Page 89 of Wilder Heart

Since when?He wanted to ask, but it didn’t seem fair. His eyes slid to Lain, who softened at whatever he saw in Wilder’s expression.

“Why don’t you lay mini-Wilder down, and we’ll go talk in the kitchen? I believe we’ve got some things to discuss.”

Wilder nodded. It was time. Lain guided him in how best to lay the baby down and then led him from the room. Cash waited for them in the living room with Annalise, who was watching television on the sofa.

Wilder snagged Cash’s wrist and dragged him toward the stairs. “They named one of the babies after us,” he whispered.

Cash blinked. “Wait, what?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what to do with that information. You don’t name a child after someone you hate, right?”

Cash smiled fondly. “No, you don’t. Do you believe me now, that Lain’s not going to fire you?”

“I have no idea. Part of me is too jaded to believe that, I think.”

Cash grabbed his shoulders and guided him into the kitchen, where Lain was pouring coffee grounds into the machine.

“Cash, coffee?” Lain offered.

“Please. I never turn down coffee. What’s this I hear about a baby name?”

Lain shot him a smile. “One of the babies is named Wilder Michael.”

“Aww.” Cash stepped around Wilder to pull Lain into a back-slapping hug. “You didn’t have to do that, Lain, really.”

“We wanted to,” Lain said. “This ranch wouldn’t be what it is today without your help. We owe you a lot for those first few years. Giving you a place to park that camper doesn’t compare to everything you did for us.”

“Ah.” Cash waved a dismissive hand. “It’s all I needed.”

Lain poured coffee and passed out mugs, then sat at the table and gestured for Wilder to sit across from him. Wilder looked at Cash, who glanced pointedly at Lain and then stepped closer, putting a hand on his lower back.

Right, they weren’t hiding anymore.

“Do you want me to stay, or would you rather I go to the living room with Annalise?” Cash asked.

It felt like second nature to lean in, silently asking for a kiss that Cash obligingly gave. “Stay,” he said. “Lain can see her from his seat.”

“Okay.” He took the adjacent seat to Wilder’s left, an equidistant point between the brothers, who faced each other and clutched their coffee mugs like shields.

Lain glanced contemplatively between them. “I had been wondering about you two. How long has it been going on?”

“A few weeks,” Wilder said vaguely. He didn’t know how to put his finger on an exact date when it began, anyway. Cash had been slowly peeling his layers away since the first day they’d met, it seemed like. “We’re, uh, moving in together.”

“Into the tiny foreman’s quarters?” Lain asked. “Or are you… moving?”

“The foreman’s quarters for now,” Wilder said. “The rest… depends, I guess.”

Lain nodded tersely. “I owe you an apology. I shouldn’t have let Mary-Beth’s parents treat you that way.”

Wilder sighed. “It’s no worse than anyone else treats me these days, Lain.”

“That doesn’t make itbetter,” Lain said. “Anyway, it’s one thing if some stranger in town passes judgment on you. It’s another thing when it’s family. They won’t be welcome here if they act like that again. You have my word.”

“Why?” Wilder asked plainly.

Lain’s head tilted. “Why what?”

“Why are you apologizing? Why are you saying you’ll go to bat for me now? What’s changed? I never… I never got the impression you cared. Not after what I did. So why bother? Your life would be simpler if I left.”

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