Delivering His Gifts (Mountain Men of Liberty #10)- K.C. Crowne Page 0,62

the cameras at the house while they were there. Hopefully, we could return home soon, but if not, at least the place they had found for us was nice. Very nice, in fact. It might be safer to be somewhere Greg couldn’t find us until I dealt with all the legal issues. And there would be legal issues. If Greg thought he could continue treating me the way he was, he had another think coming. I knew it might take time to build a case against him, and until then, he would likely have legal rights to see Skyler. I didn’t really think he would hurt her or take her away - he just wanted to make my life hell for leaving him.

“Can we look around the house, Mommy?” Skyler asked, her voice cheery.

It brought me out of my dark haze. “Of course, honey. Want to check out the bedrooms?”

“Yes!” Skyler squealed, hopping up from the couch.

After introductions were made all around, we followed Mason and Eli to the front part of the house, where the spiral staircase led to a second floor. Graham and Sam were behind us.

“We’ll be back soon,” Mason said. “If needed, we may make a few trips. Can you prepare an area for the guinea pigs and the rabbit while we’re gone?”

I met his eyes, and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. I couldn’t believe he was going through all this trouble for me. Well, me, my daughter, his baby, and all our critters. Calvin was right - Mason was a good man.

He turned to leave, but I grabbed his arm. He turned around with a curious look on his face. “What is it?”

“Just be careful, Mason. Greg will likely know what you’re doing, and I worry he might show up or something.”

“We can handle him,” Eli said reassuringly. “And if things get out of hand, I have the sheriff on speed dial. Teddy’s a friend of ours.”

I thanked Eli, but I still couldn’t let go of Mason’s arm. I didn’t really have much else to say, but there was a part of me that didn’t want him to leave. But eventually, I let go.

“We’ll be back soon,” he assured me.

I felt a tug at my other arm and looked down. “Come on, Mommy. I want to see my room.”

“Alright, let’s go see the bedrooms, but then we have to figure out where the piggies and Jellybean go.”

Skyler took off toward the steps, taking them quicker than I was comfortable with.

“Slow down,” I said, following her. “And hold onto the railing.”

“Yes, Mommy,” she said impatiently.

“Do you want us to come up with you?”

I’d almost forgotten about my security detail, and the very idea of having them watch over our every move exhausted me. I stopped walking and glanced back.

“If it’s okay, I’d like some time alone with my daughter,” I said.

“Of course. Just holler if you need anything,” one of them said.

I had a hard time telling them apart. Mason had mentioned they were twins, though not identical. As far as I could tell, they were, though, just with different hair and one had a slightly longer beard. Then again, all the Harveys looks alike. No doubt they were brothers.

At the top of the stairs, there was a hallway with several doors.

“Think we can have a house this big one day, Mommy?” Skyler asked as she tried the first door. It opened to a large bedroom with a twin bed. The walls were pink with delicate, white furniture. It was clearly a little girl’s room at some point, and Skyler squealed with delight.

She ran over to the bed, which had a Princess Peach stuffed doll on it. We had named our guinea pigs after the princesses from Super Smash Bros. She was far too young to remember the old-school games I had grown up with, but she always loved playing as Peach in the game. I watched as she played with the doll, exploring the large room with it.

“This room is perfect for me,” Skyler said.

It was much larger than her room at our house. I walked over to a door and found a walk-in closet. Another door led to a bathroom that connected to the room next door. I walked through and opened the door, finding another room that seemed to be decorated for a boy with blue walls and dark wood furniture. I rubbed my expanding belly and wondered - was the child inside me be a boy this time? Or another girl?