Page 84 of Secret Heart
I can’t help but mirror the small curve of her lips. “Probably means tonight will be a mess.”
She laughs then, and I sink onto a stool at the island. I should head back to my place and actually work on the massive to-do list that fueled me bringing Penny over to nap this morning at my parents’ place. Instead, I drop my head onto my arm and let my eyes close.
Mom runs her fingers through my hair. “After today, the branding moves should be finished, and it should calm down a bit.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I know. I’d somehow forgotten just how busy June is.”
And the trial for that bastard isn’t making it any less hectic. The first announcements broke shortly after Lance went back to his main office in Missoula Tuesday morning, two days ago now.
The front door opens, and Dad’s voice echoes to us.
“Mail came early, so I picked it up.” He sets a stack of letters and a larger, unadorned envelope on the counter next to me. He kisses the crown of my head. “Joan sent me home with your syrup, too, darling. It’s by the front door with Penny’s things so you don’t forget it.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Even my voice rings with exhaustion.
His smile is soft as he adjust his glasses. “I remember those days,” he murmurs. “Just one more big day, and all three of you can breathe.”
“Until we go to Nashville in two weeks,” I mutter.
Mom laughs now, too. “You sure you want to travel with him this winter?”
“Absolutely.”
That possessive-tinged edge creeps into my vanilla scent as it pulses. Not that Mom or Dad notice. Thank God they’re both Betas, honestly. Otherwise the last fifteen years would have been even more embarrassing. Having Ethan know when I’m turned on is bad enough.
The need to keep Triston safe, to keep him near me when he’ll be his most vulnerable, is enough to balance out the travel fatigue that I’m bound to deal with.
Dad sorts through the mail, rolling his eyes at a couple of the envelopes. Then he pauses on the large envelope.
“Oh, this is from the Council.” He hands it to me. “I didn’t realize that. Sorry. It was in the main box, not yours.”
My heart climbs my throat as anticipation races down my spine. The small insignia of the Council sits in the center of the envelope, right underneath my address. This must be our finalized pack registration. I look up at my parents.
“Go,” Mom says with another smile. “We’ve got Penny for as long as the three of you need.”
I can’t help but flush even as I ease out of the stool.
“Thank you.”
I give them both hugs that have them chuckling.
“I’ve missed this Emily, the one that is bubbling with happiness,” Dad says as I turn to grab my shoes. “I’m proud of you for finding her again.”
I pause and look over my shoulder. Happiness bubbles under my sternum just like Dad described. It’s been several months since it’s flowed so easily, since the postpartum anxiety didn’t have me in its clutches so heavily. “Me, too.”
Then I’m rushing out to the barn and Redwood, the packet clutched tightly in my hand.
BEAU
Triston looks over his shoulder as he adjust his hat. When he tenses, I look, too, abandoning the piece of prairie grass I’d been slowly stripping to pass the time while we confirm the newest calves are handling the move to the far pastures well.
A chestnut horse grows closer, the rider’s long hair billowing the same way as the horse’s mane. I glance at my phone, frowning. Why is Emily out here without texting us? If something happened with Penny or her parents, she would have called one of us first. Triston twists so he perches on the fence post facing Emily rather than the cattle herd. I slowly stand, dropping the grass blade and lowering my hat so it blocks the sun a bit better.
Emily’s cheeks are flushed as she stops a few feet away from us and slides out of the saddle, adjusting the blue sundress she’s wearing. She runs her hand down Redwood’s neck and shoulder. When Redwood adjusts his weight and gently nudges her hand, she heaves a sigh. Then she pulls an envelope from a saddle bag on his left hip. It’s large, exactly like the one Hudson got when he and Olivia registered their pairing with the Council. Triston freezes next to me, his clove scent pulsing.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
She nods, tucking her a strand of hair behind her ear. Vanilla surrounds me as she closes the distance, the envelope pressed to her stomach. Triston whines, that one he makes low in his throat when Emily’s teasing him after Penny’s fallen asleep and we’ve all piled into his nest—or cuddled on the couch and have a movie prepped to watch. The low timbre of it, the breathless desperation, goes straight to my dick. It jerks, hard between one breath and the next. Fuck, he can’t make sounds like that when we’re not even sure this is going to end well. I adjust my hard-on while both of my partners are distracted.
