Page 98 of Derecho

“Yeah, baby. That’s exactly what I’m saying. I might never be able to give you a night out on the town in that time, but I can give you two-steppin’…after some practice.” He laughed. “And slow dances, I know I’ll be good at those. And hopefully a good time, right here in this old barn. It’ll be our special place. The beams, and walls, and old stone floor will hold all the memories we make here, and we’ll never have to share it with anyone else.”

“You did this just for me? I figured this was the Ford brothers’ make out spot.”

“I don’t make out with my brothers,” he grumbled. I was so taken aback, I burst out laughing.

“No! That’s not what I meant.” I chuckled. “I just meant…this must be where you guys brought all your girlfriends. Oh God, has Beau brought my sister here?”

“As far as I know, we’re the first to enjoy this place for this particular reason. Lord knows Hayes bitched at me the last two days for having to clean it out for me. I kind of told him I’d let him have extra Reid cuddles, since he set this up for me.”

“Our son is not a bargaining chip.” I shook my head, but I couldn’t hide my smile.

“Our son,” he repeated. His hand tightened around mine, pulling me softly into his chest. Lachlan’s face dipped, his lips pressing against mine. God, if I thought my tummy had been full of butterflies before…This man was so steady, so sweet, so perfect. And my mind couldn’t comprehend what he saw in me.

“I want forever with you, Lainey,” he whispered as my body melted into his. “I don’t want there to be a single day where you and Reid don’t wake up by my side.”

My heart skipped a beat. “I want that, too.”

Lach reached up and cupped my cheek. “I’ve already been talking with Hayes, and he thinks we can take down the back wall at the house, extend the kitchen so you’ll have a place to run your business out of. And we can build out the second story. Maybe redo the upstairs bathroom? Finish Reid’s bedroom off right for a little guy.”

“What if we added another bedroom?” I asked.

Lachlan’s brows pulled together tightly. “What would we need more bedrooms for?”

I stood on my tiptoes, my lips brushing the edge of his jaw before I kissed the stubble growing there. “Don’t you want⁠—”

“If you’re going to ask me if I want room for more kids, the answer is no. I know how hard being pregnant with Reid was for you, and we’re working on getting the light back in your eyes after his birth. We haven’t talked about it, but if he’s our one and only…if you don’t want to do it again…well, he’s everything to me. I never want to have another medical procedure in my life, Lainey, but if it’s going to be you and me forever, I’ll schedule the vasectomy tomorrow morning so you know I’m so serious about making sure you never suffer again.”

Apparently, it was my turn to launch myself on him, because before my next breath entered my lungs, I jumped, my arms wrapping tightly around his neck as my face burrowed against his chest. Tears stung at my eyes.

It wasn’t just the way Lachlan never wavered in his support for everything I’d been through postpartum. It was the way he saw me without me ever having to say a word.

“May I have this dance?” he asked, tightening his grip on me. I unwrapped my legs, dropping back down to the ground.

My entire body melted as his hand slipped along my waist.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

The song wasn’t right for two-stepping, but that wasn’t what my heart wanted. I wanted to be held close to his heart. I wanted to feel the heat of his body against mine, even though the nighttime air was warm around us.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said.” My fingers dusted along his neck as we rocked back and forth to the slow, steady beat of the music.

“Oh yeah? What did I say?”

“That day when you changed the oil in my car. You said it felt like, for a few minutes, you were just…you again.”

He stopped moving. “Lainey. I can’t go back.”

I went up onto my tiptoes, which made me just tall enough to press a kiss to his jaw. The stubble there tickled.

“I don’t want you to. But, what if you worked out here? What if you had a garage to work in to restore cars? Birdie told me you were working on restoring cars before the accident. What if we cleared that little field to the right of the house and put up a workspace? It could have its own driveway off the road, and…I don’t know. Maybe it’s silly, but I think if you could go at your own pace, maybe having that part of your life back would feel healing.”

Lach’s jaw moved back and forth, the muscles pulling tight then loosening as he worked the idea over in his mind.

And then he smiled. “In a couple of years, I could have Reid out there, tinkering with me.”

I patted my hand over his heart. “He’d love that. And I know for a fact there’s already a secretary waiting and willing to work out there alongside you.”

His face dropped to mine, an eyebrow popping up in surprise. “Oh, there is, is there?”