AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The crying stopped, but it was too late. Crap. Now he was going to wonder why they’d also kept Kye a secret from him.
“Yeah, that’s Kye,” she said. “Ryleigh? Everything okay?”
“Yep. Fine.” Ryleigh appeared in the doorway, holding Kye. She looked slightly pale and worried, but someone would have seen Kye eventually. So it might as well be the deputy.
“Sorry, we weren’t keeping him a secret or anything,” Lilac said. “It’s just . . . we don’t know you.”
“He’s not very old.”
“Nearly a month,” Ryleigh said.
Linc gazed down at her, his face softening. “You shouldn’t be here with a baby.”
“We’re fine,” Ryleigh said. “Lots of people raise children in RVs.”
“With electricity and water hooked up. Look, I made some calls. Matt is gonna come and tow Sugar to the garage.”
“We can’t do that,” Lilac said. “We can’t afford it.” God, she hated admitting that.
“Don’t worry. Matt knows that and is willing to let you pay it off.”
“But why would he agree to that when he doesn’t know us?” Ryleigh asked.
Linc kept his gaze on hers. “Because around here, we look after our women. And children. This changes your accommodation needs though. Can’t send a baby to the bar.”
Huh?
“Devon has a one-bed apartment above Dirty Delights,” he explained. “Would have been a tight fit but bigger than Sugar. You can’t have a baby in a bar, though.”
“I’m sure we could make it work if Devon is okay with it.” Would he be? Would he really want them there? And how much would he ask for rent? “We’d only have to stay a night or two until Sugar is ready. And we could offer to do other things around the bar, like cleaning.”
Both Ryleigh and Opal nodded.
“No, no.” Linc shook his head, making her stomach drop in disappointment. “That’s not gonna work. But I have another plan. I have a guest house.”
“A guest house?” Ryleigh asked.
What sort of property did he own that he had a guest house?
“It has two bedrooms. You could stay there. When I bought the property, my ma was gonna come live in it. But she, uh, she died.”
“I’m so sorry.” Ryleigh walked up and placed her hand on Linc’s arm. She was the sweetest of them all. The most empathic.
The least fucked up.
“I know it’s not ideal. I mean, if you wanted, you could sleep in the main house, but I’m guessing that might make you uncomfortable.”
“Um, yeah, thanks for the offer, but?—”
“Can we have a key to the place that no one else has?” Opal interrupted Lilac.
“Yes, of course. I have two keys. You can have them both.”
“It’s got a bathroom?” Opal asked.
“Fully self-contained.”
“What’s the cost of rent?” Opal queried.
