“Timothy!” his wife called to him in the hay loft where he was playing with his most precious darlings—two cooing, babbling, smiling, fire-haired babies. His twins grinned up at him toothily, and he felt his heart clench. He smiled back at them, eliciting another round of gurgling giggles.
“Be right there, Jo!” he called back, knowing better than to dawdle when his wife called for him. Struggling with the two squirming bundles, he descended the ladder and walked out to find Joanna standing in the barn doorway, her arms crossed over her chest, just above her swollen belly.
He smiled down at her. “I thought I’d spend a little time with these two sprites before I went into town.” Joseph and Josephine babbled up at him, and he shifted to accommodate their desire to be held higher.
She lifted an eyebrow but returned his smile, her hand rubbing at the small of her back as she did so. “You know I don’t mind you playing with Joe and Joey, but you still have a few things to do before you can go pick up that gaggle of ladies from the stagecoach station.”
His sisters, Bernadette and Henrietta, and his cousins, Phyllis and Brigette, were coming into town to spend a few months with his family. When they’d travelled north for his and Joanna’s wedding three years ago, they’d fallen in love with Morgan’s Crossing and the mountains and plains of Montana. It took a bit of persuasion to get his parents to agree to let them come, even for a few short months, and now his home would be bursting with females once again. His cousins were eager to finally be home with their mother, but he could sense they weren’t as excited to be back as his sisters were. He wondered if there were people they were sorry to leave behind in Dry Bayou.
Women are as mysterious now as they ever were…
He gazed down at his grinning son and nuzzled the little button of a nose. “You and I will get our fill of women, and we just might get over-full,” he whispered loudly, chuckling when Joanna poked him in the side.
“Give them to me,” she said, planting one child on each hip, her growing belly lodged betwixt two sets of wriggling legs. “Goodness, but I am about out of energy. Get on into town and get those aunts. I could use their help with these two!” She walked up to him, planted a quick, yet heated, kiss on his lips, then turned back toward the house.
Tim watched his wife, his very life, disappear into the house they’d built six hundred feet away from the main house where his aunt still lived. His sisters and cousins would stay in the big house, but they’d spend most of their time with Joanna and the kids, and probably make a few hundred trips into town for fripperies or some such feminine accessories during their stay.
He hitched the carriage to a four-horse team and told Mac, his foreman, he’d be gone for a few hours and to make sure the men were finished with the branding before he returned. Mac nodded and grunted, his usual hardness etched into his face. With long, black hair, in a single braid, and copper skin, Mac was the perfect image of his Native heritage. Mac wasn’t one to talk much, but Tim knew he could count on the man to work hard, be forthright, and protect the interests of Wheeler Hills.
Tim set the team to a trot and lead them from the property, headed toward town and his waiting sisters and cousins. While the scenery passed, he thought about how he’d seen the very same mountain peaks and prairie grasses that first day, three years ago, when his life had changed forever. He’d left Dry Bayou to come to Morgan’s Crossing to find his own adventure, to make his own fortune. Instead, what he’d found was a woman he couldn’t live without and a life he never imagined living.
As warmth and joy filled him, he smiled, then laughed into the bright, blue Montana sky.
About the Author
Lynn Winchester is the pseudonym of a hardworking California-born conservative, now living in the wilds of Northeast Pennsylvania. Lynn has been writing fiction since the 5th grade, and enjoys creating worlds, characters, and stories for her readers.
Lynn writes charming, romantic romance that focuses on the growth of the relationship and the power of true love. Lynn's historical western Dry Bayou Brides series is a highly acclaimed, bestselling sweet romance series. Keep an eye out for her upcoming releases.
When Lynn isn't writing, she is running a successful editing business, reading whatever she can get her hands on, raising her four children, making sure her husband is happy, and binge watching shows on Netflix.
Connect with Lynn online: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub
Read more charming, romantic romance by Lynn Winchester:
The Shepherd’s Daughter
The Seamstress
The Widow
The Rogue’s Bride
The Rake’s Bride
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