of the little ones.” Cissy smoothed her hands over Dominic’s collar and the corner of her mouth kicked up. “Besides, my husband looks especially nice tonight and I’d like to keep him that way.”
Dominic tugged her close and whispered in her ear. Cissy’s cheeks reddened. She batted at Dominic’s chest, disentangling herself from his hold and started for the main house.
“Time to go in and get a bath, boys. It’s getting late and you both need your rest.”
The twins groaned.
“Aw, come on, Aunt Cissy.” Kayden scowled. “Just a little longer. We ain’t got no school all week.”
“That’s, we don’t have any school this week. And from the sound of those double negatives, I think they should’ve canceled vacation and kept you in class.”
“But—”
“I said, no.” Cissy stabbed a finger at the ground and smiled. “Now, do your good-night rounds and get your tails over here.”
“Best do what she says, Kayden,” Dominic whispered, expression grave. “Santa’s watching.”
Kayden pouted but delivered his good-night kisses to everyone. Jayden followed suit but after kissing Amy’s cheek, he wrapped his arms around her hand and pulled.
“Will you come in, too, Aunt Amy? I want you to tuck me in.”
“Yeah,” Kayden chimed, grabbing Amy’s other free hand. “And will you read that same story you read to us last night? No one else does the voices good as you.”
She smiled. “I’d love to.”
“You gotta do your good-night kisses before you go in,” Kayden said solemnly. “It’s Aunt Cissy’s rule.”
Amy laughed. “Well, we don’t want to break any rules, do we?”
She pressed a swift kiss to Dominic and Pop’s cheeks then peppered a few more all over the boys. They gurgled with giggles and she laughed harder in response. Logan’s chest warmed at the sight. The heat from the fire had painted her cheeks a cherry red, making those gorgeous green eyes shine like emeralds.
He’d heard her laugh on several occasions throughout the evening and each delightful bout of it melted away another lost year between them. It was easy to recall the teenage years she’d spent at his side by the Christmas bonfire, plucking marshmallows from his roasting stick and sneaking sips of his mulled wine.
She caught him staring and blushed even more. “Are you coming in?”
“Soon,” he said. “I’m gonna help clean up.”
“Come on, Aunt Amy.” Kayden shoved at her hip. “Give Uncle Logan his good-night kiss so we can go in.”
Logan grinned and arched a brow. Amy hesitated, glancing down at the boys. Their wide blue eyes moved from her to him and back again.
Amy sighed and stepped closer. She brushed her lips against his cheek, lodging a sweet ache in his belly. Logan curled his hand around her hip, tugging her close and nuzzling her neck.
A small hand shoved between them. Jayden scowled up at him and wrapped his arms tight around Amy’s leg.
“You already got your good-night kiss, Uncle Logan.”
He laughed. “Guess you’re right, buddy.”
Amy stepped back and tapped the brim of the Stetson with a fingertip. “Good night, gentlemen.”
Amy left with the boys, following the other ladies and laughing on the walk back to the main house. Cissy looked over her shoulder and blew a kiss to Dominic.
“I hate to call it quits early, but...” Dominic rubbed his chest and grinned, dimples denting.
Pop held up a hand and smiled. “Say no more, son. We’ll wrap things up out here.”
Dominic jogged off, catching up with Cissy and hugging her close as they made their way up the path. Amy trailed behind the couple with the boys, pausing every few steps to point at the sky and answer the boys’ questions.
“Amy sure has a way with those boys,” Pop murmured. “She looks good with ’em.”
Logan stiffened. He turned away to watch the hands laugh and pass around another round of beers. Amy did look great with those boys at her sides. But he couldn’t shake the last image he’d had of her holding a child.
Their child. Sara. And the sight had been gut-wrenching.
Pop shifted, his elbow brushing against Logan’s. He remained silent for a moment, then cleared his throat.
“It’s nice having Raintree full again,” Pop said. “It’ll be even nicer when Cissy and Dom’s girls get here. I hate that Amy might not be here when the babies arrive.” He hesitated, rocking back on his heels. “How much longer is she staying?”
“A couple weeks.” Logan rasped a palm over the stubble lining his jaw and turned away.
“Don’t mean to pry but have you talked with her any more about things?” Pop’s gaze heated his skin. “I thought Amy might’ve changed her mind about leaving after she settled in.”
“No.” Logan shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m still working on getting her to stay put.”
“You two seem a lot closer now than when she first came home.” Pop nodded as if in reassurance. “That girl still loves you. Always has. No amount of time or distance will change that.”
“You sure about that?” Logan faced him. “You thought the same thing about Mom and we all know how that turned out.”
Pop held up a hand. “That was different.”
“How so?”
Hues of red and orange from the bonfire flickered over Pop’s face. He kneaded the back of his neck as his eyes roved over the acres stretching out around them.
“Gloria never wanted to come here. Raintree was always my dream, not hers. She tolerated it because she loved me but she wanted something different.” His mouth twisted. “And she found someone else that would give it to her.”
Logan sighed. “We were better off without her, anyway.”
“You think so?” Pop glanced at him. “I wanted your mother from the first moment I saw her, but we both knew we weren’t a good match. She was happy in the city and I was a rancher just passing through.” A short bark of laughter escaped him. “That short skirt and high heels of hers did me in, though. I fought it but it didn’t take long for the rest of her to win me over, too. We knew the odds were stacked against us but we loved each other enough to give it a shot.” His smile dissolved. “She ended up being miserable here and wanted to go back to her old life. I tried my best to talk her into staying. It didn’t work out because neither of us was willing to give up one path for the other.”
Logan scoffed. “Except her path had another man on it.”
