Chapter 1 #2
Just shy of twenty months old and as independent as they came, Maddox stood up in his crib, tiny hands clutching the rail as he bounced up and down to relay his excitement.
It wouldn’t be long before that crib wouldn’t be able to handle him any longer, but we were pushing it, hoping to keep him confined for a little while longer.
If he were anything like his brothers and sisters, once he was out, there would be no keeping him under control.
Unlike my other kids, who rambled incessantly, Maddox was quiet.
It had nothing to do with his cognitive abilities.
Oh, no. He could carry on a conversation using only one- and two-word responses for as long as his brothers and sisters would pay attention.
He’d grown up in the thick of their interactions, which had catapulted his learning curve.
He could say plenty, and he would when he felt it was necessary, but for the most part, he kept quiet.
Probably because he was too busy checking out everything that was going on around him.
“All right, little man. Let’s get dressed so we can get those heathens to the park where they want to be.” I chuckled as I picked him up.
“Park,” he muttered softly.
“Exactly.”
I was now a pro at the mom thing, so it took only a few minutes to get him ready—diaper changed, clothes, shoes, coat, hat. As I was propping him on my hip, I heard Travis’s voice booming up from below. “Kylie! Baby, you ready?”
“We’re comin’!” I leaned into Maddox. “Aren’t we, sweet boy?”
“Comin’,” he crooned quietly, grinning wide and slobbering on the blanket he clutched in his little fist thanks to that tooth he had coming in.
Gage was already downstairs by the time I got there. When he held out his arm, I passed Maddox over, and then he had two kids propped on his hips. I was pretty sure beneath that T-shirt, there was an “S” on his chest. Then again, I’m not sure Superman held a candle to Gage.
“You get the bags, I’ve got the babies,” he said, his tone smooth, unrattled.
I laughed as I tugged on my coat before grabbing two more bags that I’d hidden from Travis, not wanting to hear him give me shit for being overprepared.
With five kids, I tended to account for everything when it came to field trips.
And since the kids wouldn’t be happy if we called it short due to needing something we left at home, I often went a little overboard.
After locking the house, I followed Gage down the steps.
Travis was moving toward us. “Y’all good if I go? I’m gonna swing through and pick up Pop.”
Gage nodded, Travis waved, and our field trip was officially underway.
Ten minutes later, we were pulling into the parking lot of the Double R Retreat—the quaint bed and breakfast owned by Rex Sharpe, one of Travis’s many cousins.
Rex had offered up his parking lot to family.
I was grateful because otherwise, we would be hoofing it for at least five blocks.
With five kids in tow. Not an easy feat.
It felt like winter today. The sky was overcast, and the wind had a little bite to it.
I’d been hoping for spring-like weather, which wasn’t unheard of for January in Central Texas.
We were lucky in that it had been a mild winter up to this point, but based on the temps hovering in the low forties, I wasn’t sure it was going to remain that way.
Even with the chilly wind, I found myself looking forward to some time outside. More specifically, spending some time with my sister. I loved my kids and my husbands with all that I was, but every busy mom/wife deserved a little downtime, and I intended today to be mine.
And because I’d learned to pick my battles, I had yet to reveal that little tidbit of information to Travis or Gage.
I had good reason.
For months now, Travis had been keeping a watchful eye on all of us. I didn’t blame him one bit, but I could admit that it had gone on a little long at this point. After Kate was kidnapped by a crazy bitch hell-bent on punishing Travis for her husband leaving her, he’d been on high alert.
In the beginning, I had understood his reasoning.
Supported him even. It wasn’t every day that a scorned ex-wife set out to punish the man whom she blamed for the entire ordeal.
But Juliet Prince was more than a little warped and twisted.
Evidently, her prize of a husband met a younger woman during one of their visits to Alluring Indulgence Resort and decided to trade her in for that younger model.
Due to the aforementioned warped and twisted, Juliet held Travis responsible because he owned the resort.
Thankfully, Travis’s cousin Brantley had stepped in, finding Kate and bringing her back to us. She’d been unharmed physically, but she was still going to therapy to work through the trauma she’d endured. My girl was strong, though.
I thought things were getting back to normal, but in recent weeks, Travis had started his whole helicopter routine, hovering around us, keeping tabs, watching our every move.
At first, I thought he was just working through his own trauma, wanting to assure himself that we were okay.
Now I knew he was actually worried the threat was still out there.
As for me, I was ready to move on with my life. I wasn’t losing another second to Juliet Prince.
I got out of the truck, and while Gage retrieved the wagon from the bed, I started unbuckling Maddox and Haden. They weren’t nearly as excited as Kate, Kade, and Avery, but I figured that was because they didn’t really understand what was going on. A day out was a day out to them.
“Might wanna leave some room for Avery,” Gage suggested, his gaze darting over to where Travis was helping her out of the SUV. A second later, he tacked on, “Never mind. I think she’s gonna walk.”
I smiled. That was Avery. She was exerting more of her independence these days.
While I situated Maddox and Haden, Travis and Gage grabbed backpacks and bungeed what they could to the wagon; the others they hitched onto their shoulders. And though he didn’t say anything about the extra bags, I saw the side eye he shot my way. It made me smile.
“Hope y’all are ready for this,” Curtis told the kids, taking Kate’s hand and then Kade’s while Avery latched on to mine.
“We are!” Kade confirmed in his little-boy shout.
“Good.”
“You wanna know a secret?” I asked, falling into step with them.
Travis put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me against him. “What’s that, darlin’?”
“I was hopin’ to get a little quiet time today,” I told him, peering up into his face.
“Quiet time?” Gage snorted a laugh. “Where do you hope to find this at?”
Well… “I told Jess we’d sneak away to do a little shopping, maybe splurge on some coffee and a funnel cake.”
I could sense Travis’s unease instantly.
He didn’t like the idea of me going off by myself.
He preferred to have us close so he could keep an eye on us.
I understood that to a degree, but I was tired of looking over my shoulder, waiting for Juliet Prince to pop out of the shadows and throw my world into chaos.
I wanted to believe that she had moved on. After all, that was what we were doing.
“Well, if it helps, we’ve got the kids today,” Gage said. “Your only job is to enjoy yourself.”
I caught the glare Travis shot at Gage, and like Gage, I ignored it.
“Yeah,” Travis agreed, reluctantly. “We’ve got this. You have fun.”
I flashed a grin, one that I hoped relayed my relief and my gratitude.
While I loved being a wife and a mother, I needed time to myself in order to recharge.
And today was the perfect opportunity for me to do that.
With Travis, Gage, and Curtis keeping an eye on our brood, what could possibly go wrong?
A couple of hours later, as I was sitting at a table with my sister, savoring a latte, my cell phone rang.
“Don’t get it,” Jessie said, shaking her head as she sipped her coffee.
I picked up my phone, glanced at the screen. It was Travis.
“He’s gonna make you go home,” she teased in a mock whiny voice.
Yes, he probably was, but that was the price of having a family. To be fair, I’d already spent more time away from them than I thought he would be comfortable with, so I figured answering the call was the least I could do. I tapped the phone and put it to my ear.
Before I could say anything, Travis barked, “Where are you?”
I knew it was pointless to give my husband grief about his less-than-polite greeting. Based on his tone, chastising him would only piss him off.
Keeping as much snark from my tone as possible, I said, “I’m at Batter and Bliss. Why?”
“You need—” Travis cut himself off, lowered his voice. “I think it’d be best if you came back to the park.”