Chapter 15: Chapter 15

Andie jerked awake as the silence around her shattered with a louder pop than the night before.

She felt the scream bubbling up inside her as she scurried out of bed, not realizing she was wrapped up in the sheet, and tumbled to the ground, landing on her injured arm with a loud thud.

That made her let out the yell that was bubbling, but it was more from the pain this time. She heard the door open quickly, and Eli was beside her in an instant.

He knelt beside her and cupped her cheek. “Hey, what happened?”

“You didn’t hear a loud pop?” she asked as she looked around frantically.

“Hey, no, it’s okay. It was just a dream, darlin’,” he assured, then helped her up and wrapped the sheet around her carefully.

“Did you fall on your arm?” he asked when he glanced at the bandage wrapped around her arm.

She nodded a little.

“Are you okay?” he asked as he sat her down on the bed.

She shrugged. “Where are the girls?”

“Still sleeping, actually. I was getting ready to get them when I heard you,” he answered in a soft, soothing tone.

She looked up at him and felt the heat enter her cheeks as she remembered the mind-blowing moment she had had with him the night before. Apparently, it wasn’t affecting him.

He appeared a little calm but also really tired.

Her gaze darted away from him. “Let me get dressed. I’ll get them, Eli.”

He tilted her face up by her chin. “I can help, baby.”

She looked at him for a minute. “Why?” she said, then swallowed hard and tried to clear the sleep out of her voice.

“Why do you keep calling me baby? Ever since our first kiss, I mean. I’ve never had anyone call me it before, so I don’t know.”

He crouched down in front of her and locked eyes with her. They were less coppery and more golden. “Because, honestly, I don’t know. I do know I like calling you it.”

She searched his eyes, trying to read what he was really thinking. But who was she kidding? She never knew anyone as well as she had Candice.

Finally, she let out a soft sigh. “Let me shower, and I’ll get the girls up. I suppose you’re confining me to the house today?”

It was his turn to let out a sigh. He reached up and brushed his fingertips against the bruises around the front of her throat.

“I’d prefer you stayed here today. Yes, it would make me feel better. There’s something else I want to talk about as well. Do you remember the last thing I said to you when you called me from your house last night?”

“I-I think so…”

“Andie…,” he said sternly.

“Okay, yes. I remember,” she quickly responded.

“What did I say?”

“To wait for you.”

“Lucky for you, I think you’re too hurt to take to task. Otherwise, another part of you would be extremely sore every time you sat down today,” he said matter-of-factly.

“You wouldn’t,” she gasped.

“I would,” he affirmed. “So you’ll stay in the house today without complaint, right?”

She nodded. She wasn’t ready to be alone, and there was no need to add fuel to the fire. “Who knows when I’ll be able to clean up the bakery anyway.”

“Can you do me a favor, though, once the girls are fed and playing?”

“Sure,” she whispered, wishing she could kiss those lips he had pressed to her in so many places last night.

“Can you write down anyone in your past who has ever wanted to hurt you or needs money?”

“Honestly, besides Daryl, I can’t think of anyone.”

“Just try once you’ve woken up some. There’s coffee in the kitchen. If you need me, call me. Just try to take it a little easy.

“If you find you need help, call me also, and I’ll have Belle come over, the girl from last night.”

“Okay,” she whispered and turned her gaze from him.

She let out a startled gasp when he laid her back on the bed and leaned over her, pressing those lips she had been fantasizing about short minutes before to hers with an urgency she completely felt.

She ran her fingers through his thick, soft hair as she pulled him closer. Why couldn’t she shut these feelings off?

He slowly pulled back from her, his breath just as hitched as her own. He pecked her lips. “I better head out before Dale gives me hell for being late. Be a good girl today.”

She rolled her eyes a little. “I promise. But aren’t you kind of the boss?” she asked as he helped her sit up.

He winked at her. “All the more reason not to be late. I’ll come check on you around lunchtime.”

“Okay, oh, and Eli?” she called out as he headed to the door. He turned back to her a little.

“I’m sorry for not listening last night. Be careful today. He might know I’m here, whoever he is, and I promise I’ll try to figure out who he could be.”

“I’ll keep an eye out, I promise. I’ll set the security alarm here as well.”

“Thank you, Eli, for everything.”

“Hope that everything doesn’t include last night because I’m not done with you yet, by far.” He smiled wickedly, and out the door he went.

She swore she stopped breathing. He wasn’t done with her? What on earth? She felt her face heat up, and she grabbed her clothes and sighed.

She was going to have to get more. Her clothes from last night were no doubt ruined. She’d have to have Eli take her to get things later. She bit her bottom lip, grabbed her phone, and shot him a text.

Andie

If I’m staying here longer, I’ll need to get more clothes. I only grabbed enough for last night and today, and Lucy will need some other things and I have to get more baby food and formula.

Then she went to get in the shower.

***

She managed a shower for the most part and dressed. She opted for no bra since she wasn’t going to be going anywhere for a while.

She went to get the girls, got them changed, then headed to the kitchen. She placed Lily in the highchair and fastened her in.

Then she sat Lucy down beside the chair for a minute while she got everything ready. She then remembered the saucer Lily had.

She scooped Lucy up, went to get it from the living room, and brought it back to the kitchen. Her arm was still hurting a little, but it could be worse.

She put Lucy in the saucer and began to finish everything up, then fed the girls. She gave Lucy and Lily their bottles and took them to the living room. She put them in the playpen.

A smile touched her lips as they began to play.

She went to the coffee table in the middle of the living room and opened the drawer, where she found a notepad and pen. She sat down facing the girls and racked her brain.

Who could feel like she owed them something? Particularly money. The only people she had any interaction with were Candice, her parents, and Daryl.

She never really knew what had happened to her real parents. At age three, she was put into the system. She’d been placed in at least twenty-three different foster homes by the time she was sixteen.

No one had wanted her. Until age ten. But when the adoption was so close, the sweet couple had died in a car crash.

She shivered. Bad luck was just what she had. Why hadn’t it been her instead of Caleb and Candice? That was her kind of luck, not theirs.

She had found someone else, another couple, at age fourteen. They were a little bit older, but hell, what did that matter?

Unfortunately, it did matter. Their fostering licenses expired while she was there, and they weren’t able to renew them.

She wrote down fifteen last names. Those were all she could remember after being in at least twenty-three foster homes before the last one.

The home of Tame Campbell and his wife, Stella Campbell, had been the worst foster home she had been placed in by far.

Andie closed her eyes tightly. She’d almost put that last night behind her. Could that be a reason why the man would come after her?

She looked over at Lucy and Lily, who were babbling away, and smiled. She swore those two had their own little conversations. They reminded her so much of Candice and herself.

Those two would be the best of friends, hopefully. They loved each other so much.

She glanced back at the notepad when all of a sudden, the security alarm went off. It blared through the house, and the girls broke into tears at the sound.

Geez, that was a little loud. She got up to get the girls as the fear settled in. She tripped over the table in her hurry to get to the girls when her phone began to ring. She answered as she crawled over to the girls.

“Andie, are you okay?”

“Eli, hello? I can’t really hear you. It’s too loud here. I don’t know what’s going on!” she yelled into the phone.

“Just hang on, we’re on our way!” he yelled back, and she caught most of what he said.

She laid her phone down to try to comfort the girls. Nothing was working. The alarm was hurting their ears.

ELI

Eli yelled to Dale, and one of the other hands, Levi, to check all around the house when they got to it. He should have made sure someone stayed with Andie and the girls. He thought they would be safe. He was so wrong.

He kicked his horse, Lightning, which sent him into a gallop to the house. They were out in the farthest pasture, repairing a downed fence, when he heard the alarm go off from the house.

He was glad it carried to almost anywhere on the property. He made it to the house and jumped off Lightning, dug his keys out of his pocket, then bolted into the house.

He silenced the alarm quickly, then headed toward the crying coming from the living room. He saw Andie struggling with the girls and scooped Lucy into his arms, calming her as Andie managed Lily.

He pulled Andie against him. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” he felt her body tremble against him. “We were out here, and everything was fine until the alarm started blaring.” She laid her head against him and shook a little more.

“Okay, let’s go to the girls’ room. I’ll make sure it’s safe before I leave you there. I’m going to check the house to make sure everything really is okay. I’ve got Dale and Levi checking the outside.”

He bent down to pick up her phone and slid it into her sweatpants pocket. He took them down the hall to the nursery.

He scoped out the room and closet before checking the rest of the house. He looked everywhere on the first floor.

The front door had been locked when he got there, and the deck door and the kitchen were secure too. No one seemed to be upstairs.

He searched everywhere and found nothing, so he headed down to his domain, the basement. He checked everything down there, and it all looked good. He texted Dale asking if everything was good outside.

As he waited for the reply, he headed back upstairs to Andie. She was shaken up but again managed to put Lucy and Lily ahead of herself.

He walked into the nursery and locked the door just in case. He sat down beside Andie as Lucy and Lily played.

He watched the girls closely but pulled Andie into his lap. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Might be a little deaf now, but other than that, yeah, I guess so.”

He shook his head. “Sorry about that. I wanted to be able to hear it no matter where I was out there, and I’m a heavy sleeper.”

She laid her head on his shoulder as she held onto her hurt arm again. “Trust me, I kind of figured that out for myself last night. Took me forever to get you to wake up so I could take care of Lucy.”

He glanced at the bandage. “It’s bleeding again?”

“Yeah, I tried to rush to get the girls, and instead, I managed to trip over the coffee table.”

“First, the ladder, then Daryl, next the bakery, and now a coffee table? I’m starting to think I’m going to have to place you in a big ol’ bubble so you’re always safe.”

She leaned back and shoved his hat over his eyes.

“You were part of the ladder incident, buddy, and if you weren’t so deaf, you wouldn’t have needed the alarm so doggone loud, so we’re two for two. Daryl and the bakery were actually my fault.”

He tilted his hat back up with a smile on his face. “Actually, we’re two for four. Almost forgot about you toppling off backward from your car when you were fighting the spark plug wires.

“And you fell out of bed this morning, so I think we’re going to have to invest in that bubble.”

She attempted to scowl at him. “Ha, so you admit that my falling off the ladder was your fault.”

“Eh, probably would have happened even if I hadn’t shown up, but I’m very glad I did,” he teased.

When Andie opened her mouth to protest, he slid his mouth down over hers, and she automatically let out a moan and relaxed in his arms.

He slowly pulled back and just held her, waiting to hear from Dale. He tensed when he felt his phone go off finally.

He adjusted Andie a little, pulled his phone out, and settled her right back to where she had been. She snuggled into him as the girls crawled over to them. He leaned back against the wall as he read his text from Dale.

Dale

No sign of anything, boss. Nothing out in the barns either, Levi’s taking care of Lightning. We think you should stay with Andie and the girls, we got things covered out here.

Eli

Good plan. I want to anyway. I’ll need Belle a little later since Andie and the girls being here is going to last a little bit longer than we initially thought.

Thanks, Dale. I appreciate everything.

He placed his phone on a low-volume setting and then laid it on the floor beside him as Lily and Lucy climbed up onto Andie.

He chuckled and kissed each of the little girls’ cheeks, then pressed his lips to Andie’s as he wrapped his arms around his three girls.

Lucy snuggled into his chest as Lily did the same with Andie, the scare of the alarm apparently forgotten. He just hoped it didn’t happen again. They were supposed to be safe with him.

He laid his cheek against Andie’s head as he began to slowly rock all three of them. He smiled when it didn’t take long for Lucy and Lily to fall asleep. Andie slowly fell asleep too.

He leaned his head back against the wall. He had to get them safe, and he didn’t know how. But he’d do whatever it took. They were all his family now, all his girls, and he’d never be able to walk away from them.

Andie was his one. If only he had realized it sooner.

Everyone was asleep, so it was an opportunity to talk to his brother.

~Thanks, big bro. You and Candice knew what I was too blind to see. Sucks you’re gone now but thank you for the second chance to see she’s my one, just like Candice was yours. ~

Now he knew how Caleb felt the minute his eyes had landed on Candice. If only he hadn’t been so stubborn, this might be a little easier for Andie to see.

~Please help me make her see, Caleb. I need her now. Once isn’t going to be enough. I want all of this every day for the rest of our lives.~

ANDIE

“Eli!” Andie shouted as she jerked awake. She felt an arm tighten around her. Fear gripped her heart tightly, and her body tensed.

“Easy, baby. I’ve got you. It’s okay,” the deep rumble of a voice she was getting used to reassured her.

She looked up into those golden-coppery-tinted eyes of his. They were darker around the edges and lighter toward his pupils.

But there wasn’t hardness in them. Just the same look of pure want that was a recurring feeling she’d been having ever since their first kiss.

She just stared at him until she felt Lily move against her chest. She looked down at the baby snuggled against her, surprised her outburst didn’t wake the little girl.

She couldn’t say the same about Lucy. She stirred against Eli, pressing her feet into Andie.

Eli adjusted her a little and looked back at Andie.

She let out a ragged breath she’d been apparently holding. “You let us fall asleep on you? What about the work you have to do outside?”

She went to move, but he held her still. “Dale and I decided I was going to stay in here with you three. I didn’t want to leave after the fiasco earlier. Were you dreaming again?” he said softly so as not to wake Lily.

“Yeah, I was. It wasn’t good,” she whispered as she looked down at her daughters. This was becoming such a nightmare.

She just wanted them to be safe, and she wanted to have her normal life back. Then again, would it ever be normal again?

“What was it, darlin’?” he drawled in the southern tone of his that sent shivers and goosebumps along her skin.

“They got to you. Whoever is doing this to me got to you, and they weren’t going to let you go because you were getting in the way of getting to me,” she almost sobbed out.

She had to admit she didn’t want anything to happen to Eli.

Maybe it was the way he had spun her around that makeshift dance floor at Candice and Caleb’s wedding.

Maybe it was the way he had changed toward her over the past few weeks, or maybe the way he had kissed her after he stopped her from getting hurt when she fell off that ladder.

Or maybe it was when he’d rushed to help her at the bakery both times she’d needed him, or even last night.

She didn’t know exactly when it had happened, but she cared about Eli, not in the way she had cared about Candice or the girls, but in the way a woman cared for a man when she was in love.

Yeah, she was lost to this man, and she was pretty sure it had happened with just that one stupid dance.

“That won’t happen. They won’t get to me, and yeah, I am in the way, and I’ll always be in the way. Have to protect the mother of my niece,” he said gently as Lily began to stir.

She slowly pushed up from Andie, and Lucy squealed in joy at the sight of her friend.

“But, what happens if something does happen to you?” Andie mumbled as she watched the girls. Eli, Lucy, and Lily were all she had left, and she couldn’t bear it if something happened to him or her girls.

“Nothing will happen to me, not from this asshole trying to prey on you. I’ll shoot him first before I let anything happen to you or the girls or myself, okay?”

She looked up at him. He didn’t have an ounce of worry about him, and yet it wasn’t satisfying her.

They had to find out who was doing this and quickly because they both had lives to get back to, and if that didn’t include each other for the long term, then she would just have to accept that.

She still didn’t want to be alone again. ~But that’s going to happen eventually. You love the man. Who’s to say he loves you back?~

~He wouldn’t be holding all three of us while we slept if he didn’t have some ounce of feelings for all of us, not just Lily, would he? ~

~Then again, it might just be a lust kind of thing, the excitement that he couldn’t knock you up, so why not have fun for a little while until he was finally ready to settle down and have a family? ~

Her thoughts were running wild. Time to lock the uncertainty down for a while.

“Andie, you’re going to have pretty bad permanent frown lines if you don’t stop thinking so hard,” he teased, leaned down, and caught her lips briefly as his phone began to ding.

He groaned a little as he adjusted Lucy so Andie could hold her, too, and he grabbed his phone from the floor beside him.

He read the message out loud: “Dale wants to know if we’re ready for Belle to come over. She will watch the girls while we pick up some more things for you and the girls to bring back here.

“Sure. Will there be enough time to get the girls fed?”

“I think so,” he answered as she carefully moved from his lap with both girls, but he stood, took Lucy, and helped her up. “I’ll help you feed them.”

She turned her eyes up to him, and she was pretty sure she was looking at him with the love she felt for him.

It may just be heat, attraction, and lust for him, but she was so far gone and knew there would never be another man for her.

He was who she wanted, but would he want her for just as long? So many things were going through her mind as they headed down to the kitchen.

She placed Lily in the highchair, and Eli held Lucy. “I used that saucer for her earlier. She didn’t seem to mind, so we can use it again.

“If we have time, I can bring her highchair out. I just don’t want to bring too much, though, in case this stuff gets settled soon.”

“Bring whatever you want, Andie. This is your home now, so you guys deserve anything you would have in your normal home.”

“Okay.” She got things ready and returned to Eli and the babies. She let out a gasp when, instead of letting her pull out a chair, he tugged her down onto his lap.

She looked at him and could feel the heat against her cheeks and the deep ache lower between her thighs. Yeah, last night wasn’t enough. She wanted him again. Why did she ever give in to temptation?

She let out a breath as he began feeding Lucy, and she fed Lily.

“So, did you come up with a list?”

“Yeah, I did. It’s out on the table in the living room. It’s probably longer than you expected but also not the most accurate since I can’t remember before age eight.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I bounced around from foster home to foster home most of my life since I was three. No one really stuck until I was at least eight.”

“And what happened after you were eight?”

“No one wanted me, except for two of the foster parents. They were the only decent ones I was ever sent to live with.”

“What happened with them?”

She let out a shaky breath as she slid the spoon into the baby food and fed it to Lily.

“The first ones I was with from when I turned nine to a little after my tenth birthday wanted to adopt me, but they were killed in a car crash.

“I bounced around again. Then another couple got me when I had just turned twelve. They were denied because of their age.

“Also, their license to be foster parents needed to be renewed, and they couldn’t get that done because of their age also. It’s so fucked up how the system works sometimes.”

Eli rubbed her back gently before he fed Lucy another spoonful of baby food. “What happened after you were twelve?”

She glanced at him. He actually sounded like he wanted to know. He wasn’t looking at her like she was downright trash, either. Did miracles somewhat exist?

She cleared her throat. “Bounced around again until I turned sixteen, but then I ran away from that foster home because I knew I could take care of myself and anything would be better than living in that wretched place.”

He stared at her intently. “How many foster homes did you stay in?”

“At least twenty. I don’t remember from age three until I turned eight, but it started when I was three.”

“What happened to your parents?”

“No one knows. I was found wandering around the streets with a note when I was three. I kept the note for a while but then got rid of it because I figured it was useless and I’d never find my parents.

“All it said was my name and that I needed a good home like I was a pet instead of a child.” She shivered at the thought that that was what her parents had thought of her.

His gaze never left her as she talked, but he still managed to feed Lucy.

Huh, a man that could multitask, who’d of thought? She flicked her gaze to him and then looked away. Maybe he was realizing she wasn’t worth his time anymore.

“So, you’ve never really known what being loved by a parent felt like? Is that why Candice and Caleb chose you? Because you know what not to do?”

“It’s possible, but honestly, Eli, your guess is as good as mine as to why they picked me. Could have just been because I picked them to be Lucy’s godparents.

“I had no one else, and I have no one else now, well, except you for Lily, but I don’t know what will happen to Lucy if something ever did happen to me, and now I realize last night was very fucking stupid of me.

“I just saw everything Candice and I had done for that shop going down the drain, and it wasn’t fair that that bastard thought he could do it.

“I should have done what you told me and waited for you at the house. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

“I’m happy to hear you apologize. Given the circumstances and now your acceptance of your mistake, I won’t punish you this time.

“Don’t think I will always do this, Andie, because I won’t. There will be consequences, spanking being the least of those.

“I am a dominant man and plan on being the head of my household, and I expect the woman in my life to obey me. Do you understand and agree, Andie?

“I will never strike or hit you in anger ever. If I’m angry, I will wait until I have calmed down considerably.

“My intent is to help you, not hurt you or risk your safety. The girls and I need you,” he said with his heart on his sleeve.

“I know about the head-of-the-household lifestyle. I read a lot of books about it. And I know in my heart you would never intentionally hurt me or the girls. I trust you completely, Eli. Truly.

“I also know you will do your best to take care of the girls and me, and I couldn’t be happier or feel as safe with anyone else,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“I’m certain this is the start of something special, Andie. You and the girls are what have been missing from my life. You are mine, baby. Don’t forget it.

“Don’t worry about the bakery either. I’ll get it fixed up. I know it’s not going to be the same or feel the same, but everything can be replaced, but you can’t. So yeah, no more stupid ideas like last night, okay?” he asked.

She nodded her head to agree, and he began again. “So, what happened with the other foster homes?”

“Same thing. No one wanted me. I’ll never know why, either. I always tried to behave, but sometimes my mouth got me into more trouble than anything else.

“If they did something I didn’t like, I told them, then I’d be the ungrateful child under their roof. So they just kept placing me and placing me until I turned sixteen and landed in the last foster home.”

She stopped talking as they fed the girls a little more.

He looked at her again. “What happened at the last foster home?”

“Tame Campbell. I’ll never forget that jerk. If I keep myself busy like I have been here lately, then I don’t think about it as much. He was a mean drunk, and his wife wasn’t much better.

“She always let me take all the beatings instead of getting them herself. I don’t know how they fostered any kids ever.

“One night, while I was in the room I slept in, he came in with the most hateful look I’d ever seen, and he tried to climb on the bed with me…” She shuddered at the thought.

“I didn’t know what he had concocted in his mind, but I knew it wasn’t good. I grabbed the lamp next to the bed and slammed it into him. Took a couple times, but he finally fell off the bed.

“I ran. Went to the only place I could run to—Candice’s.”

Eli’s gaze snapped back to her, and she knew the disgusted look would be there, so she looked away.

“They took me in for a couple of months while I looked for a job to support myself. No one came looking for me either, probably because they knew how much of a problem I was.

“Me and my mouth were always in trouble. Candice never liked him because of the stories I’d told her, so when that happened, she didn’t even ask her parents.

“She just kind of moved me into her room and shared everything with me, her clothes, a space on her bed.”

“Look at me,” Eli demanded.

She slowly turned to him, waiting for the disgusted look, but it wasn’t there.

“You did the right thing, you know, slamming that lamp into him. Maybe he’s the one doing this?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know how they would find me unless they heard the news from Daryl or anyone else Daryl told, I suppose.

“They’re at the bottom of the list because of them being the last home I stayed in, but I guess it is possible they want to get back at me for slamming a lamp into him, but I just don’t know, Eli.

“I’m scared and lost. I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve always had a plan for the most part.

“I got the job to support myself, and as soon as I was able to, I moved out of Candice’s house, and surprisingly, with the Howells’ help, I found my own place and finished high school.

“During all that chaos, I was never afraid, but I am now.”

Eli looked at the girls who were done with their baby food. He grabbed the jars and set them back on the table along with the spoons, and he pulled her into a comforting hug.

She had never wanted anyone but Candice, and she supposed Caleb, to know about her troubled past, but now she was spilling her guts to Eli. And he wasn’t running away.

“I am so sorry I didn’t give you the time of day before, Andie. I really am. I was too stupid to see what was in front of me, but I am glad you’ve made yourself into a strong independent woman.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, just savoring the feel of the comfort he was offering.

Then she sighed, moved from his lap, and began to clean the girls and their trays just as a knock sounded at the front door. She held her breath as Eli walked down the hallway to answer it.

He greeted the person in a friendly tone, so they must not be a threat.

Then she heard two sets of feet coming down the hall. Of course, one was heavy, with them being Eli’s boots, and the other set was so soft that she had to strain to hear.

She turned as the two walked into the kitchen. Eli made a beeline for her and the girls. He picked Lucy up and turned Andie toward the guest who showed up.

Andie picked Lily up before Eli introduced the super skinny, tall, blonde woman.

“Belle, Andie Malone, Andie, this is Belle Mayson. She’s Dale Hank’s girl. She’s going to watch the girls while we get you three some more things.”

Andie recognized her right away. “You work at the police station. You were at the front desk the night I went down there.”

“Yes, I do. I am so sorry I didn’t help that night. I’m really ashamed of myself. It was such a shock about Candice and Caleb. How are you doing?”

“I guess as well as can be expected. Have you heard if they’ve gotten anywhere with who possibly killed them?”

“No, last I knew, they were going to investigate you, but now that you’re in trouble, I guess they took you off the table.”

Andie shot a look up at Eli. This was the woman he was going to leave the girls with?

“Belle, stop it. You know she didn’t do it. No one could fake how messed up she was after looking at their bodies. It wasn’t her, and if Murphy doesn’t find out who it was, I sure as hell will.

“Now you’re sure you’re up for watching both girls?” Eli admonished.

“Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. Everything will be fine.”

“Okay, good. We’ll be heading out in a few. I will set the alarm before we leave. If it goes off, get a hold of Dale right away. We had an issue earlier but no sign of anything. If anything happens, have Dale call me.”

Eli wrapped his arm around Andie, and they headed down to the living room and placed the girls in the playpen. “You two behave for Belle.” He kissed Lucy and then took Lily and kissed her too.

Then Andie kissed both girls. “I’ll be back soon, little ones. Everything’s going to be okay.”

But as soon as those words were out of her mouth, a knot formed in her stomach. Was everything going to be okay?

She sure wasn’t going to be after all of this was over, and she’d have to start fixing up the bakery and getting on with her life away from Eli.

He was in lust with her, and it sucked because she almost had a flint of hope that maybe, just maybe, he was falling in love with her.

But there was no way, even if he would say he was, she wouldn’t let him sacrifice his dream of having a family. A real family. Not two babies already made.

Yes, one of them was blood to him, but the other just wasn’t going to be enough for him. And not to mention, Maisy would be disappointed in not having more grandkids.

According to Candice, Maisy had wanted a whole flock, and Andie didn’t blame her one bit. She glanced up at Eli, and he wrapped his arm around her as they made their way to the hallway and out the door.

He set the alarm like he said he would and led her over to his truck. Her eyes widened when he cupped her chin and made her look at him.

“Don’t worry about space here. There’s plenty of room, so anything you think Lucy or Lily might need, we’ll grab it, okay?”

“Okay. The biggest thing I can think of right now is the highchair.”

“All right, let’s go, babe.” He leaned down and pressed those seductive lips against hers, making her toes curl instantly. Boy, yeah, she was done for.

No one had ever made her feel this way before, and it scared her senseless. But she could revel in the feelings for a little while longer, couldn’t she?