“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Codi said.
“I’m texting him right now,” Bryce said, barely glancing up and over to Harry. “Codi’s right. It’s Cash, and he’s making lunch and doughnuts. He won’t care if you and Belle come.”
“All right,” Harry said from where he sat on Bryce’s couch, his guitar in his hands. He plucked chords lazily, which made Bryce’s heart happy. Yes, his cousin was still wildly popular online, especially the video apps where he’d taken to releasing his and Belle’s music since they’d left their labels.
Harry and Belle had come to Dog Valley to check on their new house and recording studio. They’d been building for the past four or five months, after purchasing a property right on the border of the apple orchards and just inside Dog Valley city limits.
Harry couldn’t seem to do anything small, and he and Belle had hired a designer to do the house plans. Soon enough, they’d have a fully finished and furnished six-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath house. Two stories. Custom stone. Heated driveway, so Harry didn’t have to risk his musical hands shoveling snow.
And hey, for what Harry and Belle sold their songs for, they could afford it. Bryce had not been surprised in the least that Harry had left Coral Canyon for the smaller, more quaint, slower-paced life in Dog Valley.
After all, Bryce lived up here, as did his brother-in-law, and his best friend. Adam and Joey seemed to be thriving in their own right, with Joey’s bake-from-home business booming as the holidays had arrived.
In fact, Codi had ordered all their Thanksgiving pies from Joey, and Bryce had to go pick them up on Wednesday morning. They’d decided to join Kassie and Reggie, Uncle Trace and Aunt Everly and their kids, and Uncle Otis and Aunt Georgia and theirs at Kassie’s for the Turkey Day meal.
Bryce felt pulled in five thousand directions on a daily basis, and as he waited for Cash to respond, that sense of overwhelm definitely pressed down on him. Despite things going well at Rising Sun, his horse rescue ranch, Bryce always felt like he could be doing more. More within his family. More with his parents. More with the older cousins. More as a dad.
He glanced over to Codi, who gave him a soft smile. They hadn’t told anyone that she was expecting another baby yet, and Bryce wasn’t going to say a word today either.
“Not until the New Year,” Codi had whispered to him, and he still couldn’t believe he’d gotten such an amazing, strong, faithful woman to believe in him, stand at his side, and love him. He thanked God everyday for her and Matthew, the little boy currently climbing into Belle’s lap to show her one of his trains in a nice, up-close and personal way.
Finally, Bryce’s phone chimed, and his gaze flew back to it.It’s fine, Cash said.The more the merrier. Cole just texted and said he and Rachel might stop by for dessert, because they’re eating lunch with Uncle Jem and it’ll give them an out.
Bryce grinned and shoved his phone away. “He says it’s great. Let’s go.”
The guitar in Harry’s hands instantly silenced, and he set it aside as he got to his feet. “You come with me, Mister Matty.” He swooped the little boy out of Belle’s lap, both of them laughing.
Bryce watched as Harry stayed right by Belle, offering her a hand to help her off the couch. And oh, he noticed as she lumbered to her feet and rested one hand on her stomach. He immediately glanced over to Codi, who also stood in the kitchen, watching them. She popped the last bite of her cheddar cheese snack into her mouth and turned toward him.
“Ready?”
“Did you see that?”
Harry and Belle were already leaving the living room in favor of the front door, and Bryce could only see their backs now.
“See what?”
Bryce shook his head. “It was nothing. Let’s go.” He went out the side exit from the kitchen and into the garage, Codi behind him.
“Are you taking Matty?” she called to Harry, who stood at his back passenger door, clearly strapping Matty into a car seat there.
“Yep, we got ‘im,” Harry called.
Not wanting to stand out in the cold any longer than he had to, Bryce quickly opened Codi’s door for her, and she hopped in.
“Thanks, brother,” Bryce called to Harry, who waved as he too hurried around the hood of his truck, bending his head against the wind. Bryce didn’t have to fight that, as he’d parked inside his garage, but he got behind the wheel and started the vehicle to get the heater blowing.
“It needs to snow,” Codi said. “It’s so…frigid.”
“One hundred percent.” He reached over and took her hand. “I know we’ve had people take Matthew before, but it feels weirdevery time.” He grinned at her and lifted her hand to his lips. “I love you, Codi.”
She leaned her head back and smiled at him, nothing but comfort and joy between them. “I love you too, Bryce.”
Behind him, Harry backed out, and Bryce flipped the truck into reverse. “So, you really don’t think Cash and Lark are dating?”
“If they are,” Codi said. “It’s new, and you don’t need to call attention to it.” Her eyes sharpened, but Bryce simply kept grinning.
“That would be interesting, though.”
