Renley
A hesitant knock had him prying his eyes open, finding Drew spying into their room. Reaching for his phone, he saw it was barely past seven.
“Can I come in?” Drew asked hesitantly.
Eveline hummed and twisted to pull Drew into her arms. “Come here, sweet pea.”
“I slept in my bed all night.”
“Such a good boy,” Eveline softly praised, pulling the blanket over him. “Is Mathew up?”
“Yes.”
“Raiding the pantry probably,” she laughed, only for the door to open wider. Mathew entered, pushing her wheelchair in.
Shit. Renley had meant to get that last night.
The boy pulled the brakes and asked, “Can I have cereal.”
“Of course, sweetheart, do you need help?”
He shook his head and left the room again. Renley closed his eyes and let his head fall back into the pillow, softly laying his hand on Eveline’s side. They dozed alongside each other for a while, before Drew began to complain that he was hungry too.
Eveline sat up but when Renley moved to do the same, she shoved him back down to the mattress with a hand on his chest. “You, mister, can relax for a little.”
He groaned, whining. “I’m hungry too.”
“Fine, but you’re not cooking. These two get cereal—maybe some fruit if they’re lucky.”
Once breakfast had been devoured, the boys tended to the chickens and ran around outside while he and Eveline watched over them with their morning coffee.
“I’m nervous to meet your dad tonight,” he admitted.
“Don’t be. He’s excited to meet you.”
Taking her hand, he kissed the back of her fingers, one at a time. “Maybe it’s because I don’t get along well with my own father.”
“I thought as much after the comment you made on the drive to the rodeo.”
“He was a drunk. The older I got, the worse it became and the more responsibility I had for myself. I didn’t rely on him anymore, so he didn’t care as much.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged and laced his fingers with hers, relaxing more into his seat. “I stopped trying and he never really reached out, not even when I went to jail.”
“But he knew?”
“Yeah, Shannon told him.”
Eveline hesitated, as if pondering whether or not to ask her next question. “Did it change you?”
“Jail? Yeah. I was young and thought I was untouchable. I got my ass handed to me and the second I stepped foot in there, I knew I wouldn’t go back for shit. Getting out was a whole other story. If Shannon hadn’t picked me up, I wouldn’t have even known which way to turn out of the jail.”
“Because you didn’t have anywhere else to go?”
“Basically. He even kept my truck. Structuring my life felt so hard too. If I’m not at work or out with you, I get a bit lost sometimes.”
“There is no one to tell you what to do except yourself.”
“Exactly.”
Now it was her time to take his hand and kiss his knuckles. “If you ever need help, I’m here.”
“Thank you.”
When a car approached, the boys sprinted to the front yard. Renley shot out of his seat after them, yelling for them to slow down. The boys obeyed, but waited impatiently for the car to park and then ran to greet their parents.
“Did you have fun?” Laira asked, scooping Drew into her arms and smacking kisses all over his face.
“Mom!” he protested, squirming.
“We had lots of fun and Auntie Eve even jumped on the trampolines with us!” Mathew said in his father’s arms.
Laira’s brows shot up. “She did?”
“Uncle Renley carried her onto the net.”
“And she was okay with that?”
Renley shrugged and walked into the house behind them. “I didn’t give her a choice, couldn’t have her missing all the fun.”
Laira sat Drew back down. “She often doesn’t ask us to help her, but I have a feeling you don't wait for her to ask.”
“She likes her independence, and I like to challenge her,” he laughed.
“I like that about you. From what she’s told me you’ve never questioned her capabilities, which is probably why she lets you do it.”
After lunch, Eveline and Laira sat on the porch chatting while the boys dragged him away to show him every square inch of their land—at least that’s how it felt.
He didn’t mind, loving the ease in which they’d accepted him into the family.
When they reemerged from the forest behind the barn, the women were giggling, and Tod was rolling his eyes.
“Our women have decided we need to do some work for their entertainment.”
“We would love that very much,” Eveline confirmed, turning sparkling eyes on him.
“And what kind of show would you like?”
“The kind where you use those muscles to get us some firewood for tonight.”
Coming to a stop in front of her, Renley braced himself with one hand on the back of her chair, tipping her head back with the other. “Is that so?”
“Yes. And lose the shirt.”
“What do we say when we want something?”
Eveline blushed, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. “Please.”
With a kiss to her forehead, he straightened to his full height. “As you wish.”
“Fuck,” Tod groaned, pushing off the railing he’d been leaning against.
“You better take yours off too,” Laira shouted after her husband as they descended the stairs.
Renley pulled his shirt over his head, earning himself a cheer from Eveline and a frown from Tod. “Show off.”
“Hey, she’s the breadwinner here. I have to give her something so she doesn’t kick me to the curb,” he chuckled, stuffing his t-shirt in his back pocket.
Tod chuckled and retrieved a couple of axes from the workshop.
They set up the logs and got to work, with Laira and Eveline having the time of their lives behind him.
The boys quickly joined in, with Tod handing them smaller axes and tinier chunks of wood.
That made Renley nervous at first, but he quickly learned that they knew what they were doing.
After an hour, he returned to the porch, soaking wet with sweat. Eveline handed him a drink, raking hungry eyes over his body.
“Enjoying yourself?” he teased, gulping down the glass of water.
“Very much so,” she giggled, hooking a finger in his pocket to tug him closer. “So much so that I might not let you leave tomorrow.”
Renley used his shirt to wipe his face before he leaned over her, hand resting on the back of her chair. “Well… you are the boss.”
Fingers spearing through his hair she hauled him close enough for a kiss. “Don’t tempt me.”
“Says the woman who ordered me to take my shirt off because she felt like it.”
“I don’t regret it. You look very handsome.”
“Let me take a shower and then I’ll help you with dinner.”
With another soft, passionate kiss she sent him off. As he walked away, he heard Laira snickering despite Eveline’s protests.