“Don’t know. I guess she’s ready to leave as well, and Josh is her ride. She needs to get back to Austin too. ”
Jeff shut the hood to Heather’s Toyota Camry. “Heather, I think you need to take it to the dealership. ”
“What? That means having it towed to Austin!”
Josh walked up to Heather and took her into his arms. “Don’t worry princess. The dealership will pay for it since the car is still under warranty. ” Josh said.
Heather was now in full-on crying mode. Lynda jumped up and started to walk toward us. Just then an idea popped into my head.
I blocked her route to Josh. “Lynda, Jeff and I are heading to Austin right now. Why don’t you ride back with us?” I smiled sweetly at her.
At the same time, Jeff, Heather, and Lynda all said “What?”
The only one who didn’t say anything was Josh. He was too busy being in heaven from holding Heather.
Jeff tugged me off to the side. “Ari, we really need to talk, and we can’t do that if Lynda in the car!”
I just glared at him. Then a black BMW pulled up the drive. Gunner’s Uncle Jim got out and started to walk over towards us.
“Daddy? What are you doing here?” Lynda asked.
Jim smiled at each of us, but he gave Heather a small frown. I guessed it was because he could tell she’d been crying.
“I drove back out here to pick you up. I didn’t think anyone would be heading back into Austin, so I thought I’d better come get you. ” Jim explained.
I knew Lynda was pissed because she couldn’t ride back Austin with Josh. I could see it all over her face. I was pissed now because I had to drive back to Austin with Jeff alone, and I knew he wanted to talk about Rebecca.
Jeff shook Jim’s hand, and they spoke for a few minutes. I helped Heather move her overnight bag and a small suitcase into Josh’s truck.
“Ari, why can’t I ride back with you and Jeff?” Heather practically begged.
“Heather, Jeff and I really need to talk about this whole bitch Rebecca bullshit. ”
Even though I wanted to jump at the chance to have Heather to ride with us, I wanted her to get closer to Josh. If it meant driving in a truck alone with Jeff back to Austin, then so be it. The tension between Heather and Josh was getting unbearable.
Heather let out a sigh and gave me a quick hug good-bye. Josh avoided Lynda like she was the plague. He jumped in his truck so damn fast that I had to giggle. I watched as his truck disappeared down the gravel road.
When I turned around, I saw that Lynda was also watching the truck. I instantly got a very bad feeling about this girl, considering the way she’d been hanging all over Josh last night and now today. I knew this would not be the last we saw of Lynda.
After packing Lynda’s things into his car, Jim said his goodbyes and drove off. I was going to have to ask Ellie about this Lynda chick.
Jeff and I headed inside to let everyone know that we were leaving. After we said good-bye to Emma, Garrett, my parents, and Matt, we started to make our way to Jeff’s truck. Before we left, I noticed when Jeff stopped to say something to Matt. The smile that played across Matt’s face gave me butterflies in my stomach. He loved Jeff so much, and Jeff loved him in return.
The ache in my chest grew stronger as I started to get a terrible feeling. For once, I actually feared that this baby was really Jeff’s. Then, Jeff walked over to his truck and opened the door for me. I took one last look at my parents and Matt. The urge to cry was growing stronger by the minute.
As soon as he pulled out to the road, Jeff turned on his iPod.
Huh, looks like he’s in no mood to talk either. Fine by me.
I leaned my head back, and the next thing I knew, I was dreaming about Jeff holding a baby wrapped in a pink blanket. The smile on his face was like none I’d ever seen before. He looked so happy. Then Rebecca walked up and kissed him on the cheek as he told her he loved her.
I woke up, not realizing that I had just screamed out no in my sleep.
“Jesus H. Christ, Ari! You scared the fuck out of me. Did you have a bad dream or something?”
It took me a few seconds to process what I’d just dreamed about. My head snapped over to look at Jeff. Did I have a bad dream? Really?
“Ah, normally, when someone wakes up screaming, it’s from a bad dream, dickwad!”