Page 73 of Breathless

Wyatt looked around, instinctively pulling Fiona in with his free arm as soon as she reached him. “I don’t know.”

“They’re in the backyard,” Fiona told him, kissing his cheek with a smile. “Hey, Noah.”

“Hi, Noah,” Tasha and Austen sang, each holding up a bottle of WTF to toast him.

Thoreau had made one more bottle for the series, turning his three-pack into a four-pack. It was a little spicy, a little sweet, and people couldn’t seem to get enough of the stuff.

The handsome brewer had a real winner on his hands. It had even won a few craft awards already. He had them on a shelf in their basement. Okay, it was his basement. He and Fiona were rarely allowed down there.

“I’m on a mission to find my brother’s son.” Wyatt kissed Fiona. “I’ll be right back.”

He took Noah through the crowded house, sliding open the glass door before stepping onto the patio—where he froze in his tracks.

Uncle Shawn and Jae the Manny were executing some wild dance moves to that perky K-pop music with Tasha’s twins, while Little Sean and Zach danced in wild circles around them. Aunt Ellen and Penny were laughing and cheering them on, and Wes was recording it all on his phone with a giant grin.

“What the hell am I looking at?” Noah asked loud enough for the small crowd to hear him.

Zach stopped dancing, looking up at them with big eyes as he pointed at the phone. “Daddy. Language.”

Wyatt caught Noah’s expression and started to laugh. After a minute, his brother joined in, and Wyatt knew everything was going to okay.

They just had to hang in there.

***

“That was insane.”

Wyatt nodded tiredly as he leaned against the couch, thankful that Rig and Rory had brought enough food for everyone and then taken the plates away afterward.

Fiona’s feet landed in his lap and he instantly started rubbing. He liked doing things like this for her. And as much as she loved being pregnant, she still needed the occasional helping hand.

“It was nice seeing the guys from the firehouse. I think Noah got a kick out of it, too.”

Bobby, Kadir and the captain had all shown up for the housewarming. Wyatt thought it was to convince him to stay on after he’d taken the training courses required to start working for the fire marshal. It was great to be wanted, but it also felt good to have a new goal to strive for. Arson investigator had a nice ring to it.

Fiona was nodding. “Kadir is a sweetheart. But I didn’t realize Bobby worked out at your cousin’s gym.”

“Small world.”

“Big family,” Thoreau tossed over his shoulder as he moved around the house, picking up the stray party trash.

“Speaking of big families,” Fiona said, “JD says Joey has already found an apartment. He’ll be moving here for good next week.”

“Poor Carter,” Wyatt said with a snort. “JD’s family is crazier than ours.”

“Debatable,” Thoreau muttered. Wyatt narrowed his eyes, watching the man gather the last of the bottles for recycling.

“Fiona, didn’t you have something to say to Thoreau?”

Fiona opened her eyes and stared at him, tugging her feet off his lap. “No.”

“No? So I didn’t hear you talking to Austen about wanting your next baby to have her bone structure?”

A bottle dropped and rolled across the floor. “What?”

She glared at Wyatt. “Now isn’t the time, honey.”

“It’s the perfect time, babycakes.”

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