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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ARI

This had probably been the longest week of my life. Rebecca had managed to text Jeff every day at least three times a day. I’d been trying to let it go, but today, I was on my last nerve.

Then, his phone went off again. What the hell is it this time?

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Really, Jeff?” I yelled.

Jeff pushed his hand through his hair while looked at his cell phone.

Josh was standing there with a pissed-off look on his face.

“Holy shit, dude, is she fucking watching us? Every damn time we’re trying to move something heavy, your fucking phone goes off!”

I had to let out a giggle as I looked around. It wouldn’t surprise me if she were watching us. Crazy bitch.

Heather walked out of the house, carrying a box, and she seemed to be struggling. I’d never seen Josh move so fast in my life as he took the box from her. Even on the football field, the bastard had never run that fast. Heather and I were planning on going out to dinner tonight in Mason, and I couldn’t wait to drill Heather about her trip with Josh from Mason to Austin. She’d been avoiding me like the plague all week. Something must have happened, and I was going to get to the bottom of it.

I watched as Heather thanked Josh. Holy hell. She was blushing as she looked away from him. He said something to her that made her laugh. She looked over at me, and I smiled at her. Her smile faded as she walked back into the house.

Damn it. Why is she fighting this thing with Josh so much? What the fuck is wrong with this group of friends?

I looked back over at Jeff, who was now pacing back and forth on the phone. My heart stopped for a moment. Oh shit. What if something happened to the baby? I mean, I couldn’t care less about that bitch, but I would never want something to happen to that innocent child. Poor thing was going to have a nut-case for a mother.

Just then, my cell phone started ringing. I pulled it out and looked at it. Ellie?

“Hey! What the hell are you doing, calling me on your honeymoon?”

“Hey, sweets. Um…Gunner is talking to Jefferson right now. We’re in Miami, waiting for our next flight.”

“What? I thought y’all weren’t coming back until next week.”

“Yeah… well, Gunner got a call late last night. His dad had a heart attack.”

“Oh my god, Ellie! Oh no. Is he okay?”

“I guess. His mom, Grace, called last night and said she was at the hospital. His dad was stable. The doctors told him that he needed a serious amount of rest and relaxation. Somehow Grace was able to talk him into going to the ranch to visit his mom and dad.”

“No shit. Wow. Well, you know when something life-changing like that happens, you tend to think of things differently. You know what I mean?”

Ellie let out a small sigh. “Yeah,” she paused for a moment.

“Ari, how are you?”

I sucked in a breath of air. She knows.

“When did you find out?”

“A couple of days before the wedding, I knew something was wrong, and made Gunner tell me. I’m sorry that I didn’t say anything to you. I felt like it wasn’t my place.”

I felt the tears coming again. Shit! “S’okay, Ellie. I know it had to have been hard for you to keep that from me. You won’t believe how I found out though.”

“Will it make me hate my own brother?”

I let out a laugh. “No, but you’ll hate Rebecca even more!”

“Yeah, like that’s possible. I’m ready to choke her until she spills the truth.”

“Glad to hear that! I’m glad you’re coming back. I actually need to talk to you about a few things.”

“Okay…well, we should be in around four. Are y’all heading out to the ranch?”

“Yeah, Josh and Jeff have the whole house almost cleared out. We’re making a trip out there now. I think Josh and Heather were planning on staying the night. We can all catch up, that is, if y’all aren’t too tired by the time you get in. Heather and I were going to go into Mason for dinner. Do you want us to wait?”

“Hell no, I won’t be too tired! I can’t wait to see you. It feels like I’ve been gone forever. Why don’t y’all go ahead and eat? There is a bar on Main Street I think. I’m sure Jefferson knows about it. Maybe we could all just meet up there? Damn it, they’re calling our flight. I’ll see ya in a few. Love you sweets. Kiss and hug Jefferson for me. Hang in there. I’m almost home.”

The moment I hung up with Ellie, I could feel my stress lifting away from me. Things would be so much better when she got here. I’d felt so alone this last week. Even with Jeff and I being so close, it still felt like I was lost.

Jeff walked up to me. He hugged me so tightly that I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“Was that Ells?”

“Yeah, she told me about Gunner’s dad. Is he going to be okay?”

“Gunner said he should be. He said that his dad probably needs to retire from the Army. His mom is doing everything she can to talk to him about it. The fact that she got him to go to the ranch for a few weeks blows my mind.”

“Well, it’ll be good for both Gunner and his dad. They need to work on repairing their relationship, especially with Gunner being married now. I don’t think his dad wants to miss out on having grandkids someday.”

I looked up and smiled at Jeff. The smile he gave me in return melted my panties.

“I sure as shit wish Josh and Heather weren’t here,” Jeff said as he wiggled his eye-brows up and down.

Giggling, I glanced toward the house. Heather was carrying out another box while Josh was on her heels, asking her to put it down.

“Maybe we should make Heather ride with Josh again,” I said looking back at Jeff.

He threw his head back and laughed.

“If she wants to come out to the ranch, she either has to drive her car or go with Josh. I have the truck packed full of shit.”

I had to laugh. Heather had just gotten her car back from the dealership. There was no way was she planning on driving out there again.

I looked over at her as she started to walk up to us.

“Ellie is on her way back,” I said to Heather.

She came to a stop with a confused look.

“Gunner’s father had a heart attack, but he’s okay.” I explained.

Heather’s face turned white as she brought her hand up to her mouth. She leaned over, like she was going to be sick.

“Heather... honey, are you okay?” Shit. I didn’t even think about what I was saying. I suddenly remembered that Heather’s dad had a heart attack while driving and that’s what caused their car wreck.

Heather spun around and ran right into Josh.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Heather, look at me, princess. What’s wrong?” Josh asked, concerned.

Heather just broke down and cried. Josh pulled her into his arms, and she completely lost it. This was the first time that I’d ever seen her cry about her parents. Trying to figure out what was going on, Josh looked over at Jeff. Jeff mouthed her parents to Josh.

Jeff walked up to Josh, leaning in to whisper to him. Jeff must have told Josh about Gunner’s dad and Heather’s dad. Josh closed his eyes. Then, turning around with Heather still in his arms, he started to walk with her into the house.

“Jeff, I honestly believe that is this is the first time that girl has cried since her parents have died. She’s been holding it in for so long. I knew that one of these days, the damn was going to break.”

Just then, Jeff’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it without even looking at who it was.

“Oh, hey, Rebecca.”

Jeff mouthed sorry to me. I turned and walked toward the house. The last thing I wanted to do was have to listen to him to talk her.

“Um… well, we’re kind of getting ready to take a load of stuff out to the ranch. My truck is packed up, so, I can’t help you with that.”

Before I walked in the front door, I turned to look at Jeff. He was watching me, so I just gave him a smile before I headed into the house. Since there was not furniture left anywhere in the house, Josh and Heather were sitting on the floor in the living room.

I sank down on the floor next to Heather. She seemed to have calmed down. I reached for her hand, and she smiled at me.

“Where’s Jeff?” Heather asked.

“Talking to Rebecca.”

“Bitch!” Josh and Heather said at the same time.

We all started to laugh when the front door opened as Jeff walked in.

“What’s so funny?” Jeff asked as he bent down to look at Heather.

“Nothing, dude. Nothing at all.” Josh said with a smirk.

Jeff gave Josh a dirty look. He turned back to Heather. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, Jeff, I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting that. Josh actually made me feel a lot better with his stupid jokes.”

Jeff smiled and then looked at me, and his smile faded just a little.

“Ari, do you think I could use your Jeep for about an hour?”

“I thought we were getting ready to leave for the ranch, Jeff. Man, we’ve got a lot of shit to get unpacked in both the cabin and your place. Where the hell are you going?” Josh asked Jeff.

“Rebecca’s car won’t start, and she’s tried to call everyone she could think of to give her a jump.”

“Can’t she just call a tow truck or something for Christ’s sake? How the hell has she managed without you for the last seven months, Jeff? This is getting insane.” I said as I stood up.

Jeff stood up and ran his hands through hair and then down his face.

“What am I supposed to do, Ari? Just leave her stranded? What if something happened with the baby and she needed her car?”

“Come on, Jeff, even I can see this for what it is. You mean to tell me that this girl couldn’t find one person to come and help her. Jesus, dude, you’re not that stupid,” Josh said as he stood up, holding out a hand to help Heather up.

I reached into my purse and threw Jeff the keys to my Jeep before I headed toward the back door.

“What the fuck are we supposed to do while you rescue Rebecca?” Josh asked, annoyed.

As I walked into the backyard, I had to lean over and rest my hands on my knees, because I couldn’t catch my breath.

I felt someone’s hand on my back. I stood and turned around to see…Heather.

“I’m sorry, Ari. He left to go help her.”

“Motherfucker, I can’t believe it. He left? He went to her?”

Heather had tears in her eyes again.

I stood up straighter. “Don’t you dare shed a tear for that bastard, Heather. Do you hear me?”

I stepped around her to go back into the house. Josh was looking out the front window. I walked up next to him, and he bumped me with his shoulder and gave me the sweetest smile.

“I’m sorry, Ari. I hate to see that bitch coming between you and Jeff.”

I looked over at Josh and smiled at him. “Who are you? And what have you done with Josh-the-man-whore?”

Josh threw his head back and laughed. “Well, I guess it’s time to grow up and find someone worth being faithful to.”

“Really? Do you think you found that person?” I asked bumping my shoulder against his. He looked down at me and gave me the sweetest smile.

“I think so. It’s just a damn shame that she doesn’t feel the same way.”

I turned around to see if Heather had come back into the house yet.

“Josh, give her time. I know she likes you. Just…give her some time to let you in.”

“Shit, Ari, I’m trying. I’m trying to do everything that I can think of to prove to her that I’ve changed, but she just keeps saying that she wants to be friends only. I don’t really know what else to do but wait.”

I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

“That’s all you can do. Wait.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

JEFF

I knew Ari was going to be pissed when I got back. I shouldn’t have left without talking to her. Fuck! I slammed my fist on the steering wheel. By the time I got to Rebecca’s apartment, a friend had gotten her text message for help and showed up. Right as I was pulling up, I got a text message from Rebecca, saying she didn’t need me. Too fucking late now.

I parked and started to get out of the Jeep.

“Jeff! I’m so, so sorry, honey. I tried to send you a text as soon as I could. I hope this didn’t cause too much trouble for you,” Rebecca said.

“No, it’s okay.” I looked over at the guy who was doing something to Rebecca’s battery. I started to walk over and he slammed the hood shut right before I got to it.

“It’s okay, dude. I took care of it. Nothing that a little bit of Coke on the battery posts won’t fix.”

I just looked at the guy. He seemed nervous. I turned back around and looked at Rebecca, who had a huge smile on her face.

“Well, since you’re here do you want to see the baby’s room?”

Fuck me. “Sure, but I really need to leave in like two minutes, Rebecca. Everyone is waiting on me.”

Smiling she hooked her arm with mine and led me into her apartment. After we walked through the living room, she opened up the door to a room that was pretty much filled with boxes and shit that looked like it needed to be put together.

“Wow, what the hell is all of this stuff?” I asked.

Rebecca let out a giggle and started to walk into the room.

“Well, it’s the crib, basinet, changing table and other things like that. I have a hard time leaning over and such, so I haven’t had a chance to put it together. My brother was going to help me, but he never seems to have the time.”

I looked around. There was a ton of shit. The walls were white, and I remembered her saying that she wanted to paint them.

“Don’t you need all this stuff out of here to paint the walls? Who’s going to move all of this? You can’t do it, Rebecca.”

When I turned to look at her, the smile on her face was almost one of victory. I was beginning to think that Josh was right. She’d planned for this to happen. This was all just a way for me to get over here to see all this shit and feel sorry for her. Fuckin’ A.

“I know I can’t move it, Jeff. That’s why I was hoping that you would be able to help me. The sooner, the better before the baby comes.”

“Well, you have until the middle of August. It’s just the middle of June, so you have two months.”

Rebecca frowned. “Yes, I know, but I don’t want to wait until the last minute. I’m getting bigger by the day. I need this taken care of, like, soon. Are you free sometime next week, maybe?”

I hate this. I was so torn. For the sake of the baby, I wanted to help her, but I knew Ari was going to flip the fuck out.

“Let me talk to Ari, and I’ll get back with you. I really have to go.”

As I turned to walk away and she grabbed my arm.

“Wait a minute, Jeff. This is your baby. What do you need to talk to Ari about? I mean, is this how it’s going to be? If we have a birthday party, are you going to have to ask Ari if it’s okay for you to be there? This is not going to work.”

I just stood there looking at her. Is she serious?

“Listen, Rebecca, you dropped a huge bomb on me last weekend. My whole goddamn world has just been turned upside down. What I thought was going to be my future has just possibly changed. So, yeah, Ari is a big part of my future. My goal in this life is to not hurt her. If that means talking to her about any decisions I make regarding this baby until it’s born then so be it.”

“I’m sorry, Jeff. I didn’t mean to seem insensitive to Ari. Of course, I understand your need to talk to her, but for fuck’s sake, we’re talking about painting and putting together some baby furniture. I’m not asking you to move in with me. I feel guilty for not including you in things up until now. I mean, you missed out on feeling the first kicks, the sonogram, and discovering that it was a boy. I’m just trying to make it up to you by including you in all of this. If Ari can’t see that… well, I hate to say this, but that’s her problem. If she was more secure in your relationship, then she would understand.”

“Ari is not insecure in our relationship, Rebecca. Listen, I really have to go. Let’s plan on doing the baby’s room next week. I have someone coming out to the ranch to take a look at the horse stables. I’m not sure what day he’s coming. After I find out, I’ll get with you, and we’ll plan something.”

Rebecca smiled. Reaching her hands up to my shoulders, she kissed the side of my cheek. “Thank you, Jeff. It really does mean a lot to me to have you a part of this. Again, I’m sorry you made a wasted trip over here.”

***

I walked out to Ari’s Jeep and jumped in. I looked over at my phone on the seat and saw my notification light blinking. Shit. I picked up my phone and noticed I had four missed calls and one voice mail from Ari.

She had called about three minutes ago. I listened to the voice mail. She said they were giving me another ten minutes and leaving. What the hell?

Immediately, I called her back.

“Hello?”

“Hey, sorry, I left my phone in the Jeep. I’m on my way back right now.”

“Whatever. We have everything loaded in both vehicles. Do you want me to just drive your truck? Josh is getting bitchy, and we’re ready to leave.”

“No, I’ll be there in a few minutes. Just wait for me.”

“Fine.” She hung up.

Jesus. Waiting for this baby to be born was going to be a long two fucking months.

***

I pulled up to the house and parked on the street behind the trailer that was hooked up to Josh’s truck. After tying something down, he jumped off the trailer.

“You think that pussy truck of yours is going to be able to pull that trailer?” I asked.

Josh gave me a dirty look and turned back to his Dodge truck.

“Fuck you, Jeff. Just because I don’t have a diesel-eating truck doesn’t mean she doesn’t have power.”

“Yeah, whatever you say Josh. Your truck has no balls, dude. I’m just saying.”

Just then Ari and Heather came walking out of the house each carrying a small box. Ari’s eyes caught mine and her smile instantly faded. By the time she walked up to me, she had nothing in her eyes but anger.

“Can I please have my keys back? Heather and I are going to head out now. We’ll just meet y’all at the deer cabin.”

I handed her the keys, and she snatched them out of my hand and pushed past me. Yep, this was going to be a long two months.

“I thought we were going to drop off your Jeep at your place, so you could ride with me,” I said.

Well, that changed the moment you dropped everything and everyone for Rebecca. I don’t want to be stuck while you’re running back into Austin whenever she needs you.”

“Ari.”

She turned around and held up her hand.

“The time to talk about it was right before you decided to walk out that door. I’m sick of talking, thinking, and listening. I’m done Jeff. If I hear about her and that baby one more time, I’m taking off this ring, and that will be the last thing I throw at your ass.”

So, it looks like I won’t be bringing up the whole baby room thing anytime soon.

***

The drive out to Mason by myself sucked. Gunner called and said they had landed earlier than they thought. They were going to head straight out to the ranch. God, I can’t wait to talk to him. I was at a complete loss as to what to do.

We all pulled up to Gunner’s grandparents’ house. Garrett and Emma came walking out with Ellie’s dog Gus running behind them. He headed straight to Ari’s Jeep. Ari bent down, giving him hugs and kisses. Ari’s laugh moved through my body, and I couldn’t help but want her again. Emma walked up to Ari and held her at arm’s length. She smiled with a questioning look, and Ari smiled back at her. Gus won’t leave Ari alone as he kept jumping up at her.

“Afternoon, Garrett. Have y’all heard from Gunner?” I said after I was finally able to pull my eyes away from Ari. She looked so damn beautiful. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her this whole week. There was something so different about her. Maybe it was because we were engaged now. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.

“It seems like you’ve got some heavy shit on your mind, Jeff,” Garrett said with a straight-as-hell face.

“You never were one to beat around the bush, were you?” I said as I shook Garrett’s hand.

Josh walked up and slapped me on the back before he shook Garrett’s hand.

“Back to your question, Jeff. Yes, we heard from him a little bit ago. They’re only about an hour out,” Garrett said.

“Yeah, we would have been here sooner, but…um, I had some shit to take care of,” I explained.

Josh let out a laugh and shook his head at me. Bastard. He should be the one with the damn crazy-ass pregnant girl, not me.

“Yeah, well…sometimes we have to step in the shit to move past it, Jeff. Did Gunner give you the key to the cabin?”

What the fuck does that mean? “Um…yeah, he gave it to me. I guess we’ll head over there now. Josh’s truck has Gunner’s stuff since he put most of his stuff in storage. I think Ari and Heather were planning on heading into Mason to grab something to eat.”

“No, we decided to stay here. Emma made a King Ranch casserole that sounds yummy. Plus, I want to be here when Ellie gets back,” Ari said, walking by arm and arm with Heather.

I watched as Ari, Heather, and Emma made their way into the house with Gus jumping on Ari the whole way. He would not leave her alone. She kept yelling down at him. She looked so damn cute, trying to be all stern with him.

***

Josh and I emptied the trailer on his truck, and then we brought my truck and trailer over to my place. By the time we were done, I was starving. Somehow, I had gotten a text message from Ari, saying Gunner and Ellie were back.

Josh and I headed back to the ranch house. The moment I saw Gunner’s truck, it felt a ton of bricks had lifted off of my shoulders. We got out of the truck as Gunner came walking out of the house. Man, that bastard looks fuckin’ happy. He walked up to Josh first and gave him a hand-shake and slap on the back.

Then he walked up to me. He shook my hand but pulled me in toward him.

“What the fuck did you do to Ari?”

I pulled back and looked at him, confused.

“What the hell kind of greeting is that? I didn’t do anything to her. Why?”

“Grams and the girls didn’t hear us pull up. When we walked in the door, Grams was holding Ari while she was crying her goddamn eyes out. Ari brought us up to speed about everything that had happened. She can’t stop crying, Jeff. Man, why the fuck are you not using your head with Rebecca?”

Holy shit. I couldn’t believe it. I was getting the same damn lecture from the one person I thought I would be able to talk to. I threw my hands in my hair and started to walk down toward the barn. I needed to get away.

“Jeff, hold up, dude. Talk to me,” Gunner said as he came up behind me.

“What do you want me to say, Gun? I’m losing my goddamn mind. I thought, out of all people, you wouldn’t be the one jumping down my throat because Ari is hurting. What about me? How the fuck do you think I feel? I don’t want to have a baby with Rebecca. I want to have a baby with Ari and only Ari. I’m being pulled in two different directions. If this baby is mine, I’m not walking out on it like my good-for-nothing father did. I want to be here for him, even if Rebecca is the mother. I don’t know how to make Ari understand that. I don’t know how to take away her pain, Gunner. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep her from hurting. I just seem to be making it worse. Rebecca isn’t helping with her needy-ass self either.”

Gunner sat down on a hay bale and looked up at me. “Jeff, have you told Ari all of that?”

I sat down on the bale next to him and put my head in my hands. “No, not in those exact words.”

“Well fuck, dude. Don’t you think it would help her to understand your need to jump when Rebecca says how high? You owe her the truth, Jeff. If you don’t tell her, she’s just going to just keep thinking the worst. Right now, to her, you are putting Rebecca above her. It needs to be Ari first. Find out if this baby is even yours. If he is, then be the best damn Dad you can be. Just remember who your world is right now, dude.”

I lifted my head and looked at Gunner. I knew he was right.

“What the hell, dude? Marriage made you smarter.”

Gunner started to laugh. “Something like that.”

“I’m sorry your honeymoon got cut short. How’s your dad?”

Gunner’s smile faded some.

“When we landed, I talked to my mom, and she said that he’s doing better. It was a mild heart attack, but she said it scared the shit out of him. I still can’t believe that she talked him into coming here. Gramps and Grams are celebrating their fiftieth anniversary in a couple of weeks. I know Grams is really excited about her boy being here. They were already planning on a big party, but now, I think it just turned into something bigger.”

“That’s good, Gunner. How was your honeymoon? Did y’all have fun?”

The smile that lit up Gunner’s face was so infectious. I had to smile back at him.

“It was amazing. I never in my life thought that I would be as happy as I am with Ellie. We had a blast. Did you know that she is deathly afraid to swim in the ocean?” Gunner said with a laugh.

I laughed with him shaking my head. “I thought she would be okay with it since the water is so clear. She won’t swim if she can’t see in the water.”

Gunner nodded his head and then looked at me. His smile faded as he glanced down at the ground.

“Jeff, I’m sorry this shit is happening with you and Ari. I really want y’all to just be happy. I really think you need to talk to Ari and help her understand the position you are in. I’ve never seen Ari so emotional, and it really freaked out Ellie. She told me that since she’s known Ari, she has never seen her cry that much. Grams ended up taking Ari to her bedroom.

“Fuck. She’s been so emotional the last two weeks. I really fucked up when I told her she was being a bitch about it.”

“Oh, holy shit, Jeff.” Gunner pushed his hands through his hair as he stood up. He started to walk toward Big Roy’s stall. “Dude, you need to stop blaming this on Ari. Man up, asshole, and go talk to her before something else happens. If you keep your feelings in, Jeff…you’re gonna lose her. I’m pretty sure that if you do lose her again, you might not have another chance at getting her back.”

I grabbed a handful of oats and walked up next to Gunner. I knew he was right. I needed to talk to Ari, and I needed to do it soon.