Page 135 of Tragic (Lark Cove 3)

“Yup.” She nodded, her eyes filling with more tears.

“That’s . . . fuck. Yes!” I clapped and let out a whoop, my excitement too big for this small camper. “Hell yes! I hope it’s a girl.” I fist pumped, then swiped Piper’s arm and pulled her back into my chest. “I love you.”

But instead of saying it back or smiling, she burst into tears.

“This is amazing news. Why are you crying?”

“Because I’m worried we used it all up.”

“Used what up?”

“Our magic,” she whispered.

Our magic. Now I understood why she was so worried.

While the beginning of Piper’s pregnancy with the boys had gone smoothly, the last month had been unbearable. She’d been placed on bed rest due to high blood pressure. But after two weeks of only getting up to use the bathroom, it hadn’t helped. Things only got worse.

The doctors had monitored her closely, but five weeks before her due date, they’d decided to induce because she was showing other signs of preeclampsia.

The boys had spent their first ten days in the hospital, being monitored. The ten days after we brought them home, I hadn’t slept. I’d convinced myself that if I fell asleep, something would happen to them.

Basically, I’d gone crazy.

Until finally, my body had shut down. I’d dropped, dead on my feet, in the kitchen one day. Piper had been so worried that she’d called an ambulance.

They’d tried to keep me in the hospital overnight, but I’d refused.

That had been the low point.

Logan had picked me up from the hospital and brought me home. Thea had been here, helping Piper when I walked through the door. My mother had shown up two hours later. Piper’s mom six hou

rs after that, courtesy of the Kendrick private jet.

That night, I’d confessed to Piper how terrified I was that something would happen to our family. I’d let my fears from what happened with Shannon and my daughter drive me insane.

Then I’d promised never to let her down like that again.

This time around, I’d do better.

“It’s going to be okay,” I promised. Then I took her face in my hands and gazed at her beautiful face. The face that started and ended my day. “We’ve got a lifetime of magic left.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because it was never the cake.” I brushed my lips against hers. “The magic is us.”

One year later, as our daughter Grace rested in my arms, Piper stood in the doorway of the nursery, watching as I rocked our baby girl to sleep.

“You were right,” she whispered, her dark eyes sparkling with the moonlight. “It was never the cake.”

I smiled at my wife and kissed Grace’s forehead.

Magic.

Enjoy this preview from Tinsel, book four in the Lark Cove series.

Kindergarten

“Pop! Look it!” With a smile stretched across my face, I slid my drawing down the table toward Grandpa’s seat.