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“Oh my God, I was ready to burst around Christmas, but the little buggers aren’t due until February. And yeah, sorry, they’re kicking a lot this morning. When I get excited, they get excited, and then it’s just one big free-for-all.”
Mia quickly hid a smile behind her hand. Jane had always possessed the power to talk faster than a speeding train and it seemed nothing had changed.
The gold band on her wedding finger was new though, as was the matching ring on Rafe’s hand. She was certain he hadn’t been wearing it when she saw him two years earlier, so maybe this was a recent development?
When Rafe stepped forwards and draped his arms around Jane, clasped her hands in his, and rested them on her enormous belly, Mia had her answer.
“Breathe, beautiful,” Rafe told the bouncy redhead, a light chuckle and an indulgent smile accompanying his words.
So protective.
So loving.
Mia’s inner romantic sighed at the adorable couple. “So, you two are married now?”
“Yep,” Jane said, beaming at her as she tugged Rafe’s arms tighter around her middle. “I’m Jane Melville-Bennett now. Rafe made a respectable woman of me in November.”
“Respectable?” Her husband laughed. “I hope not.”
“And did you say ‘they’ earlier?” Mia asked, pointing at Jane’s belly. “As in more than one?”
Jane grinned. “Yep. Twin girls. We haven’t decided on names yet, but—”
“Enough gasbagging.” Oliver made an exasperated sound from the far end of the kitchen. “Food’s getting cold, and I’m starving.” He nodded at Mia. “Take a seat, sweetling. I’ll bring you a plate.”
Mia scowled at Ollie. Eighteen years apart had apparently done nothing to curb his bossiness. “Like I told you last night, I’m not an invalid. I can get my own food.”
Ollie scowled back at her and his voice dipped lower, making her insides quiver with awareness and her fists clench in denial. “That was never in doubt. But youaremy guest, so sit your arse down and let me take care of you.”
Opening her mouth to spit out her reply, Mia never got the chance, because the man who’d been hovering by Abby’s side and watching the exchange between the two of them with undisguised glee stuck out his hand. “I’m Wolf, by the way. Wolf Adams. Abby’s fiancé.”
Clamping her mouth shut, Mia shifted her narrowed gaze from Ollie to Wolf, shook his proffered hand, and took the seat next to him. “Mia Caldwell. Good to meet you.”
“Likewise. I’ve been wanting to meet the infamous Major Mia for a while now.”
Mia laughed, a burst of sound that eased her tension. “Infamous?”
“Yes, I was told something about you putting a boy in his place when he harassed you at school? As an ex-high school teacher,” Wolf said, a cheeky glint in his eyes, “I’d be very interested to hear what happened.”
A plate piled high with French toast, bacon, eggs over easy, sausages, and hash browns appeared in front of her, banging on the scrubbed wooden surface of the table as though it had been put there with force.
Flicking her gaze to Oliver’s, Mia found he was glaring at his sister instead, undoubtedly for sharing information he’d rather keep quiet. She wasn’t surprised. Ollie hated the story Wolf was referring to, but not for the reasons people suspected.
“Mia didn’t just put him in his place,” Abby said around a mouthful of French toast. “She put him in an ambulance.”
“And she was almost expelled because of it,” Oliver snapped before taking the seat opposite Mia and attacking his breakfast like it was the enemy. His knife and fork scraped against the plate with such force she was amazed it didn’t crack in two.
Rafe, ever the diplomat of the family, said, “Maybe you could discuss it another time. After Mia’s had a chance to settle back in to small-town life. Assuming, of course, that you’re sticking around for a while?”
Mia would’ve had to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to notice Oliver’s big body go suddenly very still.
“I’d always intended to return home sooner or later,” she said, keeping her voice carefully neutral. “I guess now that I’m old and retired, it turned out to be sooner.”
Oliver didn’t look at her, but his shoulders relaxed, and his food demolition became a lot less violent.
An awkward silence fell over the room, and for a short time, the only sounds were that of people chewing. The noise made Mia feel like someone was driving a nail through her eye, so she was relieved when Abby spoke up.
“Who wants a cuppa?”
