The Legacy of Falcon Ridge: The McLendon Family Saga - Book 8

by D. L. Roan

  “Oh my God!” Dani screamed and took off running.

  Gabby watched her go, catching her dads excited gazes a few yards away as she ran toward them, then past them, and jumped into Clay’s arms.

  “Ouch,” Breezy whispered beside her, having seen the same ping of dejection in her fathers’ eyes before they could mask it with three equally handsome grins she’d waited all day to see.

  “Hey, baby.” Grey was the first to greet her, and for the first time in two days, she felt complete as he wrapped her in his strong arms. She sank into his warm kiss, chasing his familiar taste. “Mmm,” he hummed against her lips. “I should go away more often.”

  “Don’t you dare.” Gabby sighed as he set her on her feet, stealing one last kiss before Matt scooped her up.

  “Hi Darlin’.” She squealed as he spun her around, giving her a long, frisky kiss before he buried his face in her neck, tickling her with his unshaven chin. “God if you ain’t a sight for sore eyes.”

  She ran her fingertips over his scruffy beard. “This is new.”

  “Lost my razor somewhere between here and Texas,” he said, setting her on her feet. “Don’t get too used to it. It’s gone the second we get home.”

  “Aww.” Gabby cupped his cheeks and pulled him down for another quick kiss. “I kind of like it.”

  “You won’t later.” Matt’s playful eyes brimmed with naughty suggestion.

  “Get a room,” Dani joked as she and Clay finally joined their reunion. “People are starting to stare.”

  “Let them,” Matt said and dipped Gabby backward, extracting a bubbly yelp as he stole another kiss.

  Mason pulled Dani into his arms. “Sorry, sweetheart. I screwed up.”

  Dani hugged him back. “It’s okay,” she said, her gaze darting between all her dads, then up to Clay with a dreamy smile. “You’re forgiven.”

  When Mason released her and stepped into Gabby’s open arms, his silence spoke volumes, holding her to him like he would break the second he let her go. Having loved him for so long, she could sense his anguish but said nothing as she held him, knowing there was nothing she could say.

  Grey may be the most protective of her three husbands, but Mason had always been her pillar of silent strength, until someone or something threatened the ones he loved. Clay was a threat. Not in the usual way, of course, but a force that would change their family forever nonetheless. While many had expected Grey to be the holdout, she’d known Mason would be the one to take Dani’s leaving the hardest. She’d hoped this trip would help him come to terms with their new reality. Judging by the defeat in his eyes, when he finally pulled away and met her gaze, he’d made some progress.

  “I love you so damn much,” he whispered against her lips, the tightness in his voice betraying his brave effort.

  She took his face between her palms, the love embedded in her heart for him making it impossible to contain her own smile. “Let’s go home.”

  The hour-plus ride home seemed to go by quicker than normal, the time easily filled with conversation about her husbands’ visit—most of which Gabby had to drag out of them. She’d never understand why it was so difficult for men to remember details.

  “My feet feel like I’ve run a marathon in stilettos.” She walked into their bedroom and kicked off her shoes. “Oh, yes!” Her toes curled into the plush carpet as she paced over to her vanity table and removed her earrings.

  “My thoughts exactly.” Matt’s sultry tone tickled her ear as he draped himself around her back, pressing an openmouthed kiss to the side of her neck. The prickly stubble of his scruffy beard tickled her sensitive skin and she squealed, twisting in his arms until they were face-to-face.

  He backed her toward the bed and they fell to the mattress together, his solid weight pressing her into the plush, oversized pillowtop. “I’ve always wanted to make love to a wedding dress dominatrix,” he said between kisses, tunneling his hand beneath her shirt, kneading her breast with a sure and hungry grip. “Did you buy a leather flogger while you were out, or should I get a bullwhip from the barn?”

  Gabby rolled her eyes at the ridiculous moniker Dani’d invented after their first appointment. “I don’t get it,” she said as Matt kissed his way down her neck, pushing her shirt up as he went. “She’s never had image issues, or been picky about the clothes she wore, but now all of a sudden nothing fits right.” All day Dani’d found one thing after another to dislike about herself or the dresses she tried on. “I’m beginning to think she’s not just using the ‘jeans and T-shirt’ threat as a way to torture me.”

  Matt chuckled, the vibration against her belly sending a delicious shiver along her spine. “Sure she is,” he said, trailing the tip of his tongue along her side, dipping it into her bellybutton before he made his way back up. “You know she’s never been a frilly kind of girl. She just needs to find the one that’s right for her.”

  Gabby drew in a sharp breath when he raked his teeth over her nipple. “Maybe you’re right.” She hoped he was. As much as she wanted to see Dani find the perfect dress, if Dani truly didn’t want to wear a formal gown, she didn’t want her to feel obligated to please her.

  Matt abandoned his seduction and pushed up to hover over her. “I’m always right,” he said with a wink.

  She traced the striped pattern on Matt’s shirt as her worries swirled around in her head, then released a frustrated sigh when she realized she’d all but ignored his obvious cues. “Sorry,” she said, and pushed up onto her elbows to return his kiss. “Where’s Grey and Mason?”

  “Downstairs takin’ a shower,” he said, dipping down to land another trail of kisses along the top of her bared shoulder before he popped up and slid off the bed, caressing the red blotches his prickly stubble had left on her pale skin. “Which is exactly what I’m gonna do, right after I shave.”

  She grabbed his hand when he tried to walk away. “Please don’t go.” Guilt gnawed at her for letting the day’s distractions rob them of the intimacy she’d craved while they were gone.

  Matt gave in, but only for one last kiss before he pulled away with a grin. “Go take a hot bath,” he ordered with a flirty wink. “We’ve got plans for you later.”

  Warmth flooded her veins at the suggestion in his playful eyes. “Oh, really,” she teased, reaching up to snag his belt. “What if I want later to be now?” She tugged, pulling the belt through the loops and reaching for his zipper before he captured her wrists.

  “Oh, no. I promised.”

  Gabby tipped her head to look up at him. “You promised what?” What were her men up to now?

  “I promised Grey and Mason to have you downstairs and ready by the time they—damn.” He twisted away from her roaming hands with a choked laugh.

  “By the time they what?” she pushed, pulling him back.

  “Darlin’, please,” he begged, twisting away again and this time she let him go. “I’ll start the water for you,” he offered, stumbling backward toward the bathroom. His hooded eyes raked over her one last time before he turned and disappeared through the doorway, the sound of running water following seconds later.

  Smiling, Gabby began to undress. She toyed with the defiant thought of joining him in the shower. No doubt she could persuade him to abandon his promise to his brothers, but ultimately decided against it. As much as she wanted him now, she wanted all of them more. Some things were well worth the wait.

  * * *

  The first stars of the night were twinkling to life in the marbled violet sky as Gabby drained the last of the wine from her glass and laid back on the picnic blanket, resting her head in Grey’s lap. A flock of geese flew high overhead, their nasally honks growing fainter as they disappeared over the treetops that lined the creek.

  “Looks like they’re flying south for the winter,” she said with a content sigh.

  “Yep.” Matt gathered her feet into his lap, and she groaned as he massaged her aching arches. “This will probably be our last picnic of the year.”
>
  Sitting on the blanket beside her, Mason looked over his shoulder, gifting her with his loving grin. “You okay?” he asked, studying her.

  “Feels good,” she hummed, sinking further into Grey with every delicious stroke of Matt’s talented fingers. The second she laid eyes on them again, those crampy pumps were going in the trash.

  Matt paused his massage. “Are you sure?” he asked. “Do you need anything?

  She cracked one eye open and pinned him with a daring glare, wiggling her foot in his hands. Mason may be the leg man of her three husbands, but Matt gave the best foot rubs. His lips cracked a crooked smile and, as seductive as it was, her eyes closed on another moan when his fingertips played over her ankles and kneaded her sore calves.

  “I can go get a blanket if you’re cold,” Mason offered.

  Gabby opened her eyes again, one at a time, to find Mason still studying her, uncharacteristic concern in his eyes. She pushed up onto her elbows, glancing between Matt and Mason, her brows pinching together as she tried to figure them out. They’d been acting strange since she’d picked them up from the airport. Between the two of them, they must have asked her if she was okay at least two dozen times.

  “I’ll go get your shawl.” Mason moved to get up but Gabby snagged his hand, letting his momentum pull her from her prone position.

  “What’s going on with you two?” she asked, glancing between them.

  Mason’s eyes cut to Matt.

  “Nothing,” Matt said with a shrug. “Just want to make sure you’re comfortable.”

  “Uh-huh.” She would have believed him if she hadn’t caught Mason’s telling glance. She pulled her feet from Matt’s grasp and crossed her arms over her chest. “Try again,” she said. “Without looking at Mason,” she added when Matt’s glance darted to his twin again.

  “What’s going on?” Grey asked, peering at his brothers.

  Mason lowered his head, running his fingers through his hair. “We, uh—”

  Matt grunted, and Gabby looked over to see him signaling something to Mason.

  “Stop!” She swatted at Matt’s hand. “Tell me,” she insisted. “What’s going on? Is something wrong with one of the kids? Uncle Cade?”

  “No, nothing like that,” Mason swore.

  “Then get on with it,” Grey barked. “And so help me God, if you two ruin this for me tonight, you’ll be picking horseshit out of your boots for a month.”

  Gabby elbowed Grey’s arm.

  “What?” he asked, ignoring her warning. “I’ve waited all weekend to—”

  “Are you pregnant?” Mason blurted.

  The question hit Gabby like an earthquake, ripping the ground out from beneath her.

  “What are you talking about?” Grey demanded. He turned her to face him, and she gulped in a breath. “You’re pregnant?” he asked, his shocked gaze dropping to her belly.

  “No!” She shook her head, the numbness and shock receding in the wake of her confusion. “I’m not pregnant.” Her voice squeaked and she swallowed, turning back to Mason, then Matt. “Why on Earth would you think that?”

  Matt’s eyes cut to Mason, then back to her as he shifted on the blanket. “We were on the computer the other day,” he finally said, “ordering some parts for one of the tractors, and all this stuff came up about having a baby during menopause.”

  “And you’ve been acting strange,” Mason added. “You’ve been tired a lot and not drinking caffeine.”

  Gabby tried to piece together how they could have possibly come up with such an astounding conclusion. Yes, she’d been tired. She’d been consumed with plans for Dani’s wedding, trying to make it perfect on such short notice, and with Cade’s urgent downturn and helping Daniel set up his in-home care. Thank goodness for Breezy’s help with that. But still, how could they have thought she was pregnant, of all things? According to her doctor, she wasn’t in complete menopause yet, but she hadn’t had a period in months.

  “You were on my computer?” she asked, still reeling. They never used her laptop.

  “No, we were on Grey’s.”

  She thought over the last few weeks. She’d used Grey’s computer to order a few things for the wedding, but she’d never read or looked up anything about having a baby.

  “You went through my search history?” Grey asked. Gabby looked up to see him pacing behind her, having not even noticed he’d stood.

  “No,” Matt said with a derisive snort. “It was right there on the hardware site, with all kinds of ads about having kids in your forties.”

  “We thought she must have been reading about it when she was using your computer to order…” Mason’s voice trailed off and he glared up at Grey.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Matt breathed in disbelief. “It was you?”

  Gabby’s eyes widened and she followed Matt’s gaze to Grey, who paced back and forth at the edge of the picnic blanket.

  Grey jerked to a stop, pushing out a resigned sigh as he shoved his hand into his hair. “It was me.” He paced another few steps, stopping and turning back to Gabby. “I looked it up,” he admitted, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

  What? Was he saying he wanted…

  “You want to have another kid?” Mason asked with astonished disbelief.

  “No,” Grey denied, but then he shrugged, his eyes meeting Gabby’s. “Maybe,” he admitted so softly she could barely hear him. “I don’t know!” he growled in frustration and walked back to the other end of the blanket, and then beyond.

  “Grey?” Gabby pushed to her feet to go after him.

  He stopped a dozen feet away and turned back to her, a frenzy of emotions storming in his dark eyes. “It was just a thought,” he dismissed with a shrug. “I don’t even know why I had it. I guess, I don’t know, I’m going through some kind of midlife crisis or something.”

  Gabby studied her husband, a thousand and one questions swirling around in her head, too fast to make sense of any but one. “Do you want another baby?”

  Grey glanced at Matt and Mason before he took her hands in his. “Do you?”

  Gabby opened her mouth, the word no clamoring to be spoken, but thoughts of holding another baby in her arms, their baby, held it captive. Images of a tiny bundle swaddled against her chest, began to take shape. Would he have Grey’s dark hair, or Matt and Mason’s sandy-blonde locks, like Connor, Carson, and Cory? Would he be as tall and handsome as her Jonah, or…would he be a she? Her heart swelled to the point of aching at the thought of having another little girl. She tipped her head back, her world spinning as she looked up at Grey, remembering the unforgettable awe in his eyes when he held Dani in his arms for the very first time.

  He was a good father, she thought, then looked over her shoulder at Matt and Mason, her breath hitching when she saw the banked hope in their eyes. They were all amazing fathers and husbands.

  But…

  “Baby,” Grey’s voice broke through a lifetime of memories tugging her heart in every direction at once. “What you want is the only thing that matters.”

  Gabby shook her head. “That’s not true.” Their desires were as important as hers.

  “Yes, it is,” Mason argued, rising from the blanket with Matt. “The risks to your health and the baby, can be high.”

  “Yeah, darlin’.” Matt rested his chin on her shoulder as he pulled her back against him, wrapping his arms around her waist. “We’ve done some reading on this, and it’s not a decision to make lightly.”

  Gabby twisted to look at him. “You’ve done research?”

  “Some,” Mason confirmed, “but there’s no pressure, sweetheart. We’re on board with whatever you want,” he swiftly added, cutting a sideways glance at Grey. “All of us, apparently.”

  “I don’t know.” She shook off the memories and tried to grasp the enormity of what they were suggesting. “I’ve never thought about having another baby,” she admitted, turning back to the romantic sunset picnic to sit before her legs g
ave out. “I’ve been so excited about our first grandchild that I...”

  With every passing second, the idea burrowed in deeper, taking root in her heart. Could they? Could she? She was only just beginning to get her hormonal rebellion under control. The night sweats were fewer and farther between. She was sleeping better and feeling better. She wasn’t at all excited about jumping back onto that rollercoaster again, but what if? What if they did try to have another baby? Her lips curled into an involuntary grin at the possibility but then quickly fell. Mason was right. What about the risks? They’d lost Connor and Carson’s mother during childbirth. Desperate to give them a child, Sarah had ignored the risks, too. Even if it was their idea, was it selfish to want this?

  Overwhelmed, she tabled those useless worries. She didn’t have a heart condition like Sarah, and they hadn’t yet seen a doctor to know for sure what risks she’d face, if any.

  “We didn’t mean to spoil the mood,” Mason said. “I-we were too worried to go on thinking you might be pregnant and not know for sure.”

  Gabby chuckled. “And you think I wouldn’t tell you if I was?”

  “No,” Matt and Mason said at the same time, both glancing up at Grey. “Let’s just say we both understand why you wouldn’t want to open that can of worms right now,” Matt clarified.

  Gabby laughed again when Grey narrowed his eyes. She tangled her fingers with his, understanding their apprehension. To say she was shocked he’d been the one who’d initiated the idea would be an understatement. “You didn’t ruin the mood,” she assured them. “I just…thought that part of our life was over.”

  “And it can be,” Grey insisted, crouching back onto the blanket in front of her. “I was curious. That’s all, baby. Probably something brought on by all the recent changes in our lives.”

  “And you thought I had problems,” Mason muttered.

  Matt laid back on the blanket beside her, shaking his head as he kicked off his boots. “Talk about a back-assward world,” he chuckled. “Gabby’s not thinkin’ about havin’ a baby, and Grey is. Am I the only one around here not going through a midlife crisis?” he joked as he settled on his side, propping his head on the heel of his hand.