Page 20 of Tinsel in Telluride

LEIGH: I like the family of spiders that’s taken up residence.

LEIGH: If I need to come, I’ll just use the pocket vibrator you got me last Christmas.

INDIE: You brought Frenchy with you?

LEIGH: Always. That little fry has never done me wrong.

WILLOW: I still can’t believe you got her that so in case it fell out of her purse she could just say Zach dropped a French fry in her purse.

INDIE: It was a genius idea. That little fry has ten settings all guaranteed to make you see stars.Right, Leigh?

LEIGH: And on that note, I am going inside.

LEIGH: Willow no more helping the enemy.

WILLOW: Fine. But if he asks your favorite position, I’m going to tell him.

LEIGH: I regret annotating those books so thoroughly.

INDIE: You love us and don’t you dare stop. The sisterhood of the traveling smut will never recover if you do.

CHAPTER SIX

LUCA

How is it possible for a human so little to have such excruciating screams?

It’s a miracle Leigh can still hear after being in such proximity to the tiny banshee.

I bundle myself deeper into my coat and step closer to the bonfire pit to keep warm. But mostly to stop myself from crossing the deck and demanding Leigh let me into the guesthouse.

Not that I would know what the hell to do, because I absolutely don’t. The last time I was around a toddler was when my sisterwasthe toddler. Seeing as I’m only four-and-a-half years older than her, the most I did was hand her a toy to soothe her.

Still, I don’t understand how Leigh can stand listening to him cry like this.

It’s heartbreaking.

Then again, he’s been fighting against her request to go to bed for the last forty-five minutes, so maybe we are approaching it being a tad dramatic.

I’m just grateful Holt insisted on renting out the entire property, including the guesthouse, even though we didn’t plan to use the additional rooms. I can’t even imagine having to explain to someone that we’re not trying to kill this kid. He just doesn’t want to go to bed. As it is, I have no idea how I’m going to hide them from the guys for the next two days. But that’s a problem for future Luca because I have to admit, I like the idea of having Zach close by.

Leigh, on the other hand, was not thrilled with the proximity.

Zach lets out another wail and my chest constricts, wishing I could stop his cries.

Is this what it’s like to become a parent? Is this that instantaneous love the guys who have kids on the team were always talking about?

I think back to his sweet toothy smile and messy hair the same shade of white blonde as his mother’s. His blue eyes that, if not for the white hue that line his irises would be identical to mine.

I’ve always wanted kids—eventually—but I never considered who’d they’d be or what they’d look like. I never wondered if they’d like baseball or have a penchant for piano like my brother. I’ve never asked myself if I’d be a good dad.

One look at that little boy and I’m considering every single one of those things and so much more.

While Zach brought out this whimsical paternal side of me, seeing Leigh made me want to rage in a way I hadn’t expected. It took everything in me not to go off on her on the tarmac.

She’s the reason I missed his entrance into the world.

The reason I never heard his first words or witnessed his first steps.

---