Her Three Wilde Champion Men (Wilde, Nevada 2)

“It’s scary, Charly.”

“Anything worth trying that hard for is going to be scary.” Charly opened the door. “We better get Carlotta’s care package and get back or we might miss the next chapter of my cousin’s happy-ever-after.”

Carlotta smiled as they walked in, and in her signature accent said, “De car is already packed vith the food. Too much for you to carry. Let’s go.”

They returned to the waiting room loaded with delicious goodies. After everyone dove into the boxes, Alex came through the door from the delivery room.

“Mother and baby are just fine,” he said.

Shelby was totally awed by him. He’d brought the next Wilde into the world.

“Well, Doc, is it a boy or girl?” Mary asked anxiously.

“Another girl for our town, Mary. You have a beautiful granddaughter.” He walked over to Shelby, and pulled her into his arms. Then he planted a celebratory kiss on her, making her toes curl and her heart flutter.

Is my dream coming true? Did he understand Wilde better than she’d imagined?

The waiting room erupted in applause and embraces and kisses. This was Wilde. This was how things were done when a new baby was born.

Austin Wilde came out carrying the new bundle with his four brothers surrounding him. He walked over to Mary, their mother, and Pappy Jack, their grandfather. “I’d like to introduce you to our daughter, Mom. This is Carol, named after grandma.”

“Give that baby to me,” she said.

“Did I hear you right, son?” Pappy Jack asked. “My old ears aren’t what they used to be. What’s this precious girl’s name again?”

Jackson put his arm around his granddad. “It’s Carol, Pappy. She’s got the same eyes as grandma had, doesn’t she?”

The old man wiped a tear from his eye. “That she does. That she does.”

Alex squeezed Shelby. “I’m glad you’re here, baby.”

“Me, too,” she answered, daring to dream her dream of a life with him and his brothers.

* * * *

Shelby put her head on her pillow. Norma and Lily had already been gone when she’d gotten home around nine this morning.

What a night.

A new baby. Carol Wilde.

Lots of laughter and joy.

Alex Champion. All of it was amazing.

God, how she wanted her own family. She’d dated some guys in Wilde, but none of them had ever clicked for her. After that she’d widened her search but unfortunately, people from Wilde didn’t mix well with outsiders. She thought about the waiting room and realized that wasn’t quite true.

The women at the clinic with her had all been outsiders before coming to Wilde. Charly, Mary, Maude, and Mackenzie had been twirled around the space by their men after Alex had come out of the delivery room.

She recalled her mother’s words to her.

“Outsiders just don’t understand our ways, Shelby. Trust me. Date the boys from Wilde. You won’t regret it.” That was what her mom had always told her. Her dads, too. They still did every Monday night at nine on Skype. For her parents, it was Tuesday afternoon. They’d retired and moved to Melbourne, Australia. Her parents were having the time of their lives. She missed them very much. They were coming back for a visit to Wilde in October, and she couldn’t wait to see them.

Australia had been her mother’s dream for years.

What about my dream of my own family?

Only once had she tried dating an outsider, thinking maybe she could settle for a lone guy and break the tradition of the long line of women in her family who had enjoyed the love of two or three husbands. That had ended in a disaster. But Alex was as opposite from Kenneth, her ex from Reno, as could be.