Wild Iris Ridge (Hope's Crossing) by RaeAnne Thayne Page B

her.
    “What idea?”
    “Your pop and Katherine. But it doesn’t matter right now. I should go. I hope you’ll be able to rest for a few hours. Good night, Brendan. Thanks for giving me the chance to be with Carter and Faith tonight. We had a marvelous time.”
    She picked up her umbrella and headed for the front door. He followed along just a few feet behind, and at the door, he opened a closet to grab his jacket.
    The crazy man intended to walk her up to Iris House. She stopped there with her hand on the doorknob. “It’s half a block. You don’t have to come with me.”
    “Yeah. I do.”
    “What about the kids?”
    “They’ll be okay for five minutes.”
    “This from the fire chief?”
    “I’ll be in sight the whole time and can be back in sixty seconds from anywhere on the block. If it makes you feel better, I’ve got a baby monitor I use when I’m working out in the yard after they’re in bed. I just need to plug it in. The signal reaches at least as far as Iris House so we can hear if either of them wakes up.”
    She wanted to insist he march right into his bedroom and catch some of that sleep he so obviously needed. But then, she’d never exactly been the Mother Hen type, and this seemed an odd time to start. Besides, she was just too tired to get into it with him.
    She waited a moment while he found the monitor and set it up in the hallway so he could hear the children if they called out, then he stuck the handset in his pocket and they walked out into a quiet night, cool and lovely with gleaming streets and the breeze heavy with the scent of rain-drenched pine.
    At just past 1:00 a.m., most of Hope’s Crossing slept. She could see a light on below here and there, but most houses were dark. Once, she knew who lived in most of the houses on this street, but it had changed since that brief time she lived here with Annabelle so long ago.
    Change was inevitable. Nothing stayed the same in life. Why hadn’t she kept that in mind these past few years at NexGen and prepared a little better for it?
    She breathed in deeply of the sweet air that made her want to go on a long walk in the mountains, something she had learned to love during her time here in high school.
    She certainly hadn’t done enough of enjoying the outdoors in Seattle. She had lived in a beautiful place but working sixteen-hour days didn’t allow much free time to enjoy it.
    That wasn’t a problem now. She had nothing but time.
    They were almost to Iris House when she finally asked the question that had been plaguing her since he dragged her into his house and told her she was an answer to prayer.
    “How do you manage everything now? The kids, your job. It can’t be easy. Do you ever think about working somewhere with a more regular schedule?”
    “It’s a juggling act sometimes, but I have a lot of help. Pop. Charlotte. Erin—that’s Andrew’s wife. I try to work around the kids’ schedule, and I also have a good babysitter and quasi housekeeper who comes in and spends the night when I’m on the overnight shift. Linda Madison. She actually lives right there.” He pointed to a house that was two doors down from Iris House, now dark and shuttered.
    “The name seems familiar but I can’t picture her.”
    “She taught at the elementary school for years. Second grade. She was good friends with my mom. And Annabelle, too.”
    “Oh, I think I remember her now. Red hair and those big, swoopy kind of glasses.”
    “That’s her. Her hair is still red but her glasses are smaller now, you’ll be happy to know.”
    “Whew. That’s a relief.”
    He lifted his mouth a little but didn’t give in to a full-on smile.
    “She doesn’t have any grandchildren so she’s kind of adopted mine, which works out great for everyone. The only problem is, she’s gone on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise through the Panama Canal for the next few weeks so I’m on my own,” he said, just as they reached the iron fence encircling Iris House.