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.