with, and Ringo had chased it right into the mudroom. Then the garden box. It kept going back and forth.”
“Oh good Lord. Did you run it off? Did the babies freak out?”
“Well.” Brent cackled. “It finally bit Mama Cass, so she snapped it in two. Susannah and Caroline are busy nursing her. They have her tucked in a dog bed with blankets and copious Band-Aids.”
“Oh.” He started chuckling, and the sounds quickly turned to hard laughter. “Best reason to leave an awkward lunch with an ex ever.”
“Aw, man. Was it bad?” Brent sounded sympathetic, but he was laughing along.
“No, just weird. They want to meet y’all.” He grabbed his keys and hopped out of the van.
“Cool. We’ll have a cookout.”
He knew it. That was Brent’s answer to all things social—keep them outside, keep the beer flowing, and have fire. Perfect.
“Sounds like a plan. I’m going to grab supper. Are Hal and Curly set up?”
“Hal asked if you would get them a take and bake at the store. They’ll eat at the bunkhouse.”
“On it. Pepperoni and sausage?” Curly didn’t do onions on his pizza.
“Yes, please. And some Dr Pepper. They’re good to us.” Oh, listen to husky Brent.
“Good deal. I’ll be home in an hour, hour and a half.” He needed to get some odds and ends; good thing his list was on his phone.
“Thanks, hon. You’ll have to tell me all about the ex and his new honey.”
“I totally will. See you in a bit, cowboy.”
“Okay. Bye.” Brent hung up again, but this time was way less panicky.
He put his phone in his pocket and grabbed a buggy. He had a romantic supper to plan.
Chapter 16
“Dad-O? Are you in here?”
Brent blinked awake, the clock staring back at him—5:00 a.m.
“Susannah? What’s wrong, honey?”
“Caro is crying. She had a nightmare. I can’t find Dad-O.”
“He’s right here, baby.” He shook Trace gently.
“Coming. What’s wrong?” Trace was up and moving, still sound asleep.
“Caro needs you.”
Brent held out a hand to Susannah. “You stay here with Dad-O, and I’ll go check on Caro, huh?” Man, he was glad he’d worn pants. He crawled out of bed, then lifted Suze into it with Trace.
Trace wrapped around her, humming softly.
Brent headed into the bedroom. “Caro? Baby? You okay?”
“Daddy! Daddy, I dreamed y’all burned up in a fire!” She launched herself in his arms, sobbing. “I telled Suzy to run.”
“Shhh.” Oh, poor girl. He picked her up. “I’m right here. I have you. I’m just fine.”
“Daddy, I love you.” She held on tight, and his heart clenched.
“I love you too, baby girl. So much. Should we check on Jakob?”
“Is sister okay?” Jakob was standing there, looking pale as milk. “Can we sleep in your room?”
He heard Daisy start to wail, and about the time he sighed, he heard Trace murmur to her.
“Come on, guys. Potty first, then we can all lie down.” Good thing he had a huge king bed and the dogs slept with Curly and Harold.
He met Trace and two little girls on the way back to bed, and soon they were all piled in together. A low roll of thunder sounded as they settled.
Ah. That explained a lot. Storms made it hard for the kids to sleep alone.
Caro pushed into Suzy’s arms, and Jakob cuddled into him. Trace had little Daisy, was humming to her.
He turned the TV on to something low and benign, nothing that would scare anyone who happened to look up. The white noise would help.
Trace looked over at him, winked. Yeah. Yeah, this felt…normal. Right. Sure as hell better than, say, Curly crawling in.
That was just creepy as fuck.
Hell, that might give him nightmares. Good thing his whole family was right there.
Lightning flashed and no one even cracked an eyelid. Suzy squeezed Caro, and Jakob sighed and burrowed under the quilt.
They were all safe. Together. He really liked that feeling.
When he woke up again, the smell of sausage filled the house.
Oh.
Sunday.
Biscuit day.
Hell, it was fried chicken day too, but right now? Biscuits, sausage and gravy. Curly and Hal would be hanging around drooling like hot dogs.
Maybe Trace would double the recipe so they could have biscuits with supper.
He eased out of bed, counting kids. Daisy had to be with Trace. He changed the station to cartoons. The kids could watch in his room until breakfast if they wanted.
He heard Daisy giggle, her little laugh charming the hell out of him.
“I know. It’s crazy, isn’t it? Soon you will be having biscuits and not zwiebacks. You have to learn to take princess