“Eric’s a much better cook than I am, but he’s teaching me,” Laura said, giving her new mate an adoring look that made me want to tease her, but I refrained.
“Do you cook like that all the time, Eric?” Maddox asked. “I mean, I wouldn’t blame you if you hired someone, with all the people you have to feed.”
“I’ve tried to get him to agree to hire someone, but he won’t hear of it. He loves to cook,” Nova said.
“I really do. The more people, the better. Security usually cooks for themselves, but I feed them when I can.”
“Well, that potato soup was to die for,” David said. “Will you teach me how to make it? Maddox ate three bowls full!”
Chuckling, Colt said to Maddox, “He’s calling you out.”
“It’s my favorite,” Laura said, cheeks red. Was she sitting too close to the fireplace?
“Eric can make it for you all winter, sweetheart,” Nova said, taking Laura’s hand in hers. “You need to keep up your strength.”
Laura pressed her lips together and didn’t make eye contact with anyone.
“Okay, what gives?” I asked.
“Laura’s going to have a baby!” Eric burst out, as though he’d been wrestling all evening to hold the news in.
The room filled with excited exclamations.
“What? Really?”
“That’s great!”
“Congratulations!”
“That’s so exciting!”
When things died down, Laura, who obviously wanted to change the subject, said, “What was it that you, Maddox, and Colt wanted to talk to everyone about, Angus?”
All attention turned to me.
“Maddox, Colt, and I have been talking. The next big snow could come at any time. To those who are new to this region, our winters are rough—what you’ve seen so far is only a taste. Our omegas will be separated for long periods of time.” I glanced at the group snuggled together on the couch. “It’s going to be a big deal if we don’t do something about it. Nova, we each need to purchase at least one snowmobile and sled. Since the next few days are supposed to be clear, Colt, Maddox, and I are going to mark trails between our houses with reflectors.”
Nova said, “That makes good sense.” She looked at her mates, who nodded agreement.
“This next part is Colt’s idea, so I’ll let him tell you,” I said.
Colt took a breath and began. “Angus, Maddox, and I have been talking about expanding the ranch a little at a time. But, with what happened to Bertram and Trey’s place, and with Carter and Jackson here now, we thought we all could look into purchasing the land between us and the Borders. Carter and Bertram could buy what they need of the property from us, because we certainly don’t need all of it. They’d live between ourextended ranch and the Borders’ ranch. We’d all be connected. With the snowmobiles Angus mentioned, we can get to each other’s houses most of the time without a problem.”
Carter looked at Jackson, while Bertram looked at Trey.
“What do you think?” Carter asked.
“That sounds perfect!” Jackson enthused.
“Can we do that, Bertram?” Trey asked.
“I don’t see why not,” he said. “It seems like the perfect solution to our problems.”
I’d recently had a long talk with Bertram concerning his feelings regarding the SOS’s theories. He finally admitted that he’d spent years trying to get an omega mate, and the idea of a government conspiracy made him feel threatened. He was afraid that if we stirred the pot, Trey might be taken away from him. I’d assured him there was no way in hell we would let that happen, and he’d been a little more open to discussions on the topic since then.
“I’m so excited!” Ben said, hugging Elliott, who was perched on Keane’s lap. I’d noticed those two were particularly close—Elliott and Keane. Ben explained to me that Keane was security for Elliott. He’d always been the one to comfort him in the past.
The wheel was set in motion. Colt didn’t waste any time calling the realtor, and we spent hours in the evenings after chores making plans.