Page 65 of Before You Can Blink
“Whoa,” Daisy breathed out.
“Well, that settles it,” Caroline declared.
Brows furrowing, I asked, “What settles what?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Tripp stays here with me and Penny during the day.”
“Oh, Caroline, I don’t think—”
She quickly cut off my protest by holding up a hand. “It’s clearly what he needs, and they can keep each other company while I cook. Besides, maybe if he’s calm, he might be open to taking a bottle. If not . . .” Caroline shrugged. “Well, we’ll do what we would if there were an orphaned calf or foal. He needs to eat, one way or the other.”
My eyes bulged before shifting to meet Wade’s after his wife boldly offered to breastfeed my son if push came to shove.
That bastard wore the biggest shit-eating grin. “Spent my whole life bailing you out. Only makes sense that my wife would jump in to pick up where I left off.”
“You’re really okay with this?”
“Brother, I’d give you the shirt off my back if you needed it. If your boy needs what Caroline’s offering in order to survive, then it’s no question in my mind.”
Next, I turned to Daisy. “And what do you have to say?”
Her eyes grew glassy as she smoothed a hand over the dark hair atop Tripp’s head. “I don’t think we have any other choice.”
“Guess it’s settled, then.” I gripped Caroline’s hand where she sat beside me. “Thank you.”
A smile tugged up on her lips. “Ranch family goes deeper than blood, and we look out for one another.”
The kindness and generosity of my best friend and his wife might’ve very well saved my son’s life. It was the reminder I so desperately needed that there was still good in the world. And that good resided right here on Sullivan Ranch.
Chapter 10
Jett
Age 28
October
“Whatdoyouthink?”Nerves skittered down my spine as Daisy did a walkthrough of the house I’d completed the finishing touches on only yesterday.
With Tripp on her hip, she surveyed the space before turning to me with a smile bright enough to light up an entire city. “I think we’re home.”
Hope filled my chest. “Yeah?”
She closed the distance between us. “This is where our kids are gonna grow up. This is where, someday, our grandchildren will come visit us. And this is where I’m gonna grow old with you, Jett Sullivan.”
That last declaration had my breath hitching.
Losing Murph had forced me to face my own mortality. The two men I looked up to most—him and my father—had left this earth too soon, and recently, I’d spent far too many days wondering if I would live longenough to see my hair threaded with gray or watch my kids graduate from high school.
So hearing Daisy make plans for a future I wasn’t convinced I would ever witness caused an ache to form beneath my sternum. I wanted so much to live out that beautiful dream with her, but if life had taught me anything, it was that sometimes you didn’t get a choice in when you met your maker.
“Daddy!” Aspen’s excited cry chased the shadows away, and I turned just in time to catch her flying leap.
Eyes bright, she placed both hands on my face. “Big bed for me?”
Schooling my features to appear stern, I asked, “Were you sneaking around upstairs, young lady?”
Unashamed, she nodded enthusiastically, making her copper curls bounce. “Yes!”
