Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 88128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88128 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Composing myself, I turn to look at him. “Thank you for the dances,” I tell him.
“You okay?” he asks, ignoring me.
“I’m good. Just been a long few days.”
He studies me, lingering enough for me to shift my stance, feeling bare beneath his gaze. “What are you doing with this stuff?” he asks.
“I’m going to wrap it all up and put it in the fridge and then give it to Palmer tomorrow.”
“Hey, Brooks!” he calls out.
“What’s up?” Brooks calls back.
“Let’s get this food all cleaned up, so we can take it home, and Kennedy doesn’t have to deal with it.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I tell him. “That’s a part of the service they paid for.”
Declan smiles. “There’s plenty of us to make quick work of this. I don’t want you walking out to your car by yourself.”
“Willow River is safe.” Not that I know that firsthand, but I have heard Grandma rave about the small town and how great everyone that lives here is since she moved here five years ago.
“That might be, but I’m still not leaving you here all alone to walk out that door by yourself.”
I want to open my mouth to tell him that I’m a big girl and that I don’t need a man to take care of me, but something stops me. It’s the look in his eyes. They're full of nothing but sincerity, so I bite back my reply.
Declan’s right. In a matter of minutes, all the food from both sides is packaged up, and Palmer expertly sends home containers with everyone. After grabbing my things from my office, Declan waits while I lock the door and then walks me to my car, which one of the twins started for me. They did it for everyone but for them to include me makes me feel as if I’m a part of their tight-knit group. Aside from my best friend, my circle is small. I’m an only child of two only children, so life is pretty quiet for me. I’m envious of the Kincaid family. I wonder what it would be like to be a part of a loud, loving family like that. Don’t get me wrong, my family loves me, but it’s small and, well, compared to this group, quiet.
CHAPTER
SIX
Declan
My brother is getting married today. He’s the first of the nine of us to take that step, and I couldn't be happier for him. Palmer is his perfect match. The wedding is small, just close friends and family. They kept things intimate, which fits the two of them flawlessly. If Brooks were to include all of us, the wedding party would have been huge. They settled on one person for each of them. Palmer chose her sister, Piper, and Brooks chose Orrin. I imagine by the time we’re all married off, we’ll each have had our chance to stand at the altar as best man for one of our brothers.
With Blakely on my lap, I watch as my brother promises to love Palmer for all the days of forever. When he leans in and seals the promise with a kiss, my daughter turns and smiles. “Now can we have cake?” she asks.
I chuckle. “Not yet, squirt. We have to have dinner before we eat cake.”
“Aww, but, Daddy, it’s a party.”
“Come on you.” I stand with her in my arms and carry her out of the wedding room, which is what I heard my mom refer to it as earlier, and to the banquet hall. The divider that was here just a couple of days ago is gone, making one large room. There are tables with centerpieces and tables and tables full of food.
“Oh, the cake looks yummy,” Blakely says as I carry her past the cake to the line for the food to make her a plate.
“After you eat,” I remind her.
She sighs as if she’s fifteen, not less than half a year from turning five. “Fine.”
Ignoring her sass, I fill her plate with everything she points at that she wants, grab her a juice box that I know is Palmer’s doing, and a stack of napkins before leading her to a table. She climbs up on the chair and digs into the plate I place in front of her.
“Daddy, are you hungry?” she asks.
“I’ll eat,” I assure her. “I’m just waiting for someone to come and sit with you.”
“I’m a big girl,” she tells me.
I run my hand over her soft head of hair. “I know you are. But Daddy doesn’t like to leave you alone.” What I don’t tell her is that as a single father, there are so many fears that I hold inside me it’s not funny. One is, what if I walked away and she choked? Everyone is talking and laughing and celebrating, and what if we didn’t see her? What if we didn’t make it to her in time? This is just one of the many things that keep me up at night.