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Ford’s face lit up, and she guessed the child loved animals and probably only got to play with dairy cows. “What’s the rabbit’s name?”
“Ford,” Lee said.
“I mean, it’s so nice to meet you, ma’am.” Ford stuck out his hand, and Rosalie was utterly charmed.
She took his hand and gave it a pump before releasing it. “The pleasure, Mister Cooper, is all mine.” She could see so many pieces of Lee in his son, including his coppery hair and the shape of his chin. “And the rabbit’s name is The USS Thumper. We call him Thumper for short.”
“That’s almost like the dog out back. You wanna come see?”
“Absolutely,” Rosalie said, and Ford took her hand, practically dragging her behind him.
“His name is Thunder,” Ford said, enunciating the difference.
“We have three minutes,” Lee said, and Rosalie knew he meant it.
“We better hurry, Ford,” she said. “The last thing we want to do is make your dad mad.”
“No kidding,” Ford said, to which Lee said, “Hey,” in a wounded voice. His son didn’t slow down, and Rosalie gave him all the right reactions to the small German shepherd tied up in the back yard. Charlie had put him in the shade, with a big bowl of water nearby, and when Rosalie saw the pretty flowery pattern on it, she wanted to hide it from Lee.
He looked at the dog from the deck off the back of the cabin, and Rosalie couldn’t help gazing at the poured slab of concrete that made the perfect patio next to a stream. A couple of chairs waited there, and she could see herself sitting there, sipping something cold while she listened to the bubbling stream babble by.
The fantasy ended when she remembered that she spent forty hours a week trapped by four walls at her office, and then plenty of challenges at home too.
She wanted to remember the freedom she could taste out here, and she plucked her phone from her clutch and raised it to take a picture. Natasha would love this view, and Rosalie only hesitated for a moment before sending it to her. Her sister would ask and ask and ask to go there once she saw it, but Rosalie couldn’t keep such glory from Nat.
“Time to go, son,” Lee said, and he did come down the steps then. He slid his fingertips along her waist, and Rosalie looked up from her phone, the scattering of shivers and feelings moving through her too strong to comprehend.
“Ready, baby?” he murmured, and she nodded as she tucked her phone back into her clutch. They’d very nearly made it past the deck and the dog before Lee added, “If Travis doesn’t punch Charlie today, I might.”
“What, Dad?” Ford asked from his other side.
“Nothing,” Rosalie said quickly, meeting Lee’s eyes.
“That’s my good china,” he growled under his breath. “That dog better be from a royal bloodline.” He looked like he was one breath away from bursting, and for some reason, Rosalie found it funny.
A giggle escaped her mouth, and Lee’s hand in hers tightened. “You think that’s funny?” he asked.
“A little,” she said between her laughs. “I’m imagining a dog with a crown and a dismissive look.” She laughed out loud then, and while Lee didn’t join in, he also didn’t look one breath away from tearing the Sheriff’s deputy limb from limb.
Rosalie was going to count that as a win. As Lee held the door for Ford to get in the back and then came around to help her up and onto the front bench seat, Rosalie could see her daughter atop his powerful shoulders. She’d been right about this Lee Cooper—the man possessed a heart of gold, and Ford owned almost all of it.
She wondered if there was a place for her and Autumn inside this half-family. She wanted nothing more than to give her daughter everything she needed, and she’d adored James so very much. She would love Lee to death, and Rosalie allowed herself to fantasize about a complete family with Lee and Ford, her and Autumn, only for the time it took Lee to walk around the vehicle and get behind the wheel.
Then she shut it all down, because she and Lee weren’t the ones who were only minutes away from tying the knot. They still had a long way to go before they’d be standing at the altar together, if they ever made it that far.
First, she had to survive meeting his parents and the rest of his siblings.
