Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Ken
Ken dreaded driving the rental van, but Gillian came to his rescue, handing him the keys to her smaller SUV. “I’ll trade you that for time with Lyssa,” she joked, reaching for the baby. Adair was currently asleep. “I won’t get nearly enough time with this little one before you head home.”
“I figured you’d be babied out by now,” he joked as he passed her over.
“No, never.” Gillian smiled down at her niece. “I love babies, and I honestly wasn’t sure I’d ever see the day this precious little one would arrive.” She gently nudged Ken with her hip. “Because I wasn’t convinced we’d ever see the day Dewi was happily mated.”
His smile faded as he thought about Peyton’s earlier phone calls. “Is there something going on I need to know about?”
Gillian slowly shook her head. “No more than what you and I already know. I mean, that you and I are read in on.” She glanced around to make sure they were still alone.
“Try to relax and enjoy this family time, okay? I know that’s difficult, given everything, but…
” She shrugged. “Be greedy about clinging to the easy times.” She glanced toward the fireplace.
“Things can change in a heartbeat. We all unfortunately learned that the hard way.”
Ken checked in with Dewi to let her know Lyssa was with Gillian before heading into town.
It lay on the west side of the pack compound, just outside the main entrance.
While populated mostly by packmates who lived and ran businesses there, they also dealt with clueless humans who passed through on their way to other locations for activities such as hunting, fishing, and hiking.
It felt like little had changed in the picturesque town since their last visit that past December.
When Ken entered the market, the clerk sitting at the counter looked up from his book.
“Hey there. Ken, right?”
Ken nodded. “Webster?”
The man grinned. “You remember. Glad to see you’re still in one piece. I hear congratulations are also in order? For the baby.”
“Yes, thanks.” He grabbed a hand basket. “I don’t think I ever thanked you for calling Peyton so fast that afternoon.” It looked like they were currently alone in the store.
Webster waved his comment away. “You’re pack. We take care of ours. And from what I understand, you did a damned fine job keeping the two of you alive.”
“Well, Duncan deserves a majority of the credit for that.”
“Oh! Is he coming out for the ceremony, too?”
“Yes.” Ken glanced at his phone to skim the alerts the airline sent him. “He and Badger are already in the air. They’ll arrive later today.”
“Excellent. I made sure to order extras of something.” He emerged from behind the counter and waved for Ken to follow him past one of the large banks of upright coolers, leading him through an “employees only” door. He reached into the back of one of the coolers and pulled out three six-packs.
“Badger loves Guinness,” he said, handing one to Ken while carrying the other two. “I usually sell out within hours of getting a shipment, so I put one back for him when I heard he was coming.”
“Thanks, I’ll tell him.”
“So, what else are you looking for today, son?”
Ken showed him his shopping list and was pleasantly surprised that Webster not only had everything on it and then some, but Ken was also able to purchase ingredients to make a few of his favorite vegetarian dishes during their stay.
After ringing him up, Webster waved off Ken’s attempt to pay. “Nah. Peyton has an account. Gillian settles with me every week.” He grinned. “If I took money from you for groceries, Peyton would literally chew me a new one.”
“Hope you didn’t get in trouble with him the last time, then,” Ken joked.
“Nah. But for a full grocery trip like this I definitely would. While you’re here, if there’s ever anything you’re looking for special, call or text me. I don’t have it, I’ll make sure it’s brought in from Spokane to save you a trip.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
Webster helped Ken carry the purchases out to the SUV. A few minutes later, Ken was safely driving back to Peyton’s.
Still, he frequently glanced behind him in the rearview mirror.
He took his time even though the ride wasn’t long because he wanted to savor this.
Despite his prior hairy experience, Ken loved Idaho.
Before meeting Dewi, he’d traveled very little and hadn’t seen much of the country.
Being born and raised in Florida, he still felt a childlike fascination for the mountains and thick forests occupied by his new family.
It was also still an adjustment that people knew who he was and welcomed him with genuine warmth and affection. A far cry from his previously anonymous and mostly solitary existence.
After Ken put the groceries away, he texted Dewi, who invited him over to Trent and Asia’s. Gillian, Dewi, and Tamsin were all there with their babies, while Asia reclined on the sofa, baby Malina asleep on her chest.
“Where’s everyone else?” Ken asked.
“Beck and Nami are with his family, and Malyah and Joaquin are visiting his,” Dewi said. “And the kids are in school. Trent’s working at the office in town. Malyah said to text her if she’s not around when you’re ready to start meal prep.”
“Peyton’s still locked in his home office on phone calls,” Gillian grumbled. “With Trevor and others.”
Ken’s pulse spiked. “Did they find Faegan?”
“No,” Dewi said, frowning. “And Peyton ordered me to take the day off, the rat bast—eh, rat fink.” She looked down into sleeping baby Lyssa’s face. “I’m really going to have to remember to watch my mouth,” she said.
“Honey, is there any reason you can’t take the day off?” Ken asked her.
She screwed up her face to likely spit out a snarky reply before obviously biting it back. “No,” she softly grumbled.
Asia snorted. “Good grief, lady. You’re more of a workaholic than your brothers and Gillian. I mean, I knew you were, but for crying out loud, enjoy this time off. Okay?”
“Yeah,” Gillian said. “It’s not a lie when they say you don’t get much of this time with your baby. And if I can take a little time off, so can you.”
“And what if someone needs me?” Dewi asked. “What if something happens? Me and Beck, Joaquin, Da, and Badger are all out here, not there.”
“Do you trust your people?” Gillian asked. “Are they good?”
“Well, yeah, of course I do. You know that. I wouldn’t have hired them if I didn’t or they weren’t.”
Gillian serenely smiled and held out her hand to illustrate her point. “There you go, then. Trust them to do their jobs.”
“This sucks,” Dewi said. “I feel like I’m slacking if I’m not working, and I feel like a horrible mother if I’m not doing this right here.”
“That’s called a ‘trauma response’,” Tamsin said.
Everyone looked at her. “And,” she continued, “speaking as someone who is now unfortunately intimately familiar with trauma, perhaps it’s time for you to look into addressing yours.
No offense,” she added, her cheeks turning pink.
“But life is rather short, even for us. I’m certain your parents would want you to strike a healthy balance. Especially now.”
Dewi blew out an aggravated breath. “No offense taken,” she said, poking herself in her temple. “Brain knows all that. But brain’s wiring hasn’t figured out how to transmit the message to my soul yet.”
Ken leaned over and gently hugged her so he wouldn’t disturb the baby, then kissed her on the top of the head. “If you don’t need me, I’m going to start making lunch for everyone.”
“Ken, we already love you,” Gillian teased. “You don’t need to spend your entire visit in my kitchen.”
“I don’t mind,” he said. “I feel useful like this. And I enjoy cooking, so it’s a win-win.”
“Well, my kids want to abduct you,” Asia joked. “I haven’t seen them willingly devour veggies like they did last night in…ever. They’re raving about Uncle Ken’s cooking.”
Ken caught himself before he stupidly asked who Uncle Ken was.
Oh. That’s…me.
“I’m happy to cook,” he said. “Believe me, I’m enjoying this as much as they are.”
“Seriously, though,” Gillian said. “If you don’t want to cook, let us know and we’ll put out the word that we’d welcome food. That’s part of being a pack—we take care of each other.”
“I’ll come with you,” Tamsin said.
He held up a staying hand. “Seriously, this is easier than breakfast. I’ll gladly accept help from you and Malyah for dinner prep, though.”
A few minutes later, Ken headed to Gillian’s to start lunch. He hadn’t exaggerated that the meal prep was easy, slicing the huge ham Gillian had earmarked for the purpose and setting out all the fixings for sandwiches. Plus, he made a large salad and cut up fruit.
He satisfied himself with a cheese sandwich, a salad, and fruit, and sat in the living room with his laptop to work while family rotated in and out for food.
When Dewi walked into the kitchen through the back door, Ken shut his laptop and joined her. “Can I make you a plate, honey?”
She handed a sleeping Lyssa over to him with a kiss. “If you’ll take a turn with her, I’ll make it myself. I just nursed and changed her.”
“Okay.” He returned to the living room and resumed his previous place on the sofa, with Lyssa cradled in his arms. Dewi joined him moments later, her plate piled high with a jumbo double-decker ham and cheese sandwich, complete with all the fixings, and sat next to him.
“I think Gillian and Tamsin feel guilty they’re not helping you,” Dewi said.
“Ah, so that’s a common theme in this family, huh?” he joked. “No wonder I fit in.”
She softly snorted. “Yeah. Hey, I never denied being a workaholic, and I’m surrounded by them. We’re all really good at giving our loved ones advice that we should be directing at the person in the mirror.” She nodded toward his laptop. “Whatcha working on today?”
“Stuff for the new houses. Researching builders.” He dropped his voice. “Do we plan for Tamsin and Aisling to have their own place?”