“Now I know I was wrong,” I said curtly. “Laney and Claire aren’t only distractions or the fulfillment of my duties. They’re the point of it all. It turns out, I can have everything all at once. The work, the success, and the home. I just had to stop thinking one came at the expense of the other.”
Callum nodded slowly, suddenly thoughtful. “I didn’t think I’d ever hear that from you.”
“Neither did I.”
I’d never thought that my life could or would turn out like this. I’d never even given this kind of existence any consideration at all.
When my father had issued that ultimatum, I’d accepted because it had been my duty. I hadn’t expected that I would ever feel so settled or so happy about it, but these days, I didn’t feel like I was chasing anything.
I felt like I’d already arrived. I was living my highly unlikely happily ever after, and fuck, I never thought it would make me so damn happy.
CHAPTER 49
JAMESON
Late Summer
The hum of the vacuum was my only tether to sanity. Straight lines. Predictable noise. A small, controllable corner of the universe, which was precisely why I clung to it like a lifeline most mornings—especially now that my home resembled the aftermath of a small carnival explosion on a daily basis.
Trent was on speaker, his voice echoing over the noise. “I’m tellin’ you, man, you need a simpler system. Floors are for walkin’, not worshipping.”
“They’re for both,” I said, nudging the vacuum around a dog toy. “You wouldn’t understand. You let mud into your house on purpose.”
“That’s called earth, Jameson. People touch it. It’s normal.”
I rolled my eyes and kept vacuuming. I’d just finished aligning the throw pillows in the living room as precisely and evenly as any rational person would when the front door banged open and chaos itself came barreling in. The dogs rose and the kittens sniffed curiously, only the cats themselves remaining aloof.
“Hang on,” I said into the phone. “Sadie’s home. Just?—”
“Jameson!” Sadie’s voice came from the foyer, high-pitched and strangely breathless. “Jamie! Where are you?”
I barely had time to switch off the vacuum before Hooch launched himself into the hallway, tail wagging like a metronome gone mad as he lumbered toward them. The twins’ shrieking giggles followed as soon as they spotted him, a sweet reaction that had begun about a week ago and seemed to have become their default setting when they saw him.
Not only did our girls look exactly like their mother, but they also seemed to have inherited the pure, unadulterated joy that animals brought her. Chuckling as I followed him out, my phone still in my hand, I wondered what all the fuss was about.
Sadie had taken the girls to the doctor with her this morning. She’d insisted I didn’t have to come and that she was only going to introduce them to the doctor that had taken care of her and them during the pregnancy, but I could practically feel the odd, frantic energy in the air as I approached them.
“Whoa. What’s going on?” I asked as Sadie wrestled a double-stroller roughly the size of a compact car through the foyer.
Her words came in a rapid, unbroken stream. “I’m fine, but just listen… Oh, move, Hooch. Please. Jameson… Hooch! Wait.”
“Sadie. English.” I blinked hard, but I still went over to help her navigate the side table and the horse-sized dog with the giant stroller. “Are you okay? What happened?”
In her panic, she’d also riled up Hooch and all the other dogs that had become part of my personal three-ring circus these days. All of them were now racing toward us too, sliding on the tiles as they tried to stop. They were barking and whimpering, some mewling while tails wagged and others cowering.
It was complete insanity and yet my heart had lurched into my throat. Something was terribly wrong here. Not because of the chaos or even the convergence around the front door whenshe arrived home. All of that was part of our daily life, but Sadie herself was giving off vibes that honestly scared me a little bit.
Faced with the wall of animals, she had frozen completely, her vibrant red hair wild, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes bright with something that looked suspiciously like panic. “Okay. Just give me a second.”
Before I could press for clarity, Hailey started fussing, so I scooped her up, bouncing her on my hip, then reached for Briar as she stretched her arms out too. Two squirming infants, half a dozen barking dogs, and a wife on the verge of emotional collapse—just another Tuesday in the Westwood household. But still, something was odd about it this time around.
“Sadie,” I said again, gentler now. “What happened?”
Strangely, she broke then, but not into a spiral of panic. Into tears. Big, gulping, full-body sobs that made my heart stop cold.
“Hey, hey,” I said quickly, juggling both girls and stepping toward her. “What’s wrong? Is it the doctor? Are you hurt? Are the girls?—”
She shook her head furiously, fumbling through her purse like a woman possessed while her shoulders shook and tears streamed down her face. “No, no, everyone’s fine. It’s just, uh, just… Oh, here.”
