Page 25 of Crewe (Nelson’s Honkytonk Saloon & Bar #3)

Chapter Twenty-Five

C rewe finished up the appetizers for tonight and glanced around his kitchen. It felt good to be back in the bar and back at work. It had been a rough two weeks getting used to two babies in the apartment, along with adding in a very grumpy lawyer.

Vivi, Ellie, and Ry had forced Quinton to move into the apartment so they could help him.

Schaefer had given him his bed and taken the couch he had in his room.

Quinton had been hit in the thigh and also in his arm.

His arm was doing great, but his thigh had become infected about five days in.

He was allowed to come home after the infection was better, but he was still on antibiotics for a couple more days.

Crewe was just glad he was better physically. Mentally, he was blaming himself for not protecting Penny better. With the amount of bullets her family pumped into his car and the surrounding area, Crewe didn’t see any way that Penny could have survived.

Due to Penny’s death and the death of her family, Quinton was made the executor of their estate as he had been Penny’s lawyer. Since Quinton had been laid up, Crewe and Halligan had gone over to secure her parents’ house and make sure there wasn’t anything that needed to be done.

The house hadn’t been in great shape, and there hadn’t been anything in the refrigerator.

They’d turned off the air conditioner, double-checked that there weren’t any faucets on, and grabbed anything they could think of that looked like paperwork and brought it back to Quinton.

Quinton stopped taking his pain pills yesterday because he said they made him too loopy to think.

Despite all that, Crewe and Ry were doing great. They were getting married this next weekend. They’d invited all their friends from Bluff Creek and Saint’s Outlaws who could make it. It was short notice, but he and Ry had four little ones and needed to be married.

He grabbed the dessert he’d made for Ry.

He’d take it upstairs after he delivered the appetizers to the table.

He picked up the tray and walked out into the bar.

He chuckled because they’d obviously carried Quinton downstairs to get him out of the apartment.

They’d also brought down the recliner from the family room upstairs.

Quinton was in the recliner, and they had him at the end of the table so he could still participate.

“How’s the patient doing?” Crewe asked.

“I absolutely adore the women of our family, but I’m worried the longer I stay up there, the more chance I have of them trying to find me a woman,” Quinton said .

Whiskey sipped his drink, “Don’t you want a woman? I mean, you wait too late, you may not be able to satisfy her.”

“Don’t tease me, or I’ll tell your wife you made me feel bad,” Quinton threatened.

“Tell her all you want. I’ll tell her you were saying that you don’t think labor could be as bad as women think. I heard them talking about ordering that machine that simulates labor pains. You know you’ll be the one testing it if I rat on you,” Whiskey replied.

“How about another subject because I don’t want to talk babies. Although I loved Mistletoe Canyon, I was thinking of maybe a more adult way to spend the holiday. Who is up for New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas with me?” Halligan asked, grinning and waggling his eyebrows.

“I’m in,” McClure said.

“Vegas, showgirls, gambling. I say yes!” Dillon said.

Crewe didn’t need to go to Las Vegas with the guys. He wanted to spend time with his family .

“I’m heading upstairs. Text me if anyone orders food,” Crewe said, picking up Ry’s dessert and heading upstairs.

Ry was sitting in one of the two rocking recliners they’d put in their suite. Poppy, who Ry was dressing in red for now to tell them apart, was lying in the crib. Wyatt was patting her leg through the crib rail. Freya was sitting in the rocker with Ry, holding Iris’ bottle.

“Well, look at you both taking care of your sisters,” Crewe said, handing Ry the plate and fork. He dropped a kiss on Freya’s head and slid his arm around Wyatt.

“They are sweet, aren’t they?” Crewe asked.

“Yep, they are, Daddy,” Wyatt said.

The kids had started calling him Daddy after the girls came home with them. It had been one of the hardest things he’d ever done to tell the kids that the babies would be their siblings forever because their mom had died.

But Freya and Wyatt had immediately kissed the babies and promised to always love them. It had made Crewe feel better knowing Freya and Wyatt didn’t see the babies as an inconvenience.

Crewe was a little surprised that Ry was getting to hold one of their daughters since his dad and uncles had been getting their baby fix as often as they could. Ry and he had even worked together last night while his dad and Bill watched the kids. Crewe smirked as his dad and Peck came in.

“You two get out of here for a little while. You’ve been having kids non-stop or rocking babies. It’s a beautiful evening. The sun will be up for at least another hour. Go on a bike ride,” Burt said.

“I’m supposed to be cooking,” Crewe said.

“Oh my gosh, Crewe. We survived before we allowed you in the kitchen. We’ve got it covered. Go.”

Crewe held out his hand to Ry and helped her up. His dad already had Iris in his arms, and Peck was chatting with Freya and Wyatt.

Ry slipped on boots and grabbed a jacket. He picked up his sweatshirt, and they headed to his bike. He and Ry didn’t talk as they headed to the bike. They were both comfortable with silence and didn’t need to fill the air with nonsense. He waited until she was holding on and pulled out of the lot.

He knew exactly where he wanted to take her. He guided the bike down the road until he saw the rest area. He pulled in and helped Ry off. They walked over to the picnic area and sat down.

“This is what Whiskey built to show Vivi how much she meant to him,” Crewe said.

“Because this is where she wrecked her car and he rescued her. She told me the story.”

“I didn’t rescue you from the side of the road, but I wanted to bring you out into nature. Vivi mentioned that the blacksmith shop and the gallery in Mistletoe Canyon thought you should sell your work.”

Ry shook her head. “Crewe, I can wait. We have four children now, two of them infants.”

Crewe stood up and grabbed Ry’s hands, pulling her up. He turned her toward the field. The dirt had the rows in it from the disc being pulled behind a tractor. A lone tree toward the edge of the field stood with the sun starting its descent for the night.

“Look in front of you. I know that I see a field, but you see all the different ways you could photograph this and make people see something special. There’ll always be things to take care of or children who need us, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have your dream too.

We will sit down and figure out what it will take for you to have your dream.

I love you, Ry, and I want you to have everything you want,” Crewe said.

Ry turned around with tears pooling in her eyes. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure that my soon-to-be wife will be one of the most sought-after artists in nature photography.”