Page 96 of The Vet's Unconditional Love
"Fair enough.And for the record, I'd never harm you."
"Not physically, maybe."
He held her gaze for a moment."We good, then?"
"We are."She smiled warmly."Thanks, Blane."
He smirked."Sure thing.And hey—if I don't run into you before then, I’ll call you about the details for opening night."
She raised her eyebrows.
"We're all going to be there for the opening night of Alana's show.I asked her about tickets and who's riding with who—she told me to ask you, so I will."
She had bought a block of tickets for Emmett's group of friends, and she'd been coordinating rides, but hearing that Alana had referred Blane to her undid her a little.All she could do was nod.
Blane surprised the hell out of her when he winked."Yeah, it caught me off guard, too.For what it's worth, I'm glad."
"Hey, Uncle Blane!"
He turned, and Harper smiled when she saw Tanya running toward him.
"Dad said you're leaving—and you didn't say goodbye to me yet."
When she reached him, he scooped her up and held her high above his head, making her laugh.
"As if I'd leave without saying goodbye to you, Button.I was going to come find you after I said goodbye to Harper."
He set her down, and Tanya grinned at Harper."He's not allowed to go without saying goodbye, did you know that?"
Harper looked up at him."I didn't."
"Yeah, it's the rule in our family.Right, Uncle Blane?"
He shot Harper a sideways look."That's right."
Tanya wrapped her arms around his middle."We'll see you soon, yeah?"
"You will."He nodded at Harper."And you."
~ ~ ~
It was late evening by the time they got home.Emmett was glad they'd stuck to the rule about not leaving homework until Sunday night this week.He'd hate for the girls to have to start it now.From what he could tell, everyone had enjoyed their day.Tanya looked beat; she'd been running around with Nat all afternoon.Alana looked tired, too—she'd chatted with everyone and spent a lot of time with the smaller kids.Little Maya adored her, and it seemed to him that Everly's boy, Ashton, had a crush on her.He could live with that, since Ashton was even younger than Tanya.
Once they were all in the kitchen, Harper put the cake Ty had sent home for them in the fridge."Does anyone want anything?"
"I'm good, thanks," Alana said.
"Me too.Wasn't it a great day?"said Tanya."I love that we're all like one big family."
"Yeah, me too," said Emmett.
"What about you?"Tanya asked Harper."You know everyone now, don't you?"
"I do.And as someone who's never had a family, I love seeing the way all of you are with each other."
"Hey!"Tanya frowned."You shouldn't say all ofyou—it's all ofus."She went and wrapped her arms around Harper's waist."You have family now, Mama Bear!"She laughed as she stepped back.
The air stilled.
