AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Take a breath first. Then pull up your big girl pants and act like everything is fine.Ifyou can get allies on the ground, then do so, but only if it’s safe. I’ll figure something out, sweetheart.”
* * *
CADEN
Summer tugs on my arm, stopping me from showing her to the stables, despite her adamance only moments before.
I squeeze her hand to gain her attention, but she is firmly fixated on Noah, who is chatting with our boy. The sight doesn’t particularly warm my heart either, but now’s not the time or the place for fisticuffs.
“Come on, Bam. I thought you wanted to see the horses.”
She turns back to me, indecision and something else galloping across her face. “Um…I think we should call it a night.”
She pulls her hand from my hold, raising her arms in the air to yawn in such an over-the-top manner that I’m helpless to stop myself from heckling her.
“Didn’t know you were an actress!” I shake my head as I grip her upper arms in concern. “What’s going on?”
Her eyes go round, and she mouths the words,“Not. Now.”
I draw my brows together in confusion, on the precipice of asking another question, when she leans up on her tippy toes and presses her mouth to mine. Her tongue demands entry, and after a moment of hesitation, I pull her closer against me to deepen the kiss.
She takes the opportunity to glide her lips across my cheekbones, urgently pressing her mouth to my ear. “Noah has tapped the house. Say nothing. End the party.”
As she pulls back, smiling from ear to ear, I laugh softly, but it sounds strange even to my own ears.
Dad stands, walking closer. “You two okay?”
“We’regreat.” Summer presses her lips together in an utterly false smile that every person here would notice immediately if her back wasn’t to everyone other than me and Dad.
Despite that, Dad pulls her against his side. “Let’s grab a drink. I’ve not had you to myself all day because I’ve been too occupied with the glorious grandson you bestowed upon me.”
Summer smiles back, and it seems more genuine when Dad steers her in the direction of the bar at the edge of the patio.
Alyse and Cass glance in my direction, blatant questions in their eyes. I pull my phone from my back pocket, shooting Ford a text as I pretend to read a message that’s not there.
Me
Tequila Sunrise.
“Ladies, your husbands have messaged that your children require their mothers.”
Both of them narrow their eyes, and I shoot a glance at our mother. “Children will neverstopneeding their mothers, and I’m a clear example.” Mum chuckles, and I shoo both sisters off the patio as they flip me the bird over their shoulders.
Summer sends me a look of gratitude from the far end of the patio, where she’s in deep conversation with my father.
“Jesse, my son.” I move closer to Mum, Jesse, and Noah, who’s still monopolising my son’s attention. “It’s well past time for…PlayStation Five.”
Jesse’s eyes blow wide. “Seriously?”
I nod, smiling genuinely at his delight. “Yup! Wash up, and I’ll be upstairs to kick your ass in…” I check my non-existent watch. “Five minutes. Move, move, move, soldier.”
He grins his farewell at both Mum and Noah, slipping past me at a run, but backtracking to plant a kiss on my cheek that warms me to my very bones.
“Go on.” I smile right into my son's big blue eyes. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
With a flash of his perfectly straight teeth, he’s gone.
Spinning to my mum and Noah, I clap my hands together. “Well, it’s been a blast. Thank you for such a wonderful introduction for Jesse, Mum.”
