Page 8 of Epilogue Legacy

Bru placed a hand on my shoulder. “She’s fine. Thatcher won’t hurt her.”

He wouldn’t on purpose. I grunted but held back. That was until Thatcher started tossing her in the air. The fucker never knew his own strength. He didn’t have kids, so he had no idea how to handle them right.

Bru didn’t stop me this time when I went to stop Thatcher, but he did laugh. Bow did too. Her laptop was on her lap, working on some projects she had going on at the office. Bow waved at her brother from the park bench where she sat, and Thatcher waved back. He had Bailee on his shoulders at this point, and I growled.

“That’s enough of that,” I said, taking her down.

“Relax, Wells. I know how to handle my niece,” Thatcher said, then proceeded to tickle Bailee in my arms. She giggled fiercely, and that never ceased to warm the ice-cold muscle in my chest. These days, my heart definitely wasn’t so cold. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time it was.

I smiled despite myself, then handed Bailee back to her uncle. Thatcher continued to tickle B, and Bru came over. Biologically, he was Bailee’s dad. She had his chestnut-brown hair and wide grin. She also had his and her mother’s kindness; but she was all of ours. The three of us had been together and unbreakable since college.

“’Sup, Thatch,” Bru said, putting a hand out. Thatcher tucked Bailee under his arm to receive it, and I growled again.

Thatcher rolled his eyes at me, and I shook my head. My eyes narrowed. “Just wait until you and Aspen have a kid. It’ll be payback.”

And that shit was a bitch.

Thatcher started to laugh but stopped quickly. His eyes flashed a little. Possibly at me mentioning him and Aspen having children. I mean, we all knew that shit was coming and sometimes you didn’t really have a choice. Bailee came as a surprise to us. Bru and I got Bow pregnant in college. Well, she’d been in college. Bru and I had graduated the year before.

It wasn’t a surprise we were ready for, but it was so welcome. Being a dad was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Thatcher got his smile back after Bailee hugged him. She wiggled, and he put her back down on her feet.

She tugged my pant leg. “Papa, slide?”

I started to go that way until Bru took her hand.

“I got it. Y’all got business to take care of,” Bru said. I think we were both surprised Thatcher called so early this morning. The three of us had already been headed to the park. We were early risers with Bailee.

Bru glanced at Thatcher. “Good seeing you, bro.”

“As always,” Thatcher said, then gave Bailee one final tickle that made her laugh. She proceeded to skip off to the slide with Bru. Thatcher folded his arms. “Still can’t believe you’re a dad.”

“You and me both,” I said.

Thatcher waved again when Bow did from her park bench. Bow gestured and mouthed, “One sec,” before turning back to her computer. That was probably why she waved initially. She wanted to get her brother’s attention.

“Dad must be running her ragged,” Thatcher said, but we both knew that shit was the opposite. Bow was one of those first-into-the-office-and-last-out type of people. She worked for their dad at his security company, and I think we all knew that was where she was headed in college. Thatcher wanted to play ball first before getting into their family businesses, but Bow had always been moving toward the corporate life.

Thatcher and I sat on a bench. We watched his niece play for a bit before I spoke.

“I heard you really messed up,” I said, handing him the keys to an old theater here in town. Half was a theater and the other half was my restaurant. I opened it up after culinary school, and it was the first of many.

Thatcher rolled his eyes. “Y’all talk too much in the group chat.” The word around the street was that he and Aspen were going through it a little, and I figured that was confirmed since he wanted keys to the theater. He was planning a private date for her. It was supposed to be a surprise after he picked her up from the airport.

“Well, I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Yeah.” My friend looked a little unsure, and that surprised me. I didn’t care what this fucker did, there was no way his girl wouldn’t forgive him. They just had so much love. I was honestly surprised they hadn’t gotten married yet or at least engaged. Bru, Bow, and I had done a small commitment ceremony. It wasn’t legal, but that didn’t matter to us.

I patted his chest. “Seriously, whatever you did, I’m sure Aspen will forgive you.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but Bru interrupted.

“Bailee wants Papa,” Bru said. “Dada isn’t cutting it.”

I stood. “Duty calls.”

“No problem.” Thatcher smiled. “Hug my niece again for me.”