Free Colters舗 Promise by Maya Banks

moment. It should have been special.”
    Dillon put a finger over her lips. “
You
are what’s special to us. It’s going to be different this time, Lily. I swear it.”
    She glanced at the faces of her husbands, at the earnest determination in their eyes. Saw the love—love for her—reflected in their depths.
    Yes, it would be different this time, and she had faith—in them, and in herself—that this time her miracle wouldn’t slip away.

C HAPTER 9

    A DAM Colter watched as his wife, Holly, decorated the huge family Christmas tree with Ethan and Ryan hovering to make sure she didn’t fall off the ladder.
    It’s not that they wouldn’t have been more than happy to decorate while she oversaw the project, but Holly was determined that she hang every ornament and exclaim over each one as she did so. Every single one reflected a memory for the Colter family through the years, and each Christmas the tree grew heavier with those collected memories.
    Maybe it was his age, but he seemed to grow morenostalgic with each passing year. He’d watched his children grow up under this very roof. He and his brothers had watched their wife blossom under their love and protective umbrella, and in return she’d given them something so infinitely precious that they could never want for more.
    Now his children had spread their wings. They’d left the nest and yet they were all right here, surrounding him. All had come back. There had been several points in his life when he couldn’t have imagined being happier. The births of his children. Callie being born in the meadow. Holly returning to him and his brothers when they’d thought they’d lost her. But nothing compared to right here, right now.
    His wife slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him to her. “What has you so deep in thought over here?”
    He blinked, realizing that the tree was done and the lights sparkled like tiny diamonds hung over the thick limbs. He smiled and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
    “I was just thinking about my children and my wife.”
    Holly turned her face up and smiled back. “Good thoughts then.”
    “The best.”
    She sighed and stared back toward the tree and then let her gaze wander to her other husbands as they cleaned up the boxes and put them away until the tree came down.
    “This year we’ll have Lauren. Callie’s so worried about her. She hasn’t left Callie and Max’s place since she got here a few days ago. Callie says she’s so ashamed, and my heart just aches for her. I want to go over and just hug her.”
    “Why don’t you?” Adam asked, smiling at how tenderhearted his beautiful wife was.
    Holly hesitated. “Because I know how it feels. That kind of shame. Even as you know it’s not yours to bear, you can’t shake it.”
    He squeezed her, anger still fresh and fast to surface when he remembered what she’d endured at her first husband’s hands. The little bastard had died in prison the previous year, which only brought a small measure of satisfaction to Adam and his brothers. They would have much preferred to make him suffer a long, slow, painful death.
    “It’s precisely why you should go visit her,” he said softly. “You more than anyone know exactly what she’s going through.”
    “I want her to venture out,” Holly said, her lips firming in resolution. “Everyone will spoil her endlessly and restore her faith in the male species. She needs that.”
    Adam nodded. “Be patient. She’ll take on the world and venture out of her safe haven when she’s ready. But there’s nothing to say that you can’t go over and lend her your love and support.”
    Holly checked her watch and then let out an exclamation. “I’ve got to run. I’m supposed to go see Lily today.”
    “I’ll drive you,” Ethan said from across the room. “I need to go into town anyway.”
    Holly frowned and shook her head. “No need.”
    Adam exchanged raised eyebrows with his brothers. Holly had been acting awfully