Page 28 of The Fear (The Hillers of Barratt County #7)

There was a beautiful woman climbing out of a little car when Grady pulled in after he’d finally finished with repairs on the back fence.

Gene was supposed to be helping him, but his brother had been a bit busy himself lately.

Helping his future father-in-law after someone had knocked down all of the Fields’ fences had taken up most of Gene’s time lately.

He stopped short. Just…looking at her. Watching her.

She was laughing. Hell, he loved the way that woman laughed. How it made him forget all the dark lately. How…he could spend the rest of his life happy, if he could just hear her laugh every single day.

Her mini-version was with her. Ryan looked so much like her. It wasn’t hard to imagine her own kids looking just like that.

She would have half a dozen. He was sure of it. And the man who got her—would be the luckiest man on earth. He wouldn’t deserve her. That was true, no matter who the man was.

He would just thank his lucky stars he had her every day.

Grady stayed right there where he was and just…felt the lightning strike. Felt her steal his soul the moment she looked up at him. Her big brown eyes widened. He knew she said his name.

He wanted that woman to look at him every night for the rest of his life.

“Hi, Mister Grady. We’re here to count the puppies.” Ryan came stomping up to him. Grady scooped him up, using him as a shield between himself and her. “I’m spending the night with Aunt Hala so Daddy can get a case ready for the judge. To put a real bad guy in jail for a long time.”

And Ryan was very, very proud of his father.

To hear the kid talk, Hudson was a superhero.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. Calvin is at Miss Jane’s next door for a little while with Miss Chantal.

But he’ll be back in plenty of time for dinner.

I need someone to help me count all the puppies right now, though.

” He hugged the little man close when Ryan’s arms went around his neck.

Yeah, a half dozen kids just like this one—whoever got Hala forever was going to be the luckiest man on the planet. All her kids would look just like this one, and would be into mischief all the time.

A pang of something went through him. As he imagined.