My Texas Sweetheart (book one)

by Acheson, Pauliena

  He walks over to one of the holes in the barn wall to look out. It’s far enough away from us that maybe we can get a chance to undo the ropes. I whisper, “This is it, Amy. We gotta try to undo the ropes.”

  As we’re trying to get lose, I can hear another car driving up. As I’m watching everything unfold outside, it’s like it’s happening in slow motion. Our kidnapper starts firing his gun, we hear shouting, screams of pain, more gunshots, a car door slamming, an explosion, more shouting…then silence. Amy and I look at each other, then hear somebody come into the barn. We try to hide.

  “Maggie, Amy, where are you guys?! It’s Nate!” Thank-you, God.

  “Nate, over here!” I yell.

  He runs over to us and starts undoing the ropes. “Are you two alright?” We nod.

  “Nate, you should have seen her. She was calm and kept me calm at the same time. She’s a rock!” Amy cries out.

  Nate beams at me. “Good job, baby girl. Now, what do you two say to getting out of here?” We nod, vigorously.

  We walk out of the barn and I stop short. “Um, Nate? Who are all these people?”

  He smiles at me and puts his arm around my shoulders. “Baby girl, allow me to introduce the SEALS. When your father called and told us what was happening, everybody wanted to help.”

  I start to cry and I throw my arms around him. I feel so loved right now. “Thank-you so much, Nate.” I turn to everybody else. “Thank-you!”

  He smiles. “We wouldn’t be anywhere else, Mags.”

  Just then, I see Todd and Chase. “Hey, baby girl,” they say.

  I run over and throw my arms around Chase. “Thank-you for finding us,” I cry.

  “I’ll always find you, Maggie, always” Chase says. He said that when I was eight, too. That is why he’s my hero, looks like I have more to add. The whole SEAL team!!

  I let go of Chase and wrap my arms around Todd. “Thank-you.”

  “We wouldn’t be anywhere else, Maggie,” he says, smiling.

  “Glad to see you two are okay,” one of the other guys says. We smile at them all.

  “Okay, let’s get you two home,” Chase says wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

  ****

  Amy and I end up falling asleep on the way home. “Maggie, Amy, wake up,” I hear, feeling somebody gently shaking me. I open my eyes to see that we are back at the ranch.

  Chase grabs my hand to help me out of the truck just as the front door slams open. Everyone runs out of the house. “Thank God you found them!” Dad yells. He pulls me into his arms, kissing my forehead, and mom throws her arms around both of us. Amy’s parents are doing the same thing. They start asking if I am alright and checking me over. I tell them we’re fine.

  “You all would be very proud of her. She was very calm and kept me calm in the process. She was my rock.” Amy beams at me, and Mom and Dad smile.

  Then I was grabbed by Creed, then Adam, then Jade… then Jase. “Hey, baby. I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispers.

  Mom says that Mark and Gabe are on the way. “You should call them and let them know we’re okay. They should go back to school,” I say.

  Mom shakes her head and says that they’ll want to see for themselves that their baby sister is okay. “Mom, do you have coffee on?” She nods.

  Mom and Dad thank everybody, then we all head inside for coffee and pie.

  ****

  An hour later, Gabe and Mark run through the door. As soon as they see me, and they both sigh with relief. Mark is the first one the pull me into a hug. “I’m so glad you’re safe, baby girl.”

  “Okay, hand her over,” Gabe says, and I go over and give him a big hug, too.

  One of the SEALS says, “Damn, you got a big family.”

  Mom and dad smile. “That we do and we are very proud of each and every one of them.”

  “So, baby girl, how’s school going?” Nate asks.

  I smile. “It’s good. I’m getting back into the swing of things. I’m hoping to start track on Monday.”

  He smiles at me, “good for you baby girl”

  We all sit around talking and laughing at some of the stories Chase SEAL buddies tell us.

  Chase takes his last drink of coffee, and says, “Well, we should head out. We have to get back. Nate, Todd, and I will be back in three weeks.” We all get up to say goodbye to them and, not to long after that, Amy and her parents leave, too.

  About a half-hour later, Jase says, “I’m gonna head out, too. Maggie, walk me to my car?” I nod and we walk out.

  He leans in and softly kisses me. “I’ll see you tomorrow sometime, okay?” He gives me another kiss, gets in his car and drives off.

  When I get back into the house, we all decide to head off to bed. Dad comes into my room to check and make sure my window is locked up, kisses me, and heads to bed. It doesn’t take me long to fall into a dreamless sleep. I think that’s the best sleep I’ve had in a long time.

  ****

  The next morning, I head downstairs to help Mom make breakfast. She and I chat about everything that happened yesterday. Mark and Gabe come down to say goodbye and head back to school, Jade and Creed head out to one of the bull riding events, and Adam and I head to school. It seems that everyone at school knows about what happened last night, and Amy still looks tired. Jase sees me, runs over, and wraps me in his arms. I smile.

  “Good morning baby” Jase says before leaning in to kiss me. I can hear Adam growl and Amy laughs at him.

  “Awe, is the big bear getting pissy” Amy teases. Pulling away from Jase I laugh too, if looks could kill. Holy moly does he look pissed at her. Adam shakes his head, turning back to us he says,

  “Just let me get use to the idea of you two… Damn”. Rolling my eyes at him I start walking towards the school.

  “Well Bro, you better get use to it… FAST” Jase smirks. Oh yeah poke the grumpy bear, geez boys. Adam grumbles something under his breath, but wisely shuts of mouth. As we’re walking into the school I see Jenny and someone yelling at her, ‘what is going on’. I look up at Jase and see that he’s watching too

  “I should go talk to her” Jase doesn’t respond to me, he just tightens his grip on my hand. We stand there watching this guy yell at her until, she runs towards to bathroom crying. The guy faces us and gives Adam, Jase a chin lift, WHAT. THE. HELL! Looking at Jase he just shakes his head and gives me a kiss. I’m about to say something but the bell rings for class so I decide to let it go for now.

  Chapter 17 (Jase)

  The last few days have been pretty intense with the barn fire, the kidnapping, the search party and, finally, the news that Christian was still out there somewhere, pissed me the hell off. It was awesome seeing how everybody worked together to find the girls. It made me proud when Amy said that Maggie was strong during it all. She just showed us all that she can take care of herself. “Dude, you better start paying attention or Mrs. Mills is going to freak out,” Clay says. I jump. Shit, I forgot where I was. He’s right. I better pay attention. So I got to work on our project, which didn’t take long for us to finish.

  The bell rings, and I grab Maggie’s hand so we can head to the lunchroom. We can’t kiss in school, that was a rule, but they didn’t say anything about holding hands. We go to get some food, then head to our table. Everybody was already sitting there, even Jenny, who’s finally sitting with us. “Hey, I heard that scouts are coming to the game tonight,” Jake says. Yeah, that’s something we are looking forward to. Even better is that Maggie will be cheering me on.

  “Mark and Gabe are coming home for tonight’s game, too,” Adam says. Chase won’t be able to come home for another two-and-a-half weeks, but he said that he would be here in spirit. My parents and sisters are coming, too, which is nice because Heather doesn’t hang out with us anymore. I put my arm around Maggie’s shoulders and pull her closer to me. She smiles.

  “Stop looking at each other like that,” Adam snaps. We all laugh.

  He glares at us for a minute,
then gets this evil look in his eyes. He pulls Amy and Kelly closer to him, putting his arms around them. They both look shocked for a second, then Amy shrugs his arm off and glares at him. “I don’t think so, Mr. Playboy.” She gets up and walks over to Maggie, grabbing her arm to get her to leave with her. Maggie looks at me, then back at Amy and nods. Both girls leave.

  “God, damn it Adam, you couldn’t just keep your hands to yourself” I growl.

  He keeps looking at the door and trying to get Kelly to leave him alone. Now that he paid attention to her, it looks like she wants more. I didn’t care. Something was wrong with Amy and I was going to find out what that was, and why she had to take my girl with her. I get up. I figured that they went outside so that was the first place I was going to look. Adam came running up behind me. “I’m coming, too. I don’t know why Amy freaked out like that.” God, sometimes I think he’s a dumb ass.

  “Sure, just don’t piss her off any more than you already have,” I tell him. We find them sitting under a tree, having an intense-looking conversation. Adam looks at me and I just shrug.

  Maggie notices us and says something to Amy, who looks over. “Everything alright, girls?” I ask. They share a look, then nod and get up. Hmm, I don’t believe that, but I’ll have a talk with Amy sometime soon about what’s going on.

  Walking over to Maggie, I grab her face in both of my hands, pressing my lips to hers. I trace her bottom lip with my tongue, asking for entrance. She opens her mouth and I deepen the kiss. Maggie has her hands in my hair and I pull her closer when I hear someone clear their throat. Pulling back from Maggie, I look over my shoulder and see Amy beaming at us and Adam glaring. “What? I was just kissing my girl.”

  Adam rolls his eyes and Amy laughs. “It’s time for gym,” Adam growls. Damn, I didn’t even hear the bell ring. I take Maggie’s hand in mine as we walk back towards the school.

  ****

  When the last bell rings, we all decide to go to Nana‘s for burgers and milk shakes. Maggie and Amy go to talk with Mrs. Kent, Nana’s daughter, while we talk about tonight‘s game. “We need to show the scouts tonight we’re made of,” Jake says.

  “Yeah, we do, but we also need to have fun and enjoy ourselves,” I say.

  We sit, eat, and talk about football a while longer, then Maggie and Amy came back over. “We should get going so you guys can get ready for tonight,” Maggie says. She’s right but, even though I’m going to see her again in a few hours, I’m not ready to leave her yet. I start playing with her hair.

  “Alright. I need to get some stuff done before tonight anyway.” Adam and Amy walk out ahead of us. “Can we spend some time together after the game tonight?” I ask her.

  She smiles at me. “Of course.” I grab her hand and head outside where Adam and Amy were waiting.

  Pulling her close, I press my lips to hers. Adam moans. “My god. You two seriously need to stop doing that in front of me.”

  “Get used to it, my friend,” I tell him, laughing. After another quick kiss, I head home.

  ****

  As soon as I got home, I jump into the shower. Afterwards, I head into the kitchen to find something to eat. Heather and April come walking in. “Hey, Jase, you ready to tonight’s game?” April asks.

  “Yeah, I’m heading out soon. We’re meeting up at the school beforehand.”

  April smiles and says, “I can’t wait for you guys to win.” Heather stays quiet. That’s weird. What’s up with that? I have to get ready for the game, but I make a mental note to talk to her about it later.

  “Gotta go. I’ll see you at the game.”

  The drive to school doesn’t take long. Pete, Jake, Travis, and Jeff are already there, throwing the ball around. Where’s Adam? “Hey, Jase! Get over here and warm up!” Jake yells. As we are throwing the ball around, more of the team shows up. Adam’s the last one.

  Coach tells us to go get suited up and relax before the game starts. “Shit, I gotta say that I’m excited about tonight’s game,” I tell them. Everyone agrees.

  Ten minutes before the game, Coach gives us a pep talk and we all head out to the field. I look over at the cheerleaders and see my girl smiling at me. I smile back and put my hand over my heart.

  ****

  By halftime, we were up 10-3. The cheerleaders took the field and I couldn’t help but feel proud that Maggie was my girl. She looked amazing out there. “Jase, snap out of it. Pay attention,” Coach says. I look back at him and try to listen to what he is saying, but all I can think about is Maggie. Shaking my head, I force myself to pay attention.

  After halftime, we take the field again. The final score? 24-18, us. Coach says we played the best game of the season. Once we’re in the locker room, Jeff yells, “That was awesome! We did it!”

  The boys tell me that they’re planning on heading out to a party, but I want to spend time alone with Maggie. “Are you coming?” Pete asks. “No, I’m gonna spend time with Maggie.”

  Walking out, I see Maggie with Amy so I walk up behind her. “Ready, gorgeous?” I ask.

  Looking at me, she smiles. “Yes, I am,” and we head out after saying bye to Amy. This is my chance to find out why Amy freaked out at lunch today. That’s if my girl will tell me,

  “So baby…. How come Amy freaked out” she looks at me confused. “At lunch, after Adam put his arm around her” she gets this annoyed look on her face…. Oh shit! What the heck. Did Adam do? Wait a minute….. Does Amy have a thing for Adam? Or is it something else? Huh!

  “She’s pissed because she knows he was just using her. Plus Amy has had a crush on him since we were like 12!” Yeah he was using her to piss off Maggie, I also know Adam likes Amy just as much. Will he ever do anything about it? I don’t know. What I do know is…. If and when he does, he’ll forget all about the other girls. I also don’t think it will happen for a few years. He isn’t ready to settle down.

  “It was a dick move but baby let them figure shit out, on their own” I tell her. She gives me a dirty look but nods anyways.

  “Fine! But if he hurts her… I’ll kick his ass” she grumbles at me. I laugh, god she’s so cute. When we get to my truck I press her upagainst it, lowing my lips to hers. I give her a passionate kiss, after pulling away I see how flush her face is. We are both breathing heavy. Shit… I can’t let this happen. Moving her aside I open the truck door.

  “Come on baby, let’s get going” she gives me a look before jumping in. walking around to my side I get in and say “sorry baby but we can’t go there yet….. You’re not ready. Hell I’m not ready!” she smiles and nods at me, thank god. I thought she was going to be mad at me.

  Chapter 18 (Maggie)

  After the game, Jase and I head towards the swimming hole about ten miles outside of town. After everything that’s happened, I am feeling a bit nervous about being alone with him. I know that he would never hurt me, but there’s still a part of me that’s scared. Jase looks over at me, concern written all over his face. “What’s wrong, Maggie?”

  “A part of me is scared to be alone with you.” I look away from him. I just can’t look in his eyes and see the hurt.

  He picks up my hand and tugs it a little to get me to look at him, but I don’t. “Maggie, please look at me,” he pleads. I look at him and he looks so hurt that it’s breaking my heart. “Baby, I swear to you that I will never hurt you. I might screw up now and then, but I would never hurt you.”

  We climb out of the truck. “Jase, I know that you will never hurt me,” I say, smiling.

  He smiles back, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Come on, baby. Let’s just enjoy being with each other.” He pulls me towards the water. We sit down and put our feet in. “Did you enjoy the game tonight?”

  I smile at him. “Yes, I did. You played wonderfully.”

  He gives me a shy smile. “Thanks, Maggie. That means a lot to me.”

  We are quiet for a little bit, just enjoying each other’s company. Jase pulls me closer to him, putting his arms around me
and his face in my hair. “It’s nice to be by ourselves for a change,” I say and I can feel his smile. He pulls away and gently grabs my face between his hands, passing his lips to mine. I can easily get lost in his kisses.

  After a few minutes, he pulls back and presses his forehead to mine. “Baby, I just want you to know that I’ll wait forever for you.”

  I smile and look into his eyes. “Thank-you, Jase.”

  We sit there, staring into each other’s eyes for a while until we hear a horn. I roll my eyes and Jase laughs. “Adam just couldn’t stay away.”

  I look over to see my brother, Amy, Sarah, Jake, and Pete getting out of his truck. “I’m really sorry, Jase,” I say.

  He shakes his head. “No reason to be sorry, baby. You didn’t know they would come here.” No, but I should have.

  Adam and the others start walking over to where we are sitting. I’m sorry, Amy mouths. I nod.

  “I’ll be right back.” He nods, but doesn’t look at me. I walk over to Adam and grab his arm. “You and I need to talk,” I hiss. He gives me a big smile and we walk away from everyone else. “What are you doing here?”

  He looks over at Jase, then back at me. “You know why, Maggie.”

  “Adam, you know damn well that Jase would never hurt me or make me uncomfortable in any way. You need to stop the overprotective bullshit…please. I know that the last few months have been shitty, and we’re all feeling guilt. Nobody has anything to feel guilty about. You’re trying to protect me from your friend. He deserves your respect and blessing, not this. Trust me, he feels as guilty as you all do. I love you, Adam, but please stop this. He and I need time alone if this is going to work out, and I want this to work out. Please.”

  He huffs out a breath. “Okay, you’re right. I’m sorry, but I needed to know that you were okay. Now that I know that, I’ll leave.” I smile at him and kiss his cheek. Adam pulls me in for a big bear hug before he steps around me to go talk with Jase. They walk a distance away from the rest of us.