pregnant. That’s the news.”

“Christ, you about gave me a fucking heart attack. You sound like something’swrong, Holden. This is great news! I know you want babies.”

“Yeah, but now I don’t think I do.”

“Wait. Why?”

“Because it’s making her sick, and I can’t stand it. How am I going to watch her writhe in pain? She coulddie, Darby. This isn’t such a good idea.”

“Whoa, slow down. First of all, everything that she’s going through is normal. It’s what women do when they’re pregnant. Second, you will watch her be strong and so fucking badass that it will humble you, and then you’ll have a perfect little baby for all of us to love. She’s not going to die, Holden. This is incredible, and I’m so happy for you guys.”

He blows out a breath, and I can hear him pacing.

“Yeah, okay.”