Then he’s slipping into her, this perfect woman who loves him, this woman he’ll never get enough of.
He strokes a hand over her golden hair, cups the nape of her neck, and pulls his hips back before pushing into her. Deeper than he’s ever been before.
Tessie cries out, her head falling back.
“I love you, Solomon,” she whispers, her eyes big and glassy. Her hips working little circles as he slides in and out of her. She sobs. “So much. Too much.”
“I love you so fucking much,” he says raggedly, dropping his face to her neck. Their limbs tangle, moans mingling in the small cabin. “From that first night I met you until the end of our days, Tessie, I’ll love you.”
With Solomon’s confession ringing in her ears, Tessie settles into Chinook.
To stay.
His I love you, him asking her to stay, means everything. In his choked voice, his haunted eyes, she saw her future.
Their future.
A man who wants her.
Who will fight for her.
Who loves her.
Solomon’s held her in his callused hands and let her into his tender heart. Dispelling her doubts, setting her on a course she doesn’t question.
A risk. A star. A heartbeat.
Her mother’s voice echoes in her ears. If you take risks, Tessie, make them count.
And this? This risk, it counts for everything. Bear’s future. Her heart. Their family.
She’s fallen into his world. Fallen fast and hard.
Mornings, she wakes in Solomon’s strong arms, his beard tickling her belly as he kisses his way down her body. Afternoons are spent at the bar, throwing herself into work that saps every ounce of her energy. Evenings in the cabin, Solomon cooking for her, the record player spinning out country music as they dance slow over the hardwood floor.
She doesn’t regret turning down Nova, not even for a minute. She’ll find that one right path.
Tessie’s stomach grows big and heavy. Thirty-three weeks. Thirty-four. Bear is busy in her belly, kicking and thumping and somersaulting. She plans for the nursery. She and Solomon take an online child birthing course that leaves her simultaneously excited and terrified. They argue about names. He likes Leo; she likes Lucas. At night, Solomon holds her belly and tells Bear about Alaska, and Tessie lies there, still and watchful, her breath held in her chest, feeling a love she has never felt before.
This little baby will be the best of both of them. Half her, half Solomon. And she will love him with every fiber of her being.
She never knew this much joy was possible.
On the last day of the bar renovation, Tessie walks the space, her heart bursting with pride.
The bar no longer looks worn and decrepit. But it’s still Chinook; it’s still in a silo. Still Solomon and Howler, but with a flourish. Long black booths line the south wall. A garage door has been installed in the front to open to a new exterior courtyard for the summer months. A tile floor that looks like rustic wood. Greeting guests is a wall of old hatchets, their handles spray-painted various masculine colors. Gone are the sticky menus, and in their place, a chalkboard menu listing food and cocktails.
Ash, who’s lingered in Chinook to help, stands beside Tessie, watching Solomon plate a chargrilled burger and shoestring fries. The tattoos on his tan forearms flex and ripple in the bar light.
“Man,” Ash says, pointing at Solomon with a retractable measuring tape. “He is going to look so good activating dad mode.”
Tessie smiles. She already knows watching Solomon become a father will be one of her favorite pastimes. “He is.” Hands propped on her hips, she turns to her cousin. “Do you think I’m doing the right thing? Staying?”
She has no reservations, but she hates leaving Ash. Ash is her gloomy soul sister, and the idea of being without her has her feeling not so together.
Ash shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter what I think. It’s what you think.” A slow Cheshire cat smile spreads across her cousin’s face. “But yeah. I do.”
“I do too.”
Gray-green eyes drifting to Tessie’s stomach, she says, “You know, preggo, having a baby is the most metal thing you will ever attempt. Are you ready?”
Tessie inhales. “I am. I really am.”
She is. She’s nowhere near the anxious woman she was in LA. Though birth, motherhood still have her nervous, she’s calm. Steady. She can do this. She knows what she wants and who she is and who she loves.
“I’ll miss you,” Ash says.
Tears stinging her eyes, Tessie nods. Doesn’t even bother wiping them away. She’s thirty-five weeks pregnant, damn it, and she’ll cry if she wants to.
At the bar top, Howler hangs up the phone with a hoot. “Roni LaPorte from Thrillist is coming up.”
Impressed, Solomon lifts a brow. “How’d you manage that?”
Howler’s grin is sly. “I have my ways.”
The grand reopening of Howler’s Roost is set for this weekend. Nothing fancy—just a signature cocktail, a local beer, and three appetizers, courtesy of Solomon. Friends and family and locals have all been invited.
As she always does once a space is complete, Tessie goes to the middle of the round room to take it in. She closes her eyes and inhales, then lets it all out slowly. “Look what we did.”
Howler gives a grudging nod. “Gotta admit, Goldilocks. It looks damn good.”
“Good,” she mutters in response to the lukewarm compliment. Bantering with Howler has been the bane of her existence. She’s quite enjoying it. “How about fabulous? How about spectacular?” She stretches out a hand to the one person who always backs her up. “Solomon, would you look at this? Would you tell your friend he needs to work on his adjectives?”
A grin tugs at Solomon’s lips. A tender protectiveness warms the intent gaze he keeps locked on her and his son. “I’m looking.” Coming out from behind the bar, he slings an arm around her shoulders, tucking her against him. “But I’m also looking at a very pregnant woman who’s dead on her feet.”
Ash jerks her chin at Tessie. “Take her home. Tie her down.”
“No more work,” Solomon says in a stern tone that brooks no argument. “You’re done working. You’ve been on your feet all day.”
She palms his muscled chest. Looks up. “So have you.” Between getting the bar ready and planning the new menu release, Solomon’s been running himself ragged.
He grunts, shifting his enormous hand to her hip. “I’m not pregnant.”
Dark brows waggling, Ash wags a finger. “We’re officially putting you on maternity leave.”
Tessie dusts off her palms and holds them out like she’s being held at gunpoint. “Fine. I’m done.” Between Solomon and Ash, they’re like two very intense guard dogs. “I don’t like the two of you together.”
Ash laughs. “Deal with it.”
Spinning around, Tessie points at Howler and grins. “Friday night. We’re going to have a party.”
Solomon lingers silently on the staircase as Tessie unpacks a box of baby stuff. They’ve had deliveries all week, preparing for Bear’s arrival. Dressed in a cozy sweater that hugs her bump, leggings, and winter slippers, she’s on her knees. Long blond hair waves around her shoulders as she pulls out fuzzy blankets and bottles and small gilt-edged frames.
A smile tugs at his bearded lips. As sexy as she is pregnant, he can’t goddamn wait to see her as a mother. She’ll teach Bear how to be stubborn, she’ll fight for him, dig her heels in when things go wrong, give him her good taste and love of Pantone colors. Solomon will be the muscle, the one to sling Bear over his shoulder and spin him until giggles fill their cabin. But one thing’s for certain—their little boy will never doubt his mother’s love for him.
Gripping the edge of the box, Tessie shoves herself up, wobbling once with that belly of hers, then steadies herself. She goes to the wall and hammers, humming along to a tune the old Crosley spins out. The slow sway of her hips, the bump on her belly, has Solomon’s stomach flipping over.
Fuck but he loves her.
He’ll never get used to the sight of Tessie in his home.