Jacob's Joy: Men of Crooked Bend Book 9

by Taylor Rylan

  “I’ll be back, just let me put him to bed real quick.” Poor Mack—he’d done nothing but run and play outside today since the weather had warmed back up into the fifties, and he was just worn-out.

  I watched as Isaac carried our toddler off toward the stairs. A bath would have to wait until morning, but that was okay. The world wouldn’t end if our toddler didn’t get a bath before bed.

  “Momma? Is everything okay?” I asked, concerned about all of the sudden changes.

  “I’m fine. I promise. I simply want to go to Europe. I’ve wanted to travel for a few years, but I’ve been busy with Heath and Marie’s kids. Well, I have the opportunity to go with a group of similar-aged companions. Yes, I’ll be the only one not paired up, but that doesn’t bother me. I had my forever love. I’m good waiting to see him again.”

  “Momma. Don’t.”

  “Jacob, you and your sister will have to come to terms with the fact that I’m almost seventy. I love you both dearly and I cherish these grandbabies, but I won’t be around forever. I want to see things and places before it’s my time, and I’m going to do it.”

  I nodded in understanding—and I did understand. That didn’t mean I had to like her reasoning though.

  “Now, come take this precious one so I can get ready to head home.”

  I got up out of the chair and easily relieved Momma from her tiny package.

  “He really is precious. And it makes me happy that you gave him your father’s name as his middle one.”

  “That was Isaac. He insisted.”

  “See, he’s a keeper he is. He’s cute too,” Momma said as she winked. It was the wink that gave it away, so I turned and there was a red-faced Isaac standing there.

  “You leaving already?”

  “Yep. These old bones need to get home and rest. Besides, I have my book club tomorrow morning and it’s Martha’s turn to host, so I have to be early so I can get the good dessert.”

  Isaac shook his head before he grabbed Momma’s coat and helped her into it. “Let me walk you to your car,” he said, offering her his arm. She looped hers with his and offered me a smile.

  “You did good, son. You have a beautiful family here. Keep this boy happy.”

  “That’s the plan. You want help out?”

  “Your hubby can handle it. I’ll see you again soon,” Momma said before she gave me a quick hug and kiss. I smiled as I watched Isaac lead her outside to her car. A few minutes later he came back inside with a smile on his face.

  “Should I be worried about her? I’m thinking so.”

  “Naw. She’s fine. She’s traveling with James and Taylor. On their plane. And remember, Taylor was a Marine. She’ll be fine.”

  “That wasn’t completely what I was referring to though,” I said as Isaac walked over to me and carefully wrapped his arms around my waist. I wrapped my free arm around his, and together we cuddled Colt between us.

  “I know. But I’m worried about my parents too. They’re all getting older, but so are we. They want to travel, and I can understand that. We’ve talked about traveling with the boys in a few years. But if you think about it, our parents didn’t go many places with us when we were younger.”

  “You’re right. I’ll stop being such a worrywart.”

  “You can’t help it. It’s who you are. And it’s one of the things I love most about you. Now, tell me something, Sheriff.”

  “Hmm?” I looked into Isaac’s eyes and saw love, but I saw something else as well. Need. “Oh…”

  “I really think you need to pay for your earlier comment. I’ll be in the bedroom. Waiting,” Isaac said before he slipped from my grasp and walked off toward the stairs.

  We had a sleeping toddler, the newborn in my arms had just been fed and changed about an hour ago, and my husband had implied sexy times would be happening when I got my ass up the stairs. So what did I do? I quickly followed because I wasn’t a fool. There was no way I would ever turn down getting naked with my husband. Ever.

  Epilogue

  Jacob

  July

  “Sheriff? You want me where?” Jase, one of my newer deputies, asked from the doorway of my office.

  “I need you down at the end of Main Street, toward the beginning of the parade. If you’d position yourself on the north side of the street, near the bookstore, that’d be great,” I told him as I looked over the checklist on my tablet. I was trying to figure out where I needed everyone while trying to fill in the holes that Chief Sumners had.

  “Roger that,” Jase said as he turned and left. I glanced up from my tablet long enough to watch him disappear around the corner. I noticed it was past time that Isaac and the boys should have been here, so I left my office to see if maybe they had arrived and were just out in the office area. I saw Jase, Gavin, Seth, and Tim all sitting at their desks, either filling out paperwork or talking on the phone. My daytime crew had grown considerably, and I was extremely thankful for that.

  When Gavin got off the phone, I caught his attention. “Where’s your fiancée? I thought Julia would be here by now.”

  “She’s probably the same place your hubby and kids are. Stuck. That was Chief Sumners. They’ve blocked off Main Street, and the parade procession is lining up. I’d imagine your hubby is having to take the long way around to get to us.”

  I groaned. That meant it was time to leave the blessed coolness of our building and head out into the blazing sun. When the door dinged, letting us know we had a visitor, everyone turned and watched as Isaac came in, Mack tugging on his hand to be let go and Colt in the baby carrier strapped to his front.

  “Hey, sweetheart,” I said as I walked up to him and gave him a quick kiss. I reached out and tickled Colt on the neck, causing him to squeal before I held out my arms for Mack, who reached for me.

  “Papa, get ice cream?”

  “Later, bud. Okay? After the parade. You want to see the fire trucks?” I did my best to distract Mack with one of his favorite things: fire trucks. He nodded before he pointed to the door, eager to go back out into the sweltering heat.

  “I’ll admit, I’m a little worried. I don’t know how long it’s okay for Colt to be out in the sun,” I told Isaac as I looked at our youngest.

  “The stroller is in the SUV. I just didn’t get it out yet, but I planned on it. I even brought that little clip-on fan for it, but it’s just going to blow hot air on him.”

  “Promise you’ll bring the boys back inside here when Colt’s cheeks get too pink,” I said as I set Mack down but held on to his hand.

  “You worry too much, but I think he’ll be fine. The parade is only about ten minutes long, and I’ll wait until the last minute to go out into the heat. Heath and Marie said they were over by the diner. I’ll take the boys that way, and after the parade, we’re taking the kids to get ice cream inside the diner.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. It was always something when it came to the harsh weather in Wyoming. We were in the middle of a heat wave, and temperatures had been in the mid-nineties, which was well above average for us.

  “Okay. Let me know if you have any problems?”

  “You know I will,” Isaac said as the door chimed again.

  I looked up and watched as Julia walked in, holding Sofia’s hand. I saw the way Gavin’s face lit up at the sight of the pair, and I was happy for him. After the tragedy he’d gone through, he deserved happiness and it looked like he’d found it.

  “Papa, go see fire truck?” I glanced down at Mack and smiled before I looked out at my crew.

  “Okay, everyone. Let’s go help Chief Sumners, and let’s be seen. Does everyone have their bucket of candy?” I asked, sending Dalton a glare. It was his idea for us to have buckets of candy to pass out to the kids since we weren’t in the parade this year, but he’d gotten us all Halloween jack-o’-lantern buckets in different neon colors. They looked ridiculous with our uniforms.

  “Papa, truck!”

  “Come on, Sheriff. You heard the young man
. Truck!” Dalton said before he took off running as I grabbed a piece of candy out of a bucket on the desk beside us.

  “I’ll see you in front of the diner?”

  “Yeah. Let me stop at the SUV and grab the stroller,” Isaac said as he offered his finger to Colt, who grabbed on to it and immediately pulled it toward his mouth.

  I leaned down and gave Isaac another kiss before I picked up the bucket of candy and walked out the door. I made it about ten steps outside before I desperately tried to not laugh but failed, miserably.

  Each and every one of Chief Sumners’s officers had a Disney princess bucket, and Chief Sumners was glaring daggers at Officer Day. I guess our neon jack-o’-lanterns weren’t so bad after all.

  “Papa, truck?”

  “Yeah, bud, let’s go see the truck. We have to find Uncle Heath and Aunt Marie first though, okay?”

  Mack nodded again, and when I saw Dalton across the street, standing next to his husband, I smiled and held up my neon bucket and gave him a thumbs-up. He did all right.

  “Mack, look,” Isaac said as he caught up with us. Mack looked at Isaac before he turned in the direction his dada was pointing.

  “Trucks! Yay!”

  I looked at my husband and leaned down to give him another kiss. Life was perfect in Crooked Bend.

  Connect with Taylor!

  Thank you so much for reading Jacob’s Joy. I hope you enjoyed catching up with these guys and seeing what life is like when you bring home another baby and have a toddler going through those terrible twos and threes! The next book scheduled for release is Bishop’s book over in Sulfur Springs. Look for his story next month!

  Hugs,

  Taylor

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