Courage (Heroes of Big Sky 1)

“Pizza is too delicious to give up,” I say, kissing the side of his neck.

“I said cut back,” he clarifies.

Suddenly, he stands with me in his arms and grins again. “Let’s go to bed.”

“Great idea.”

* * *

“Maybe I should be Spiderman when I grow up,” Kevin says as we leave the theater. I decided to take the kids to an afternoon showing of Spiderman after school.

“What happened to being a fireman?”

He takes my hand and scrunches his nose, thinking it over.

“Could I be both?”

I laugh and then shrug. “Sure. Who says you can’t? A firefighting Spiderman might be just what this community needs.”

I ruffle his hair as Kelsey points to Drips. “Can we see Aspen?”

“Of course, we can, if she’s here. I think she could be in London right now.”

I push the door open and the blissful scent of coffee and baked goods greets me. It’s like heaven.

“What are you guys up to?”

To my surprise, Aspen is behind the counter and grins when the twins run around to hug her.

“We went to the movies,” Kelsey informs her. “And then we came here.”

“I’m glad you did.” Aspen smiles over at me. “Do you need me to keep them for you?”

“Oh, no, we just wanted to pop in and say hi. I don’t always need something. Sometimes, I just want to see my friend.”

“I’m glad.” Aspen busies herself making a couple of hot chocolates and hands them over to the kids. “That’ll be fifty dollars.”

Kevin’s eyes get big. “I don’t have any money.”

“Well, I guess they’re on the house, then.” She grins as the kids hurry over to claim a table and drink their chocolate. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I lean on the counter to chat. It’s quiet in here today. “Sam’s on his third day of being on call, and the kids have been so good at school, I decided it was time for a treat.”

“You’re doing great with them,” she says, surprising me. “Kids are hard. I can’t imagine how it is with twins. They’re happy and healthy. It’s plain to see that you’re doing a good job.”

“Don’t make me cry,” I warn her, and then we both glance to the door when it opens, and a woman in a wheelchair rolls inside. “Hi, Tate.”

“Hey, Natasha. I need an afternoon pick-me-up.”

“I totally get it. I’ll move out of the way.”

I join the kids as Tate orders a coffee from Aspen. I don’t know the other woman very well. Because it’s a small town, I know that she’s a talented interior decorator here in Cunningham Falls. She decorated Ellie and Liam’s house when they built it several years ago.

After she takes her coffee and leaves, I return to my place at the counter to talk to Aspen.

“You know I hate gossip,” Aspen begins.

“Just tell me.”

“Well, you know how Tate had that stroke last year, and it was a doozy? How does a woman, not yet thirty, have a stroke? Anyway, she got the news that the likelihood of walking again is pretty small. And then, that rat bastard she married just before the stroke left her. Walked right out the door and didn’t look back.”

“What a prick.” I shake my head. “Why do people suck so bad sometimes?”

“Excellent question,” she replies. “I like Tate. I don’t know her real well, just from when she comes in here, but Ellie loved working with her on their mountain house, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about her. So, what? Something tragic happens, and the dude bails? His balls should be chopped off.”

“Agreed.” I blow out a breath. “What are you doing in town? I thought you were in London.”

“We were, but the whole family is making its way over here for the holidays. Callum and I decided just to come now since not much is going on in London. And you know I prefer to be more hands-on with the café.”

“The whole family is coming? Even the king and queen?”

“Yes, but they’ll only be here the week of Christmas. It’s crazy. It’s tradition to spend the holiday in Scotland, but since they visited Cunningham Falls right before Callum and I got engaged—which feels like a million years ago—they want to come here every chance they get.”

“It’s a special place.” I turn when I hear things getting heated at the table where the twins are. “What’s up, guys?”

“I finished mine so I asked her if I could have a sip of hers,” Kevin explains as if this is a perfectly reasonable request.

“And I said no,” Kelsey adds.

“No means no, dude,” I say with a shrug. “You’ve had plenty.”

Before he can argue, several fire trucks go racing past the café, headed toward the neighborhood not far away.

“I saw uncle Sam!” Kevin says.

“Must be something big.” Aspen scowls. “That’s a lot of trucks.”

“Can we go see?” Kelsey asks.