Page 42 of My Orc Package Deal

I was grateful for that.

Slowly, I turned to take in the rest of the kitchen, my senses picking up on more places Kesha had subtly changed our lives for the better.

I was grateful for her. I was grateful for the way she completed our family.

My life with Sharra had been…fraught. Always on edge, always wondering what I could do to calm her down or ways I could change to be worthy of her respect. We’d been well-matched in the bedroom—well, of course, we’d been barely twenty, and horny all the time—but outside…?

I remember holding my breath whenever we had to share a room, wondering what she was going to find fault with. We might have been Mated, but it wasn’t a happy relationship.

With Kesha, everything was different.

We didn’t have that Mate Bond, but it didn’t seem to matter. I’d chosen her, and she’d chosen me, and the peace I felt with her was far better than any Mate Bond.

Right?

I loved her and was grateful for the future we were building together.

What more could I ask for?

When my coffee was gone, I poured another cup into my travel mug, then pulled a frozen breakfast burrito out to microwave. Kesha had made a batch of them last week, and I was addicted to how delicious and easy they were to eat in the truck. Then I stepped out onto the porch, explained to the boys that Mom was still asleep, so don’t leave the property until she wakes up.

Jay’s easy wave of acceptance made my chest tighten for just a moment. In a few short weeks, thanks to Milo calling her Mom, Kesha had become his mother as well. He had no memories of Sharra, and I hadn’t done enough to keep her memories alive, since my feelings about her loss were so complicated.

It was Milo who dropped the hammer he’d been trying to pass up to Jay and scampered over to the porch. “Are we still going to sleep over with Aunt Jossy and Uncle Brak?” he asked eagerly, eyes bright as he tipped his head back to peer up at me. “We’re supposed to go over at five.”

“Six,” Jay corrected. “He told us last night, remember?”

Without thinking, I reached out to pat Milo’s shoulder, and the kid swayed toward me. “Yep. I’m going to leave work early to come pack you up and take you over.” Assuming Kowalski didn’t chew me out for being late this morning.

Milo surprised me by throwing his arms around my waist. “Okay! See you then, Dad!”

He ran off, leaving me feeling…unsatisfied.

My Kteer wasn’t quiet, but had faded to a low hum in my chest, as if last night with Kesha had satiated it a bit. There was still something that felt off, something I was missing, a string slightly out of tune… Was it related to Milo? Or something else?

I was in a thoughtful frame of mind as I wandered into the kitchen and clicked on the kettle so Kesha would have hot water for her tea when she woke, and climbed into my truck to eat on the way to the construction site.

I was forty minutes late.

Brakkor was waiting to give me shit about that fact the moment I stepped out of the truck. He was standing next to the excavator with his arms crossed, his expression blank, but his dark eyes dancing with barely concealed glee.

He loved when I fucked up and he got to act like the responsible one.

“Traffic,” I lied.

“You live on the same side of the island.” He jerked his thumb at the lighthouse looming behind him. “Only one road.”

I brushed past him, pretending interest in the job site. “Thank you, I know.”

He let me get two steps past him before he grinned. All these years, and I still hadn’t found a way to shut that down.

The lighthouse sat on its rise at the far end of the point—white paint gone to chalk, iron rail rusted through, looking every one of its two hundred years. Jocelyn was already at the south foundation with a roll of blueprints under her arm, standing with the foreman, running the project the way she ran everything: like she’d already thought of the problem you were about to raise.

She spread the plans over the hood of Kowalski’s truck when she saw me coming.

“Steel plate delivery confirmed for Thursday,” she said. “Beams in Friday, assuming the ground crew finishes the underpin work. Then a two-day window to get her onto the dolly system.”

“Drainage at the new foundation?”