‘Hey.’
‘Hey, yourself.’ Beth’s sitting beside him, smiling and waving.
I wink at her, struggling to remember a time she wasn’t in our lives.
‘You were great today,’ Beth says. Beside her, Cole’s expression is stony, then the camera moves to pan around our familiar lounge room, all well-worn leather sofas and big-ass windows that frame views of that stunning ranch. I feel a pang of homesickness that’s only slightly mitigated by the fact I’ll be back in a little over a week.
‘Hey, it’s the whole gang,’ I quip.
‘That bull looked tough,’ Mackenzie says, moving to sit on the edge of the armchair beside Beth.
‘Yeah, he was a piece of work alright.’
‘Not that you’d notice, with you ridin’ him,’ Mackenzie adds.
‘Wait a sec, what’s going on. Mack’s never sweet to me.’
Cole laughs. ‘Who knows? Must be trying to get in your good books.’
‘What’s that about?’ I wonder, as the bathroom door opens and Bailey steps out. I flick a smile in her direction then look back at the screen.
‘It’s always a pleasure to see y’all but it’s actually not a good time.’
‘Don’t tell me you’ve got company?’ Nash asks from behind the camera. Cole flicks it around so I’m eye to eye with my twin and his knowing smile.
I glance at Bailey again and see the way pink spreads on her cheeks. She shakes her head, clearly panicking.
‘Wouldn’t you like to know,’ I murmur smugly, giving nothing away.
‘Of course he’s got company. You know what he likes after he comes off a bull like that. He needs to ride something a little prettier,’ Austin chimes in, with a comment that’s both untrue and definitely not the kind of thing I want Bailey thinking is true.
‘Hey,’ I snap. ‘Quit it.’
‘Just kiddin’, bro,’ Austin says. But Bailey’s moving toward the door, all dressed and buttoned up. She pulls it inwards and goes to wave me off.
‘Let me call you back,’ I say, but then I hear Beth say to Cole, ‘Stop messing around and tell him already,’ which halts me in my tracks. Because if Beth needs to tell me something, it’s important.
‘We were gonna wait till you got home,’ Cole says, as the door pulls closed behind Bailey and I wrench my focus back to the screen with a serious case of barely hidden irritation. ‘But then someone accidentally uploaded something to Instagram, so the cat’s outta the bag.’
‘What cat? What bag?’
‘We wanted you to hear it from us,’ Beth insists. ‘We’re having a baby.’
I stare at the screen, at my sister-in-law, my brother and their huge, goofy smiles. ‘We are?’
‘Well, technically,weare,’ Beth corrects, then laughs. ‘No, you’re right. We all are. A little baby Donovan, coming soon—well, soon-ish—so watch this space.’
I whoop loudly into the room, so goddamn happy for them I could punch something. ‘This is fucking great news,’ I say. ‘I’m thrilled for you guys.’
‘Thanks,’ Cole says with a nod that reminds me so much of our dad I almost feel like he’s there in that moment.
‘We’re pretty pleased, too,’ Beth grins, as Mackenzie puts an arm around Beth’s shoulders. Cassidy wanders into the frame, long hair pulled over one shoulder.
‘So hurry home, you hear?’
‘You saying you miss me, Cass?’ I tease, because of all of us Donovans, Cassidy is probably the least sentimental.
‘You’re a jackass,’ she says but with an affectionate lift of her brows.
