“I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, baby. Now, eat your breakfast, so we can head up to the ranch house. Gunner is probably pissed that I backed out on helping him and his dad mend a fence this morning.”

Jeff got up and made his way back out to the kitchen. I could hear him cleaning up as I tried to eat all the food he put on my plate.

When my cell phone went off, I reached over to grab it and then saw a text from Ellie.

Ellie: Happy birthday, bitch! I love you more than life itself. See you soon  ”

Then, I saw Heather and Amanda’s messages. Hmm, I must of missed those earlier. I read both of them and sent off my thank-you’s to each.

Then, I sent another one to Heather: Are you going to be at the party tonight?

Heather: Yes of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Studying my ass off..ugh. Love you.

I finished eating what I could, and then I got up to get dressed. When I walked into the kitchen, Jeff was walking around on his cell phone.

“Can you hear me now? Fucking cell coverage!”

His words reminded me of that day we got stranded when the Jeep wouldn’t start. I had to laugh at the thought. Ah, the memories.

Jeff looked over at me and smiled. “It’s alright, dude. The birthday girl just walked in so I can’t talk anymore. I’ll catch up with you when I get into Austin.”

“Oh, that was just plain mean,

Jeff.” Jeff looked me up and down, and the lust in eyes almost made me lose my breath.

“Again, Mr. Johnson?”

“Holy hell, Ari. You look amazing ,baby. I wish I could, but we need to get up to the house.”

I looked down at what I had on: a white T-shirt tucked into my jeans with my brown belt and cowboy boots.

“What’s so special about this?”

“You look beautiful. Come on!” He reached down and scooped me up.

I let out a scream.

“I can walk to the truck, you know.”

“Oh, I know, but this way, I get to keep you close to my body,” Jeff said with a wink.

***

By the time we pulled up to Emma and Garrett’s place, Ellie, Gunner, and his parents were all sitting on the front porch. Oh god. Ellie was holding a glass of sweet tea. For some reason, I needed a glass, like right now. What the hell?

“I’m so glad that Grace and Jack moved back here after Jack retired from the Army,” Jeff said.

“Yeah, me too. Shit, I want some sweet tea!” I practically yelled.

Jeff laughed and reached over for my hand right before I was about to jump out of the truck.

“Ari, wait.”

I turned to look at him. “Yeah?”

“I just wanted to tell you what a lucky son of a bitch I am to have you love me. I’m so happy right now, baby, but I’m so afraid at the same time.”

Oh. My. God. The butterflies were taking flight in my stomach.

“Jeff...” It was all I could say.

I love him so much, I’ve always loved him, and I will always love him.

“Come on, baby. Let’s go get you some sweet tea.”

“And apple pie…oh man, I hope Emma has some damn apple pie.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

GUNNER

Ellie and I showed up at 219 West before anyone else did. We went up to the rooftop lounge to get a few tables. Jack was DJing tonight, so I walked over to say hello to him. I felt my phone going off in my pocket, so I pulled it out to see that Jeff had sent a text saying they were parking. I leaned over to tell Ellie where Jeff and Ari were.

Ellie was on the phone, frowning, but then she said good-bye. She tried her best to smile at me.

What’s up?” I asked.

“It’s Heather. Gunner, I’m so worried about her. She just hasn’t been the same since last July. Whatever happened between her and Josh must have been huge. Did Josh happen to mention if they…if they…you know?”

“Slept together?”

Rolling her eyes, Ellie nodded.

“No, the only thing he told me was that he showed up to her house one morning, and she’d made it perfectly clear to him that he was not who she wanted. He said he left and has not seen her since.”

Ellie let out a sigh. “I haven’t been able to get shit out of her, but I have a feeling something major has happened to her. She ended up taking online courses and has doubled-up on classes this semester. She’s probably going to be graduating next December if she keeps up this load.”

“Ellie, sweetheart, please don’t worry about Heather. If she wants to talk to you, she will. Stop pressuring her into it. Was that her on the phone?”

“Yeah, and the first thing she asked was if Josh was going to be here. I told her he was and that Lynda was most definitely going to be with him.”

Just then Ari and Jeff came walking up. Ari was glowing. It was nice to see her so happy after the funk she fell into after losing the baby. Jeff walked up and shook my hand.

“I’m still pissed at you, you bastard,” I said.

Jeff gave me a smile.

“What for, dude? You don’t own the monopoly on puppies.”

“At least Gus will have a play-mate now,” I said as I looked over at Ellie, who was laughing at something Ari had said.

Jeff threw his head back and laughed. Jeff had surprised Ari with a puppy for her birthday earlier today. Gramps and Grams hid her for two days at their place, and my father was about ready to kill her.

***

The moment Ari saw the little bloodhound puppy, she let out a scream and ran over to it. Ari picked it up and started to kiss it all over. Ellie laughed and held Gus back while Ari got acquainted with the new addition.

“Ellie, let Gus go, and let’s see what they do.” Ari said with a smile.

“I’ll tell ya what they’ll do. They’ll chase each other nonstop and shit everywhere,” my dad said as he gave Jeff a look.

Jeff shrugged his shoulders. “I know, I owe you one.”

“Damn right, you owe me one. This dog is nuts. She’s not all there.”

Ari looked up at my dad and frowned while she covered the pup’s ears.

“Jack! Don’t say that about Abby! Oh my god! Abby! That’s her name. It just came to me,” Ari said as she looked up at Ellie.

They both laughed.

***

“You look lost in thought, baby.” Ellie said as she placed her hand on my chest and pushed her body into mine.

“You want something to drink?” Jeff asked me.

“I’ll take a Dos Equis.”

Jeff looked at me and smiled. “Dude, why didn’t you say that in your most interesting man voice?”

Ellie and Ari both started laughing while I just shook my head at him. Fucker.

Jeff turned to the waitress and asked for two Dos Equis beers and two sweet tea. The waitress looked at Ellie and Ari and then back at Jeff, who gave her a wink.

“Ari, we have our fake ID’s. Why don’t you use it to enjoy a beer on your birthday?” Ellie said to Ari.

“No, I only want sweet tea.”

Ellie stared at Ari in disbelief while she glanced out at the dance floor. Ari looked like she was itching to dance.

“You don’t even want one drink on your birthday? What’s wrong? Are you not feeling good or something?” Ellie asked.

Ari looked back and forth between Jeff and Ellie. She seemed to be at a loss for words. Jeff looked at me and gave me a look.

Motherfucker. “Hey, Ells, you want to dance, babe?”

Ellie smiled and moved closer to me. “Yes, I would love to dance with you.”

“Give me one second, sweetheart.” I walked over to Jack and asked him to play a certain song next.

I headed back over to Ellie, and by the time we walked out to the dance floor, Jack was playing the song I’d asked for. I took Ellie in my arms and started dancing to Christina Aguilera’s “All I Need.”

Ellie put her head on my chest while we danced in silence.

The moment Jeff had looked at me, I’d put two and two together. Ari was pregnant, and they didn’t want to tell Ellie. My heart was breaking for my beautiful girl. All she wanted was a baby, and we’d been trying for months. I didn’t tell her, but I booked a trip to New Orleans in March. Ellie had mentioned once how she’d always wanted to go there, so I thought a long weekend was just the thing she needed to relax.