Page 157 of Duke
“I know we said no visitors today, but…”
She sucks in a breath through her nose. “Duke.”
“I promise you’ll like this one.”
Her lips twitch. “Okay.”
“That was easy.” I rise from the couch with a groan.
She lifts a shoulder. “I trust you.”
My chest puffs out a little, the way it always does when Wheeler tells me that. Her trust isn’t easy to earn, and I know what a big deal it is that she’s given it to me.
I’ve barely opened the front door when I’m pulled into a hug.
“You look like hell,” Haines says in my ear. “I’m so happy for you!”
Laughing, I reply, “Nice to see you too, brother.”
“Oh.”
“What?” I pull back to look him in the eye. “Do you not like—”
“I love when you call me that. Don’t be silly. I guess I’m still mourning the fact that it’ll always be ‘brother’ but never ‘boyfriend.’”
“Haines Michael Rankin.”
Glancing over my shoulder, I smile when I see Wheeler standing in the hall, arms crossed over her chest.
“Are you trying to steal my children’s father away from me?”
“Yes.” Haines moves around me to hug his sister. “You’re officially a mom! Can you believe it?”
“No.” Wheeler’s laughing and crying all at once, and suddenly, so are Haines and I.
We bring him into the family room.
“Haines, allow us to introduce Margaret Rose”—Wheeler gestures to our daughter—“and Robert Haines Rivers.”
Her brother’s eyes go wide, his hand landing on his chest with a thud. “Are you serious?”
“Yes, Haines, we seriously named our baby after one of the best, most stand-up men we know.” I clap him on the shoulder. “Thank you for being so good to us. We love you.”
Haines wipes his eyes. “Let’s hope little Robbie here takes after me in the looks department too.”
Wheeler gently elbows him. “He already does.”
Ryder is the next to visit. He comes over the next morning, bearing gifts of lattes from the Caffeinated Cowgirl downtown and a pair of kids’ cowboy hats.
“For later, obviously,” he says, blinking away the moisture in his eyes. “When they get older and follow in our family’s footsteps. We’re always looking for more cowgirls and cowboys.”
Too choked up to reply, I just give my twin a tight hug.
“Can’t breathe,” he gasps.
“I love you,” I grunt.
I startle at the sound of a car door being slammed. Glancing across the room, I see a familiar truck parked in front of the house.
