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CHAPTER THIRTY

ARI

I watched Emma and Garrett laughing while enjoying the company of all their friends and family. I looked over at Jeff who was talking to my mom and dad. Someone was going to slip soon about the baby. I really needed to talk to Jeff soon. I almost died earlier when I’d made the comment about me getting bigger.

Matt came running up to Jeff, calling out Jeff’s name. Jeff bent down and picked up the oh-so-happy Matt. I smiled as I watched the two of them. I put my hand to my stomach and instantly felt like I couldn’t breathe. When I leaned forward, I felt a hand rubbing my back. I knew in an instant that it was Ellie.

“Breathe, baby girl. Just breathe.”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I can’t do this, Ellie! What if this baby has Fragile X? I’m not like my mother. I can’t do it. I just can’t!” Holy fuck, I was having a melt-down.

Worried that Jeff might see me freaking out, I looked over and noticed he was taking Matt down to the barn. They must be going to look at the horses.

Ellie reached over and placed her finger under my chin and turned my head towards her.

“Listen to me right now, Arianna. You’re going to be fine, and this baby is going to be fine. You aren’t even sure if you’re a carrier, so stop worrying yourself sick. But, sweets, ya have to tell Jeff. You have to tell him tonight. No more excuses. You can’t keep trying to do this on your own. Jeff loves you more than life itself, and he’s going to be so damn happy. Please, Ari, go talk to him.”

I felt the tears building up in my eyes, and I willed myself to stop them. I smiled at Ellie, I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

“Have I told you today that I love you?” I asked, winking at her.

“No. No, you haven’t bitch,” she said winking back with a smile.

Laughing, we stood up and hugged. I held on to her just for a few seconds longer than needed. I would be lost without this girl.

“Okay, I’m gonna go talk to him right now. I’ve been sitting here all day waiting for someone to accidentally slip and say something to him!”

Ellie let out a laugh as I turned and made my way down to the barn.

As I rounded the corner, I could hear Jeff and Matt talking.

“Where’s Ari’s horse, Jeff?”

I stopped to listen, peeking into the barn. I was curious to see if Jeff was going to remember to be specific this time.

“Well, buddy...she’s over on our property. I have her out in a pasture right now. She’s not the type of girl who likes to be held down in a stall for too long. She really loves to be free and run around with the sun on her.”

“Like Ari! Ari likes the sun on her face, too, doesn’t she, Jeff?” Matt said Jeff with a huge smile on his face.

God, how I love Matt. His heart was pure, and his laughter was infectious. He was so special to us. There was something about him that just made people feel so loved when he smiled.

“Yeah, buddy, she does. Ari is just like Stargazer no one can hold her down. She’s probably the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.”

“Jeff, you’re an assmole! Ari is a girl, not a woman!”

Oh shit! I couldn’t help it when and I let out a small giggle. I had to laugh every time Matt said assmole.

“Matt, buddy, trust me Ari is a woman,” Jeff said, placing his hand on Matt’s head.

“I’m gonna give you a hug, buddy, okay?” he asked as Matt smiled up at him. Jeff gently pulled Matt in for a hug.

I felt a single tear run down my face. Just then, my mother walked up next to me, putting her arm around me. Reaching up, I wiped away my tear, trying to get myself back together again.

“It’s going to be okay, Ari. You know what you have to do, baby girl.”

I shook my head as my mother and I walked into the barn. Jeff looked up and smiled at us.

“Matthew, sweetheart, come on back with me. Emma just bought a new mop,” my mom said.

Matt just about screamed because he was so happy.

“I want to mop!”

I watched as my mom and Matt walked out of the barn toward the house. Taking a deep breath, and turned to face Jeff. Taking me by surprise, he grabbed me and kissed me so passionately that my legs almost went out from under me.

“Arianna, I love you so much.”

I smiled as I looked up into his beautiful green eyes. “I love you, too, Jefferson…so very much.”

As he kissed me again, I almost wanted talk him into making love to me right here and now, so I could lose myself in his love.

Knowing I had to do this though, I pulled away just a little.

“Um, Jeff, I really need to talk to you,” I said, looking up at him.

He smiled as he took my hand and walked me over to a hay bale.

“Alright, baby….talk away.”

“Well, um….I’m not even sure how to tell you this, but.”

His cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looking at the display, he frowned. He shoved it back into his pocket and looked at me.

“Don’t stop, Ari. Keep going.”

“Okay, well, when I went to the doctor on Monday, I um, I found out.”

“You got the results back already? Ari, why didn’t you tell me, baby? What did they say? Are you a carrier of the gene?”

Wait…what? Oh god. My head was spinning.

“No, I won’t get the results back until after another week or so.”

“Shit, Ari, I thought you had been holding this in for the last two days.”

I let out a small laugh. “Ah, no, but I did find out something else.”

Just then, his phone rang again. Of all the fuck-ass times, why is he getting a signal now? He looked at it and then back at me.

“Give me just two seconds.”

I sat there, stunned. It had to be Rebecca.

“Hey, Rebecca. I thought I asked you to not….what? Are you okay?”

I’m going to hell for the thought that just crossed my mind.

“Yeah, I’ll leave right now.

Jeff jumped up and started to walk away from me.

What the fuck?

“Jeff!” I yelled.

He turned around to look at me.

“Oh shit, Ari! I’m sorry, baby. Rebecca is having contractions. They’re pretty far apart, but she’s freaking out.”

“Wait, Jeff, I really need to talk to you. Can she not wait just a few extra minutes for you?” I said, almost pleading with him.

“Ari, baby, is this really that important?”

Tears started to build in my eyes. Oh my god. He was picking her over me. I felt like I was going to throw up.

“Ari! I need to go! Is this something that can wait until later tonight or tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? Are you planning on staying with her tonight?”

“Well, no, of course not. But what if she needs to go to the hospital or something?”

When his phone rang again, he lifted it up to answer it, but I grabbed it from him, sending the call to voice mail.

“Ari, what the fuck? Give me the phone.”

Now, I was just plain pissed off.

“No, I have to talk to you about something, and I need to talk to you about it now, Jeff. It's very important, and it involves our future. So, no, I won’t wait until tonight or tomorrow.”

The fucking phone rang again, and Jeff grabbed it out of my hand. Of all the times for him to have cell coverage, this is the worst!

“Did you call them? Okay, good. No, its fine. Just calm down. We don’t want you going into labor early, Rebecca. I’ll be there soon. Yep...bye.” Jeff hung up the phone and turned back to me.

“Ari, I promise you that I’ll be back tonight. We’ll talk then, baby, but I have got to go now.”

He leaned down to kiss me, but I stepped back away from him.

“Ari, please don’t do this to me.”

“It’s me or her.”

“What?”

“I said…it’s me or her. You decide right now, Jeff. If you walk away from me, you are deciding on Rebecca and this baby that you don’t even know if it’s yours, or you stay here with me and our future.”

He just stared at me.

“Ari, you can’t do this to me. I love you, but if this baby is mine and I just walked away from him…do you know what you’re asking me to do?”

“It’s me or her.”

“Oh fuck, Ari. I don’t have time for this bullshit game. I’ll be back tonight, and we’ll talk then.”

He turned and walked away from me.

The moment he rounded the corner, I fell to my knees and started crying. Oh. My. God. He left me.

He left. I put my hand to my stomach and cried so hard that I could hardly breathe.

He left…us.

***

I slowly started to walk out of the barn. Heading back up toward the house, I could see a few people dancing on the dance floor that Gunner, Josh and Jeff had made. Taylor Swift’s song, “The Moment I Knew,” was playing. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, what a perfect song to play right now.

My head was spinning. I knew he would pick her over me. I knew it.

I looked out to the dance floor and saw Josh and Lynda dancing together. I looked over at Heather and I saw a tear run down her face. Oh hell no. She was not going to fall apart in front of him.

Rushing over, I grabbed Heather’s hand and pulled her up.

“Fuck no, you don’t! You will not cry over that fucker!” I practically shouted at Heather.

Heather took one look at me and sucked in a breath of air. “Oh my god, Ari, you’ve been crying.”

While I led her toward the barn, Heather kept trying to get me to stop walking. By the time we got there, she yanked her hand from mine and came to a dead stop.

“Ari, what the hell is going on?” I looked at her and lost it. She ran over to me and pulled me into her arms.

“It’s okay, sweets. It’s okay.” Heather just kept repeating herself it over and over again.

“Heather? Ari? What’s wrong?”

Ellie’s voice just sent me into another fit. Oh my god. I felt Heather moving down with me to the ground.

Ellie ran over and fell to her knees. She grabbed my face to look at her.

“What happened?”

“He left.”

“Who left?” Heather and Ellie said at the same time.

“Jeff. I was just about to tell him about the baby, and he got a call from Rebecca. When he hung up, he just turned away and started walking out. He wasn’t even going to say good-bye until I yelled out his name.”

“Wait…I’m confused, Ari. What happened to Rebecca to make Jeff just leave like that?” Ellie said, wiping tears off my face.

“She, um…I don’t know. She was having contractions or something like that. I’m telling you that she is further along than she says, and he won’t believe me!” I shouted.

Then, I stood up. I need to ride.

I walked over and grabbed a saddle and made my way over to Rose’s stall.

“Ari, are you going for a ride now?” Ellie asked as she walked over to help me.

“I think I’ll go also. I need to get away from the Josh-and-Lynda show,” Heather said.

“Oh Jesus, I guess that means I’m going, too. Um, should I go tell Gunner that we’re heading out?” Ellie asked as she watched me saddle up Rose.

Rose is still acting feisty as hell.

“If you want,” I said.

“Just a quick ride, right? It actually looks like a storm is about to come in. Emma is in a panic, and I don’t want to leave her to long.” Ellie said while she made her way over to saddle up Big Roy.

After we all got our horses saddled up, the three of us headed out.

Ellie noticed right away that Rose was acting up a bit.

“Ari, are you sure you want to ride Rose? She seems to be spooked about something. Maybe the storm coming in?”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Ells, I’ve been riding horses long enough to know when I shouldn’t be on one.”

***

We rode for a good thirty minutes in complete silence.

When we started back, Ellie broke the silence.

“Ari, you have to know that Jeff wasn’t thinking clearly. I mean, there is a chance this baby could be his, and he’s just trying to do what’s best for the baby.”

I started to feel the tears building in my eyes again. Shit, I’ve never cried so damn much in my life as I have these last few weeks.

Rose started jumping around a bit. I pulled back on her to get her to settle down.

Ellie turned Big Roy out of the way while I tried to get Rose under control. She seemed to calming down until a huge bolt of lightning hit close by. It scared the shit out of all the horses. When Rose reared up, it took everything out of me to stay on her. The next thing I knew, she was running off. I heard Ellie yell out for me as we headed toward the creek.

Oh fuck, Rose. Don’t jump it.

She jumped it.

All I heard was Ellie and Heather both scream.

Oh shit. I knew I was in trouble the moment I flew off the back of the horse.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

JEFF

I was almost into Austin when my cell phone rang. It was Rebecca. Shit, I hope nothing happened.

“Hey, I’m almost to your place. Are you doing okay?”

“Yeah, they’ve slowed way down, and the doctor said it was just Braxton Hicks again.”

“I thought you said they were painful and coming faster?” I asked, clearly frustrated.

“They were, but now, they’ve settled down.”

Shit. This was another time when I rushed away from Ari, except this time, I had a really strange feeling that I fucked-up more than normal.

“Well shit, Rebecca, I drove all this way. Damn it. Have you eaten today?”

“No, I haven’t had anything since breakfast. I’ve been too nervous, I guess.”

“Want to go grab something then? That way, you can eat, and we can make sure you weren’t feeling the real thing. Then, I have to head back to Mason. I kind of walked out on Ari and a party.”

“Oh no! I’m so, so, sorry Jeff. I know you said to call only if it was important, and I really thought it was important.”

I could almost hear the smile in her voice. Somehow, I figured that I totally just got played here. I thought it was time to have a heart to heart with Rebecca, regardless of the risk of an early birth or not.

***

After I picked up Rebecca, we headed to the restaurant. Along the way, I tried to call Ari five times. Each time, it went straight to voicemail. Shit! Why did my cell phone work out there today but Ari’s isn’t?

“Thank you so much for rushing in Jeff. I’m pretty sure everything is going to be okay. You really don’t have to baby-sit me, you know. Like the doctor said, it’s just Braxton Hicks contractions. I think if I just take it easy, I’ll be able to make it to term with no problem.” Rebecca said with a smile

There was something about her smile that seemed wrong. I was starting to get a strange feeling that maybe this was all just a game with her. As we made our way to the table, I glanced down at her stomach. She really did seem pretty big to have a month and a half left. Then again, what the hell do I know.

Suddenly, the sickest feeling came over me. I reached for my phone and tried to call Ari again. Nothing. I tried Ellie’s cell and then Gunner’s. Something’s wrong. I could feel it.

Just as the waitress was about to take our drink order, Rebecca grabbed the table. “Oh no.”

“What? What is it, Rebecca? What’s wrong?”I jumped up and walked around the table to her.

She looked up at me with a panicked look on her face. “Um, nothing, Jeff. It’s nothing. I guess the baby just kicked really hard. That’s all.”

“Are you sure? Do we need to go the hospital?”

She tried to laugh, but I could see the pain on her face. She was trying to hide it. She shook her head and reached for her phone.

“Who are you calling?”

“I’m gonna call Crysti. I really just want to go and lay down. She can stay with me at my apartment to make sure I’m alright.”

While she started to talk to Crysti, my head started spinning. What the fuck is going on here?

“Rebecca, don’t be crazy. I’ll take you home and stay with you until Crysti gets there. Don’t you think though that you should call the doctor again?”

“No! Jeff, listen to me. I just need to go lie down.” Rebecca looked away from me, returning to the her phone conversation. “Yeah Crysti, I know….I know! It’ll all work out. Just trust me on this, please. Just come to Maudie’s. Yep, the one off of Lake Austin Boulevard.”

Rebecca hung up the phone and tried her best to smile at me.

“Rebecca, I don’t understand. I drove all the way in because you said you didn’t have anyone to be here for you. You said you were having contractions. Now you’re fine, and you just want to go home and lie down. You don’t want me to take you home even though I just drove a few hours to get here. What the fuck is going on? Clearly something is wrong.”

“Jeff, really, I just need to stay calm right now. I sense that you’re upset that you had to leave the party and Ari. You’ve tried calling her a number of times. Really, you should just head back to Mason. I promise I’m okay. Crysti is on her way, so I’ll have someone to stay with me. I can’t go into labor this early. I’m just nerv-v-v.”

She grabbed the table again.

I looked up and noticed the waitress was still standing there. She just kept looking back and forth between us. Then, she took a step back and glanced at Rebecca’s feet.

“Um, can you give us a few minutes? Just two waters for now, please,” I said smiling up at the waitress.

She looked back at Rebecca.

“Listen, I really think you need to go to a doctor now,” the waitress said.

Rebecca gave her a dirty look.

“Um, I really think you need to mind your own goddamn business!” she yelled.

“Rebecca! Holy shit!” Turning to the waitress, I said, “I’m sorry.”

“Listen, I’ve had three kids, sweetheart and I hate to tell you this, but your water just broke.”

Rebecca’s face turned white as a ghost.

“No!….Oh no. Oh god no! This can’t be happening!” Rebecca just kept repeating herself over and over again. She reached for her phone and called Crysti again.

“You need to hurry. My water just broke. Yes Crysti! I know!”

It took a good two minutes for everything to soak in before I jumped up and headed over to Rebecca. I reached down and picked her up in my arms.

“What the hell are you doing, Jeff? Put me down!”

“Jesus Christ, Rebecca. You’re in labor. We’re going to the hospital now!” I couldn’t believe it. Fuck! She still had a month and two weeks to go. This was not good.

“Oh god, Jeff. Please…I just need you to leave. Crysti can take me to the hospital. I’m sure it will be fine. They will get the contractions under control. I’ll probably just be put on bed rest or something. Really, I just need you to leave!”

When we got to my truck, I gently set Rebecca down while I opened the passenger door.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Your water broke! You’re gonna have this baby, Rebecca, regardless if it’s time or not. I’m not leaving. I missed the first seven months. Do you really think I’m going to miss the birth of my son?” I held the door open and helped her in. Poor thing seems like she was scared to death.

Rebecca was panicked during the entire ride to the hospital. I thought she was going insane. Motherfucker, is this a normal reaction?

She just kept saying the same things over and over again. How this can’t be happening. This wasn’t part of her plan.

“Rebecca, I’m pretty sure Mother Nature’s plan outweighs yours. It’s going to be okay.”

She called the doctor’s office, saying that her water broke. Then, she began crying hysterically. What the fuck?

***

Twenty minutes later, things were only getting worse. The nurses were telling Rebecca that she needed to calm down. She even tried to tell one of the nurses that I wasn’t allowed in the room.

“What the hell? I’m the father! You better bet your ass I’m gonna be in the room!”

The nurse was yelling at me to stop yelling at Rebecca. My phone started ringing, and I looked down to see it was Ellie calling. I went to answer it, and the nurse just glared at me.

“Really? Turn it off and put it away, Mr. Johnson! Now!”

Shit! I sent it to voice mail and put it back in my pocket.

Rebecca looked at me and tried to smile.

“Jeff, I really need you to just not talk to anyone if you’re gonna stay. Please I just need peace and quiet. What I really need is to be left alone. I’ll call you after I have the baby.”

When I looked at the nurse, she was staring at Rebecca. Then she pulled me outside of the room.

“Mr. Johnson, clearly Ms. Moore is very upset. I’m not really sure why she keeps asking you to leave. Honestly, it’s a bit strange, but over the years, I’ve learned not to question what women in labor do and say. With that said, we really need her to calm down. Her contractions are coming faster, and Dr Wyatt’s is almost here. I need to tell you though that the baby is getting stressed. I cannot stress how important it is that we get her to calm down.”

I nodded my head. “I understand what you’re saying, but I’m not leaving. I missed the whole pregnancy. I can’t miss the birth. I just can’t.”

Just then, my phone rang again. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw it was Gunner. I hit ignore. A minute later, I got a text. I looked at it quickly and noticed I had one message from Ellie and one from Gunner.

Ellie: “Jeff, please call me ASAP. It’s about Ari. Please call.”

Gunner:“Jeff, it’s really important that you call one of us back right away. It’s Ari, dude. Something has happened.”

Shit! Ari was probably so pissed off that I left. Mother fucker. I can’t deal with this shit right now.

I sent Ellie and Gunner a text back.

Rebecca in labor. At hospital. Will call later.

Just then, a doctor walked out of Rebecca’s room. What the hell? I didn’t even see him go in there.

“Are you Mr. Johnson?”

I held out my hand to shake his. “Yes, Jeff Johnson.”

He gave me a once over and shook his head. What the hell?

“I’m afraid we are going to have to put Ms. Moore under. She won’t calm down, and her blood pressure is way too high. I’m having an OR prepped for a cesarean right now. The baby is stressed. It appears the cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck, so we need to move fast. Please go in and try to calm her down. Then, one of the nurses will take you to get ready.”

My head was spinning. I wanted to ask him if the baby would be okay since Rebecca went into labor so early, but then my fucking phone went off again. Ellie. I sent it to voice mail and turned off my phone. I would deal with Ari later. I needed to think about Rebecca and the baby right now.

“Um…okay. I’ll try to get her to calm down, but I think I’m making her more upset for some reason.”

“Just try your best. I’ll see you in a bit.” He walked away with a different nurse following behind him.

When I walked into the room, Rebecca looked up at me with panic in her eyes.

“Hey, honey, please don’t worry. It’s going to be okay. It will all be okay, Rebecca. I need you to calm down, okay?”

Two more nurses came in and asked for me to go with the one nurse to get ready for the C section.

All I could hear as I walked out of the room was Rebecca begging them not to put her to sleep. I looked down the hall, I saw Crysti She was white as a ghost and barely smiled at me as I started to make my way to her.

The nurse took my arm and guided me in the other direction. “Mr. Johnson, this way, please. We need to get moving.”

I turned back and looked at Crysti who was just watching me walk away.

Something is not right. I had the worst feeling in my stomach, like something terrible was about to happen.

***

The moment I heard the baby cry, I almost started to cry. Thank God he was breathing and healthy. Rebecca would only be out for about thirty more minutes, so I took advantage of holding my son.

I just stared at him. I wanted so badly to love this baby, but I didn’t feel a connection. Is it because I missed out on so much of the pregnancy? Why am I not feeling anything?

I felt sick in the pit of my stomach, almost like I had lost something. I was confused though because I hadn’t lost anything. I had just gained something.

Dr. Wyatt came up and patted me on the back as he smiled at me.

“Dr. Wyatt, is he going to be okay? I mean, he looks strong and healthy. He’s so big for being born a month and a half early. Will he be okay?”

Dr. Wyatt just gave me a strange look.

“Rebecca was due in two weeks, Jeff. Her due date was July seventeenth, not August. The baby’s going to be just fine.”

If I hadn’t been holding the baby in my arms, I was pretty sure my legs would have gone out from under me.

“What?”

“You thought she was due in August?”

“She told me she was due in August. She told me she was...”

Then, everything that had happened –her wanting Crysti to pick her up, her panicking when I stayed. It hit me like a ton of bricks. This was her plan all along. She never had any intentions of me being at the birth because I would find out that she was further along than she’d said. Motherfucker. Everyone was right. Ari was right.

***

I sat in the chair next to Rebecca’s bed. When I heard her starting to wake up, I sat up, putting my arms on my legs. She looked over at me and smiled.

“Where’s the baby?” she asked as she started to look around.

“He’s fine. He’s in the nursery. They’re just waiting for you to wake up.”

“Is he beautiful, Jeff?”

I just nodded.

“Why…why isn’t he in here? Why are you not with him?”

“Why would I be, Rebecca?”

She looked confused, and then it hit her. As she looked away, I saw a tear run down her face.

“You weren’t really due in August, were you?” I asked.

“No.” she whispered.

“You thought Ari and I were getting married, so you tried one last-ditch attempt at getting me back? You didn’t think I’d be getting a paternity test done, Rebecca?”

“I thought I could make you love us...love the baby…so you would want to stay. Then you wouldn’t want to be with Ari…you’d want to be with me and your son.”

“He’s not my son.”

“But he can be. We can be happy together Jeff if you just give us a chance!”

Holy shit! Is this girl serious?

“Rebecca, I love Ari. I only want to be with Ari. I only want to have children with Ari. I’m sorry, but I don’t have those feelings for you. I never have, and I never will.”

Tears were streaming down her face as she looked away from me.

“Who is the father, Rebecca?”

She wiped the tears away from her eyes before she turned to look at me again.

“Jason Reed.”

My stomach dropped. What the hell is she saying?

“Jason? Jason was dating Ari at that time you got pregnant…wait.” Motherfucker, this girl was more evil than I could’ve ever imagined.

“You knew Ari was with Jason, didn’t you? You did this on purpose! From the very beginning, you had every intention of hurting Ari, didn’t you?”

I stood up and walked over to her side of the bed.

Rebecca started crying again. She looked up at me, shaking her head.

“I just wanted to get back at her for taking you away from me, Jeff. I didn’t think I would end up pregnant. Then she broke up with Jason days after we slept together. I told him about the baby, and he said he wanted nothing to do with it. When Crysti told me that she heard you and Ari were getting married, I panicked. I had to come up with something to get you back, and I thought….”

“You thought you could lie to me and tell me I was the father of the baby. How exactly were going to pull it off. Rebecca?”

Turning away from me she whispered, “Does it even matter anymore. Jeff?”

“Yes.”

“Fine…I was trying as much as I could to pull you away from Ari. I figured she would get sick of it and make you choose between us. I was banking on you taking the side of the baby because I knew about your father. I thought it would work out perfectly. I was planning to just call you after I had the baby, so you couldn’t be here for the birth. I was going to use the excuse that I couldn’t get through to you because of you were so far out in the country.”

I felt sick to my stomach. I thought back to a few hours ago when Ari did exactly what Rebecca wanted. And I did just what Rebecca hoped I would do.

“You didn’t think I would ask for a paternity test?” I asked, taking a few steps away from her.

I needed to get out here, away from this nut case, and back to Ari.

Ari. I had the worst feeling come over me. Something was wrong.

Rebecca was now looking at me, “I figured you would fall in love with him and then not even care about the test.”

“I need to leave. Don’t ever contact me again, Rebecca. Do you understand me? If you so much as look at Ari or me ever again, I’ll make sure you regret it.”

I took my phone out of my pocket and turned it on. I needed to talk to Ari. I had sixteen missed calls and five text messages.

I started to walk out of the room, as I called Ellie.

“Jeff, wait! Please don’t leave me alone,” Rebecca before she started to cry again.

I turned around to look at her when Ellie answered her cell.

“You motherfucker!”

I stopped dead in my tracks. What the hell?

“Ellie?”

“I never thought I could be as angry with you, Jefferson as I am right now. I hate you!”

Holy shit. What the hell is going on?

“Jeff?”

“Gunner? What the hell is wrong with Ellie?”

“Did Rebecca have her baby?”

“Um, yeah, but turns out.”

“Okay, do you think maybe now you could come to Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg? Your fiancée needs you.”

Oh my god. Ari.

“What’s going on, Gunner? Is Ari okay?”

“She was upset after you walked out on her. She took Rose out for a ride. Rose got spooked by a bolt of lightning and then took off running. She jumped a small creek and Ari fell off. She has a few bruised ribs and some other issues.”

I turned around and glared at Rebecca. This was her fault. I hated her more than I ever thought I could. I turned back toward the door and left before I did or said something I would regret.

“What other issues Gunner? Is she okay?” I started to jog down to the elevator. After I stepped in, I lost my cell signal.

“Mother fucking son of a bitch!” I yelled as I slammed my hand into the wall.

***

Once I got out of the hospital, I called Gunner back while I ran to my truck.

“Gunner, talk to me. What’s wrong with her? Is she awake? What else did she hurt?”

“Jeff, calm down. She hit her head, but they said she just has a mild concussion. And.”

“And what, Gunner!”

“She wants to be the one to tell you herself.”

What the fuck? “What? Okay, I’m on my way. I’m leaving Austin and heading to Fredericksburg now.” I threw the phone down in the passenger seat and took off.

***

By the time I got to the hospital in Fredericksburg, I was that shocked I didn’t end up with at least five speeding tickets. I rushed in to the ER and was told Ari was in her own room. When I got to her floor, walking off the elevator, I had the worst feeling. This was twice today when I had the feeling that I had just lost something important to me.

I looked up to see Gunner, Ellie, Mark, Sue, Emma and Garrett all sitting in the waiting room. Shit!

Ellie jumped up and started to walk over to me, but then Gunner got up and grabbed her. She looked pissed.

“Um, how long have y’all been here?” I asked, looking at everyone.

“Did she have the baby?” Ellie asked.