by Amy Star
She balked. “There’s no way I’m consenting to that.”
“You don’t have to.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but then the truth dawned on her, and she was on her feet again, angrier than before. “You spoke to a lawyer, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“I would rather work this out between us.”
“I bet,” she said, laughing without an ounce of humor. “I think I need to go home.”
“You’re free to go when you want, but I hope you’ll hear me out first.”
She crossed her arms, standing as firm as she could while her body trembled with rage, fear and something more she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “I’m listening.”
“Give it a month, just to see if this goes somewhere. If you want to leave after a month, I’ll send you home the way you came, and we’ll figure out a way to make things work as two single parents.”
“A month isn’t long enough to decide if this is going to work long-term.”
“You’re right, and I’m glad you said that. What I’m hoping is that you’ll give it a month, and if you’re not sure, give it another month. We have about six months until the baby is here. It’s not a lot of time, but the truth is, we’re in this together until the child is eighteen no matter what.”
“Okay,” she said tentatively.
“I’d rather do it as a family unit, but if we’re stuck co-parenting, I would like to make sure that we work out the kinks before the child arrives.”
She blew a stray strand of hair out of her face, arms still crossed tight over her chest. “You promise I can leave any time?”
“I promise, but I’m asking you to commit to at least a month.”
“Living here?”
“That’s where it gets tricky. I’m leaving Friday morning, and I don’t want to leave you here alone while I work somewhere else for a few weeks.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I’m not sure how much we can know about each other after a month if I’m gone the entire time.”
“Where are you going next?”
“Dallas. The weather is great in the fall, and there’s so much to do there. I can rent an apartment with two rooms if you need your own space, or a house in the country. It’s up to you.”
She bit her lip, a single tear sliding down her cheek. Her lips quivered, and she closed her eyes. She heard him get up from the chair, then she felt his hand on her cheek, his thumb brushing away the tear so tenderly that she nearly sobbed.
“I know this is a lot to take in,” he said, his voice so soft it was almost a whisper. “I don’t want to make this harder on you than it has to be, but you have to understand where I’m coming from. I can’t protect you if I’m not here, and I won’t be able to sleep not knowing if you,” she felt his hand on her stomach, “and our child are safe. We got into this together, let me take care of you.”
“I’m not sure if I can do this,” she admitted. “I’ve never been the kind of woman that relies on a man.”
“I love that about you,” he said with a soft chuckle that made her heart skip a beat. “We can get a place with three rooms so you can have an office, you’ll have your own car and you can live your days however you want to while I work. I’ll be home every night, and we can take this slow.” He laughed. “Hell, if you want to, I’ll rent a damn duplex, and you can have one side to yourself.” He put his arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest. “Whatever it takes to make this work, I’ll do it.”
“And if it doesn’t work?”
“Then we’ll raise this child as friends, together, in whatever way is best for all of us.”
“Promise?” she asked, afraid to believe that things could be that simple.
He held her at arm’s length, looking into her eyes and smiling warmly. “I give you my word. I will do whatever it takes to make this life a happy one for all three of us, no matter what that happiness looks like from the outside. I don’t care how the world would do this. I only care about you and our child.”
She nodded and stepped into the comfort of his arms once more. She didn’t know why, but she believed him. If only she could be as optimistic about their future together. But one of them had to keep their feet firmly planted on the ground, and Ava wasn’t going to risk getting her heart broken.
Not again.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Girl are you crazy?” Zoey said through the phone.
“I’m trying to do the right thing,” Ava said, laying back on the guest bed and turning on her side to stare out the window. “You should see this place, Zoey. It’s like paradise.”
“Except he lied to get you there.”
“He didn’t lie. You and I both know better than that. He was honest. He looked at the papers, and he’s not willing to give up his rights. You can’t really blame him.”
“He coulda told you that on the phone.”
“And I wouldn’t have come,” Ava admitted.
“Exactly. He lied to get you there, and now you’re just going to fall for his instant family plan, as if happily ever after actually exists? Come on, Ava. You’re smarter than that. This isn’t some fairytale.”
“It could be.”
Zoey groaned. “Oh Ava, don’t put your heart out there. If he really wanted a relationship, he wouldn’t have left in the first place.”
“He left me his number.”
“He could have called you.”
“He’s not that kind of guy. Maybe he just wanted to make sure a long-distance relationship was what I wanted.”
“Or maybe he never planned on answering your call to begin with.”
“I don’t think that’s fair,” Ava said. “He answered it yesterday.”
Yesterday, she thought. How had so much happened in such a short time?
“That’s because three months had gone by and you hadn’t called yet. He probably didn’t know who was calling, then when he knew it was you, he knew it was something big. I know you want this to be some elaborate love story for the ages, but don’t let your guard down until you’ve been there a while. Sometimes, when things seem too good to be true, it’s because they are.”
Ava was silent for a long time, watching Eli out the windows on his horse, patiently working the herd from one pasture to the next. He was so different than the man she’d met next door almost a year before. He was laidback, sure of himself. As comfortable in a suit and tie as he was in jeans and a cowboy hat. She imagined him riding with a pony in tow, their child riding beside him, serious about the task at hand. Her heart ached for such a wonderful life for her child. Their child.
She closed her eyes and prepared herself for the backlash. If Zoey was anything, she was passionate. Especially when it came to her best friend. “I’m going to give it a shot, Zoey,” she said, then pressed on before Zoey could talk her out of it. “A real shot. Our child deserves that much.”
“And what about when it fails? Do you really want to put a child through a breakup?”
“No, but we have six months. If we aren’t good by then, we’ll go our separate ways and figure out how to co-parent on our own.”
“Six months? You’ve got to be joking.”
“He didn’t ask for six months. He asked for one month. And he asked if I would stay the next month if things worked out for a month. I can leave any time, and you can come visit any time you want, but he’s asking me to give us at least a month before I give up.”
Zoey sighed. “Why does he have to be so reasonable?”
Ava laughed. “It would make it easier if he was an ass, but we should’ve known. Look how he reacted to finding out he was going to be a father. He hasn’t even asked me to prove the child is his.”
“It is his, right?”
Ava rolled her eyes. “Of course, it is. Trust me, I’m too busy for all that.”
“And what are you going to do about work?”
“I can work from wherever I am.” She stopped short of telling Zoey about working fr
om Dallas for a few weeks. She knew Zoey wasn’t ready to hear that, and she was just starting to calm down.
“Alright,” Zoey said.
“Alright, what?”
“I’m going to put my worries aside and support this.”
Ava chortled. “You crack me up. I wasn’t looking for your permission.”
“You weren’t, but I’m telling you, this is going to be a good thing. It has to be. You deserve happiness.”
“Thanks, Zo.”
“I’m sorry I was salty about it earlier. I just don’t want you to get your heart broken.”
“I know. I don’t either, and I’m scared, Zoey. I’m afraid things aren’t going to work out, and I’m going to be alone, raising a child.”
“You mean, back where you started?”
“I know, but it’s different. If he was going to walk away and never look back, it would be easier. I could go on with my life and do things on my terms. But if this doesn’t work out, we’re going to have to be friends.” She paused. “And that’s going to mean that you have to be nice, Zoey. No matter how this works out. I need you to do that for me.”
She waited, the silence on the other line an eternity. When she finally spoke, Ava knew she was serious. “I can do that. My niece or nephew is worth it, even if it takes everything I have to be cordial.”
The air whooshed out of Ava’s lungs, she was so relieved. “Thank you.”
“So, what’s he doing right now? Are you all alone in his house? What does it look like?”
“He’s moving cattle right now,” Ava said. “The house is huge, with windows overlooking the entire property. I’m laying in the guest bed, watching him ride his horse way out in the field.”
“I thought you said he was rich.”
“He is rich. But he doesn’t flaunt it. He picked me up in a truck.”
“Are you serious?” Zoey laughed. “I envisioned something a little more luxurious.”
“The plane was enough, honestly. I don’t think I’ll be able to ride in coach after that.”
She shared every detail of her ride on the private jet, right down to the smallest feature. Zoey listened intently until Ava was finally finished, then she sighed.
“I have to go, Ava,” she said. “My agent is riding me to get this project done.”
Ava laughed. “I thought I was your agent.”
“You are, which means you know I’m not working right now.” Zoey laughed. “Call me anytime, and if you need me to, I’ll be on the first plane out there to kick his ass if he breaks your heart.”
“Thanks, Zoey.”
“What are best friends for?” she asked, then they said their goodbyes, and Ava hung up the phone.
She stared at the blank screen for quite some time before she finally put the phone on the charger and walked to the window. She was sure that Eli’s home was custom built, with sweeping views of the land behind the house, and windows strategically placed so that only one view of the single lane highway in the distance was available. It made the already secluded place feel like they were in another world, and the peace that had already settled in Ava’s heart was like nothing she’d ever felt before. She knew she could spend the rest of her life there. The question was, could she spend the rest of her life with Eli?
She put her hand on the glass, the chilly afternoon air already so much cooler than it had been earlier that the glass felt like ice. Eli had finished moving the cattle, and with the grace of a man that had grown up in the saddle, he leaned over and latched the gate, then turned his horse toward the barn. He looked up, and even from this distance, she knew he’d smiled when he caught her watching. He waved, and she waved back, butterflies filling her stomach.
She watched him for a moment longer, then she stepped away from the window and put her overnight bag on the bed. She looked at the meager collection of clothes and sighed. “At least I packed for a week,” she said out loud, rummaging through her things until she found her favorite pair of jeans and a fitted, long sleeved shirt in pale blue.
Eli had given her the option of eating at the local diner or trying to find something in the house to eat. Nothing had sounded good, and Eli hadn’t bothered to stock his fridge with much since he was leaving in a few days. She’d decided on the diner, and he’d told her to give him an hour. She’d had no idea that he’d planned on working the ranch in that time, but now that he was almost done, she needed to get ready.
She’d showered that morning, so she just changed, running a brush through her hair, which glistened more with every stroke. Her hair had grown thicker over the past few weeks, and the auburn color that had leaned more toward brown was definitely redder than it had been. Smiling at her reflection, she pinned her hair back on either side so it was behind her ears. She fretted at her simple silver studs, but she hadn’t brought any jewelry with her. She’d intended to stay a day or two, and she wasn’t expecting to go out.
Eli called out to her as he came through the side door that led from the garage into the mudroom. “I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes!” he yelled out. “I hope you’re hungry.”
She was hungry, and she was ready to go. She checked the local weather on her phone, biting her lip when she realized that it was going to get even colder when the sun went down. It wasn’t going to freeze, but she hadn’t packed for the weather. She hoped they would be home well before dark and that the one long sleeved shirt she’d brought would be warm enough to keep the chill away.
When she was ready, she made her way down the polished wood stairs and into the kitchen. She didn’t even have time to sit at the bar before Eli appeared beside her.
“Are you ready?” he asked, his smile wide.
“So ready.”
He put his elbow out, and she put her arm through his. He opened the door and helped her into the pickup, then drove carefully down the driveway until it met up with the highway. He turned right, going further up the mountain, then turned left almost immediately and parked in front of an old west style building with a row of businesses and a wooden walkway that ran along the front.
“That was quick,” she laughed. “I guess I was expecting to go a little farther.”
“This is the closest place, and the best one.” He pointed across the intersection. “And there’s the general store and gas station, a seamstress, and down that road is the school. Anything else you need is either an hour west, down the mountain and through the desert, or it’s back the way we came, about thirty minutes give or take.”
He held the door open for her, and they stepped into the diner, the pleasantly warm air and the friendly conversation wrapping around her like a warm blanket.
A few people paused to say hi to Eli, waving at Ava, too, even though she was sure they had no idea who they were. Eli led her to a table near the back, pulling out her chair for her.
“This place is cozy,” she said, perusing the menu. “It’s funny, I’ve been to a bunch of places that are called diners, but this,” she gestured around the room, “is what I think of when I think of a diner.”
“I’m glad you like it. Everything on the menu is good, and if you need something tweaked a little, Clara is like a culinary wizard.”
Ava leaned forward, her voice low so that prying ears couldn’t hear what she was about to ask. “Should I keep the pregnancy a secret?” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Eli smiled. “If you want, but I’m sure it will come out eventually. Better by choice than by rumor.”
It was Ava’s turn to laugh. “At least some things are the same as back home. I just didn’t want to embarrass you, you know, since you know everyone.”
He set his menu down, looking at her with an expression that was both tender and serious. “Nothing you could say would embarrass me. A new life is something to be celebrated. How that happened is no one else’s business, and we’re well past the time when things like this were scandalous.”
“I just thought,” she trailed off, not sure why she was w
orried about it.
“Don’t overthink it. Say what you want to say, and if people are prying, you don’t have to answer their questions.” He smiled reassuringly. “I’m not worried about what other people think. I know I’m lucky to have you here, carrying our child.”
“Child?” a woman said, pen in hand, hovering over a notepad. “My heavens, Eli Hudson, did you just say what I think you said?”
Eli laughed and winked at Ava. “See, I told you it wouldn’t be a secret long.”
“Well congratulations,” the woman said, then stuck her hand out, pulled it back to wipe it on her apron, then shook Ava’s hand. “I’m Clara Nighthorse. I’m glad to meet you, and like I said, congratulations.”
“I’m Ava and thank you.”
Clara was grinning from ear to ear when she elbowed Eli playfully. “She’s a pretty one. You must’ve laid that charm on thick.”
“Can we order?” Eli teased.
“Of course.”
Clara wrote their order down, then paused, looking at Ava with a dreamy expression on her face before she blinked and looked at Eli. “Three or four, tops,” she said, then disappeared.
Moments later, a young man with the same dark hair and eyes brought their drinks without a word.
“That’s Clara’s son,” Eli said.
“I figured,” she said, then laughed. “What was that all about?”
“Ranch talk,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. “Nothing exciting.”
“I guess I’ll pick up the lingo soon enough,” she said. “She seems nice.”
“If you stick around, you’ll see that this is like one big, extended family here. We have a lot of tourists come through during the summer to go camping in these mountains, but from September to May, it’s nothing but familiar faces. It’ll feel like home in no time, and you’ll never be lonely if Clara can help it.”
“Good to know,” she said, moving her arms when their plates arrived.
The conversation was lighthearted as they ate their meal, which was served family style, with all the sides in serving bowls.
“This place is delicious,” Ava said.
