Wide Open Spaces (Shooting Stars #2) - Aurora Rose Reynolds Page 0,65
sound of a baby giggling on the other side and smile. Rhonda and Ben are either already here, or Lea has once again confiscated Braden, their son. Something I know she’s done often since his birth, which drives Austin crazy, since Lea is pregnant and, as Austin puts it, should be resting. She obviously ignores him, since she has Braden as much as Rhonda will let her.
Seeing Lea come to the door and her smile through the glass, I—not for the first time—feel happy as hell for my friend. Lea and Austin dated in high school. They were solid when they were teens, and everyone knew they were planning on getting married after graduation. Then Lea’s father passed away in a boating accident, and instead of staying in town and marrying Austin, she moved away and eventually married someone else, only to move home and find herself back with Austin. Since then, they’ve been inseparable, and are now married and have a son of their own on the way.
“Hey, Zach.” Lea smiles as soon as she has the door open, and then leans up on her tiptoes, kissing my cheek. “Come on in. We’re all in the living room waiting for the guys.”
I step into the house, sliding the door closed behind me. “They still at the Harbor?”
“Nope they are both upstairs attempting to put together a crib,” she says over her shoulder, as we head for the large open living room. “They could probably use your help, since they’ve been at it for three hours now, and last time I looked, it was still in a hundred pieces.” She laughs, and I smile at her then stop in place, the sight in front of me making my heart contract.
The kids—Aubrey, Hunter, and Steven—are all hanging out on the large sectional that faces the giant stone fireplace in the middle of the room, with a game in front of them spread out on the coffee table, while Shelby is seated in a chair off to the side, with Braden on her lap and a book open in front of them. I hate that I didn’t get to experience her with our kid, to see her in moments like this everyday. But something in me wonders if it’s not too late for us to have another child.
“Hey, Zach,” Rhonda says, coming toward me and pulling my attention to her, and I lean down, kissing her cheek.
“Hey, honey,” I return, and she smiles then leans into my side.
“He’s been glued to her since the moment she came in,” she tells me quietly, and my eyes go back to Shel and soften as I see her kiss the side of Braden’s head and smile when he giggles, turning his head back to look at her.
The kids all greet me at the same time, and I look at them and smile, lifting my chin, then look at Shel when I feel her eyes on me.
“Hey, baby.”
“Hey,” she says softly, then laughs when Braden grabs the book, lifting it in front of their faces and effectively cutting me off.
“Someone has a crush,” Rhonda murmurs.
“Can’t say I blame him,” I mumble back, hearing her laugh, then look toward the stairs that lead to the upper level where the bedrooms are located when I hear a loud curse that Braden just so happens to hear and repeat, making Rhonda groan.
“Reservation’s in thirty minutes. You may want to go up and make sure we’re still on track to leave in ten,” Lea suggests, and I nod at her then head up.
Once I’m at the landing, I turn toward the sound of voices and head across the expanse to find Austin and Ben both working on a white crib that is just about finished. Only the top rail is left to put on, yet they both look pissed.
“What’s up?”
“Fuck, I hate Ikea,” Austin grumbles, holding out a handful of screws toward me, and Ben laughs.
“I told him we needed to follow the directions, but he insisted we could do it off the photo from the website. This is where that idea got us,” he says, pointing at Austin’s open hand, and I smile.
“You do know you’re gonna have to take this shit apart, right?” I ask, and Austin growls.
“Fuck.” He then looks from me to Ben. “I told Lea that Jacob could just sleep with us until he’s old enough for a big kid bed, but she insisted he needs his own bed and his own room.”