Page 124 of Rocky Mountain Home

Dare made herself a sandwich and wrote up a blog post, careful to schedule it to go off after she and Jesse arrived back in Heart Falls. No use in freaking out her family before it was necessary.

Then she got out her phone and gave Vicki a call.

“I don’t know if you heard, but I’ve already been let out of the hospital, and I’m hanging out at your place. Did you have plans for supper? Because I can get started on them.”

“Give me five minutes and we can talk in person,” Vicki said. “Hanging up before someone catches me on the phone while I drive.”

It was barely three minutes later when the truck pulled into the yard. Dare met her on the front porch and this time there was no hesitation. She wrapped her arms around Vicki and gave her a heartfelt hug.

When she let go, Vicki was grinning. “I’m so glad everything’s good with the baby. Joel told me your plans, and I’m really excited you and Jesse are staying in Rocky.”

“Thank you for agreeing to live in crowded quarters for a while.”

Vicki waved off the comment. “Honestly, this isn’t that crowded. But let’s make sure you’re as comfortable as possible while you’re here. I know you guys are going to move into the rental once Ashley’s moms are gone, but right now I doubt they’ll leave until late September.”

They settled in the living room to talk. “When’s Ashley due?”

“Middle of August.”

Dare considered. “Wow, is she gonna make it that long?”

A soft laugh escaped Vicki. “She really is all stomach, but she’s crazy healthy. She’s planning on a homebirth.”

Dare groaned. “Good for her. That leaves more drugs for me.”

“Right? Although I wonder if it’ll be Travis and Cassidy who need to be doped up.”

So many things that Dare wanted to ask about, but some of them seemed borderline rude. Then again, she didn’t need to know everything about everyone this instant. She could control her curiosity.

It suddenly struck. “Hey, how come you’re home?”

“My schedule is usually all over the place, depending on catering jobs, but I asked for this afternoon off. I wanted to get you settled in.”

“I saw you moved some stuff around in the bedroom. That’s more than enough space.”

Vicki rose to her feet and headed to a cabinet along the wall. “Good. I emptied this out so you can use it as your office.”

It looked like a bookcase with open shelves at the top. The bottom two thirds had a corkboard attached to it, and Dare hadn’t given it much notice until now.

Vicki unsnapped a couple of hooks then pulled a lever, and suddenly the entire wooden face lowered into a desktop, and the corkboard became a sturdy leg.

“Oh, that’s cool.” Dare joined the other woman. Built in along the edge of the cabinet was a plugin and USB port.

“Daniel made it. Brother number three,” Vicki reminded Dare. “It’s been handy to tuck things out of sight, but there’s enough room you can store stuff if you want. If you have a good computer chair, there’s room in the corner for when you’re not using it.”

Perfect. “I’ll bring one back with me.”

They got to talking about other things then, but the whole time Dare kept being brought back to one thought. Why was this so comfortable? Why did she feel as if she’d stepped into a familiar place?

When the topic finally looped back to dinner, Vicki had a suggestion. “I thought we could go over to Blake and Jaxi’s and make a few big batches of food. Even Jaxi won’t say no to a helping hand with a newborn in the house. You okay with that idea? We can give Joel and Jesse a call, and they can join us over there when they’re done for the day.”

It seemed they were jumping in with both feet. “I’m game if you are. I’m an awesome chef’s assistant.”

Vicki smiled tentatively. “More importantly, you’re going to be an awesome friend.”

While he hadn’t expected to end up working side by side with Joel so quickly, it was a happy surprise when Jesse led his borrowed horse out of the barn to discover his twin waiting for him.

Joel held his horse steady as he eyed Jesse. “Get a move on. Or do you need me to lengthen your stirrups for you?”