Lucy yawned and said, “Teresa says that Michael and Eleazar have done okay in school. They have lots of friends. They’re both pretty matter of fact about having two dads because that’s really all they know. They aren’t trying to justify something outside the norm to their friends. It’s just a fact of life to them.” Michael was going into the grade above PJ and Eleazar was going into the preschool grade behind PJ.
“Lucky for us, PJ should have the same teachers Michael has had, unless they move or are reassigned.”
After they’d gotten engaged, Patrick had sat his son down to explain to him about marrying Lucy and PJ had crowed and cheered like he’d won the lottery. Explaining about Beck’s role in joining their family had been a little trickier but PJ had accepted it as a good thing. Patrick smiled as he recalled the conversation. PJ’s main question had been to ask what he was supposed to call Beck.
“Do I call him Uncle Beck?”
“Well, maybe think of him as like a second dad. You can call him Dad, too.”
PJ had looked quizzically at him and with a wisdom that defied his years had said, “Dad, don’t you think that’ll get a little confusing? Remember how Lucy renamed me PJ? Beck needs a nickname, too. Cooter is already taken but Pugsly is still cool.”
“How about something simpler?” he asked with a laugh.
“How about Daddy Beck?”
For a little guy, Patrick had thought that would be okay but he replied, “That sounds great but as you get older, if you decide to just call him Dad, that’s okay, too.”
PJ had grinned and given him a thumbs-up. “Deal. Can we celebrate with ice cream?”
“Sure.”
“Dad?”
“Yeah, son?”
He’d looked down at the boy and noticed the pink in his cheeks. “I was wondering if it’s okay for me to get something for Lucy, like a wedding gift?”
Patrick had stifled his chuckle, wondering if he’d even known what a wedding gift was when he was this same age. The boy was too smart by half.
“Sure. What would you like to get her?”
The boy had taken him shopping later that afternoon, and they’d wound up at Clay Cook’s Jewelers, which had surprised the heck out of Patrick. It’d been the boy’s idea, too.
Patrick smiled down at Lucy, in his arms on the creek bank and noticed the way she stroked the pink pearl pendant that hung on a gold chain around her throat. His son had picked it out, happiness sparkling in his eyes, and Patrick hadn’t minded the extra expense. Lucy had been thrilled with the gift and wore it regularly.
Showing considerable savvy, PJ had nudged Beck and mentioned to him that Mr. Cook had a set of pink pearl earrings that matched it. Beck had chuckled and taken the hint, and he’d given them to her a few days later.
Their wedding was set for the end of September and Patrick had been very pleased when Lucy had asked his little sister, Maizy to help her, Grace, and Jayne with the wedding plans. Of course Maizy had been as excited to accept as Lucy was to ask for her help. They’d grown very close in the last several weeks.
Patrick had hopes that eventually Roberta and Rhonda would warm up to Lucy as well. He had the feeling his eldest sister, Rhonda was more curious that outright judgmental of them, taking more after his mom than his dad. Roberta had remained remote though not overtly unfriendly. He hoped she got over it.
His mother had been true to her word and the threat of a custody battle between him and his father had vaporized on the hot wind of all of his blustering. Patrick still chuckled when he thought of his mom’s threat to move to Atlantic City and get herself a gigolo. As maternal and family-oriented as she was, the mental image was just too comical.
His father hadn’t been publicly accepting of his lifestyle choice but he no longer made unkind remarks whenever he was around. Evidently Patrick’s mom had given him a good wakeup call and opened his eyes to the fact that he was getting older and had regrets of his own, foremost being his lack of a relationship with Patrick. Time would tell if that bridge could be built.
Speaking of fathers, Lucy’s father had paid him and Beck a visit, shortly after hearing of the engagement. The grilling had been excruciatingly embarrassing until Lucy’s mother had intervened and told them that her father had been looking forward to that event since the day she’d been born and that they had Lucy’s family’s approval. Lucy’s father had given him a steely glare, and then smiled and nodded for his wife, and then glared at them again, just to let them know he expected them to take good care of his baby girl.
They’d heard that Ralph Baxter had been found guilty of all the charges leveled against him, including the murder of Neil Jackson, whose body had been discovered beneath one of the numerous sheds on Baxter’s property. The investigation had revealed that the other sheds located out at Baxter’s place were all completely empty but all locked up tight as a drum.
A shout came from down at the creek. “Cannon ball!” A big splash followed and a second later PJ cleared the surface. “Woohoo! Hey! Did you see me?”
Beck sat up and hollered, “Yeah, and I think all of Divine heard you!”
PJ giggled devilishly. “Watch me do it again!”
As their son played—Patrick now thought of PJ as theirs, all three of them—Beck turned to him and said, “I think you and I need to climb that tree and hang the kid a rope for swinging over the water.”
Patrick grinned. “I’ve been thinking the same thing, since we plan to stay.”
They’d decided to put Patrick’s house in Divine on the market. Lucy had already notified her landlord of her soon-to-be change in status and he’d let her out of the lease without a penalty.
Beck had contacted his landlord and had decided to take him up on the option to buy the twenty acres that encompassed his farmhouse and the creek where his bee colonies were thriving. It would’ve been exceedingly difficult to move them, and all four of them loved the creek and the land he lived on already. The house wasn’t big enough but they’d already begun making plans for building a new home on the highest point of the acreage a little closer to the creek and leasing out the farmhouse once they moved.
Beck grinned and said, “I’m glad we’re making this place our home. I’ve loved it since first moving here.”
Lucy took both of their hands and laced her fingers through his and Beck’s and said, “It made sense to stay because of your business, Beck. I love the creek and the big trees all over the property. I love this creek and the town, even though it has its share of troublemakers. I could find happiness no matter where we lived but this truly is divine.” She kissed the top of his hand and then the top of his best friend’s hand and then looked down at the Divine Creek. “More than anything else, I just want to be with the men I love. All of them.”
THE END
WWW.HEATHERRAINIER.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I live in South Central Texas, writing the type of novel I love to read: more erotic and edgy than the mainstream, with plenty of sweet romance mixed in. I write erotic romances exclusively for Siren Publishing, under their Everlasting imprint. My love of romantic fiction began as a teenager when my mom gave me copies of Kathleen Woodiwiss’s The Flame and the Flower and Bertrice Small’s Skye O'Malley. To this day I'm pretty sure that was her idea of the “birds and the bees” talk.
My husband and I met in a scenario very much like the ones I’ve written about. He was the alpha hero who stepped in when this “damsel in distress” needed rescuing from a nefarious pervert. It’s no wonder I went on to write erotic romance when I had him to inspire me. My favorite type of hero is the gentle, lovable giant but readers will discover a variety of heroes and alphas in my novels, from nearly perfect to very flawed. I hope readers relate to my heroines, and the challenges and dilemmas they face head-on.
I love to chat with readers on Facebook and talk about my books and whatever else comes to mind on my blog, The Divine Tease. When not pounding on my keyboard, I'm usually busy corralling my kids o
r loving on my smokin’ hot husband, who thankfully loves to cook.
For all titles by Heather Rainier, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/heather-rainier
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Lucy's Revenge [Divine Creek Ranch 15] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 39
