The State of Parenthood

“Don’t call me that. I detest Texas.”

In the kitchen, Gabriel settled into a chair. “Are you starting your year of duty early?”

“Figured I might as well get it over with.” Dane stuck his head inside the refrigerator door, ending the conversation for the moment. “Fried chicken! Watermelon!”

Gabriel shook his head and began to read the travel guide to the South Seas, which was starting to sound appealing.

“You get your letter from Pop?” Dane asked while he emptied the contents of the fridge on to the kitchen counter.

“What letter?”

“The one with the sob story about watching over this woman and her twins who have no man in the house.”

“Twins?” Gabriel sat up. Laura only had a toddler and a baby—didn’t she?

“I despise kids almost as much as I hate Texas,” Dane said.

Gabriel couldn’t think for the shock of adding more kids to Laura’s equation. “You’re a Texas Ranger. Get over it.”

“I’m done. I retired from active duty.”

“Congratulations. So back to the family of four—”

“Yeah. I’m supposed to look out for this little mom because of some mess Pop made.”

Gabriel frowned. He was supposed to be the reluctant knight in shining armor. Possessive emotions and a sense of I saw her first crowded his skull.

Dane shuddered. “Her name is Suzy something.”

“Suzy? Not Laura?”

Dane sat down across from him with a beer and a plate of fried chicken. “How do you get Laura from Suzy?”

Gabriel shook his head. “This doesn’t sound good.”

“Tell me about it. I nearly took off for New York, never to be seen or heard from again. But in the end, I knew I had to do this, or I’d really never be free of Pop. He’ll try to rule us from the grave if we don’t prove to him that nothing he does can screw up our lives anymore.”

“And then there’s the million bucks.”

“A small price for putting up with Pop,” Dane said glumly. “You know it’s going to get ugly. Suzy.” He shuddered.

At least it wasn’t Laura Pop had sent Dane to rescue. It didn’t really matter, Gabriel reminded himself. One year and he was gone. Outta here.

But now apparently there was a family of four in the mix, and an additional problem to be solved. Gabriel stared out the window at the pelting rain.

It was indeed beginning to get ugly.

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