Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102016 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
“Good. I want to sled.”
“The princess has spoken,” Brooks says.
“Where’s Beck?” I ask.
“Not here yet,” Bee says as she steps over to us, a hot beverage in her hands. “He said he’ll be here in a little while.”
“Why are you drinking that when we’re about to sled?” I ask her.
“You’re about to sled. I’m going to watch.” Bee grins. The woman grew up on a ranch, but you’d never know it. She’s all about fashion and anything that keeps her clean and off a horse.
She’s a girly girl.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
“Hold my purse,” Dani says, passing it to Bee, who slings it across her body. “Let’s do this!”
Dani grabs a sled, takes Birdie by the hand, and leads her over to the hill.
All four of us stand side by side, watching as my girls sit on the sled and then belly laugh as they fly down the snow.
“That’s cute.”
I turn at the sound of Beck’s voice and smile. “There he is. Yeah, it’s fucking cute.”
“I’m going with them,” Brooks says, and we all, except for Bee, follow suit.
For the next hour, we play in the snow. We throw snowballs. We make snow angels.
We laugh.
God, we laugh a whole lot.
“Smile,” Dani says, holding her phone up to get a picture of Birdie and me sitting on the sled. “Got it.”
Finally, Birdie looks up at me and says, “I need hot chocolate.”
“I think we all do,” Dani says. “Let’s go to the lodge and have some. What do you think?”
With nods all around, we make our way to the parking lot to shed some layers and put the sleds in the trucks, and then walk up to the pub where we order a round of hot chocolates and then take our drinks to a lounge with views of the snow and the mountains.
Dani, Bee, and Birdie have settled on a couch, cuddled up together, talking and drinking their hot chocolate.
And the sight of Birdie snuggled up to Dani makes my heart ache in a great way.
“So, what’s up with you, man?” Brooks asks Beckett. “I’m surprised you came up here.”
“I’m swamped.” He rubs his hand over the back of his neck. Beck is built like the rest of us. Well past six feet, with the Blackwell dark hair and eyes. He’s the only brother with a beard, but it works for him. “I’ve had machinery issues, a sick cow, a coyote got into my chickens—”
I glance over to make sure Dani didn’t hear about the chickens, but she didn’t. She’s braiding Birdie’s hair for her.
“On the guest side of things, the first people who stayed in cabin number four put a hole in the wall,” Beck continues.
“What the fuck?” I ask.
“Renters, man,” Brooks says, shaking his head. “Vacationers are assholes.”
“Not all of them,” Blake points out. “But yeah, a lot of them. Shit, I’m sorry, Beck.”
“It’s just been one thing after another, so when you called to come up here, I said fuck it. I needed an afternoon away.”
“You need to hire more help,” Brooks points out. “You need a property manager for the rentals.”
“Agreed,” I add.
“I’m working on it.” Beck scowls down into his hot chocolate. “I have some feelers out for someone. I might hire a local company to help me out until I can find someone to live on-site.”
“The sooner the better,” Blake agrees.
“You really need to get out more,” I say. “Maybe actually date someone.”
I’m met with dead silence, and then my asshole brothers laugh at me.
“You know,” Blake says with a grin, “I remember saying something similar to you a couple of years ago, and you told me to go fuck myself. That you didn’t need anyone because you had Birdie.”
“I believed that.” I shrug. “I was happy. And now, I’m happier.”
“You’re whipped,” Brooks says.
“Totally and gratefully.” I grin. “I mean, she’s beautiful. She’s smart as fuck, and she’s damn good with my kid. What more could I ask for?”
“Dani’s great,” Blake agrees. “We’ve loved her and her sisters forever.”
“Yeah, man,” Beck adds. “No one’s saying you shouldn’t be with her. She’s been good for you. It’s just funny as hell because you were solidly a bachelor after the shit that Angela pulled.”
“You mean, the shit she’s still pulling?”
Brooks pulls in a breath and cracks his neck. “Yeah, tell us what’s going on there.”
I tell them about what happened last month at the school, and by the time I’ve finished, all three of them look like they’d like to punch someone.
“What a bitch,” Beck says. “What’s her deal? She’s been gone a long time.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Blake asks. “She’s jealous. Found out about Dani and decided everyone had to pay for that.”
“Bingo,” I say, pointing at my brother. “So far, she hasn’t done anything else, but I’ve heard she’s still in town.”
“She is,” Brooks says, shifting in his chair. “She came into my shop and asked if I’d look at her car for her, on the house, since she’s family.”