Luke entered behind Jake and, for a moment, the two brothers stood side by side. At thirty-three, Jake was the oldest. Luke was thirty-one. They looked so much alike, however, that people often thought they were twins. They bore common McGregor features passed down from Irish forefathers—dark, almost-black hair, high cheekbones, lean jaws, and eyes a particular shade of moss green their mother claimed came from the sidhe in the family tree. Jake was broader and more muscular from working outdoors. Luke had the more refined air of a scholar.
Zack, at twenty-eight, was the youngest. He shared his brothers’ features and height, but like their sister Liz, had inherited blue eyes and dark, reddish-brown hair from their mother.
And here they were—the last of the McGregors—all in one room. Technically, the kids might be Williamses, but that didn’t matter. There was no one on their father’s side of the family eager to claim them, and now, they were Jake’s. Mac was his clone. Finn, although red-headed, had green McGregor eyes, too, as did Lydia. Right now Lyddie had fuzzy blond hair that stuck up in places, but she was a baby and it was too soon to tell the color for sure.
“Hey, Zack,” Jake greeted him, then glanced down at the sleeping child slumped in his arms. “I should put this guy to bed, but I don’t want him waking up in a strange place without me.”
Jake looked exhausted, too. Hollows had formed under his eyes. Four days in a car with three kids would be hard under the best of circumstances.
“We bought a baby monitor,” Zack said. “If he gets restless you’ll hear him. We can try settling Lydia in, too.” She had her head on his shoulder and was rubbing her eyes with the fist clutching the remains of her sandwich. He glanced at Mac. “You mind hanging out with Uncle Luke here, or would you like to come see your new room?”
Mentioning his new room was the wrong way to frame it. Mac’s expression closed over, sealing his thoughts away from the world, but that he wasn’t thrilled to leave his life in New York behind went without saying.
“I’ll stay here,” he said.
Jake studied his nephew. “How about if you guys both sleep in my room tonight? That way if Finn wakes up scared, you’re there to help settle him down.”
Zack and Luke both stared at Jake, then each other. This was an unfamiliar side to their older brother. Had Jake really just said something sensitive?
Zack, recovering first, addressed Luke over Lydia’s head. “There are chocolate chip cookies in the jar on the counter. Mind getting Mac a glass of juice to go with them?”
While Luke saw to their eldest nephew, he and Jake carried the younger children through the front foyer and up the oak stairs. The old ranch house had been built in the 1800s and had seen a number of additions and renovations over the years. There were four bedrooms upstairs. There had once been five, but at some point in the past, the fifth had been converted into an enormous main bathroom.
A tiny sixth room, not much more than a closet, served as a nursery. Zack and Luke had spent the better part of two days disposing of their mother’s sewing machine and craft supplies before repainting the walls. It was next door to Jake’s bedroom, so if Lyddie woke in the night, he’d be able to hear her.
Jake carried Finn into his bedroom, shucked the boy’s shoes, and settled him into the middle of the king-sized mattress. Finn, limp as a rag, flopped onto his back, arms spread out wide. He never opened his eyes. The poor little guy.
“Shouldn’t we brush his teeth and put pajamas on him or something?” Zack asked.
Jake scrubbed his face with both palms. “Not tonight.”
That decided matters for Zack. Now wasn’t the time to bring up his concerns over Luke. Jake had enough on his mind and Luke was an adult. Zack would keep an eye on him himself.
Right now, he had another, more immediate, concern on his hands. He juggled the baby from one arm to the other.
“Something smells,” he said to Jake. “I’m not pointing fingers, but it isn’t you or me.”
“Lydia… Not again.” Jake sighed and looked at the ceiling. “She’s got her mother’s appetite. It comes with the side effects you’d expect.”
Zack tried to pass her to Jake but she clung to his t-shirt with both chubby fists and refused to let go.
Jake held up his hands in a warding-off gesture. “She’s all yours. I’ve had the pleasure.”
Zack’s stomach recoiled. How could someone so small produce such a ripe smell? “Have a heart,” he begged, although he was wasting his breath making that particular appeal. “I’ve never changed a diaper before.”
Jake—the heartless bastard—wasn’t moved. “No worries. I’ll be happy to supervise your inauguration.”
It did seem only fair. Jake had handled three kids in a car for four days all alone. Changing one diaper, no matter how awful it smelled, was the least Zack could do.
“Let’s get this over with,” he said to Lydia, accepting his fate. “Come with me.”
He and Luke had set up a change table in the small nursery, with its fresh coat of Pepto-Bismol-pink paint, next door. Jake took one look at the table and started to laugh.
“That will never work,” he said. “We’re going to need a sink and a fresh water supply. Maybe a hose.”
“I don’t feel so good,” Zack said. He’d had a weak stomach as a kid. It did a few whirlies, warning him it hadn’t improved.
Jake wasn’t at all sympathetic. “You’ll live.”
They carried Lydia and the diaper supplies into the bathroom. Jake took a towel from a shelf, folded it into a pad, and spread it on the wide counter next to the sink.
“Lay her on the towel. You have to keep one hand on her at all times,” he instructed Zack. “It’s like wrestling a hog.”
Zack peeled her down to her disposable while trying to breathe through his mouth. So far, so good. He could do this. He eyed the two tabs of tape holding the diaper together. Cautiously, with his hand on his niece’s chubby round belly, he peeled one strip back.
The pungent stench hit him full in the face. He fumbled behind him for Jake, dragging him closer to the counter to take his place with the baby, then dove for the toilet. He flipped the lid up and dropped to his knees, hugging either side of the bowl, before proceeding to unload his supper, lunch, and finally, breakfast. He might have sacrificed one of his kidneys, too. It was too soon to tell.
He spit twice before flushing.
Jake was laughing so hard he could barely stand, but he managed to keep a firm hold on Lydia, who didn’t know what the fuss was about and was squirming around, trying to find out. “Thanks. That made my day.”
“You’re a sadist, you sick son-of-a—” Zack caught himself, remembering there was a lady present.
“After four days in a car and three nights in motels, I guess I’ve gone nose blind.” Jake waved him off. “Go see what Luke and Mac are up to. I’ll take it from here.”
Zack didn’t argue. Instead, he snatched a bottle of mouthwash off a shelf to take with him. He clattered down the stairs to the small powder room off the main foyer and rinsed his mouth at the sink. He stared at his face in the mirror. The color was slowly beginning to return.
Okay, yeah, if he’d been in Jake’s shoes, he’d find his weak stomach funny, too.
The best part, however, was hearing Jake laugh. Totally worth the loss of a kidney. Because Jake hadn’t laughed in a really long time.
None of them had. They couldn’t raise kids like this.
Starting right now, they’d make time for fun.
Find out what happens next…
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About the Author
Paula Altenburg lives in rural Nova Scotia, Canada, with her husband and two sons. Once a manager in the aerospace industry, she now enjoys working from home and writing fulltime. Paula writes fantasy and paranormal romance, as well as short contemporary romance.
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The Rancher's Secret Love (The Montana McGregor Brothers Book 2) Page 18