Page 7 of Sweet Music (The Sweet 3)

My new employee has already grown incredibly close to my mother and sister. And just like Scarlett, I’m pretty sure that they like her better than they like me. But I plan on remedying that with my daughter soon.

“I’m happy to be here, and I can’t wait until Scarlett is too.” She isn’t the only one who’s excited about having her home.

My mother’s smile is wide. “Having a baby in this house—River’s bachelor pad—is going to be strange.”

“It’ll be an adjustment for the three of us, but I have no worries. Everything is going to work out just as it should.”

The three of us.It’s odd to hear Leighton refer to us that way. You’d expect that if a woman ever said those words in regard to you, she’d be your wife and mother of your child.

“I’m not a bit worried,” my mama says.

Seems like all I did during the first two months of Scarlett’s life was worry. It began with worry that the paternity test would prove that I was her father. After I found out that she was mine, it was worry about the health and prognosis of my sick child. We got beyond that and then it was worry about what I would do when it was time for my daughter to come home to a house without a mother.

I’d still be worried if it weren’t for Leighton.

She’s the calm to this storm. The piece in this threesome that’s going to hold everything together.

I’ve never needed a woman. But I need this one.

I need this woman more than she can possibly imagine.