My heart soared. I didn’t know how I’d been lucky enough to be chosen by this woman. By all of them, really. I’d gone from a sad, lonely bachelor, to an immediate family. Of course, the whole “Convicted death row murderer” thing was a hitch in the plans, but I’d lain awake last night, listening to the three of them breathe around me, knowing Ripley was just across the hall, and questioned whether if given the chance for a do-over, would I take it?
And instantly, the answer was no. Not if it meant that this wasn’t where I ended up. If I had to go back to spending nights on my couch by myself, cranking up the volume to drown out the crackheads next door, and eating ramen because cooking for one was barely worth the effort, then no. I didn’t want it.
Because here in this cabin with four other people, I’d found where I was meant to be.
Liam and Ripley zoomed past again, and then there was a grunt from the bedroom, as presumably, Ripley threw himself on top of Rowe, who was still in bed.
I went in and picked Ripley up. “Let your da—Rowe—sleep.” I glanced down at his mess of dark hair spread out across a pillow. “He had a big night. Used up lots of energy that he needs to restore because Mae says he has to do it again tonight.”
He cracked one eye open. “She did?” The hope in his voice made me laugh. Ripley ran off again, losing interest in Rowe because he wasn’t moving fast enough. I held a hand out to him. “Come on. Get up. Your son is tearing the house to pieces. We need to get him outside.”
He groaned but took my hand and let me pull him to his feet. It wasn’t our usual shtick—we were much more explosive passion than tender caresses—but I stepped in and brushed my lips over his.
He paused, gaze flickering over my face curiously, before he kissed me back. “What was that for?”
I shrugged. “Can’t I fucking kiss you?”
“You can. You just normally don’t. Not like this.”
I lifted a shoulder. “Shut up about it or I won’t do it again.”
He sniggered and reached a hand up over his head, stretching. Something crashed from out in the kitchen, and we both cringed at Mae’s yelp and Liam and Ripley’s instant apologies.
“I think our breakfast just hit the decks.” Unfortunate, because those pancakes had looked amazing. “Maybe we should take Ripley outside before we lose any more food to the kitchen floor.”
“Take Liam with you, too. He’s just as bad!” Mae called crossly from the kitchen.
Rowe and I made our way into the kitchen just in time to see Liam sweep Mae off her feet and kiss the scowl off her face. She was breathless when he put her down, smiling at her impishly. “I’ll see myself out. I just wanted to do that first.” He pecked her on the cheek and then scooped Ripley up and ran for the front door, flinging it open with Ripley hanging over his shoulder, laughing hysterically.
We still needed to tell him about Norma, but none of us brought it up. I wasn’t going to piss on his parade when he was this happy. It could wait.
We ate at the picnic table outside, and then Ripley wanted to go swimming, so we all got changed and headed down to the dock. With a little floatation device strapped to his back, he threw himself into the water, no fear and full of confidence he wouldn’t sink. Rowe followed right after him, Liam cannonballing in behind them. Mae settled herself on a low chair on the bank, her swimsuit hugging her curves and a long flowing cover-up over her arms but really not covering anything else.
For which I was extremely grateful.
She was hot in anything she wore, but the black one-piece swimsuit showed off her tits, and I was thinking about how easy it would be to pop them free of the silky material if I could just get her into the water and away from the others. “Want to swim?”
“You look like you want to do more than just swim.”
“Water is dark. It hides a multitude of sins.”
She stood, dropping the cover-up, and I pulled my shirt off, so all I wore was swim trunks. Her gaze flickered over my abs for a moment before she took off, running for the water and throwing herself off the edge.
I went right along with her, diving in the deep end with her in more ways than one.
The day passed in a happy blur of swimming, sunbaking, grilling burgers for lunch, and just being together. I didn’t want to think about brainstorming new suspects in Jayela’s case, plus I knew Liam’s office was inquiring into that. It was a downer always in the back of my mind but easily pushed aside on a day as beautiful as this. No one wanted to go inside. We ran back and forth to the cabin, eventually taking everything we needed down by the water.
Night was starting to push the sun down when Mae finally called it. Ripley was nearly asleep on her lap, and she glanced over at us. “I think it’s time to head back. He needs a shower before he falls asleep.”
I didn’t want to move. I was warm and comfortable lying on a blanket on the bank, the last rays of sun sinking into my skin. Rowe lay beside me, sunglasses on, though I suspected he’d fallen asleep not long ago, content in knowing that one of us would always be watching Ripley if he wasn’t. But Mae was right. We couldn’t lie out here all night. The mosquitos would eat us alive. I stood and grabbed the edge of the blanket, yanking it hard so Rowe rolled right off it. Ripley and Mae both giggled at Rowe’s grunt and subsequent lifting of glasses to glare at me.
“Wake up. Time to go home.”
I gathered up an armload of things, then went on ahead while they packed up the last of the food. Back in the clearing, I dumped chairs and fishing poles into the shed and took the blanket with me toward the house.
A glint of silver on the picnic table stopped me, and I frowned at the knife lying there. “Super safe to leave a hunting knife just sitting in reach of a four-year-old, guys,” I mumbled, picking it up and returning it to the shed. I put it up high on a shelf where Rip couldn’t reach it. The entire shed needed reorganizing really. None of it was set up for an inquisitive child who might wander in. At the very least, we needed to get a lock for it. The fact he couldn’t reach the handle yet really wasn’t enough. If a kid wanted to get into something bad enough, they’d find a way.
I was halfway back to the house when a scream ripped through the open air.
I froze.
Liam was the opposite. He banged his way out onto the porch and stared at me with huge eyes. “Was that—?”