What I Did for Love (Wynette, Texas #5)(131)

Aaron put his fingers to his lips and whistled. “You go, Iris!”

Skirting the crowd, Bram made his way to Georgie’s side and took their son from her just as Iris opened her tiny mouth and let the music rip. By the time she reached the first chorus of her vigorous and tuneful rendition of the opening number from Annie, neither Bram nor Georgie had the heart to pull her down.

“What are we going to do with her?” Georgie said on a sigh.

“I guess we’ll eventually have to hand her over to Grandma Laura.” He kissed his son’s sweaty head. “You know Laura and Paul are dying to see how Iris will audition.”

“We know how she’ll audition. She’ll be fabulous.”

“She really is good, isn’t she?”

“Not a bad note. She was born to perform. And we don’t need another child star in the family.”

Bram set their squirming toddler on the ground. “The good news is, she’ll never feel as though she has to perform to earn anyone’s love.”

“True. There’s more than enough love here to go around.”

They were too wrapped up in smiling at each other to notice their son plop down on his bottom and begin clapping in perfect rhythm to his sister’s song. Bram’s voice grew husky, the way it so frequently did when he came face-to-face with his blessings. “Who could have imagined a guy like me would end up with a family like this?”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “Skip couldn’t have done any better.” And then she winced. “Oh, dear…Here comes the tap dance.”

“At least she’s keeping her clothes on.”

But he’d spoken too soon. A little floral sundress floated into the roses.

“She gets that from her mother,” he whispered. “I never knew a woman so eager to take off her clothes.”

“Not my fault. You’re very persuasive.”

“And you’re irresistible.”

Skip Scofield chose that moment to tap Bram on the shoulder. Who’d have imagined it? You’ve turned into a family man after all.

And what a family, Bram thought, gazing around him.

Iris bowed and moved on to her next number. His son rolled over in the grass. And his wife, his very own wife, rose on tiptoe and whispered in his ear. “This is the best reunion show ever.”

He couldn’t have agreed more.