John lugged his big body from the couch where he’d been nursing a beer. “Can I have a word?”
Liam sat on the floor with his very pregnant girlfriend, and Adam had his wife, Carly, on his lap while their two kids played on the carpet.
Since Della and I hadn’t made it to the forest for our honeymoon, the Wilsons had improvised and hosted an all-day affair of just hanging out. And for once, I didn’t mind being around people.
These weren’t just people.
They were our people.
Family.
Cassie had hired a last-minute caterer to feed us, seeing as Patricia’s culinary magic was no more, and the Wilson grandchildren did a good job at pegging up the hole left by her missing presence—even though nothing could replace such an amazing woman.
Della and I were planning on going away tonight. We’d have a few days to ourselves before I threw myself back into my farm chores, saved some cash, and planned where we would live.
The one bedroom in the stable was too cramped, and although I’d had such good news yesterday, I wouldn’t take any bonus years for granted.
I needed to sort out our future…soon.
“Sure, what’s up?” I asked, swigging the final mouthful of my own beer—just one to celebrate—and catching the ever watchful, always loving eye of my wife.
Della had been Mrs Wild for twenty-four hours, and I couldn’t stop looking at her or my ring on her finger.
She gave me a smile from where she sat with Cassie and Nina on the floor doing a puzzle. Pieces were scattered everywhere with Nina giving directions to her mother and aunt.
Cassie looked up, grinned at me, then glanced at her father and nodded secretly.
What the—
I didn’t like that.
I didn’t like secrets.
My hackles rose.
“Come into the kitchen.” John tipped his white head toward the scuffed, well-used table and chairs. “Bring Della. This concerns her, too.”
Whenever we had conversations at that table, things happened.
Big things.
Life-changing things.
I wanted to groan. What had he done now, the meddling ass? I still had his Cherry River contract tucked in the dresser in our room. I’d read the fine print, and sure enough, he’d given full insurance to all my health-related incidents.
I’d made a mental note to call the lawyer who had my Will and Testament and ask him how much John would stand to lose by covering me. I’d heard horror stories of some drugs costing thousands per week, sometimes tens of thousands.
I didn’t want to die, but I wouldn’t put anyone into destitution to save my life, either.
John was worth a lot with his land. If he were to sell, he’d be a millionaire without a doubt. But all that equity was tied into his legacy, and I never wanted to be the reason he’d be forced to sell.
Della cast me a look, climbing to her feet.
“Go on,” Cassie whispered. “You’ll want to hear this.”
My eyes skipped over the Wilson children and grandchildren before Della clutched my hand and tugged me toward where John had sat down. The entire vibe of the place had changed. Everyone was in on this, whatever it was.
I narrowed my eyes warily. “What’s going on?”
“Sit.” John pointed at the chairs beside him, waiting until Della and I obeyed.
We sat, and my tension wound even more. “Okay, we’re sitting. Now what?”
He smirked. “Always so suspicious.”
“Always justified around you.”
He chuckled, his large paws linking on the table top. “One of these days, you’re going to learn to relax, Ren. Mark my words.”
Phrases like that were double-edged swords. ‘One of these days’ implied a timeline that stretched into infinity. We both knew I didn’t have infinity—not that anyone did. We all died...eventually.
But just because I’d had incredible news that I wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while, it didn’t stop the bitter-sweetness that it would be sooner than I liked.
“One of these days, you’ll stop surprising me with your harebrained ideas.” I smiled. “I mean, who gives a fifteen-year-old kid a place to stay and makes him family? Who hires a lawyer for a supposed kidnapper—”
“Yeah, okay. I’m a saint. I get the point.”
Della laughed, making my heart wing as I reclined in my chair.
I chuckled under my breath. “Yeah, a saint who interferes.”
He held up his hand. “Guilty.”
“Once Ren has stopped giving you a hard time, John…what is it you wanted to talk to us about?” Della asked quietly, blonde hair scooped over her shoulder. Her ribbon around her throat today.
The same throat I’d squeezed from behind and pushed down while I took her.
Tearing my gaze away, I cleared my mind from inappropriate thoughts.
John grinned. “First, I want to say a very happy marriage to you two. It was an absolute honour to give you away, Della.”
Della’s cheeks pinked with affection. “The honour was mine, Uncle John.”
My skin prickled with warning as John looked at me. “It’s tradition, don’t you think, that the father—or at least, pretend father of the bride, gives a gift on their wedding day?”
“John…” I warned. “What did you do?”
“What?” He blinked innocently.
He wasn’t innocent.
Smiling, he raised his voice. “Cassie, darlin’? I forgot the file. Do you mind?”
“Not at all.” Cassie leapt to her feet, earning a screech from Nina for disrupting the puzzle, then practically skipped into the kitchen where she placed a blue folder in front of her dad, kissed his white hair, then winked at me.
My nervousness blew into all-out alert. “What exactly is going on?”
“You’ll see.” Cassie blew Della a kiss, then went to sit with her daughter.
“John?” My eyebrow rose as the big man opened the file and smoothed out the papers with a hairy hand.
“Hold your horses, Ren. Give me a moment to find the right words.”
“What words?”
“The words to tell you what I did and make you somehow accept it, without getting all high and mighty.”
“Oh, for God’s sake.” I crossed my arms. “If this gift is more than just a bottle of wine then I’m not accepting it.”
“Wind your neck in, Ren.” John pointed a finger in my face. “Just ’cause you’re sick—” He cut himself off with a terrified wince. “God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s fine.” I forced myself to relax and take the blame. “My fault. I’m winding you up.”
Della scooted forward, placing a dainty hand on John’s massive wrist. “He’s the one being an ass. Take all the time you want and don’t worry about his reaction.” Her blue eyes met mine with a sharp glare. “I’ll deal with him.”
“You’ll deal with me?”
“Yep.” She stuck her chin in the air.
“Just because I married you doesn’t mean I obey you, Mrs Wild.”
“Oh, yeah?” She tried to stop a smile. “Well, I’ll just have to beat you until you do.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
Lust sprung hotly.
Della averted her eyes, cheeks pinked and skin flushed.
John groaned. “Ever since that phone call from your oncologist yesterday, you’ve been incorrigible, Ren.”
I shrugged, no longer caring what he was about to do. “What can I say? I’m the happiest guy alive.”
No one mentioned the part of that sentence that lingered in the dark.
I’m the happiest guy alive…for now.
I could joke and laugh and be truly happy that I’d bought myself more time, but I also couldn’t deny that the awful word still existed.
Incurable.
“Right, well, before you two disappear into the forest to do God knows what, I’ve done something.” He laid his hand firmly on the folder like a judge would a gavel. “I’ve told you that I love you as much as I love my own kids. You are my kids. There is no difference. And because of that…I couldn’t not do what I’ve done, if that makes sense.”
“Your cryptic reply is not helping my ability to stay calm, John,” I muttered, doing my best to read the papers his hand obscured. “What exactly is going on?”