Redemption Hills: The Complete Collection

36. Tessa

THIRTY-SIX

TESSA

“Ready or not, come and find me!”

I covered a giggle because Scout was honestly too cute. The second I’d gotten to twenty, he was the one who’d called out from his hiding place before I could get a chance to warn I would soon be on the hunt.

I was it , which I didn’t mind a bit, because I could hear their little giggles rolling through the summer night, the temperature still warm enough for us to be out playing long after we’d cleaned up after dinner.

It was close to ten, but we didn’t want to waste a second of the evening, so we’d let them stay up late, promising one more game before it was time for bed.

“I’m coming for you,” I called, tiptoeing across the lawn and peeking behind some shrubs that I knew full well none of them were hiding behind.

You know, since I could distinctly hear three different hushed voices behind me on the opposite side of the yard.

Right after he’d brought in the children’s things, Milo had come out back to put up the removable safety fence that kept the kids away from the lake so they could run free within its boundaries.

So we could keep them safe.

My heart pounded with the truth of it.

Remy and Scout were now a part of me.

Permanently.

Not in the way I’d promised Milo when we’d first struck out on this venture.

But wholly.

Truly.

I searched behind the small storage container at the far side of the house. “Are you in here?” I called.

“No, I’m over here!” Scout’s little voice rode on the breeze.

“Shh.” I could almost see Remy putting her finger to her lips.

I pressed my own lips together as the smile spread free, and I shifted, turning the other direction, spinning a circle as I called, “Where?”

Scout cracked up. “Right over here, you cuckoo!”

“Scout,” Remy whined, and I could feel the intensity of Milo’s chuckle, the ferocity of his love and joy as he got to have a brand-new moment with his kids that he’d never been afforded before.

Joy overflowed.

Joy for the man I loved and joy for his children who I loved, too.

Completely.

I’d known it wouldn’t be all that hard to fall for his kids, but I guessed what I’d never anticipated was that it could feel quite like this.

“Right over here?” I drew out as I slowly began to ease up the treehouse steps.

To the sanctified little spot Milo had poured himself into.

Blood, sweat, and tears.

Literally.

Because the entire endeavor had hinged on the hope that his children would one day get to play in it.

And here they were.

I pushed open the miniature door to the adorable fort where I knew they were all hiding.

One of the lights Milo had installed illuminated the space, casting a warm glow over the room.

Or maybe it was just the energy that vibrated within.

The love that emanated.

Because I felt it stretch so fiercely across my chest when I found Milo sitting against the corner with both his children resting in his arms, a blanket flung haphazardly over them like it would keep them hidden while Milo’s massive legs and boots extended out from underneath.

Not that I couldn’t clearly see their shapes pressed into the fabric, anyway.

I tried to hold my giggle, but a bit of it erupted, eliciting one from Scout, too, who squirmed under the blanket.

I tiptoed over.

“Where are you?” I called again, then I took hold of the edge of the blanket and ripped it off. “Ah-ha!”

Scout shot up and threw his arms over his head. “You found me, my Tessa!”

He beamed, and my heart nearly exploded.

“Barely. I thought I was going to have to be looking for you the entire night, you were hidden so well.”

“I already told ya that I’m a great hider, didn’t I?”

“You weren’t even lying,” I told him.

My gaze moved to Remy who was tucked into the safety of Milo’s hulking arm, her cheek pressed to his chest, a true, genuine, relaxed smile on her sweet face.

My spirit thrashed.

In happiness.

In completeness.

For so long, I’d been alone. Not by myself, but alone .

Empty where I’d lost my own faith.

I was always thankful for my friends—so thankful—but I’d been lost somewhere in the void left behind by the loss of my family.

I shifted to look at Milo who gazed up at me, love dripping from his eyes, his sharp brow lax with tenderness, though everything about him was still overpowering.

Overwhelming.

Big and intimidating and rough.

Soft and kind and real.

I wondered if, for the first time, he could see himself the way I saw him.

If he finally understood the way he made me feel.

That he was my family, and his children completed that.

Because he shifted Scout so he could stretch out his hand to me. “Get over here where you belong, Little Dove.”

“Little Dove?” Scout curled up his nose.

“Yeah, a dove is a messenger of love, Scout. One who lets you know not all hope is lost. That there is something better on its way.”

My heart squeezed so intensely I couldn’t breathe.

“And that something better is the three of you,” Milo rumbled, still looking up at me.

I eased onto my knees and crawled up beside Milo, picking up Scout as I went and draping him across our chests. I reached around him so I could take Remy’s little hand.

Because this ?

It was the always I’d forever wanted.

I pressed a kiss to Remy’s forehead where I stood beside her treehouse bed.

Scout was already fast asleep in his, completely tuckered out from a full day of playing.

Darkness wisped around the room, though it danced without caution or fear. The tiniest glow from a nightlight illuminated the child’s precious face as I looked down at her. She stared up at me with her trusting brown eyes that I had no idea could slay me through.

Her spirit was slowed, her heart light, but her thoughts ran deep. A divot formed on her brow, and she whispered, “My dad told me your mom died, too.”

Sorrow crested, both hers and mine.

Gently, I ran my fingers through her hair. “Yeah. She did.”

“How old were you?”

“I was fifteen…much older than you.”

She barely nodded. “Do you remember her?”

“I do remember her. Not everything, but I remember her smile and what her voice sounded like and the way it felt to hug her. I also remember a lot of the times I got into trouble, which I think I tended to do a lot.” My words were quieted, held in our confession, though the last rippled with hushed laughter.

I’d been kind of a handful.

A grin spread over Remy’s face. “You used to get in trouble?”

She said it like she couldn’t believe it.

I twisted a lock of my hair around my finger and teased, “Redheads are rarely controlled.”

She giggled. “Can I dye my hair red?”

I smoothed my palm over the top of her head. “I think you’re perfect just the way you are, Remy, but when you get older, if you still want to, I’m sure that would be fine, but you’ll have to ask your dad.”

“I think it’s better if I ask you both.”

A current ran through her statement.

A claim.

Love spread through my chest.

A hot spring rushing with warmth.

Gushing up from the depths where I’d had no idea it existed.

“I would like that.”

“Me, too,” she whispered.

I kissed her forehead again, then brushed my thumb along the angle of her jaw. “You’d better get some sleep.”

Nodding, she snuggled down in her covers.

Breathing out, I straightened, then I was sucking for oxygen all over again at the sight of Milo leaning against the doorway, watching us.

Seeing him there pulled at every place inside me.

Heart and soul and body and mind.

He was mine.

Always.

All hulking, burly mountain man with the softest spirit.

Beautiful Beast.

I eased that way, lured by this energy that would never quell.

His big hand went to my waist, and he tugged me toward him and pressed a tender kiss to my lips.

I peered up at him, scratched my fingers through his beard, and murmured, “Today was wonderful.”

He curled his arm completely around my waist and tucked me closer. “It was the best day of my life.”