PackRescue
Page 24
The front door opened. Fina’s wolf ears picked up the sound of Cutler’s boots thudding on the floor then the sound of him opening then closing the gun lockbox inside the hall closet. His firm footfalls preceded him into the kitchen. “Hey, honey.” He kissed his wife with a resounding, wet, smacking sound. “Got a call from Bill Anderson’s nephew today. Said he had an application in for a business startup grant from the pack and wants to talk to you about something called positioning.” Cutler’s brows drew together. “I think he’s asking about where to house that new microbrewery of his.”
One corner of her mouth quirked up. “I’ll call him after supper.”
“Are those the plaques?” Cutler pulled one out of Nath’s hand. “Tell me again why you need them?”
Fina rolled her neck from side-to-side and stretched her back. “The plaques will be mounted on rocks that will be set beside each of the specimen trees I’ve planted around Nath’s base camp. They’ll describe the plants, give the year they were planted and the country they originated in.”
“Hmm. Sounds good…something you tree huggers will get off on.” He handed the plaque back to his brother, dug an elbow into Nath’s ribs and leaped away nimbly when Nath tried to cuff him one.
“Anyway,” Fina sighed loudly, cutting off their jousting before it got out of hand. “The greenhouse there is fully stocked and I’ve got a healthy ecosystem going. We’ll be ready for our first customers next week. Nath was right.” She grinned up at Cutler. “Housing our retail site there is a perfect tie-in to his ecotourism business. Plus, I like having a secondary nursery location in case something catastrophic happens to the main nursery.”
She glanced out the back window. Not far from the barn was a neat line of greenhouses.
An infant started to cry.
“This kid stinks,” Ryan snorted from down the hall. “You know, you’ll be a lot more fun to hang out with when you can run around and stuff.” When he entered the kitchen, his face was screwed up and he was holding a chunky ten month old, carrying the crying baby well away from himself. “I don’t do poopy diapers,” he declared righteously. By his eighth birthday Ryan had passed the five-foot mark. Now, at nine, he was tall, gangly and had enormous hands and feet.
Cutler scooped the baby out of Ryan’s arms. “That’s my son,” he proclaimed proudly. “Anything worth doing is worth doing loud and proud.” The aqua-eyed child cooed up at him, slapped Cutler’s cheek with a meaty hand and drooled. Cutler’s nose wrinkled. “I guess you do need your butt changed after all.” He ruffled Ryan’s hair and grinned down at him. “How was school today, buddy?”
“Speaking of school,” Nath interrupted. He dropped his fists onto his hips and faced Fina. “You got an email from college. They sent it to the shared business account. That post-graduate course you’re taking on tax law? You only got a B-plus.” Both he and Cutler frowned down at her.
Fina cleared her throat nervously but they didn’t say anything else.
“I also checked my bookings for this summer,” Nath continued after a moment. His tone softened as he let the subject of her grade drop. “It looks good. This should be my best year ever. Of course that means I won’t be around this summer to help you in the nursery, although I should be able to step back in come October or so.” He crossed over to Fina and hugged her gently. “If you can handle the phones for me the next couple of months, we’ll be even.” He kissed her forehead, gave her another gentle squeeze then stepped back to lay his hands on the slight mound of her belly. He grinned and rubbed it through her bib overalls like it was the most precious thing he’d ever touched. “Now, how are all three of my girls doing?”
“The twins are sleeping right now,” Fina said, and placed her hands over Nath’s. “I could use a foot rub.”
“Ah ah,” Mary scolded. She waved a wooden spoon menacingly. “Please. At least wait until I’ve left for the day.”
Nath looked disappointed but he kissed Fina and leaned in to whisper, “After the kids are in bed, your wish is my command, sweetheart.”
Cutler kissed her cheek then carried his son away to change his diaper. “Count me in, honey. Two feet. Two mates. No waiting.”
About Gwen Campbell
Gwen Campbell lives in Canada and got her start in the magazine industry, writing everything from news stories to obituaries. A life-long believer in romance, she’s combined her two passions and now focuses on romantic fiction. Gwen is married and she and her husband contribute the success of their relationship to making a point of saying “I love you” at least once a day, sometimes saying “yes, dear” just because, and making sure the toilet paper always come over the top of the roll.
Gwen claims that her best sticky-plot resolutions come to her while dog walking.
Gwen welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Gwen Campbell
Angel in Leather
Final Justice
Seduced by Silver
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
www.ellorascave.com
Pack Rescue
ISBN 9781419948688
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Pack Rescue Copyright © 2014 Gwen Campbell
Edited by Ann Leveille
Cover design by Caitlin Fry
Cover photography by Andrey-Popov, vishstudio/Shutterstock. Com
Electronic book Publication March 2014
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