Page 77 of The Redemption of Remy St. Claire

“Bianca was from Tiffany’s latest litter.” Rainbow grinned as if she knew questions were bound to follow.

Mira looked up with interest. “What’s proge…pro…”

“Progeny.” Rusty petted Bianca between her ears. “Tiffany is Bianca’s mother.”

The two girls looked at each other. “No.” Calleigh’s pronouncement was authoritative. “Kids are supposed to be smaller than parents.”

“Yeah.” Mira’s contribution. “Bianca’s too big to be a kid.”

He hunkered down, giving Tiffany a good rubdown on her exposed belly. He turned to Mira. “You remember I told you that you have grandparents?”

She nodded warily.

“Well, they’re my parents.”

“They must be giants.” Calleigh’s eyes were wide.

“Nope, my dad is about my size, and my mother is about Remy’s size.”

The girls looked back and forth between each other.

“Oh, I get it.” Calleigh’s brow unfurrowed. “My mom wasn’t a giant, but Remy’s a grown-up.”

Rusty grinned as if this was just any other conversation instead of one fraught with potential landmines. “That’s exactly right.”

“I miss my mom.”

All the adults held their collective breaths.

“I want to see the horses.” Calleigh jumped up, clearly unaware of the tension her words had caused.

“Follow me.” Rainbow held out her hands. “I’ll show you the horses.” Two tiny, trusting hands were placed in hers, and the group headed off toward the barn, Tiffany following in their wake.

Rusty put his arm around Remy’s shoulder, bringing her toward him. He placed a kiss on her temple as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “I bet you miss your mom too.”

“I do, but that wasn’t as hard as it could’ve been. Calleigh seems better, doesn’t she?”

“She’s not having nightmares anymore.”

True, but he’d been the one who’d observed it, not her. “I’ve been so busy with other things, I hadn’t noticed.”

He massaged the knot at the base of her skull.

“What else have I missed?”

“You missed the first sibling spat today. Each girl tried to blame the other for the spilled milk and juice.”

“Isn’t fighting a bad thing?”

He chuckled. “Not if it’s a fair disagreement. Calleigh held her own against Mira—which’d been my biggest concern. Take it as a good sign, sweetheart. Siblings argue.”

“They’re sisters now, aren’t they?” For the first time, she was absorbing this. She’d understood it in theory, but in practical, everyday terms, she hadn’t thought of it that way.

“And we’re parents to those two beautiful little girls.”

She glanced over, finding the girls with their noses pressed against the fence.

“Remy, look…” Calleigh pointed at two horses and their riders who circled around.

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