alive. So, those sociopathic tendencies you think I have? They aren’t too much of a concern any longer, are they?”
He blew the air out of his lungs and answered honestly, “No. Loving someone so deeply would eliminate that concern.”
“Huh. You don’t say.” Jeremiah stared at the man. Joseph’s comment was the equivalent of a huge ‘fuck you’. He’d take it. The man had finally opened up and given him the answers he needed. He was going to get his Go on the evaluation.
Realizing he’d passed the evaluation, Joseph rose and went to the door. Jeremiah drew a deep breath and got ready to deal with his old friend with her overprotective assassin boyfriend in the room. Yay. He put his pen and paper down and rubbed his face. He was going to renegotiate his contract. Gabriel wasn’t paying him enough.
Chapter 25
Present Day:
Eden sat on the porch rocking Carmen even though she’d fallen asleep a half-hour ago. The sun was warm, and the house blocked the cool spring breeze. She watched as Jay helped his father by handing him tools from the toolbox. It would have taken half the time to work on the old thing if Jeremiah had gone at it alone.
She couldn’t hear what was being said, but Jeremiah’s low rumble as he pointed and talked made her smile. He was so patient with Jamison, who wanted to know everything about everything. She glanced down at their daughter and smiled. She was blessed. With Jeremiah’s practice at full capacity thanks to Guardian, she’d followed her heart and quit her full-time job with the county. She still worked one day a week to give Zeke a day off. It was the best of both worlds for her. Phil Granger’s wife watched Jay and Carmen until Auntie Gen was done at the cafe. The children loved Gen, and the woman doted on each of them.
Speaking of which, she smiled as Gen’s truck came into view. Auntie Gen was going to take the kids for the night. She did it once a month, which gave Mom and Dad some quality time together.
When Jay saw her truck, he took off running down the dirt road, his arms waving wildly. Jeremiah shouted, “Jamison Riley Wheeler, you be careful!” She stood up and watched. Gen stopped the truck and got out, going to her knees for a hug. They climbed back into the truck, and although she couldn’t see it, she knew Jay was driving the truck the rest of the way down the drive.
Jeremiah walked back to the house and leaned down to kiss her and then brush his lips on Carmen’s dark hair. “I’ll have to fix that tractor tomorrow; he wants to help.”
She leaned into him when he wrapped his arm around her. “He’s grown up when we weren’t looking.”
“When did he get so big?” Jeremiah chuckled and waved when his sister’s truck came to a stop and Jay put it in gear. His smile was bigger than the South Dakota sky.
“Mom, Dad! Gen said she got a new superhero movie and we’re having popcorn. I’ll go get my bag. Be right back, Auntie Gen!”
Gen laughed as she walked up to the house. “Ah, there’s my little sweetheart. Come to Auntie Gen.” Gen took Carmen and kissed her as she started rocking back and forth. “I love the smell of babies.”
Jeremiah snorted. “Some smells I could do without.”
Eden laughed and led them into the house. “I’ll get her bag.”
“I got it, Mom. Come on, Auntie Gen, we got to go.” Jay raced back through the house, his backpack and the diaper bag bouncing as he ran.
“Whoa there, mister.” Jeremiah lifted the diaper bag. “Trying to put me out of work?”
“Nope, but it’s the latest release, dad.”
Jeremiah leaned down. “See if she’ll let us borrow it so I can watch it, too.”
Jay put out his fist and Jeremiah bumped it with his own. They were out the door a moment later.
Eden chuckled at their antics. “Thanks, Gen.” She kissed Carmen one more time and gave Gen a baby quilt to keep the cool wind off Carmen.
“I love this. I plan for it all month. Besides, I want to see that new movie. Jay has me hooked on those damn superheroes. I’ll have them back about noon tomorrow, then I’ll head into Rapid for my monthly run. Do you need anything?”
“Let me grab the bottles out of the fridge and yeah, actually, I do have a list. I’ll give it to you tomorrow along