see you soon!
All the usual access roads to the ranch from Lane’s house were closed due to snow, but even with having to go allthe way around through town, I still arrived there less than twenty minutes later. When I walked inside, I was immediately enveloped in the woodstove’s smokey warmth and the scent of…
“Is that apple pie I smell?” I called as I headed toward the kitchen.
Birdie popped up from behind the counter and grinned. “Sure is. Figured I’d treat my girls.”
My girls. Holy hell, I loved the sound of that. Not only that Birdie, one of the strongest, kindest, more impressive women I’d ever met, claimed me as one of her own, but the fact that Aspen and Reagan did as well.
“Do you need help with anything?”
“Not at the moment,” she said as she came around the counter and drew me into a hug. We were roughly the same height, and I’d never understood how this average-sized woman gave birth to the behemoth men she called her sons. Hell, even Aria was tall.
When she released me, Birdie indicated the family dining room, the less formal gathering space where they had their meals unless it was a special occasion. “Aspen and Reagan are in there.”
Taking that as my cue to leave, I moved past her and into the room, where Aspen and Reagan sat in the center of the long wooden table, one on either side.
“Hey!” Reagan grinned when I appeared, then patted the bench at her side. Before I’d fully sat, a healthy pour of red wine was pushed in front of me. Seeing no problem with imbibing a bit, I lifted the glass and took a sip.
“Do you guys do this a lot?” I asked, referencing both hanging out in the Lawless family dining room and drinking wine at three p.m.
“Often enough,” Aspen admitted. “We’re both self-employed, which comes with a certain amount of free time and flexibility.”
“How is everything going for you both?”
“Slow,” Reagan admitted. “But we knew it would happen. Not many people are interested in braving the frigid temps and cold to have their photos taken, and there certainly aren’t any weddings happening this time of year.”
“Not yet!” Birdie quipped from the kitchen, and I angled toward Reagan, raising a brow.
“We’re working on getting the barn set up as an event space. Aspen and Crew’s wedding gave Birdie the idea, and I offered to help. We figure we can offer packages that include ceremony and reception sites, tables, chairs, catering, decorating,andphotography. The whole nine yards.”
“I think that’s an amazing idea!”
“Me too,” Aspen agreed. “It’s nice that something good could come out of that truly horrific time in our lives.”
I gave into a shiver at the reminder of what had happened that weekend last summer—at the reminder of Lane getting shot.
But I wasn’t the only one bearing scars from that weekend.
“How’s your sister doing, anyway?” I asked Reagan.
“She’s great! Living with her boyfriend in New York now.”
“That’s amazing,” I breathed, meaning it. Seeing both Reagan and Lainey getting their happy endings after the hell they’d gone through last year was wonderful and gave me hope for my own future.
“And what about you?” Aspen asked. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine.”
Aspen snorted. “Don’t lie to us.”
I groaned. “Okay, I’m not fine.”
In fact, I was so far fromfinewe didn’t even exist in the same hemisphere.
“House arrest that bad?” Aspen teased.
“Don’t joke about that! It could actually happen.”
