Long Road Home (The Barker Triplets 4)

Later, when she was tucked into his embrace, when his hand was resting on her stomach a thought occurred, and Bobbi swore. “Shit, I forgot this one little thing.”

Shane glanced up at her, the lazy smile on his face that of a man who’d just been thoroughly satisfied.

“What’s that?”

“Well, um…” She pushed her hair out of her eyes. “Billie’s pregnant too, so that will be fun.”

“Good,” he murmured, reaching for her. “Good for Billie and Logan. I’ll send them a card. Now, come back here.”

“Just one teeny little thing…that I forgot to tell you.”

His eyebrow went up again. “Spit it out, Bobbi ‘cause your man is ready to go again. We’ve got three months to make up for.”

“There’s more than one baby.”

“You just told me Billie was pregnant. I get it. Lots of Barker babies.”

“That’s not what I mean.” She pointed to her stomach, and Shane’s eyes widened. His face whitened a bit and he cleared his throat several times.

“We’re having…” He seemed to have trouble forming words. “More than one.”

She nodded and slid toward him. “Don’t worry, though.” She dropped a kiss to his nose. “It’s not triplets.”

Chapter Twenty

A few days after Bobbi’s big announcement, Shane stared down at the text he’d just received from his brother-in-law Logan.

Welcome to the club.

“You look so serious,” Dora Lee said as she stretched over by the window. They’d just finished their last session, and Shane had all the sketches and photos he needed.

“I’m going to be a dad,” he replied. He looked up and grinned. “Shit.”

“That’s wonderful,” Dora Lee squealed. “Oh my goodness.”

“Twins.”

“Oh.” Her face fell a bit, which wasn’t entirely encouraging, but Shane was used to that reaction by now. Coral. Miss Callie. Marybeth. Hell, even Marshall had said nothing, but the look on his face when he’d shaken Shane’s hand said it all.

Good luck with that, my friend.

“I’m sure it will be an adventure,” she said. “Two for the price of one is a blessing.” She straightened and looked around. “I suppose that’s why you’re packing up and heading home early?”

“Yep. Bobbi wants to be around her family, and I can’t blame her.” He looked around the studio with regret. The lighting was perfect.

“She’s here with you? I didn’t realize.”

“It turns out we both traveled a lot of miles looking for something we lost, only to find out we never lost it. It was just buried beneath…” How to explain?

“Life?”

“Something like that.”

Dora Lee grabbed her bag and tossed it over her shoulder. “This has been a wonderful experience, Shane. I’m so glad we got to meet. Thank you for opening my eyes and making me see that dreams never die. They just get buried beneath—”

“Life?” he said with a grin.

She laughed. “Something like that.”