Beau
Three months later…
I slipped Juniper’s chunky leg into the bottom of her sleep sac.
Jessie had been right—at eight months, our berry girl had gone through some sort of sleep regression that was taking its toll on all of us.
But Birdie found these little sleeping bag contraptions where Juniper could have her arms out and still feel snug—I don’t know.
All I knew was our girl loved them, and she was back to sleeping through the night.
“Shall we go downstairs? It’s the perfect night to rock on the porch.”
Summer was here. I was back to managing things on the ranch, although Denver was happy to take on more responsibilities—and more pay—when he became the lead hand at the Silver Ridge Ranch.
I was fucking thrilled to spend less time with the cattle.
In fact, I’d given Birdie a desk right next to mine in the office, and more often than not, found myself wandering from my ranch duties to help figure out something with starting up her non-profit.
She was still recovering. Some days wore her out more than others, but I kept a close eye on her. And I wouldn’t fucking apologize for it, even when someone in my family tried to tease me for it. Almost losing her like that…fuck. No. Never again.
The intense summer heat smacked me right in the chest as I opened the front door. We learned that Juniper loved to fall asleep while she was nice and toasty, but slept better when her room was ice cold. She had two fans going, and we had the AC set just for her.
Birdie smiled as we walked out, setting her beer on the porch railing before reaching out for Juniper. “Bring her over here. I’m ready to enjoy this sunset as a family.”
“She’s ready for you.”
“Hey, berry girl. Come give your mama some kisses.”
I set Juniper down in Birdie’s arm, watching as she swirled the bottle of formula in her hand before bringing it to Juniper’s lips. My head lowered, pressing a kiss to Juniper’s foot through the sleep sack before my lips made their way to Birdie’s raised scar.
There wasn’t a single day—probably a single hour, unless we were sleeping—where I wasn’t kissing that spot.
It was magic to me. I’d seen the way she hesitated the first time I kissed there.
And I hated that some part of her mind said I’d find it anything other than a reminder of how goddamn strong and courageous she was.
Now, when I kissed her there, I usually got the prettiest blush to come out on her cheeks.
“I have to talk to you about something,” she whispered as I finally sat down on the swing next to her feet. I pushed a pillow up under her arm to support Juniper and pulled her feet onto my lap.
“That sounds ominous.”
“No, it’s good. I promise.”
I nodded. “Alright, spill.”
She adjusted the bottle, settling Juniper down further in her arms so that she would be comfortable if she fell asleep. Which—judging by the way her little lashes were already fluttering—she was well on her way to doing.
“I called Rory while you were making dinner.”
My fingers wrapped around her ankle and squeezed. We hadn’t talked about the offer for weeks. It was too overwhelming for Birdie to think about, so I took the paperwork and filed it away. “Okay. How did that go?”
“I told him that I would accept what his dad—their family’s estate—was offering. With two conditions.”
I nodded slowly, my tongue suddenly finding my teeth interesting. “I’m all ears, Chickadee.”
She smiled, looking down at Juniper. “The money is going to be deposited directly into a trust for Juniper. All thirty-five million dollars.”
Every muscle in my body froze. “What? No, baby. That’s too much.”
“It’s not. And it’s not just for Juniper.”
“No?”
“I want to add Beckett and Connor. And any other cousins who might come along.”
“That money is yours, Birdie. You don’t need to worry about the family.”
“I’m not. I’m worrying about our family.
” She gripped the bottle tighter, wiggling her engagement ring at me.
I’d slipped it on her finger the second I got her home from the hospital.
Dropped right down on one knee when I opened the passenger side door and cried as I slipped it into place after she said yes.
“I also want Lainey’s baby to be added. There will be rules in place, though.
My mother will never see a cent of it. Neither will Greg. ”
“Whatever you want, baby. I’ll make sure it happens.”
She sighed, looking down at Juniper. “That will be good to start with. And of course, our other children will be added to the trust when they’re born, too.”
I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. My hand left her ankle, spreading across her belly. “What other children?”
She laughed. “There aren’t any others right now. But I hope one day there will be. What did you tell me? A brother for our berry girl? And then a sister…”
“And another sister after that…”
“See? By the time we’re done, that money will be long spent on educations and more houses being built on this land.”
“You think they’ll want to stay here?” I asked, looking over the back of the swing to the land that surrounded our home.
“I hope they will. This is my favorite place in the whole wide world.”
“What are you going to do about your safe haven project? I thought you’d end up wanting to put some of that money towards your non-profit.”
She smiled. “I’m actually happy to report that I’ve found our first investors.
The Buchanan Group has generously agreed to fund an additional five million dollars towards the project now that I have my charity status.
They’ve also agreed to separately fund the first house we build.
We can do so much good with that money! I just need to find some land… ”
It was my turn to laugh. “I should have known you would get it done. I’m so proud of you.”
My hand slid down her leg, then back to the foot sitting in my lap. I lifted it to my mouth and pressed a kiss to the arch.
She giggled. “Ew. I’ve been walking outside all day with those feet. They’ve got to be filthy.”
“You washed them off at the springs earlier. They can’t be that bad,” I teased. Besides…I like my girl a little dirty, what can I say?”
“Alright, easy there, Cowboy. We’ve still got business to talk about before we get to pleasure—”
“I’m not pushing for anything.” I cleared my throat, kissing her foot one more time before I went back to massaging it. “You don’t have to look very far for land.”
Her brows furrowed, the cutest little lines taking place between them. “What do you mean?”
“We’ll use my land. Well, my part of the land here, on the ranch. I guess it will really all be mine to look after here one day soon.”
“I’m not following? You’d want to put another house here, with ours?”
“No.” I chuckled. “Don’t you remember after Jessie turned twenty-one, my parents had that big family meeting?”
She shook her head.
“Well, they sat all of us kids down, and told us they didn’t want the land being on one kid’s shoulders like it had been with my dad, and my grandad, and his dad before him.
We figured out how to split the land, with enough staying for the ranch needs, but I have about fifty acres down the west road a ways.
Would be the perfect place to set something up.
There’s already a well drilled out there.
We could do two or three houses to start.
Maybe get a garden growing, have a quiet place out in nature…
it’s peaceful and healing. They’d have the protection of living on the ranch, and it’s not so far out that we couldn’t have Hawk and the guys come install some really great security for whoever would be staying there. ”
Birdie set Juniper’s empty bottle down, holding her hand out to me. I laced my fingers through hers.
“I think that sounds like the perfect plan.”
“A beautiful legacy for your patient.”
She nodded, her eyes dropping to our daughter, fast asleep in her arms. “When it’s done, it’ll be a beautiful legacy for us all.”