I would rather die than not have her in my life.

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.”