The sound of singing lured him out to the big vegetable garden area beyond the back door on a beautiful spring morning.
Jaxi was planting. Blake had turned over the garden the previous day, and now the fresh scent of sunshine on dirt rose on the air like a promise.
PJ walked beside an open row, a bucket in his hand and sheer delight on his face. Jaxi pointed to the ground, and he dropped to his knees to push in a couple of seeds. Together, they were singing the alphabet song loud enough to echo off the house.
It took another moment to spot Justin. The little dude had both arms wrapped around Jaxi’s leg, clinging like a leech. He laughed every time she moved, his eyes squeezed shut as if he were on the wildest, most exciting ride at the Stampede.
Jaxi’s smile stayed constant, no matter how off the mark PJ’s planting efforts went.
Blake was struck with a memory. One of the garden the summer after he and Jaxi had gotten married. The twins had been born in May, but Jaxi had still planted, the newborns tucked into the double stroller in the shade while they slept. The rows of corn and beets and carrots had been ruler straight and picture perfect. Delicious to boot.
Contrasting that was a memory of last year’s crop. The rows had meandered like a drunk man had planted them—or a mom with a one-, three-, and five-year-old helping, since Lana had only been at kindergarten on alternate days. The garden had been a lush, disorderly jungle, the yellow heads of sunflowers randomly rising skyward like tall, happy-go-lucky sentinels. It had still produced delicious food for their table.
Jaxi knew growing up straight and tall happened inside babies and that sometimes messy gardens made the magic happen.
Blake marched into the dirt and dropped to his knees in front of her. She barely had time to blink before he was attacked by two little boys, but his hands went to Jaxi first, pulling her in for a sweet, tender kiss.
For one moment, quiet surrounded them, or as much quiet as they could get on a ranch in the springtime with two children laughing and the birds turning the air into a symphony of joy.
Blake rose and brushed the dirt off his knees. “I’ll be in the office if you need me.”
“Always need you,” she said with a wink. Which was true, even though Jaxi was the most independent and capable woman, bar none, Blake had ever met.
He walked into the office they’d fixed up in the main barn and stopped in surprise. “Daniel.”
His brother glanced away from the maps pinned to the wall. “Hey, lazybones.”
“Bullshit on that,” Blake said dryly. “Or has it been long enough you forgot what calving season is like?”
“Time and therapy are beginning to knock off the edges,” Daniel said before marching forward and giving him a quick hug. “Got a minute to talk?”
“Always.” Blake headed to the side of the room where they’d put in a new-fangled coffee maker. He’d thought it an extravagant luxury, but moments like this, he was very appreciative of the one-cup wonder. “Can I get you a coffee?”
Five minutes later they sat in the hard-backed chairs, leaning back and relaxed.
“I’ll get straight to the point. Lance graduates in June. Beth gave Jaxi all the details about the ceremony, but I wanted you to know that Lance specifically asked to make sure you and Travis are there. And at the barbecue afterward. Seems you two are his favourites.” Daniel’s grin said so much.
The three boys Daniel had adopted had turned all of their lives upside down at different stages of the game, but Blake’s younger brother being a dad to teenagers well ahead of the rest of them all—
Priceless and educational.
“Of course, we’ll be there. I can’t believe he’s graduating already.”
“Going to be like clockwork the next two years, with Nathan and Rob so evenly spaced in age,” Daniel said proudly. “The other thing is, Beth and I would like to give Lance a horse as a graduation present. I’ve already been in contact with Karen, and she’s got a good possibility lined up, but are you okay if the beast boards here? Lance seems to do most of the work you schedule out of the Six Pack stables.”
“I schedule him here because I like seeing the kid,” Blake admitted. “Plus, it gives Dad a kick to have a grown-up grandson hanging around, worshiping him.”