AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I scan the area for Delaney, my eyes finally resting on her hourglass figure as she walks through the garden on the east side of the property. Our kids walk alongside her, hand in hand. Camilla, our five-year-old, is very protective of her younger brother, Sam. He just turned three, and he adores following her around.
We’ve had our ups and downs over the years, but we’re solid. I choose Delaney over everything, and she chooses me. Even when one of her brothers popped up on the scene again a few years ago. Derek.
Emmitt got a call from a guy who was inquiring about Delaney, and he told me about it right away. Derek let me know that his older brothers, Tim and Patrick, were out of the picture. He didn’t spell it out for me, but I knew what he meant.
While I was glad to hear of Tim and Patrick’s demise, I still wanted to reach through the phone and choke Derek. He left my woman for dead. That shit is inexcusable.
Emmitt and Theo helped me track Derek down. I paid him a visit that he won’t soon forget. I didn’t kill the fucker, but he was clinging to life by the time I was done.
Shaking my head of those thoughts, I take a look at the fence I’ve been working on all morning, then back at my wife, trying to decide if I have a few minutes to go over and see her. Who am I kidding? I always have time for my family, and I know Emmitt would understand.
Dusting my hands off on my jeans, I make my way toward Delaney and our girls. She’s in a light blue sundress today, her black hair swept to the side in an elegant bun. She laughs at something Camilla said, then turns to look at me over her shoulder.
Goddamn, I’ll never get tired of her smile. Her eyes always sparkle more blue than brown whenever she sees me walk into a room. I know I’m just as cheesy as she is, and I don’t give a single fuck who knows it.
“Hi, baby,” I say before spinning her around and dipping her low. She giggles, the tinkling sound filling me up and giving me life. Before she can say anything, I give her a swoon-worthy kiss, only pulling back when our kids start complaining.
“Daddy! Leave Mom alone. Look at my flowers!” Camilla exclaims, tugging at my shirt sleeve.
“Flowers!” Sam echoes, tugging on my other sleeve.
Delaney smiles at me, and I give her one last kiss before setting her upright on her feet. I scoop Sam up, placing him on my shoulders. He grabs my ears to steady himself, squealing with delight.
Wrapping my arm around my wife, I tuck her into my side, then hold my hand out for Camilla to take. She squeezes my fingers and leads us toward her little patch of garden.
My daughter chatters away, telling me all about the seeds she planted and how well she’s been keeping up with watering them. I nod and smile, though I have no idea what she’s talking about. I stick to the manual labor around here. Delaney takes care of delicate, precious things, like flowers. It fits us pretty well.
Both of our kids have shown a love for gardening. One of the first things Delaney and I did when we moved out here was to landscape the place and designate garden areas. We installed raised garden beds for the fruits and veggies and selected a mixture of bushes, trees, flowers, and other fauna to fill out the space.
Last year, Camilla got her very own plot of land for her birthday. She was over the moon about it and has taken her new responsibility seriously.
Sam is a little too young to garden, but my boy sure likes playing in the dirt. He wiggles on my shoulders, and I let him down, grinning when he plops down on the ground and shoves his hands in the dirt pile in front of him.
“Are you going to be giving him a bath tonight?” Delaney asks as she eyes Sam and his messy hands and clothes.
“Sure,” I answer easily. “Then I can give you a bath,” I murmur into the shell of her ear.
Delaney leans further into me as I kiss the sensitive spot just beneath her ear. “I think I like showers better,” she muses. “More… possibilities.”
I groan and nuzzle into the side of her neck, picturing my gorgeous wife naked and dripping wet. “You’re killing me here. I still have a whole afternoon on the ranch.”
Delaney shrugs, giving me the sexiest little smirk. “Better hurry up, then.”
I lean in and kiss her, because how could I not? “I love you, little siren,” I whisper.
“Love you too, gentle giant.”
I smile, brushing my nose against hers. This woman. I may have taken her in and given her shelter when she needed it, but she’s the one who saved me. It’s my deepest honor and greatest joy to spend the rest of my life protecting her precious light.
* * *
THE END
