“She’s going to trick you into staying with her, Josh. I don’t trust her.
I felt sick to my stomach.
“Please, princess, just give me some time. I promise that we’ll be together. I promise.”
He pulled me to him and kissed me with so much passion that it felt like he was trying to pour his love into my body. Then, he pulled away and smiled at me.
“I love you, Heather. I love you more than anything.”
“I love you, too, Josh. I probably need to get back to Mason. What about your truck?”
“I’ll see what time Gunner and Ells are leaving, and I’ll catch a ride back with them to get my truck. Can we spend some time together before I come back to Austin?”
As much as I wanted to say yes, I shook my head.
“I don’t think it would be right, not while you’re still with Lynda.”
He looked down and stared at the ground. When he looked back up, he had tears in his eyes, and my heart was breaking all over again.
“Please wait for me, Heather. Please.”
I smiled, leaned over, and kissed him softly on the lips.
I turned and walked out of the elevator. I left the hospital and headed toward my car.
I didn’t start crying until I pulled out and drove away.
The worse feeling came over me. Lynda was not going to give up on Josh without a fight.
I also knew she wasn’t going to fight fair.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
JEFF
I walked into the Oasis with Luke in my arms and Ari at my side. My baby boy, the love of my life, was two months old.
Ari looked beautiful, and just by looking at her, I would have never known she had a baby two months ago. She’d been riding Star and Sweet Pea bareback for weeks, and she seemed to be in heaven now that she could ride again.
I looked around for Gunner and Ellie.
“There they are!” Ari said, pointing to where they were standing in the waiting area.
We walked up to Gunner and Ellie and saw Jack, Grace, Emma, and Garrett with them.
“So, the gangs all here now,” Garrett said with a wink.
“Let me hold that baby,” Emma said as I handed Luke over to her.
Grace and Emma walked over to a bench and sat down.
When I put my hand on Ellie’s growing belly, I instantly felt the baby kick. Ellie and I both started to laugh.
“Still not going to find out?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“Ells, have you talked to Heather? How is she doing?” Ari asked.
Ellie’s smiled faded, and she looked at Gunner.
“I don’t know. Lynda now seems to be having some kind of mental breakdown, so Josh still hasn’t called it off with her. Heather is trying to act like she’s okay, but I know she’s dying inside. She went on a date the other day.”
“What? Why would she do that?” Ari asked in a panicked voice.
I pulled Ari closer to me and held on to her.
“I think she’s lonely, Ari. She’s so confused on what she should do. She loves Josh, but clearly, Lynda is not going to give up that easily.”
Ari said, “I think it’s time we kick some ass. Stupid bitch. Why does she want a guy who she knows wants to be with someone else? Douche-twat. Oh, sorry, Gunner. I know she’s your cousin.”
Gunner laughed and held up his hands.
“Hey y’all!” Heather said as she walked up and hugged everyone. “We’re a back room on the second floor.”
We all followed Heather into one of the larger rooms. I knew a few of the people, but most were friends of Heather’s aunt, uncles, and cousins or friends of Heather’s parents.
***
We talked, we laughed, and celebrated Heather’s graduation from UT. With the absence of her parents, I could tell that this happy occasion was very emotional for her family. Despite any sad thoughts, her grandfather seemed to be very proud of Heather.
I leaned over to Gunner. “Josh isn’t coming, I take it.”
“I talked to him earlier. Lynda had some kind of breakdown, and he couldn’t leave her.”
“Dude, does he know she’s playing him for a fucking fool?”
“Jeff!” Ari said as she punched me in the arm. “Don’t swear in front of the baby.”
“He’s two months old, Ari. I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to know what fuck means.”
Just then, Matthew who was sitting on the other side of Ari, called out, “I wanna be a mudder.”
Ari quickly turned and started to tickle Matt before she whispered something into his ear.
She turned back and glared at me. Gunner let out a laugh, and I had to bite my cheek to keep myself from laughing, too.
Heather’s uncle stood up to make a toast. As he was talking, Heather let out a gasp. She was staring straight ahead, and we all turned to see Josh standing in the doorway smiling at Heather. She got up and walked over to him. He whispered something in to her ear, and the next thing I knew Heather flew into his arms.
I turned around to see everyone watching them.
Then, louder than she meant to, Ari said,
“Shit, it’s about fucking time.”
Right on cue, Matt started singing,
“I wanna be a mudder fuckin’ cowboy!”
Ari, Sue, and Grace all said at once, “Matthew!”
CHAPTER SIXTY
ARI
December
“Can you believe he’s six months old?”
Jeff let out a laugh as he crawled after Luke on the floor.
“Nope. The little monster is fast as shit.”
I tried to keep up with them as I videotaped Jeff and Luke.
“So, should we go shopping for more toys for Santa to bring?”
Jeff looked up at me with the biggest smile on his face. I swore I’d never seen a man who loved to go shopping for toys like Jeff did. I think he liked the stuff more than Luke.
“Do you even need to ask that, Ari? Hells yeah, my little buddy needs more stuff. Don’t forget. I want to find something really cool for Matt.”
“As long as it doesn’t make too much noise. The drum set you got him drove my mother and father insane.”
I saw the smile spread across Jeff’s face, and I knew he bought that thing just to piss off my father.
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Jeff jumped up to get it.
“Heather! What brings you here?”
“Hey! Just wanted to come for a visit.”
Heather walked into the living room and immediately went down to the floor as Luke crawled up to her and got in her lap.
“Oh my gosh, you’re getting so big, my little man!” She looked up at me and smiled.
I knew something was wrong. Her beautiful blue eyes were…dead. I hadn’t seen her sad in months. Josh had left Lynda at the end of August after he’d had enough of her crazy bullshit. Heather got a job teaching first grade at the elementary school in Fredericksburg while Josh’s furniture business was growing in Austin. I knew they tried to see each other as much as possible and Josh was ready to move the business to Fredericksburg just to be with Heather.
“Is everything okay?”
Just then, the phone rang.
Jeff ran into the kitchen and picked it up.
“What? Right now? You have to take her to Fredericksburg, Gunner! No, not Austin…don’t drive…meet me at the main house. Dude, calm down. We’ll be right there.”
He hung up the phone, looked at me, and then to Heather on the floor.
“Ellie’s water just broke.”
Heather and I both let out a scream, and then Luke screamed and clapped his hands. I reached down and grabbed Luke. It’s about time! Ellie was overdue and ready to pop any day.
“Let me change his diaper really quick,” I said.
I grabbed a few things for Luke while Jeff and Heather were getting baby food ready in the kitchen. We had a plan. When Ellie went into labor, Jenny and Aaron were going to watch Luke for us. I grabbed my cell and did a fist pump when I saw I had a signal. I called Jen, told her about Ellie, and said we would drop off Luke in a few minutes.