Page 93 of Lucky Haven

“Jesus. You’re gonna have a wife, a little girl, and a baby on the way. Going from zero to sixty, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, just a blink of an eye. Everything I cared about changed.” He pauses. “But I still love you guys with all my heart. Luna and the ranch… You guys know that’s never going to change, right?”

“Of course we know,” Ridge growls.

“Good.” Zane grins. “Because we’re not stopping with two kids. I want at least four, just like us.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “You like being a dad that much, eh?”

“Fucking love it.” He exhales and wipes his mouth, bouncing on his heels. “Let’s go! I’m ready. I just want to see her. I want to do it now.”

Right on cue, there’s a knock at the door. A photographer I don’t recognize pokes her head inside. She introduces herself, makes eyes at Dax, of course. Her gaze also lingers on Ridge. She doesn’t give me a second glance, and I don’t care about that at all. All I think about is whether Haven is going to like the way I look and whether I should have dressed up more like my brother did.

Which is fucked up, because I shouldn’t be trying to be more appealing to her right now. I need to find a way to extricate myself from her life, not make her want me more.

More, asshole? She doesn’t want you at fucking all right now.

It’s agony going to sleep next to her every night with a polite Good night, and then quiet reading. With every turn of her page, I feel her slipping away from me a bit more.

“Can one of you fix Zane’s tie for him?” The photographer starts cueing us. Ridge fake-adjusts the tie. Then I hand him his hat. Dax holds the door for him, and we spill out onto the porch for casual photos of the four of us.

Luna comes over as we’re finishing up. We’ve done this before, taking family pictures with her. But this is different. This is the last time it’s just the five of us in the family.

And of course Luna starts crying.

“Mom, it’s okay.” Zane cups her face in his hands and kisses her forehead.

“Oh, I know. I’m so glad that you found her. I’m so glad you’re not alone anymore.” She presses her lips together, as if she wants to say more than that, but this is a happy occasion, and she doesn’t want to ruin it.

I know the feeling well.

Fuck.

The next person to arrive at Ridge’s cabin is Bellamy, and right behind her is Haven, who looks so pretty she takes my breath away.

“Sorry, sorry, I know you’re doing family photos,” she says apologetically. “But Bellamy really wanted⁠—”

“Zane!” Bellamy cries, throwing herself at the groom.

“It’s all right, Bellaboo. Come here,” he says.

He lifts her up into his arms, and she pats his suit jacket.

“Do I look handsome enough for your mama?” he asks.

“Yes!” And then she buries her face in his shoulder.

“Well, in that case, let’s go get married.”

He leads the way around the house and down to the willows that overlook the pond.

I trail behind, falling into step beside Haven.

“You look beautiful today,” I say to her. Her butter yellow dress makes her look radiant, perfectly offsetting her hair and the creamy pink of her cheeks.

She gives me a polite smile. “Thank you.”

Waiting for us at the pond is the minister from the United Church in town, Callum Kerr. He’s dressed in black, wearing a clerical shirt and collar for the occasion. It’s a very traditional look compared to how Haven’s uncle and Jeb both dress, and I don’t think that’s an accident. There’s something in the way his kind gaze falls on Haven very quickly that tells me he’s aware of her situation, either because of gossip or a direct request from Hope and Zane.