Emerging from the foothill’s thinning forest, she saw a wide sunny slope. Brushing her hair out of her face, she pulled in a breath. Even though the sun was hot on her shoulders, the air held a decided chill.
“Here?” With Aric beside her, Kit frowned. “Where are the berry bushes?”
Audrey grinned, remembering how she’d asked that same question last year.
“Look down.” Walking forward with his arm around Frankie, Bull waved at the ground. “Our wild blueberries don’t even make it to knee-high.”
“Stop.” Hawk’s voice snapped out, and everyone halted. “Got a bear. Make noise.”
A bear. Mouth dry, Audrey started to back toward the trail.
“Hold up, Goldy.” Gabe put an arm around her, pulled her close, and began whistling loudly.
In a loud voice, Bull was telling Frankie what berries to avoid picking.
Pulling one of his numerous knives, Caz tapped the blade against a rocky outcropping in an annoying rhythm.
A rustle came from a small hollow, then a brown bear lumbered away across the meadow.
“Humans. So irritatingly noisy,” Gabe said, obviously amused.
Audrey’s heart was going a mile a minute. “You didn’t even draw your gun.”
His biggest pistol was holstered on his belt with a can of bear spray on the other side. His brothers and JJ also carried bear spray. Next time, she would too.
Gabe tugged her hair. “No need. He wasn’t interested in a fight. There are plenty of berries.”
He was right. The low bushes were loaded with blueberries. “In that case, I better start picking.”
JJ grinned at her. “Pick with me. I want to hear what I missed at the book club.”
“Sure.” Audrey tried to remember the highlights of the SFF group. Knox had brought up the best points as they discussed whether Earth should assume aliens were friendly or not. He’d come so far since last year when he’d torn pages out of a book because he couldn’t read. She was so proud of him.
“Aric, catch.” Off to the right, Regan was picking berries—and tossing some at Aric. Little troublemaker.
Grinning, Audrey popped a blueberry in her mouth. Yum. The fruit was smaller than store bought, but the flavor was fantastic. What a lovely way to spend a day with family.
I have family. The thought still overwhelmed her at times.
As they worked, one of the guys would start singing or humming. Sometimes it seemed as if melodies ran like a river beneath their skin.
Now, with a smile for Aric and Regan, Bull started to sing, “Do-Re-Mi”.
Laughing, Gabe harmonized, and everyone joined in, including Kit in her beautiful clear voice. Audrey loved that she finally had another soprano to sing with.
As the children figured out the words, they piped up.
Hawk stayed silent, but from the contented expression on his face, he enjoyed the music just as much.
As the song ended, JJ shook her head. “We need more children.”
“Princesa, what do you mean?” Caz asked.
“It felt like I’d fallen through a space-time continuum and landed in an overly-testosteroned, Alaskan version of The Sound of Music. But we don’t have enough children to do it justice.”
Making a tsking sound with his tongue, Caz shook his head sadly. “I need to budget your science fiction reading.”
With a threatening sound, JJ bounced a blueberry off his shoulder.
Audrey grinned. JJ giving up SFF would happen about…never.
“What’s The Sound of Music?” Regan asked.
“A romantic musical.” Hawk chuckled and pointed at Bull. “The sarge would’ve tossed him in the river for singing it.”
Bull laughed and agreed.
It was amazing to see Hawk laughing more. As Audrey smiled, she noticed he and Kit were working so close together their shoulders rubbed.
Now, wasn’t that interesting?
Gabe grinned. “You should watch the movie with JJ and your father, Regan. Especially your father.”
A knife landed between Gabe’s knees, far too close to his boy parts.
“Behave, Cazador.” Audrey scowled. “You’re setting a poor example for your child.” And that was something she’d been thinking of a lot in the last week.
Caz blinked, noticed JJ was nodding, and sighed. “Sorry.”
Gabe’s lips quirked up. “Excellent reprimand, Goldilocks.”
“It was,” Bull called. “She’s got that pissed-off-mommy tone down pat.”
Oh no.
She had sounded just like Kit and JJ when they scolded the children. Which meant she really, really needed to talk with Gabe.
Pushing to her feet, she poured her berries into JJ’s bag and grabbed Gabe’s hand. “Come and walk with me.”
He gave her an odd look, then strolled with her toward a small cluster of trees.
Behind her, Hawk said, “Walk with me—pure Doc Grayson.”
Bull laughed. “Words to strike fear into any soul. ‘Let’s take a walk, Bull’.”
What? Oh, right. Doc Grayson was the psychologist who’d visited the boys. No wonder Gabe had looked at her funny.
“Uh, Gabe. I’m not planning to psychoanalyze you.”
“There’s a relief.”
Audrey choked on a laugh.
In the shady grove, the temperature dropped several degrees to pleasantly cool, and the air held the tangy sweet scent of evergreens.
“We’re out of sight. Very nice.” Smiling, Gabe put his arms around her and drew her close. Hand cupping her ass, he tangled his fingers in her hair to pull her head back so he could kiss her, long and deep. Then nuzzling her cheek, he whispered, “Was this the reason you led me back here?”
Oh boy. Whenever he pulled her against his rock-hard body, or face it, any time he touched her, her heart sped up, and her brain went foggy with lust.
“Yes.” Her voice came out husky, breathless. “No, wait. No. I mean, I need to talk to you. Talk.”
He straightened to gaze down at her, and the amusement in his blue eyes disappeared. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
Great, now she had him worried. “I’d planned to talk with you this morning, but—”
“But I got caught up with booking some asshole burglars.”
A couple of entitled college students had been breaking into rooms at the B&B to get drinking money. Idiots.
“I’m sorry.” Kissing the top of her head, Gabe rubbed her back. “It’s not easy for the family of a law enforcement officer. The hours are rough on—”
“No, it’s not that. You were born to protect others—your brothers, your fellow soldiers, your town. Your family.”
His arms tightened around her, and she could feel his relief at her acceptance.
“I…um…” She cleared her throat delicately. “I just wanted you to know your family will be increasing by one.”
Oh, that came out awkward. She flushed, trying to think of words to say it better, then realized he’d gone completely still.
“What?” His voice was hoarse.
“We’re having a baby.” She rubbed her forehead against his shoulder. “You’re going to be a daddy.”
He took a step back, and her anxiety shot sky-high. What if he—