Page 225 of Wild Then Wed
“It’s really nice,” she says, still looking.
“Thank you.”
She shifts her weight, palm curving lightly over her belly. “Maybe I should be a veterinarian.”
That gets a quiet laugh out of me. “You say that like you want to deliver a calf at three in the morning.”
She smirks. “Okay, maybe I’ll settle for marrying one instead.”
Before I can answer, Sawyer walks over with Nora still clinging to him like a koala. Her cheek rests against his chest now, sparkly boot swinging lightly with each step. Her voice has gone quiet, her thumb in her mouth.
Sawyer doesn’t say anything, but he rests his hand at the small of my back. I don’t think he even thinks about it—it’s just where his hand goes when he’s near me.
And I don’t mean to think it. I don’t go looking for it. But watching him like this—in his own kitchen, holding a child on his hip, touching me like it’s second nature—it sinks in anyway.
How natural it looks. How safe she looks, curled up against him like she doesn’t have a single doubt in her little body that he’ll keep holding her as long as she needs.
It’s a picture that sinks somewhere deep in my chest. And then that quiet, familiar guilt follows right behind it. That dull ache that shows up whenever I think about the thing I can’t give him. The thing someone else already did once before.
His thumb moves slightly against my back, like he knows I’m thinking something that I won’t say out loud. I lean into him just a little. Enough to remind myself that he chose this. Chose me.
I glance at Nora, her cheek still pressed against Sawyer’s chest.
“Hi,” I say to her, smiling. “I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Wren.”
Her head turns slightly, her eyes finding mine. “I know.”
I raise a brow. “You do?”
She nods like it’s obvious. “You’re the pretty lady from the wedding.”
That makes me laugh—quiet and surprised. “Oh yeah? You remember that?”
She sits up straighter now, suddenly revived by the sound of her own voice. “I liked your dress. It was the twirly kind. Mine wasn’t twirly, but my daddy said it was sparkly, and I like sparkles the most. But also dinosaurs.”
Sawyer lets out a low laugh beside me. “She’s been really into stegosauruses lately.”
“Because their tails are spiky,” Nora explains enthusiastically. “And they can whack things. If I had a spiky tail, I would definitely whack Riley when he’s being bossy.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Riley, huh?”
She nods, very serious. “He made me eat broccoli last night.Fourpieces. Can you even believe it?”
Sawyer lifts an eyebrow. “So the broccoli led to you…wanting a weapon?”
Nora scoffs. “Duh. If I had a tail, I’d whack him. Just one littlethwack.That’s what he gets for making me eat trees.”
I bite back a smile. “Honestly, that’s a valid feeling.”
She studies me for a second, head tilted. “Are you a mommy?”
The question lands like a small stone in the middle of something still. I feel Sawyer’s hand tighten slightly at my back, but I keep my expression easy.
“Not to any humans,” I say softly, trying to manage a small smile. “Just to Hank. He’s kind of like a kid.”
Her eyes brighten. “Uncle Sawyer’s big dog with the drooly mouth?”
“That’s the one.”
