Sable Peak (The Edens)

“Congratulations.” Covie, our retired mayor and Winn’s grandfather, clapped me on the shoulder.

“Thanks for coming.” I shook his hand, then waved as he escorted his wife, Janice, toward the exit.

I stifled a yawn, checking my watch. Midnight.Text content © NôvelDrama.Org.

Tonight was an anniversary party for Anne and me. The kids had wanted to celebrate and do something special this year, so we’d gone all out, inviting most of Quincy out to the ranch.

Sure, this party was fun. It was good to see folks, like Covie, who I didn’t meet as often for lunch at Knuckles as I used to. But I didn’t need a big gathering to celebrate my marriage.

Just sharing life with Anne was reward enough.

The tent was crammed with laughing, happy guests. The band was playing my favorite classic country. Songs I’d loved since the eighties. There was too much food and plenty of cake.

But up until midnight, it had just been a party.

Now it was our anniversary. And it was time to find my girl.

I searched the crowd of faces for the prettiest.

Anne was laughing with a group of ladies from her book club. She’d always loved books, but lately, she’d been reading voraciously and rarely left the house without her Kindle. Lucky for me, whatever she was reading was damn spicy.

Not that we hadn’t had a lot of fun in the bedroom throughout our marriage. But this year, it felt like we were kids again. Like we were in our twenties, desperate to make love and babies. Or maybe we were both simply taking advantage of the years we had left, not wanting to waste a moment together. My dick still worked. My wife still liked it.

I strode to Anne, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “Ladies, mind if I steal my beautiful bride?”

As they nodded, I eased her away, bending to kiss her temple. “Having fun?”

“Yes.” Anne looked up at me, her bright blue eyes twinkling. “You?”

“Yep. But I was thinking we could sneak away for a minute.” I wagged my eyebrows. “Let’s go have a quickie.”

Her cheeks flushed as she checked over her shoulder. “Harrison, this is our party. We can’t leave.”

“We’re not leaving. We’re just going to fool around for a few minutes. Then we’ll be right back.” Maybe. A few minutes might not be enough.

She worried her lip between her teeth. “You can’t mess up my hair.”

“Deal.” I let go of her shoulders to clamp my hand over hers. Then I dragged my wife to our house.

Familiar voices greeted us as we stepped through the front door. My children and grandchildren were my pride and joy. But this wasn’t the first time I’d hoped to give my wife an orgasm only to be blocked by my progeny.

“So much for foolin’ around,” I muttered. “Maybe we need to start locking the door.”

“Stop.” Anne smacked me in the gut with her free hand, then tugged me down the hall.

All six kids were in the kitchen. And all six stood beside the loves of their lives. My other six kids.

They might not have been born Edens, but they were mine all the same.

“So none of us are at the party?” Anne laughed. “We’re terrible hosts.”

“The kids are still out there,” Mateo said.

“Ugh.” Griffin dragged a hand over his face. “I don’t trust Hudson to stay away from the bar. We should probably go back out there and supervise.”

“Probably.” I sighed.

Did we have to go back to the party? Now that I was inside, I kind of wanted to stay.

I wasn’t alone in that.

No one in the kitchen moved.

So I tucked Anne into my side, letting the love in this room fill my heart.

God, we were lucky. To have these kids. To know that they’d found the love I shared with Anne.

“This is better than a party,” Anne said, quiet enough for only me to hear. “Don’t you think?”

“Yes, it is.” I bent to give her a kiss. “Happy anniversary, darlin’.”