Page 63 of Due North
The campfire was blazing when we got Poppy dressed again for the cold and walked out to the fire. With all the excellent food Amity and Dawn had made, we were stuffed, but we were going to enjoy this February night of celebration for as long as we could. I settled down with one birthday girl on my lap and the other next to me. Cece started rubbing my neck, and I loved how she was always touching me somewhere. We were drawn to each other all the time, and her touch calmed me when I needed it most.
Blaze stood up and handed Cece a manilla envelope. “Happy birthday from Bison Ridge, Cecelia.”
Cece took the envelope with hesitation, her gaze focused on Blaze and Heaven. “What’s this?”
“Open it and find out,” Heaven said, bouncing Eden on her lap. Eden was getting so big that Beau had made a special leather strap that Heaven could sling around her body and then wrap around Eden to keep her safely on her lap.
“You guys didn’t have to get me anything,” Cece said as she opened the envelope.
“It’s a joint gift. You’ll see why when you open it,” Amity said, leaning forward over her knees.
Cece pulled out the papers and used the flashlight on her phone to look at the picture. She turned her head one way and then the other, confusion written all over her face.
“Turn the page, child,” Ash said, motioning at the other paper.
When she did, her sharp intake of breath was audible. “You’re building me a cabin for my birthday?” she asked, glancing up in shock. “What?”
“You can’t live in the house forever,” Dawn said, taking Beau’s hand. “We’ll miss you, but Poppy Rose needs her own room.”
Cece was speechless, the papers shaking in her hand as she stared at everyone around the fire. “But …”
“No buts,” Ash said, his head shaking. “We have plenty of room to put up a place that you can call your own. You’ve got a little one to raise, and we’re going to make sure the cabin is safe for her, so she doesn’t try any fancy disappearing acts again.”
Tears were streaming down Cece’s face when she tucked the papers back in the envelope and tapped them on her legs. “This is so sweet of you guys, but I can’t let you build me a house.”
I set Poppy on her lap and wiped her tears with her soft scarf. “I don’t think you can say no to a gift, Cece,” I teased, kissing her cheek before I pulled my chair closer to hers.
Blaze pointed at me. “What he said. It would look rude.”
“No, no,” she said, hugging Poppy to her chest. “I’m being logical. It’s just too much, guys, seriously. Poppy and I are happy in the house. You let us live here rent-free, and that’s enough.”
“It’s not enough,” Heaven said, her head swinging back and forth. “Besides, you’re hardly in the house anymore. You’re always with Caleb at his tiny place. You need a home where you can cook a meal, let Poppy play in the bathtub and squeal with delight at her rubber duckies, and a place you can call your own. We’re going to make it accessible for her as she grows using a visual doorbell, safety features to protect her, and sign language signs she will understand. We have the land and the means to provide that for you, and we’re going to.”
When Heaven put her foot down, that was the end of the argument, and everyone knew it. No one argued with Heaven and got away with it once she’d made up her mind about something.
“Besides,” Beau said, taking Dawn’s hand and kissing it. “The word from the doctor is y’all might want your own place by August. There’s going to be a lot of na-noise in that ha-ouse about that time. Why-while it won’t disturb Poppy Rose; I don’t think you wa-want to get-uh-up at two a.m. every night.”
“What?” Amity said, standing up like a shot. “What? Beau Hanson-McAwley, you better not be acting the fool.”
Dawn’s smile told me Beau’s words were true. “He might be a fool, but he’s my fool, Amity. He’s also going to be an amazing daddy because of how you and Ash raised him. Bison Ridge will be plus one come August.”
Pandemonium erupted around the fire in hugs, laughter, tears, and joy. I shook Beau’s hand and congratulated him and Dawn before I sat back down next to Cece and kissed her cheek. She was staring at the envelope on her lap while Poppy Rose watched the family celebrating the joy of a new life.
“Cece, are you okay?” I asked, rubbing her shoulder to break the spell that envelope had over her.
“They’re building me a house,” she whispered, her voice quiet and filled with awe. “They want me to stay here. They want Poppy to stay here.”
“Well, of course, they do, baby,” I whispered, laying a soft kiss on her lips. “You’re both members of the Bison Ridge family. They love you and Poppy like their own. You aren’t going to disappoint them and not take the gift, right?”
Her head finally snapped up until our gazes met. Her eyes were filled with that red-headed temper, which was what I was hoping to stir in her. “Of course not,” she scolded me. “I’m just so surprised. They’re building me a house.”
Everyone had wandered back to sit in their chairs, and Cece shifted Poppy on her lap. “Beau and Dawn, congratulations,” she said, her tears gone now and a bright smile on her face. “I’m so excited for you! Imagine how excited Eden and Poppy will be to have another playmate.”
“I hope it’s another girl!” Amity said, clapping with enthusiasm.
“Never happy,” Beau said, shaking his head with chagrin.
Everyone laughed, and Amity bumped shoulders with him. “I’m thrilled, and you know I’ll take a boy just as fast as I’ll take a girl. I’m just trying to even out the pack. We have a whole pack of boys back home in Texas. I wouldn’t mind having a whole nursery school of girls here.”
