All eyes went to my stomach.
"I'm surprised you can move that well with that thing poking out there."
I snorted and walked to the radio that was playing my music, then turned it down before I answered.
"Y'all here for lunch?" I asked, looking at the clock.
All of them shook their heads.
"Negative." Tate said. "They're here to help me raise that stupid fucking windmill blade up on the wall."
I grinned, wide and huge.
"Really!?" I squealed.
I'd gotten a windmill blade-which was eight feet in diameter-from a trades day of sorts that ran along the state line once a month.
I'd gotten it for our wall, and it'd sat against the side of our house. Until today.
Tate rolled his eyes and walked up to me, pulling me into his arms.
"How you feeling, wife?"
"Good," I said. "I needed some motivation to clean … "
He snorted and pressed a kiss to my forehead before backing away.
His hand went to my stomach when he felt a kick from our baby, and I watched him smile as he felt our son move.
He stayed like that for a few long seconds, then patted my belly twice.
"Though, sandwiches wouldn't go unaccepted."
I rolled my eyes at the subtle hint to make him a sandwich, and went to the kitchen.
"Anybody else want one?"
Every last one of them raised their hand.
Eight sandwiches later, I had a windmill hung, and it looked flippin' awesome.
"That's beautiful," I breathed, staring up at it in awe.
"Fuck."
I turned to find Baylor staring at his phone.
"What?"
"Lark."
He need not say more.
Lark and Baylor had a thing. One that I wasn't sure I understood.
But the thing they had they kept private, and it left the rest of us to wonder what in the hell they were doing.
"Gotta go."
Then he was gone, leaving without another word.
"Fifty bucks says they're doing it."
"Two hundred says they're married by the end of the year."
"Five hundred says she's pregnant by the end of the year."
I started to laugh, and walked to my man, who was finishing off the remains of his sandwich.
"Thank you!" I wrapped my arms around his waist.
He pulled me in close, then said the words that never got old.
"I'd do anything for you."
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"What about get me a puppy?"
"Anything but that."
We compromised, and two days later, I had a puppy. One that Tate pretended to hate, but secretly loved.
What's next?
What the Hail
Book 4 of The Hail Raisers
Chapter 1
Never treat a woman like an object. It hates that.
-Things not to say to a woman
Lark
"We're going to send you to Hostel, Texas," the big man in front of me named Sam, said. "We don't normally send two birds to the same place just in case, but we have one who's just left there, and all her old contacts are still in place, so it works out, plus we have allies there that'll watch over you. Do you have any questions?"
I looked at the packet of information he'd given me.
A new ID. A stack of bills that established my new ‘identity.' A thousand dollars in cash. Everything someone might need to start all the way over.
"I'll have a job?" I asked.
He nodded. "You will. All the stuff that's there right now of the old bird's will become yours. Her car. Her house. Her things. You won't be her, but you'll be using all of her stuff. Our contact there at the diner will advance you a paycheck so you'll have money to pay those bills. Gotcha?"
I nodded, suddenly becoming nervous.
"Uncle Sam, did you make sure to catch up on the car payments for her loan?"
My eyes flicked to the young woman that was sitting at a desk in the corner of the room. She was furiously writing on something, her hand periodically going to a piece of paper that she'd flip over to the small stack that was steadily increasing in height on the corner of her desktop.
"Shit." Sam grunted. "Yeah, I'll do that. The car that you have hasn't had its note paid yet. I think the old bird was a month behind because of some doctor bills that she'd accrued while she was there. I'll make it current, though, and we'll make sure you start fresh."
I nodded.
"Okay," I whispered.
I was so tired of being scared. Would I be scared once I got to this new town, Hostel?
I hoped not.