Arabella giggled. “The baby must like cake too.” She placed a soft kiss on Grace’s rounded stomach. “Don’t you, baby?”
But before Grace could answer, strong arms lovingly wrapped around her and the growing mound. “Of course they love cake. Who doesn’t?” He pretended to go for Grace’s plate.
Grace poked his hand with a fork. “Uh-uh! Don’t even think about it!” She stepped in front of the remaining cake. “And don’t look over here either. These are spoken for.”
He crossed his arms, amused. “Oh yes? And who has claimed them? Abby? Lily? Emery?” After each name, Grace shook her head. “Charlotte?” His tone sounded disbelieving. Charlotte had made the cakes, so that didn’t make sense.
“I bet Arabella could guess,” Grace said in a sing-song voice.
Giggles.
Oliver’s brow rose. “Is that so?” He squatted down, looking into Arabella’s eyes. “Who gets to eat the rest of the cake?”
“Oh, Uncle Oliver! You’re so silly.”
“Am I? Hmm. It must be true.” He sighed. “But I can’t figure out who gets to eat all that cake!”
Arabella’s hands flew to her mouth and she giggled. “The baby!”
“Oh? The baby gets to eat all that cake?”
His amused eyes met hers, and as Grace had experienced so many times since they married the year before, she felt love flow through her.
This man, a man she loved and admired, who had lived up to every promise he’d made her, who made her life so incredibly wonderful, never failed to draw the same reaction. “Do you object?”
He smiled, stood, and drew her into his arms with a soft kiss. “Not at all. In fact, should I send a message to Charlotte to have her bring a few more cakes with her? Carrot, perhaps?”
He was serious. If she said she wanted it, he would send the message immediately. “I’m afraid they’re already on their way.” She snorted. “But if I know Charlotte, she will have anticipated what has happened to these two she sent as a welcome home gift and will bring more. How can we have a party to celebrate the baby’s arrival without cake?”
“It’s impossible.”
“Exactly!” Grace grinned.
He kissed her again, lingering just long enough for goosebumps to break over her skin, but short enough that Arabella wouldn’t notice.
She was breathless. “What was that for?”
“To remind you how much I love you”—he smirked—“while the men get kicked out of the house so all you women can celebrate.”
“We’ll only be talking of girl stuff.” She winked at Arabella. “Right, sweetheart?”
With a decisive nod, Arabella agreed.
Excited chatter sounded in the front of the house. “Looks like your guests have arrived.” He grinned. “They sound excited to see you.”
Oliver, Grace, and Arabella had arrived on the last train the night before after being gone from Promise Creek for several months. “Well, we haven’t been apart this long since we originally came here. And now we’re all together again.”
They made their way to the front door just as her friends and their spouses walked up to meet them—several babies surrounding them.
Once the women saw Grace they squealed and ran forward, each of them talking over the other, exclaiming about her growing stomach, the coming baby, asking about her trip, and if she was exhausted.
She tried to answer them, but when that ended up being impossible, she just started laughing and hugging each of them.
Grace loved her house back East, but Promise Creek would always be her true home—and now that Oliver had purchased the large house he’d rented when he and Arabella had first come to town, they could always return here.
With Grace in the middle, each of the women wrapped their free arms around each other, forming a tight line as they talked and walked into the house with children in their arms, leaving their husbands, the six Copper Kings, the men who’d so completely stolen their hearts, smiling in their wake.
Life had turned out just as it was meant to. And it couldn’t be sweeter.
Titles by Janelle Daniels
Copper Kings
Western Bride (Copper Kings – Book 1)
Western Promise (Copper Kings – Book 2)
Western Future (Copper Kings – Book 3)
Western Dilemma (Copper Kings – Book 4)
Western Desire (Copper Kings – Book 5)
Western Fate (Copper Kings — Book 6)
Miners to Millionaires
A Mail-Order Heart (Miners to Millionaires – Book 1)
A Mail-Order Wish (Miners to Millionaires – Book 2)
A Mail-Order Hope (Miners to Millionaires – Book 3)
A Mail-Order Dream (Miners to Millionaires – Book 4)
A Mail-Order Chance (Miners to Millionaires – Book 5)
A Mail-Order Dawn (Miners to Millionaires – Book 6)
A Mail-Order Escape (Miners to Millionaires – Book 7)
A Mail-Order Illusion (Miners to Millionaires – Book 8)
A Mail-Order Haven (Miners to Millionaires – Book 9)
A Mail-Order Destiny (Miners to Millionaires – Book 10)
Scandals & Secrets
Scandal of Love (Scandals & Secrets – Book 1)
Masquerade Secrets (Scandals & Secrets – Book 2)
Secrets in Mourning (Scandals & Secrets – Book 3)
A Kiss with Scandal (Scandals & Secrets – Book 4)
A Christmas Secret (Scandals & Secrets – Book 4.5)
Single Title Romance
Sunkissed
My Only Wish
Collaborations
Kitty: Bride of Hawaii (American Mail-Order Brides)
Falling for a Duke (Timeless Regency Collection)
Zara’s Zephyr (The Alphabet Mail-Order Brides)
The Minx Miner (The Book Club)
The Destined Duchess (The Book Club)
The Witches of Redwood Falls
The Witching Moon (The Witches of Redwood Falls – Book 1)
The Witches Craft (The Witches of Redwood Falls – Book 2)
Discover other titles by Janelle Daniels
www.JanelleDaniels.com
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WESTERN FATE
Dream Cache Publishing
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
www.janelledaniels.com
Copyright © 2020 by Janelle Daniels
Cover Art © 2020 Erin Dameron-Hill
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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