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“Bye, Colt!” Abby shouted.

Colt took her by the shoulders and steered her to the side. “You’re with me, sweet cheeks.”

“Oh,” Abby said with a chuckle.

Remi stopped in front of Colt in her rush toward the door. What was the proper good-bye between a husband and wife?

“Have a good day.” Colt leaned over and pressed his lips to her cheek. “For the kids,” he whispered.

Lies. The kiss was for him. It was innocent enough that Remi might not get spooked, but forward enough that Remi would know he wanted to kiss her.

Remi nodded quickly. “Right.” She pushed up onto her toes and laid a kiss on his cheek. The warmth of her lips on his skin was a bigger wakeup call than the frozen hat.

Remi followed Ben out the door, kissing Abby on the way out.

Colt shouted after her. “Have a good day, princess! Make good choices, Ben!”

Remi and Ben gave him matching eye rolls. It was a job well done.

Abby giggled beside him and bounced on the balls of her feet. “Can we go to the horses now?”

Colt knelt in front of her. “Hop on.”

Abby climbed onto his back and shouted, “Giddy up!”

* * *

Colt led the trail ride group back to the dining hall and doubled back to the stables. He’d missed a week of work, which meant his regular workload had fallen on the shoulders of his friends during that time. Now, it was his turn to double up so they could have a break.

The crunch of dead leaves made it impossible to sneak up on anyone, and Brett was waiting, propped on a barrel, when Colt walked in.

“Morning, hubby,” Brett sang.

“It’s afternoon.”

“What’s it like waking up next to your wife?” Brett asked, sounding oddly serious.

“Surreal.” Colt grabbed a packing list from the news wall by the barn office and headed toward the packing shed. He wasn’t about to tell Brett that there hadn’t been any waking up next to Remi yet.

Brett’s quick footsteps sounded behind Colt.

“I need to know exactly why Remi decided to marry you,” Brett said.

“I have no idea. If you figure it out, let me know.” He furrowed his brow and turned to his friend. “Have you heard anything about her past?”

Colt had never pried for info on Remi before, but curiosity was killing this cat.

“No, why?”

“I’m wondering if she was in the foster system. Maybe that’s why she wanted to give the kids a good family.”

“Sounds plausible, but I can’t say for sure.”

“And she never talks about her parents. They must not be close, but why?”

“You’re telling me she never talks to you about this? I thought you two knew each other inside and out.”

Colt pushed into the pack room to find Paul already packing the loads. His wolf-dog, Thane, raised his head from the wooden floor where he’d been resting. The older wrangler acknowledged them with a lift of his chin before getting back to work.