Page 137 of Burning for You
Caro
Three-month-old Olivia Holt takes lakeside living in her stride. Her eyes are full of wonder when we take her around the lake. She keeps kicking, as if wanting to take a stroll on her own.
Since her birth, we had lived at the Holt ranch while Levi and Jesse finished off the Little Random Lake cottage—and today, we’re moving in.
“Welcome to your new home, Olivia,” I say as we make our way into the cottage. She throws me a smile, while every now and then she tries to find Levi.
My fiancé, walking behind me, caresses Olivia’s cheek with his little finger, sending her into a cooing frenzy.
“Do you like what I did with the bed?” Levi presents me the bedroom
The brightly-lit space shines even more with the natural linen Levi has chosen. It’s not only his meticulous housekeeping skills that leave me in awe, but his touch, his creativity, and the whole feel of the room—it’s really us. Raw, unpretentious, and carefree.
I gaze out the window, the one where I noticed a blue jay hopping around minutes before I went into labor. Astonishingly, Levi told me there was a pair of the same kind of bird outside the ranch’s window when he was born.
What were the chances that Olivia was conceived when that lone blue dasher decided to hitchhike in our truck?
I put Olivia down in the middle of our bed. Stripping to my camisole, I lie by her side, watching my girl’s radiant face looking back at me. She could just be delighted to see my cleavage, perhaps thinking it’s mealtime. But I know it’s more than that. It’s the look of love—daughter to mother. And when Levi joins us, climbing to the other side of the bed, Olivia turns to him.
I caress her back, whispering, “You want Daddy, huh?”
“She’s sleepy now,” Levi says, stroking her bottom.
Olivia is a star sleeper—whether in a cot, in a car, or in my or Levi’s arms (even on Jesse’s lap!)—but she sleeps a lot longer when she’s in bed with the both of us.
Levi nudges himself closer to Liv. My eyes can’t get enough of seeing him cradling the newest addition to the Holt-Meyer family. This man isn’t my weakness—he’s the reason I don’t have weakness anymore. He and I are what I dreamed a man and woman should be.
As baby Holt purrs away to sleep, my eyes roam the room. Levi has made it larger than he originally planned to accommodate our king bed, and to allow for bigger closets. It might be country living here, but he’s made damn sure it’s stylish.
I smile. My man will do anything for me.
Out of the blue, I hear a car approaching.
I knit my brows. “Who’d that be?” I whisper to Levi.
He smiles, telling me I might be in for a surprise. “Go on, I’ll watch Liv.”
My neck tingles with excitement as I get ready to greet our first visitor, or visitors.
A ‘Bear’ in Montana!
I jump at the sight of my bestie coming out of the car, carrying a garment bag. It looks like Jesse has driven him, and his partner Blake, all the way to Little Random Lake.
“Oh my God!” I say and hug Bear. “You didn’t tell me!”
Bear responds with an even bigger hug, and I can hardly breathe. “Your fiancé asked me to keep it a surprise.”
“Blake,” I welcome Bear’s partner. He gives me a peck on the cheek, left and right, then left again.
“Do you know what this is?” Bear says, hoisting the garment bag above his head.
“Oh, I know what it is! I just didn’t think you’d deliver it personally.”
I unzip the semi-transparent bag halfway, taking a peek. It’s the glorious, classic satin slip dress Bear had designed for me back when Levi was still a mysterious savior called Bryan.
“Crafted with love,” Bear says proudly. I know he sewed it himself. “Let me show you something.” He points at the scattered Swarovski crystal beads around the cowl neckline, and then he lifts up the hanging V drape, revealing the embellished initials C and L with a symbol in between.
“Bear… I’ve never seen anything like it.” They’re made of blue crystals, very fine, and under the sun they glow magnificently.