He continues to massage her foot, almost absentmindedly, then he sighs. “Serena was Evelyn’s best friend.”
Tessie gasps at the explanation.
“Seeing us—it isn’t easy on her, but she has to accept it.” He puts her foot down and pushes up to sit beside her on the couch. He wraps a blanket over her lap, her belly. “She’ll come around. And if she doesn’t, that’s on her.”
His words soothe Tessie. A bit.
“Forget about Evelyn,” Solomon says, leaning forward and sweeping a kiss against her lips. “I don’t want you or the baby stressed out when we get to the shower.”
She blinks. “You’re going? I thought it was girls only.”
“Men will be in the garage. Drinking beer. Smashing shit.”
“How very caveman of you.”
He chuckles but still looks worried. “I’m not leaving you alone with my sisters without an escape plan.”
Tessie wrinkles her nose at him. “Relax. It’s a baby shower, not a Mayan sacrifice.” She adds a smile, even though her stomach gives a nervous flip. “Everyone will be on their best behavior.”
The Wilder’s roof is dusted with snow. Smoke plumes from the chimney. Despite the light layer of snow, the evergreens are strung with fuzzy pom-poms. A eucalyptus sign proclaiming WELCOME TO TESSIE’S BABY SHOWER hangs on the front door.
Tessie sits up straight when the line of cars in the driveway comes into view. Her stomach churns with equal parts nerves and excitement. A shower in her honor. And Bear’s. A feeling of belonging, of joy, has her heart thumping hard.
“You excited?” Solomon asks, his voice low and rough.
“Actually, I am.” Happy tears fill her eyes. Damn hormones. “No one’s ever done something like this for me before.”
“Tess.” He throws the pickup into park and cuts the engine. His heated gaze sears her. “You deserve it.”
She sniffs. “Don’t make me cry.”
“Remember. Come get me if it’s too much.”
Tessie laughs and squeezes his hand. “It won’t be. I’ve worked with celebrities, remember? I can handle your sister.”
Solomon climbs out of the pickup and opens her door. He helps her out of the passenger seat and then snags her hand to keep her steady on their walk to the front door. Which, really, in her puffy parka is more like a slow wobble.
“Oh my God, Solomon. I’m waddling. I’m actually waddling like a penguin. I can’t do layers.”
He chuckles, his eyes sniper focused on the ground, searching for patches of ice. “You look beautiful. For a penguin.”
Scowling, she takes in her bump, ensconced in a bionic jacket that could double as a bullet-proof vest. “I am wearing the cutest outfit under here, I swear.”
As they climb the porch stairs, a long whistle snags her attention. Ash stands in the doorway of the Wilder home, her tattooed arms tossed to the cloudy sky. “Woman, you are huge.”
Tessie’s mouth drops.
Stunned, she’s frozen in place as her two worlds—LA and Chinook—smash into each other like oncoming freight trains.
“You,” she blurts, poking a finger in Solomon’s concrete chest. Watching her, he grins like he’s kept the best secret in the world. And to her, he has. She swivels her stunned gaze to her cousin. “And you?”
“Oh yeah.” Ash swaggers, stepping out onto the porch. “Solomon planned it all. Been camped out here since yesterday. Smuggled in like a good pound of cocaine.”
Tessie stares at her mountain man, her hands clasped against her heart.
He did this. For her.
“You owe me,” Ash says. “Hell of a flight.”
Tessie cocks a brow and fixes her cousin with a stern gaze. “I owe you? In case you’ve forgotten, you owe me. This is all your fault. I never would have been here if it weren’t for you.”
Ash scoffs. “And that’s a problem?” Her attention floats to Tessie’s hand tangled up with Solomon’s. “Looks like it’s worked out pretty well for you.”
Tessie strides, as fast as she can in her heels, toward Ash. Then, fiercely, she flings her arms around her cousin’s neck. With a wobbly inhale, she buries her face in Ash’s mess of dark hair. “Thank you,” she whispers.
What Ash did for her—the thought has Tessie choking up. She’d be missing out on her entire world if Solomon had never come on the babymoon. Ash gave her that push to change her world. She’s never been more grateful.
Ash sags in her arms, smiling against her neck. “You’re welcome.” Lifting her head, she looks at Solomon. “I knew you’d get her to loosen up.”
Tessie scoffs.
Solomon laughs and tucks her against his side as they squeeze through the front door.
Inside, it’s commotion. The house smells of fire and cinnamon and pine.
“Sol?” Melody’s voice, and then she’s coming up behind Ash. “We put out the chairs, but you have to help us move the balloon arch.”
“Who is we?” Howler drifts up from the hallway, a scowl on his boyish face. “Because I pulled at least ten muscles carrying that farm bench for you.”
“Here, I’ll take your coats.” Jack claps Solomon on the shoulder and pulls Tessie into a hug. “Welcome back, Tessie.”
“Thank you.”
Melody drops a baby blue silk sash over Tessie’s torso. It’s emblazoned with the words BABY MAMA.
“C’mon,” Ash says as Jo appears with a bottle of champagne. “Let’s get this party started.”
“Muscle. Now.” Jo waves to Solomon while simultaneously giving Howler a shove that tells Tessie he used to pull her pigtails. “Then you boys scram.”
Her heart’s too light for her body. This show of family has her eyes threatening to fill with tears again. But Solomon’s there, wrapping her in his arms and pulling her against his strong body. He bends down until his lips are next to her ear and says, “Have fun. And remember, the code word is Bananas.”
She kisses him, smiling against his bearded mouth. “Never.”
Solomon leans over an engine bay in his father’s garage, connecting and disconnecting wires on a carburetor.
He’s enjoying himself. Really fucking enjoying himself. Tessie’s in the house, hopefully having a good time, and he’s out here with his best friend and his father, sipping on a cold beer, working on a Jeep that hasn’t seen a road since World War II.
“Hand me that wrench, will you, son?”
Solomon passes it down. He adjusts his jacket, shaking off the cold. Despite the insulated garage, the heat pumping, the temperature’s dropped ten degrees in the last hour.
“Cold front’s blowin’ in,” his dad says, as if he’s read Solomon’s mind. “Supposed to get snow soon.”
Solomon frowns. “It’s early.” Too early.
“I think it’s shot.” Howler leans back on his stool, his arms crossed over his black leather jacket. “Jack, your best bet is to sell this rusted piece of shit.”
His dad huffs a laugh. “It’s not shot,” he says, patting the side of the Jeep with affection. “I’ll have this puppy on the road by next spring.” He gives a craggy grin. “Maybe we’ll drive Tess and the baby up to see Thunderbird Falls.”
He says it so easily, but it has Solomon’s breath catching in his throat. This time next year, his son will be here. And it’s that easy. To see his future. Christmas, family dinners, road trips with his dad, cooking in the kitchen with his son, kissing Tessie on their front porch beneath the stars.
Bear’s his.
Tessie’s his.
Fuck, but he has to tell her. Tell her he wants her in his world, wants her in Chinook.
To stay. For good. Forever.
Christ. She is going to wreak havoc and cause chaos in his quiet world, and he can’t goddamn wait.
Hell, he’s already lost all control.
The look of sheer joy on her face when they walked up to the party meant for her made him dizzy, like everything’s at stake. The way she lit up, the way she came alive—he wants to put that look on her face every damn day for the rest of his life.
Thinking of Tessie, of his son, has Solomon turning to Howler, has him saying, “When we get the bar open, I want to set a schedule. Especially once the baby’s born.”
He’s putting his foot down now. Tessie is his priority. He won’t make the same mistake he made with Serena.