Chapter 25

25

Five days after the sleepover at Genny’s, Chantal was still deciding what to do about Genny’s brother. Twice in the last five days he had ended up helping at her father’s place, conveniently around dinner time.

The second time, he’d brought his secret weapon—the one that her mother, and Chantal herself, couldn’t resist.

Damn him, Gene was on the hunt.

The weapon he’d used against her was too adorable to ignore: Mini-Gene. Her mother was crazy about Calvin. He acted like Gene, talked like Gene, walked like Gene, and his expressions were Gene’s, all over again

Chantal absolutely adored him.

But his father was definitely determined. What shocked her most was that no one else seemed aware of what he was really after. Either her family and his were completely oblivious, or Gene was just that good at seducing women.

She wasn’t going to think about that possibility at all.

She headed down the hall. She could hear Calvin in the kitchen, and she wanted a hug and a kiss and to find out why he had invaded her parents’ house again. She’d seen his father’s truck from her window.

That man…

She had seen him more since the kidnapping than she had in six years. And every time he just looked at her in that particular Gene way that melted her insides, making her lose all sense of reason—and want to give him exactly what he wanted.

The problem was… what he wanted was probably fleeting.

And Chantal just couldn’t do that.

Her mom looked up when she walked into the kitchen. “Hi, baby girl. We have a guest.”

“I see that. Where is his daddy?” She opened her arms. Calvin came running toward her, like he always did. She had spent a lot of time with Genny’s nephew, especially in the last year, when she’d been practically hiding out with Genny in the mornings before her friend went into the hospital for her ten to six shifts.

Chantal didn’t always feel well in the mornings. It had gotten easier to disappear, so she didn’t worry her parents if she needed to rest.

She’d fallen into the habit of driving Genny to work—and they’d drop Calvin off at his preschool three times a week. She’d spend at least an hour with the little boy while Genny got ready each morning, too.

“Daddy is helping Uncle Chad and Uncle Charlie with the damned cows,” Calvin said, squeezing her tight. “They got out and are all over the damned place again.”

“Don’t say ‘damned,’ okay? That’s a grown-up word for the quarter jar.” She held him close on her left hip. He knew not to mess with her monitor and pump now. Calvin liked cuddles in the morning—from his Aunt Genny or from Chantal when she was there, too. Chantal didn’t mind at all.

She used to cuddle her nephew Jaden when he had been this age, too. She tightened her hold on Calvin. Losing Jaden to a heart defect at seventeen had been devastating. For all of them.

Calvin had been born four months later. She’d been a little reluctant to get close to him, considering how she had felt about his father. But he had wormed his way right into her heart, especially after Genny had moved home and Chantal was with her even more.

“I got to come with Daddy. We were looking for you. And then Uncle Chad said the cows were out and the fences broked. Uncle Charlie called some of his friends and Daddy called Uncle Grady and Uncle Gunn.”

“All of the fences were down between here and the Hillers’ place, honey. We’re not sure what happened.” Her mother shot her a worried look. “Your father said it looked like straight-line wind damage from the storm last night. Gene and your brothers are going to try to get them up as fast as they can.”

But the Hillers’ hands were off on the weekends. So that meant her brothers and Genny’s, plus whoever of Charlie’s friends they could round up to help… round up. The Hillers had a lot of cattle. And… “How many people are we talking about?”

“About two dozen.”

Two dozen people helping her parents right now. That meant it was time to get busy. “We’re going to have to feed them, aren’t we?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I’m going to have to call in reinforcements.”

“I figured you would.” Her mother shot her a grin. It was Chad’s grin at his wickedest, right there on her mother’s face. Chantal adored her mom, too. “I’m passing the baton on to you, my daughter. I’m going to hang out with Calvin here. And Charlie’s babies once Rory and Charlotte get here. I’m going to be doing Grandma now.”

And that made her mom happier than she’d been in a long time. Her mom had been hurting so much after they’d lost Jaden—getting Charlotte and then Charlie’s two new babies had helped so much.

Chantal pulled in a deep breath. “I have this covered.”

“Of course you do. I raised you well, after all. Now… get to it.”