Then he asked Allison a specific question about the organic market and what stage Angel land and the combined Coleman holdings were at, and the conversation turned.
But the teaser had been enough to make Gabe curious. And watching his mother, it was clear that she too had more questions than she was ready to admit.
They weren’t anywhere near solving the puzzle of where Uncle Mark fit, but he was stepping slowly, so Gabe was willing to wait and watch.
16
The scene in front of him was too perfect to ignore. Cassidy paused in the doorway of the kitchen to stare into the living room and soak in the view.
While Cassidy had been doing the dishes, Travis and Ashley had settled on the couch. Ashley was partially supported as she leaned against her husband’s strong body. She had the scoop of her blouse pulled down and her breast exposed, six-month-old Forest latched on and enjoying his dinner. Her face as she stared at the baby was as awestruck as if examining a priceless work of art.
Forest had a hand resting on top of the heavy swell of her breast, and that part of the picture was like a perfect Madonna and Child.
The other side of the couch held Travis, with River and Daisy balanced on his lap as he read them a book. One and a half and two and a half seemed too young to be as fascinated as they were with the pages before them.
River tilted his head and rested his cheek against Travis’s as he used pudgy fingers to stab the page. “W’ale.”
“Humpback,” Daisy added with a brisk nod.
“In the waters of the Pacific, yes.” Travis glanced up and caught Cassidy staring. He kept their eyes locked together as he recited from the book without hesitation. “The whales dance, the seabirds sing, the earth rolls, the sunlight beams.”
“Shhhhhh.” River and Daisy both pressed fingers over their lips and made the childish sound as Travis turned the page.
“It’s nighttime,” Daisy said in a whisper, leaning higher to talk to River. “Have to be quiet now.”
River squeezed his lips together and pressed his fingers tighter over them.
Travis continued reading. The slow, melodious pace of his voice as he finished the children’s favourite story got even little live-wire Daisy to snuggle in tight against his chest as he read about the animals falling asleep all across Canada.
Cassidy glanced at Ashley to find her eyes locked on him, a secretive smile twisting her lips as she lifted Forest onto her shoulder and burped him gently. She pursed her lips and blew a kiss toward the door. Cassidy instinctively reached up as if to catch it in midflight, pressing it against his chest.
The room was filled with love. He’d never dreamed of experiencing such deep and precious connectedness.
It took a surprisingly short time to bundle the babies off to their room. He took Daisy from Travis, the little blonde sweetheart cupping Cassidy’s face in her hands and pressing kisses all over him the entire ride up the stairs and into the bathroom, where he helped brush her teeth.
Tucking her in was sweetness and joy. “I love you, Daddy,” she said, kissing him fiercely before peeking around his shoulder. “I love you, Papa.”
“Love you too, flower,” Travis said quietly as he laid a sleeping River on the mattress beside her. Then he leaned over to accept his minty-fresh kiss.
“Papa loves Daddy too,” Daisy added as she snuggled in next to her brother. “Kiss.”
“Little dictator,” Travis whispered in Cassidy’s ear before he pulled back far enough to tap Daisy on the nose. “Yes, Papa loves Daddy and Mama. There’s always enough kisses to go around.”
Then he caught Cassidy around the back of his neck, pressing their lips together in a brief but firm kiss. They would never dream of hiding the honest affection and connection between them.
Daisy sighed contentedly, her eyes closing in the sleep of the innocent.
They left the room and caught up with Ashley, who was just leaving her room, where Forest’s bassinet was positioned beside her bed for easy nighttime access.
They’d barely made it into the living room when Ashley accosted him, tugging Cassidy onto the couch before she crawled over him. “You.”
“Me?” Cassidy glanced to the side as the couch dipped, Travis’s weight settling tight against him. “How come it looks as if you guys are ganging up on me?”
Travis didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled out his phone and flipped it open. When he held up an image in a text, Cassidy groaned.
His head hit the back of the couch. “I’m going to kill Rafe.”
“I don’t know, he did a pretty good job balancing the composition of the shot. What do you think, Ash?” Travis twisted the picture toward her.
She put a finger against her cheek as if analyzing. “The dark to light ratio might be a bit off, but overall, the harmony works. Cassidy, that far off-look in his eyes as if he’s been put into a trance. The—how many are there, twelve, thirteen?—kittens draped over him as if he were the ultimate climbing tree.”
“Climbing tree is good,” Travis murmured before tucking the phone aside. He twisted slightly, elbow leaning on the couch back. “As cute as the picture is, that isn’t the first time you’ve gone off to la-la land in the middle of doing something recently.”
“Which makes us think you have something on your mind.” Ashley stroked her fingers up Cassidy’s cheek, humming as his five o’clock shadow rasped her skin. “What’s wrong, baby? Is there anything we can do to help?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Cassidy began.
He stopped. His fingers were linked with Travis’s, the other man’s strong grip holding tight. Ashley’s warm butt rested on his thighs, and she continued to drag her fingers through his hair and down the side of his neck as if petting him would make him feel better.
Papa loves Daddy and Mama.
There was love in this house, and that was the thing that kept overwhelming him.
“I’m not lying,” Cassidy insisted. “It’s the fact that something’s so right that keeps knocking me off-kilter.”
The two of them didn’t interrupt. The unique, thorough connection that they had was buzzing slowly. Because the relationship wasn’t just between him and Travis, or him and Ashley, but somehow with the three of them, life was richer and simply more than he had ever expected to experience.
“When the Coleman memory book project started, I thought it was a good idea, because I was curious about the history. You know I like your family,” he said, meeting Travis’s eyes. “Your parents are rock solid. I love working with your brothers, and I feel confident that every one of your cousins would step up the instant we asked for help.” He snorted. “Hell, they probably wouldn’t even wait for us to ask.”
“God’s truth in that one.” Ashley dipped her head in agreement. “I came home the other day from shopping to find Laurel had stopped in. Since I wasn’t here, she just happened to wash the floor, do the dishes I’d left in the sink, and left a pot of soup in the crockpot.”
“I like her,” Travis admitted. “Not just because the soup was damn good.”
“We all like her,” Cassidy agreed. “She’s the type of person I think about when hearing somebody say they’ve got a good heart. For all her churchgoing, never once have I felt as if she’s judging us. Or that she’s praying for us—you know, the way people act all concerned when they think you’re going to hell.”