“Do you want to go back in to the restroom or wait until we get back to the ranch?” Heather asked.

I let out the breath that I didn’t even realize I’d been holding in. “Now…we better do it now.”

***

I handed the Heather the last test and stepped out of the stall. Ellie had lined up all the tests on the little counter.

“I didn’t look at any of them, so I don’t know.” Ellie’s voice was shaking.

I stood between Ellie and Heather and grabbed each of their hands.

“Together?” I asked.

They both nodded their heads. We started to walk up to the counter, and then I glanced at both of them.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Y’all have your damn eyes closed!” I said.

“Oh shit, sorry! I didn’t even realize I had closed my eyes,” Ellie said with a giggle.

We walked up to the row of tests, and we all looked down at them. My heart just about stopped when every single test read the same result.

“Holy hell.” All three of us said at the same time.

Ellie and Heather both slid their arms around my waist. I looked over at Ellie, and she smiled.

“Do you want me to say congratulations or should I start preparing to hold your hair while you puke?” Ellie asked.

I felt a tear slide down my cheek.

“Both.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

JEFF

Gunner, Josh and I were all sitting on the front porch, waiting on the girls to get back. I was starting to get worried. What the fuck is taking them so long?

Just then, I saw the headlights of my truck, and I let out a breath of air.

“It’s about damn time. I was starting to get worried,” Josh said as he stood up, running his hands through his hair.

Gunner looked at Josh and let out a laugh.

“Is there something I should know about, dude?”

Josh looked at Gunner, confused, and then he realized what Gunner was getting at.

“I wish. I can’t figure Heather out for the life of me. One minute, she acts like there might be something between us, and the next, she’s trying to get as far away from me as she can. I really don’t know whether I’m coming or going.”

“Ask her to be your date for the dance here in town this Friday,” Gunner suggested.

“Gunner, if I ask her out one more time and she turns me down, I’m really afraid that I won’t want to ask her again,” Josh admitted.

Gunner stood up as Ari parked the truck. He gave Josh a slap on the back and laughed. “Dude, there’s only one way to find out, and I’m afraid that means you’ll have to ask her.”

Ellie jumped out of the truck and ran over to Gunner before she jumped into his arms. I had to smile at how happy they both were. Gunner kissed the shit out of her, and then he picked her and swung her around. Gesh, they act like they haven’t seen each other in days instead of just a few hours.

Heather was walking up with a case of mason jars, which Josh promptly took out of her hands. He turned to take them into the house. Heather gave him the sweetest smile as she followed him.

Ari was still sitting in the truck. That’s weird.

“Ellie, is Ari feeling okay?” I asked, looking at her.

Ellie’s face went from a smile to a panicked look within a second.

“Um…I think she’s feeling a bit, um…under the weather.”

I walked over to the driver’s side of the truck and opened it to find Ari with her head leaned up against the steering wheel.

“Baby, are you alright?” I asked as I reached in to her out of the truck.

She was completely limp in my arms while she just buried her head into my neck. Normally, her hot breath on my neck would have turned me on, but this time it was actually starting to scare me.

“Take me home, Jeff…please,” she whispered.

Home? What the hell?

“Ari, that’s a few hours’ drive back to Austin, baby. Maybe you should just.”

“Not Austin, Jeff…our home. Please just take me to our house,” Ari said.

My heart soared when she called the ranch house our home.

I kissed her forehead and looked back up at Ellie and Gunner. I walked her around to the passenger side and put her into my truck. She just sat there and stared straight ahead. What the fuck was going on? She was fine when she left. Oh my god. I hope Rebecca didn’t call her. She’d been trying to call me all evening, and I ignored every call. She never once left a message, so I figured it wasn’t important.

“I’m going to go say good night to Gunner and Ellie. Will you be okay until I get back, baby?”

She turned to look at me. “Yeah…I’m fine really. I just feel a little sick. That’s all.”

I shut the door and walked up to Ellie, who was looking at Ari in the truck. Then she glanced back at me, then back at Ari, and then back at me.

“Ellie, what the hell happened? Rebecca didn’t call her, did she?” I asked confused.

Ellie looked at Gunner and then back at me. She was acting really strange.

“Um…well, um….no, Rebecca didn’t call her. She just, um…she just got sick and threw up. So, yeah, she’s probably just really stressed. You know this whole thing just has her thrown for a loop, Jefferson.”

I turned and looked back at Ari. She was still sitting in the truck, just watching us talk. She was staring at Ellie like she wanted to get out of the truck to say something. When I turned back to look at Ellie, she was mouthing something to Ari.

Then she looked at me and smiled.

“I think she just needs some sleep, Jefferson. She’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Okay…Gunner, will you make sure you tell Garrett and Emma we said thanks for dinner again? I guess I’m heading over to our place. Talk to y’all tomorrow?”

Gunner and Ellie both said good night and watched as I drove the truck around to the gate that was between both ranches.

****

During the whole drive to our house, Ari just stared out the window. It was 11:30 at night, and I was exhausted from moving furniture all day. I just wanted to get home, shower, and go to bed.

I pulled up to the house and jumped out. I ran around to the other side of the truck, but Ari was already getting out. She was staring at nothing as she walked up to the house.

I grabbed her arm and turned her around. Pulling her close to me, I said,

“Ari, this will be the first time we stay here in this house as an engaged couple.”

I was hoping that would have at least made her smile. Instead, she just pushed back away from me and stared at me. What the hell is going on? Her eyes looked so…lost.

Just then, the corners of her mouth started to move up, and she gave me her beautiful smile that always took my breath away. She stepped closer to me, and I leaned down to capture her mouth with mine. She kissed me back with so much passion that my knees just about buckled.

She slowly pulled away from me as she looked at me. She had tears streaming down her face. I reached up my hands to cup her face as I used my thumbs to wipe her tears away.

“Will you please make love to me, Jeff?” Ari whispered.

I never in my life could love this girl more than I did right now. As much as I knew I was hurting her, I was still the one she wanted to help her forget and feel better.

I couldn’t even find my voice to speak. I reached down and scooped her up in my arms. She leaned her head into my chest as I made our way into the house.

I thanked God that I’d gone ahead and put fresh sheets on our bed earlier today. Josh had given me hell about it the whole time. The last thing I’d wanted was for Ari to be searching through all the boxes for clean sheets.

As I stepped into our room, still holding Ari in my arms, I heard the moment when she let out a gasp. She wasn’t prepared to have our room all set up and ready. I softly laid her down on top of the quilt that Emma had made for us.

As I pushed Ari’s beautiful hair back behind her ears, I leaned down to whisper in her ear.