Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 451(@200wpm)___ 361(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“Well, we thought they were mountain men. Turns out they were actually … Well, you know.” Bells draws her thumb across her throat dramatically.
“Trained killers.” Clover nods.
“With delicious bodies and filthy minds,” Aurora sighs.
“And a mafia god who I’m still obsessed with.” I rest my chin on my hands.
“How’s the website going?” Aurora taste her icing, then adds more powdered sugar.
“Great.” I shrug. “I have a team of six reporters who dig into everything from crime to child beauty pageants to hair smuggling.”
“Hair smuggling?” Bells frowns.
“Yeah, people pay big money for real hair weaves. There’s this whole black market where women are more or less forced to sell their hair. It’s a big issue in a lot of developing countries, actually.”
“Wow. Mind blown.” Aurora makes an explosion sound.
“Now that you’ve got your team to do all the legwork, do you and Tiernan plan on staying at the lodge more often?” Clover asks hopefully.
I steal a taste of icing. “That’s the other big news. We’re going to stop traveling so much. I mean, we’ll still hit the road if a big story comes my way and gets me excited, but I’m editor in chief, so I can do a lot more directing instead of chasing down leads.”
“Really?” Bells takes a long drink of her wine. “Is that the only big news?” She points at my glass of water.
“What?” I sip it.
Aurora stops stirring, her eyes on me.
Clover gives me a knowing smile. “Are you …”
I take a deep breath and finally break the news. “I’m pregnant.”
All three of the women scream and rush me. They talk at once, and I can’t tell who’s saying what.
“So the IVF finally worked?”
“Oh my god I’m so excited and you--”
“--girl or a boy? Doesn’t matter. I’m just so happy.”
“--been so long since we’ve had a baby at the lodge.”
“We can do the shower here. Won’t that be fun?”
“Ladies.” Tiernan strides in, his low voice cutting through the voices like a smooth blade. “Give my love some air.”
They step back, all three of them beaming at me. My eyes water, and I wipe the tears away as my friends--more like my sisters--give me another round of hugs.
“I guess she told you?” Tiernan smiles and pulls me into his arms, his hand straying to my stomach.
“How far along?” Clover tries to control her excitement, but she still jumps up and down a little bit.
“Almost three months.” I can’t stop smiling and crying.
Tiernan kisses me on the forehead. “We can’t wait.”
“We can’t wait!” Aurora claps and takes my hands. “I can’t imagine how happy you must be.”
“I’m just taking one day at a time.”
“Morning sickness?” Clover asks.
“Swollen feet?” Bells glances down. “I’ve got some really great cream you can start using now for stretch marks. Oh, and if you’re worried about stretching or tearing down below, you know you can use some olive oil and get Tiernan to massage your--”
“More on that later.” Clover, a pained smile on her face, steps in front of Bells.
“Too much?” Bells asks.
“Way too much,” Clover mumbles.
Tiernan clears his throat. “Well, on that note, my little spitfire needs a nap.”
“I remember those days” Aurora returns to her icing, a smile still on her face. “My batteries always got totally drained at around 3 o’clock. Every day of the first and second trimester.”
“The third, I fell asleep anytime I sat still.” Bells laughs.
“Get some rest. When you wake up, we’ll have your shower all planned out.” Clover pats my hand.
Tiernan walks me from the kitchen and to our wing of the lodge. The snow outside reminds me of our first winter here. It’s homey and perfect, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed it until we came back for the holidays.
“Still feels the same, doesn’t it?” Tiernan opens our bedroom door and ushers me inside.
I yawn as he leads me to the bed and sits me down.
“Tired?” He kneels and pulls my fuzzy slippers off, my pants, and then helps me lie back.
“I can’t stop yawning.” I do it again.
He strips out of his shirt and pants and gets into bed with me. “Mind if I join?”
“I love when you join.” I turn to him and snuggle against his hard chest.
“It’s so much more real now that everyone knows. Did you tell the guys?”
He laughs low in his throat, sending a thrill through me. “Yeah, I think my ribs might be bruised after Diego’s hug.”
“Diego hugged you?” My eyebrows bounce up.
“Yep. I could swear Barrow almost cried, he was so happy for us.” He kisses my hair.
“We’re so lucky.” I sigh, my eyes fluttering closed. “Our family is all around us.”
“Growing by the day,” he murmurs and wraps his arms around me.
I smile. “You’re going to be an amazing dad.”
“Can’t wait to show the kid how to shoot and use a knife.”
I giggle. “Maybe hold off on all that for a while?”