“I’m achy, and lactation hurts way more than getting my nipples pierced did.” Nell’s eyes went down to the baby in her arms. She’d had to take out the rings he loved so much and wouldn’t put them back in until Poppy was done with nursing. “But I kind of don’t care because of how beautiful she is.”
Before Laura and Holly could take over, Henry slipped in and gave his wife a kiss. “I’ll be back before three. I’ll stop by the Trading Post and grab some food I can make for you. I want you to rest and love on our daughter for the next two weeks.”
“You’re going to spoil us both,” she said with a dreamy smile on her face.
“You bet I am.” It was all he wanted to do.
“I should warn you that I saw Gemma this morning. Jesse tried to fix the plumbing and now their bathroom is flooded,” Holly said.
He sighed. “I’ll go by after I hit the cabin. But I’ll be back for you two.” He kissed his daughter’s forehead. “Love you.”
He reached for his shirt, pulling it over his head and smoothing it down. Maybe he did need that shower. He’d barely left the room since Poppy had been born. He grabbed his wallet and his dead cell and left the room even as Nell, Laura, and Holly started talking and laughing.
She was in good hands.
He blinked in the light of day and bit back a yawn. The snowstorm that hit the night Poppy was born had passed and the roads had been plowed. It was a gorgeous winter day. He felt like he’d been slammed with a sledgehammer.
Nothing a couple of hours of sleep couldn’t fix. Yeah, he wasn’t sure when he would be able to do that.
“Yep, you look about right.” Nate was striding down the sidewalk, a bag from Stella’s in his hand. “Get ready. You are not going to sleep much the next couple of weeks.”
He felt a smile cross his face. It was good to know all of this was normal. “I can handle that. And thanks so much for the diapers.”
Callie had brought them a present of a dozen organic cotton diapers in various colors. He was going to have to learn how to clean those suckers.
“You’re welcome. You should know that Callie had a bunch of the women around town over to make some meals for you. And Cade. They’ll drop it all by as soon as Nell gets sprung from Caleb’s tender care.”
Cade was an excellent cook, and he’d been trying out some vegan recipes recently. “That’s wonderful. We appreciate it so much. I would love to be able to focus on Nell and Poppy. And Caleb was…well, go easy on him. He wasn’t expecting to have to do an emergency C-section and he’s still calming down. He did not like being in a place where he could lose a mom or baby. And he’s got Holly to think about now.”
“I’ll see if I can buy him a beer. You let us know if you need anything.” Nate tipped his Stetson and walked on toward the station house.
Henry took a deep breath of crisp air. Snow covered the ground, making the whole world white and bright. The sun shone down and he felt like he’d finally made it.
His wife knew who he was, and the spy had gotten the heroine, too. While she’d slept he’d finished her book and the message had been clear. She loved all of him. She forgave him.
He got into their Jeep and plugged in his dead phone. He hadn’t even thought about using it. He’d spent all his time fascinated with the two women who would hold his heart forever.
After the storm of Poppy’s birth, the last few days had been peaceful. Poppy slept a lot, and so did her mom. He loved to sit in the rocking chair Holly had brought up and hold his infant.
Tonight he would place her in the cradle he’d made with his own two hands. They would keep her in their bedroom while she was nursing. He was going to redo the guest room as Poppy’s room.
How odd it was to think of her spending her whole childhood here in Bliss. He’d moved so many times. So had Nell. The world had seemed a transient thing until he’d come here.
He was pulling onto his drive when the phone finally had enough charge and started pinging. A lot. He put the Jeep in park and glanced down at the screen. Had something gone wrong? He should have kept it charged.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized it was texts. A whole bunch of texts and missed calls. From Seth. Damn, he hadn’t called Seth. He should have, but the days had flown by.
Henry, I’ve got some weird pings on you. There’s a pattern coming up, and I don’t like it.
He was probably being paranoid. Everything had been quiet. He moved to the second text.
I don’t know where you are, but I need you to call me. I’ve managed to find one of the members of the cartel who got away. I think he believes that you know where the money and drugs that went missing around the time of your death are, and he wants it back. There’s a bounty on the Dark Web. At least I think they might be talking about you. Call me soon or I’ll call Nate Wright.
That had been thirty minutes ago.
He reached for the ignition. He would go straight back to the clinic.
“I wouldn’t turn that engine over if I was you, Bishop.”
Henry moved slightly and could see there was a man standing beside the Jeep, a revolver in his hand. He checked his other side and found yet another man there, a rifle in his hand. From his rearview mirror he caught sight of
