When We Burn (The Blackwells of Montana #1)

Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

brIDGER

“ I ’m here,” Dani says as she walks through the door. Alex is right behind her, and Birdie immediately runs to Dani’s twin to give her a hug.

“Hey there, cutest little girl in the world,” Alex says as she squats down in front of my daughter. “How are you? How’s school?”

“Good.” Birdie starts to tell Alex all about finding dead leaves for an art project, and I tug Dani into my arms for a kiss.

“Hey there, most beautiful woman in the world,” I whisper against her lips, mirroring Alex’s words and making my girl chuckle. “How are you?”

“I’m great. My boyfriend and his super adorable daughter are taking me sledding today.”

“Really? That sounds fun.” I smirk down at her and rub my nose over hers. “Bee’s okay?”

“She’s great.” Dani’s cheeks darken, and I narrow my eyes at her. “No, she’s really okay, if you get my meaning.”

I blink, and then I feel nauseous. “Jesus, I don’t want to know.”

“No.” She laughs and pats me on the cheek. “You really don’t want to know. But yay, Bee. I have to go across the street to get my snow gear.”

“You know, you really need to just move in with me and let the rental go.”

I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that. I’d planned to ask her during a quiet moment, when it’s just the two of us, but the words just slipped out.

And her jaw drops.

And she steps out of my arms, which really pisses me off.

“Forget I said anything.”

“No.” She shakes her head and takes my hand in hers. “I’m not going to forget it.”

She licks her lips and glances over to make sure that Alex and Birdie are still busy.

“Bridger, are you sure?”

“Never been more positive of anything. You practically live here as it is. Pickles has been here for months. Most of your clothes are in our bedroom. Jesus, I’ve called it our bedroom for forever, because that’s what it is. There’s no need for you to keep the rental because I plan to keep you here, with us, forever.”

“Okay, that was swoony,” I hear Alex say. “If you don’t snatch him up, I will. ”

“But, Birdie,” Dani begins, and I turn to my daughter, who’s listening carefully.

“Hey, peanut, what do you think about Dani living with us?”

“I thought she already did.” Birdie frowns at Dani. “You don’t live here? You sleep with my daddy, and Pickles sleeps with me.”

“Sounds like you live here,” Alex says, rocking back on her heels, a smile on her face. “Besides, this house is way nicer than the other one. And it has these two in it.”

“You can’t argue with that logic.” I take Dani’s face in my hands. “We love you, and we want you here. And that goes for your things, too.”

She leans into me, rests her forehead on my chest, and when I tip her chin up, she has tears in her eyes. “That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah?” I feel like I just won the lottery. “Awesome.”

“My lease is up at the end of next month. It was only for six months, so I won’t renew it, and that gives us time to move everything over.”

“Aww. So sweet. Okay, I have to go.” Alex waves at us. “Have fun sledding, okay? Tell me all about it later, Birdie.”

“I will.”

It’s amazing the difference a couple thousand feet difference in altitude will make. Most of the snow in town was starting to melt, but up here on the ski mountain, there’s a few feet accumulated, perfect for sledding.

“Bee texted me,” Dani says from the passenger seat. “She said she and your brothers are coming up, too.”

“I sent them a message, in case they were up for it. All of them jumped at it. Even Beckett, which surprised me.”

“Why’s that?”

“He’s been married to the ranch lately. I know he’s stressed out, but he won’t ask for help. It’ll do him good to let loose for a while today.”

We park near the Snow Ghost pub, and once I get Birdie’s hat and gloves on her, we take the sleds out of the bed of the truck and trudge over to the area they’ve marked off for sledding.

We aren’t the only ones up here.

“How many runs have you taken?” I ask Blake and Brooks, who are laughing about something as we approach. The snow is still falling up here, and it’s damn cold, but it feels good.

“None yet. We’re waiting for the peanut,” Blake says, smiling at Birdie. “How do you feel today, cupcake?”

“Good. I want to sled.”

“The princess has spoken,” Brooks says.

“Where’s Beck?” I ask.

“Not here yet,” Bee says as she steps over to us, a hot beverage in her hands. “He said he’ll be here in a little while.”

“Why are you drinking that when we’re about to sled?” I ask her.

“ You’re about to sled. I’m going to watch.” Bee grins. The woman grew up on a ranch, but you’d never know it. She’s all about fashion and anything that keeps her clean and off a horse.

She’s a girly girl.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.

“Hold my purse,” Dani says, passing it to Bee, who slings it across her body. “Let’s do this!”

Dani grabs a sled, takes Birdie by the hand, and leads her over to the hill.

All four of us stand side by side, watching as my girls sit on the sled and then belly laugh as they fly down the snow.

“That’s cute.”

I turn at the sound of Beck’s voice and smile. “There he is. Yeah, it’s fucking cute.”

“I’m going with them,” Brooks says, and we all, except for Bee, follow suit.

For the next hour, we play in the snow. We throw snowballs. We make snow angels.

We laugh.

God, we laugh a whole lot.

“Smile,” Dani says, holding her phone up to get a picture of Birdie and me sitting on the sled. “Got it.”

Finally, Birdie looks up at me and says, “I need hot chocolate.”

“I think we all do,” Dani says. “Let’s go to the lodge and have some. What do you think?”

With nods all around, we make our way to the parking lot to shed some layers and put the sleds in the trucks, and then walk up to the pub where we order a round of hot chocolates and then take our drinks to a lounge with views of the snow and the mountains.

Dani, Bee, and Birdie have settled on a couch, cuddled up together, talking and drinking their hot chocolate.

And the sight of Birdie snuggled up to Dani makes my heart ache in a great way.

“So, what’s up with you, man?” Brooks asks Beckett. “I’m surprised you came up here.”

“I’m swamped.” He rubs his hand over the back of his neck. Beck is built like the rest of us. Well past six feet, with the Blackwell dark hair and eyes. He’s the only brother with a beard, but it works for him. “I’ve had machinery issues, a sick cow, a coyote got into my chickens?—”

I glance over to make sure Dani didn’t hear about the chickens, but she didn’t. She’s braiding Birdie’s hair for her.

“On the guest side of things, the first people who stayed in cabin number four put a hole in the wall,” Beck continues.

“What the fuck?” I ask.

“Renters, man,” Brooks says, shaking his head. “Vacationers are assholes.”

“Not all of them,” Blake points out. “But yeah, a lot of them. Shit, I’m sorry, Beck.”

“It’s just been one thing after another, so when you called to come up here, I said fuck it. I needed an afternoon away. ”

“You need to hire more help,” Brooks points out. “You need a property manager for the rentals.”

“Agreed,” I add.

“I’m working on it.” Beck scowls down into his hot chocolate. “I have some feelers out for someone. I might hire a local company to help me out until I can find someone to live on-site.”

“The sooner the better,” Blake agrees.

“You really need to get out more,” I say. “Maybe actually date someone.”

I’m met with dead silence, and then my asshole brothers laugh at me.

“You know,” Blake says with a grin, “I remember saying something similar to you a couple of years ago, and you told me to go fuck myself. That you didn’t need anyone because you had Birdie.”

“I believed that.” I shrug. “I was happy. And now, I’m happier.”

“You’re whipped,” Brooks says.

“Totally and gratefully.” I grin. “I mean, she’s beautiful. She’s smart as fuck, and she’s damn good with my kid. What more could I ask for?”

“Dani’s great,” Blake agrees. “We’ve loved her and her sisters forever.”

“Yeah, man,” Beck adds. “No one’s saying you shouldn’t be with her. She’s been good for you. It’s just funny as hell because you were solidly a bachelor after the shit that Angela pulled.”

“You mean, the shit she’s still pulling? ”

Brooks pulls in a breath and cracks his neck. “Yeah, tell us what’s going on there.”

I tell them about what happened last month at the school, and by the time I’ve finished, all three of them look like they’d like to punch someone.

“What a bitch,” Beck says. “What’s her deal? She’s been gone a long time.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Blake asks. “She’s jealous. Found out about Dani and decided everyone had to pay for that.”

“Bingo,” I say, pointing at my brother. “So far, she hasn’t done anything else, but I’ve heard she’s still in town.”

“She is,” Brooks says, shifting in his chair. “She came into my shop and asked if I’d look at her car for her, on the house, since she’s family.”

I stare at him for ten seconds. “What the fuck? What did you tell her?”

“I told her she’s no family of mine, and she could go somewhere else.”

Beckett holds his hand out for a fist bump.

“She’s delusional.” I look to Blake. “Could she be certifiable? Like, literally crazy?”

Blake shakes his head. “Maybe. I’m not a psychologist. We’ve known for a long time that she’s a narcissist. After Birdie was born so fucking small, Angela didn’t even want to stay in the NICU with her. All she was worried about was herself.”

The reminder still makes me so fucking angry. I didn’t understand what in the hell was wrong with my ex-wife, how she could be so heartless and callous when it came to our infant. At first, I wondered if it was post-partum depression, but as time went on, we realized that she just didn’t care if Birdie lived or died.

She didn’t care about her name. I’m the one who named her. And I’m the one who sat with that baby, held her when I could, day and night, for two fucking months until I could take her home.

“Well, let’s hope that she gets tired of this game soon and goes away,” I say with a sigh. “And let’s get Beckett a life that doesn’t revolve around cows.”

“Fuck you,” my brother says with a laugh. “Just because you’re all messy in love doesn’t mean the rest of us need to be.”

“I’m not messy.”

“Hey, love,” Dani calls out to get my attention. It seems she’s settled on love as my nickname, which doesn’t bother me at all and is way better than Chief.

“Yeah?”

“Who was it that bought that house out on the highway that’s been abandoned for like a million years? Jerry somebody?”

“Jerry Klein,” I reply.

“Thanks, I couldn’t remember.” Then she goes back to talking to Bee. Birdie is asleep, curled up at Dani’s side.

“Thanks, love ,” Blake says.

“Fuck you.”

My brothers are smirking, and I grin and shake my head. “She wanted to call me Chief, and I didn’t like it.”

“Why not? You are the chief,” Beck points out .

“Because it’s my job. The guys who work for me call me that. People all over town call me that. Not my girl.”

“I guess it would be weird if a woman I was involved with called me Doc,” Blake says, thinking it over.

“Exactly. You get it. Like, can you imagine? You’re in bed, and she’s all, ‘Faster, Doc.’” Blake shivers, and we all laugh.

“Fuck, point taken,” Blake says.

I stand and walk over to check on my girls and grin when Dani leans over to kiss Birdie on the head.

“You guys okay?”

“Your daughter is exhausted,” Bee says, and her eyes are full of concern when she looks up at me.

“She did a lot this afternoon.”

Bee frowns and looks down at Birdie. “I know, but it feels like more than that.”

Blake hears us and walks over to press his hand to Birdie’s forehead and checks her pulse. “She’s just sleeping. Wore herself out.”

“Heck, I could use a nap,” Dani murmurs, but she’s also watching Birdie closely.

“Call me if you need me,” Blake says, patting me on the shoulder before walking out. Brooks and Beck wave at us from the doorway.

“Come on.” I lift Birdie into my arms and kiss her cheek. “Let’s go home.”

“Daddy?” Her voice is soft with sleep. “Can we have pizza for dinner?”

“Are you awake enough for pizza?”

“I just need a little sleep, but I’m hungry. ”

“How about homemade pizza?” Dani asks her. “Does that sound good?”

“Yeah.” Birdie curls up against my chest and goes back to sleep.

“Do you want to join us?” I ask my sister, and to my surprise, she nods.

“I want to keep an eye on this one,” Bee says, nodding to her niece. “And Dani makes the best homemade pizza, so it’s totally for selfish reasons.”

“Then let’s go home and eat.”