by Claire Adams
“Well, the good thing is, unless my gallery goes belly up, it looks like I’m staying in White Bluff,” Vanessa said. Then, she frowned. “Although, I am still kind of worried that the gallery is going to flop. I’m doing everything I can to make sure that that doesn’t happen, but what if we can’t-”
I put a finger to her lips, silencing her for a moment. “The gallery is going to do great,” I told her firmly. “You just have to believe in yourself. But anyway, that’s not what I’m talking about. Or not exactly, anyway.” I sighed at the quizzical look she sent me.
“Vanessa, I hate the idea of spending even one more day away from you. With my accident, I think we both got a taste of how fleeting life can be. I don’t want to miss spending another day with you.”
Vanessa turned toward me, her mouth in a rounded ‘o’ shape, and I had a feeling she knew what was coming next.
I got down on one knee, pulling out the ring box that I had stashed in my pocket earlier that evening. “Vanessa Thomas, I know I haven’t always been the most reliable guy out there, and there’s a lot about me that I’m still working on changing, but you make me want to be a better man — the best man that I can be. And, there’s no one else that I want by my side in this life other than you. So, I was hoping that you’d do me the honor of becoming my wife.”
I popped open the ring box, watching Vanessa’s eyes sparkle with unshed tears. “I asked your dad for permission,” I told her. “And, he gave me the ring. It’s the same one that he used to propose to your mom, way back when.”
Vanessa’s hands were up covering her mouth by this point, and in the next moment, she sank down to her knees in the sand beside me. “Oh, Trethan,” she breathed. “Yes. Absolutely, yes.”
I slid the ring onto her shaking hand, watching as the brilliant stones sparkled in the light of the moon. She flung her arms around me. “There’s no one else I want to spend the rest of my life with either,” she told me fiercely.
I snickered. “What if I developed amnesia after that fall, and I actually think I’m someone else?”
Vanessa yanked away. “Not funny,” she said, but I could tell from the way her eyes crinkled around the corners that she was more amused than she was letting on.
I looked around. “So, what do you say we make love right here on the edge of the lake?” I asked. “That would be romantic, right?”
She looked scandalized. “Anyone could walk down and see us,” she said.
I sighed. “Well, I still have some blankets in the back of my truck,” I said.
She snorted at that one. “Always prepared, and always thinking about sex,” she said fondly.
“I mean, with a fiancée who’s this hot, how could I not?” I asked her.
Vanessa smiled at that. “Fiancée,” she repeated. She tucked her head against my shoulder, staring out over the lake. “I like that.”
“I like that, too,” I told her, rubbing her arm. “I really like that, too.”
Epilogue
Vanessa
I gave the couple some time to browse on their own before I went over to ask if they needed any help. They were vacationers, but they seemed really interested in the art. I wondered what their story was as a couple. Then, I grinned to myself. The more pregnant I got — and I seemed to be ballooning bigger and bigger every day — the more I just wanted to know what everyone’s personal story was.
“Can I help the two of you find something in particular?” I asked.
“Oh!” said the wife. “Oh no, we were just browsing.” She glanced over at her husband. “We’re on an anniversary trip, actually. Our fiftieth, if you can believe it! We’re staying at the little B&B up the road, the Berry Hill Farm, and I think it would be really sweet to pick up a piece of art to commemorate our trip with. But Barry here isn’t so sure.”
“Is this all local art?” Barry asked dubiously, peering at a couple of the pieces. “Janet, that’s all that I’m worried about. I know that a lot of these boutique shops import artwork from around the world and then sell it for far more than it’s actually worth. If we’re going to get something that reminds us of this trip, I would at least like for it to be something special and locally-produced.”
Janet rolled her eyes. “But we’re always going to remember that we picked it up here, even if it isn’t locally-produced,” she said exasperatedly. “It will remind us of this trip regardless of what its actual origins are.”
I decided to interject before they could start bickering. “Actually, all of the art in the gallery is locally-produced,” I told them. “What’s more, all of the artwork that you see here in the gallery is done in the local styles. So, for example, this painting that you were looking at is done by a local Chippewa artist, in traditional style. And this beading is all authentic, as well.”
“See, I told you,” Janet said, shaking her head fondly at her husband.
“Well, that is certainly a pleasant surprise,” Barry said. “And, you certainly seem knowledgeable about what you have in here.”
I smiled at him. “I’m the curator of the gallery,” I told him. “It’s a co-op, but I personally select all the artists that we feature in here, and I get a lot of say over which of their artworks we feature, as well.”
The man nodded.
“Let me know if I can answer any questions that you have about specific pieces,” I told them.
I looked toward the door as it swung open, bells chiming merrily, and I couldn’t help but smile as Trethan swaggered in. He was dressed in his Western finest, with a blue checked shirt, jeans, and the oft-worn hat and boots.
“Hey there, missus,” he said to me, swinging me into his arms and kissing me, not paying any attention to the looks that we got from some of the other customers.
I laughed and steadied myself against his arm, my hand coming up to rest against my stomach. “Still trying to get used to having a different center of gravity,” I complained.
“And how are you and John feeling today?” Trethan asked.
I shook my head. “Just as fine as we were at brunch this morning,” I told him. “Did you come by just to check on me?” It wouldn’t surprise me if he had; he had proven nothing but charmingly concerned throughout my whole pregnancy. But usually, he left his checking-in to a daily 10 a.m. phone call.
“Not just to check in on you,” he said. “I just got done meeting with John.”
“Oh,” I said, already knowing what the meeting would have been about. Dad had approached me about the topic a couple weeks ago, tactful and uncertain, much to my amusement.
“You were keeping secrets from me,” Trethan accused. “You already knew that he was planning to hand the Lazy J over to me.”
I smiled at him. “Well, he wanted to ask my opinion first,” I said. “And, he wanted to make sure that I didn’t mind, even though I think I’ve made my opinions on the place pretty clear. I love the ranch, but I don’t see a future for myself there. Anyway, it isn’t really transferring out of my hands anyway, as long as we’re still married.”
“But I would be taking over sole proprietorship for the place, meaning that I’d have a lot of work on my hands.”
“True,” I agreed. “But you’ve already basically been running the place for a few years now, haven’t you?”
“I suppose I have,” said he admitted, shaking his head. “I don’t know why, but it still just came as kind of a shock.”
“It shouldn’t have,” I said softly. “I know you still have a giant chip on your shoulder from everything in your past, but my dad believes you’re a good man.”
“And what do you think?” Trethan asked, but from the way he was smirking at me, I knew he was teasing.
“I think you’re distracting me from work right now,” I said, noticing suddenly that Janet and Barry were both watching our exchange, smiling. They looked like they probably had some questions, though. “How can I help you?” I asked them.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to stare,” Janet said, shaking he
r head. “Just, you both sure remind me of Barry and I when we were young.”
“How so?” I asked in surprise.
“Oh, you know, just the way he’s stopped by to check up on you, and the way you talk so familiarly about your lives. It’s sweet.”
I smiled over at Trethan, wondering if we were ever going to be a sweet older couple celebrating their fiftieth anniversary, but I wasn’t as worried about that now as I had once been.
Trethan and I seemed to have settled into life together pretty well, doing sweet things like brunch together on Sunday mornings before I went to the gallery or long walks around the ranch on sunny afternoons. Things were obviously going to change once the little one arrived, but I was no longer worried about the type of father he would make. I had seen him with kids who came to ride horses at the ranch, and he was starting to remind me more and more of my own father, rather than his.
“How many months along are you?” Janet asked me.
“Six and a half,” I said, unable to keep from smiling just thinking about it.
“Getting close now,” she said. “Do you know what the sex of the baby will be?”
I shook my head. “Trethan’s hoping for a boy,” I said. I rolled my eyes. “Really hoping for a boy. But I’m happy with whatever we have.” I wrinkled my nose. “Except twins. I watched a documentary on twins the other day, and I don’t think I’m ready to handle that just yet!”
Janet laughed. “Well, I wish you all the best,” she said. “Barry and I raised three hellions, ourselves. Of course, none of them live anywhere near home at this point, and it’s hard for them to travel now that they’ve got their own broods, but we visit them as often as we can.”
“That won’t be a problem with us,” Trethan said, shaking his head. “I’ve been working for her father for years; he owns the Lazy J Ranch. You might have heard of it. It’s one of the main riding ranches in town.”
“As a matter of fact, we’re going for a ride there tomorrow,” Barry said.
I laughed. “Trethan will be taking you on your ride tomorrow, then,” I told them. “He handles everything to do with the Sunday nature rides at this point!”
“Oh, great!” Janet said, shaking her head with a smile on her face. “So you both grew up here in White Bluff?”
“We’re high school sweethearts actually,” I told her, smiling over at Trethan. “We took a few years off while I went to college to study art, but we got married less than a year after I came back, and we’ve been happy together ever since.”
“That’s just so sweet,” she said, shaking her head. “Well, now we absolutely have to buy something to bring home with us.”
Barry snorted. “Knowing you, you’d like to buy every last thing in this gallery,” he said good-naturedly.
The two of them moved off, still debating which piece would go best in which part of their house. I watched them, still smiling.
“You’re thinking about us,” Trethan guessed, observing my face.
I blushed but shrugged at him. “Don’t you ever think about our future?” I asked, actually curious to know whether he did or not.
“Of course, I do.” He reached up to brush back a lock of my hair. “Every morning that I wake up next to you, I roll over and just look at you, and you know what I’m thinking then?”
I glanced over at the customers wandering around the shop and then lowered my voice. “Knowing you, you’re probably thinking about how horny you are,” I said, smirking at him.
He burst out laughing. “That comes after,” he said. “No, when I first wake up, and I roll over and I see you lying there in bed next to me, my first thought is always how lucky I am to be there and to have you there with me. And then my next thought is to think about the fact that I get to wake up to you like that, wake up with that beautiful, perfect, peaceful view, every morning for the rest of my life. And, I feel like the luckiest man in the world.
“And then I think about how horny I am.”
I laughed and shook my head. It had taken a while for him to open up about his feelings for me. Although to be fair, it had taken me just as long to open up about my feelings for him. But by now, I knew that Trethan was a secret romantic, underneath it all. Poor circumstances in his past might have led him to hide that away from me for a long time, but it was obvious to me now.
I couldn’t have picked a better man to spend the rest of my life with. And I couldn’t have picked a better father for my child.
“So, I was thinking that, now that I have the ranch all to myself, maybe I’d start a bull-riding school at the Lazy J,” Trethan said suddenly.
“No way in heck,” I told him succinctly, not even having to think about it for a moment. Where once I would have been worried about crushing his dreams by telling him that he wasn’t allowed to do something that he wanted to do, now I realized that the only way for us to really cooperate as a couple was for us to be upfront about the fact that our future was, in fact, our future, rather than his future and my future as separate entities.
And there was no way that I was letting him have anything to do with bull riding again, not after his accident.
But Trethan was smiling and jostling my shoulder lightly. “Just joking,” he said. But then, his look turned serious. “What do you think about circus riding, though? We could be teaching acrobatics on horseback. Wouldn’t that be something?”
I laughed and shook my head, holding up my hands. “It’s your ranch,” I said, knowing that he wasn’t actually planning on going through with any of these harebrained schemes.
“Our ranch,” Trethan said firmly. Then, he cocked his head to the side, coming around behind me and wrapping his arms around me, resting his hands on my stomach. “Our ranch,” he repeated fiercely.
“Our ranch,” I agreed quietly. Then, I laughed a little. “I guess before the baby is born, I’ll need to give you a run-down of all the mischief that a kid can get up to when growing up on a ranch like the Lazy J.”
“You never struck me as the kind of girl who got up to a lot of mischief as a kid,” he said, sounding amused. “What’s the worst thing you did? Kick over a pail of milk?”
“Oh, you’d be surprised,” I said, shaking my head. “I can tell you a lot of the stories, but I’m sure Dad has a lot of tales he’d love to tell you about my delinquencies, as well.”
“I look forward to hearing them,” Trethan said. “And even more than that, I look forward to seeing what this kid gets up to that we could never even imagine him getting up to.”
I smiled and tilted my head back for a kiss. “Me, too,” I agreed. I paused. “He or she is going to be a very lucky little kid,” I mused after a moment. “Growing up there on the ranch, surrounded by a loving family. You may think you’re the luckiest man in the world, but I suppose that growing up like I did and finding you as my man, maybe I’m the luckiest woman in the world.”
Trethan kissed me gently, his hands lightly stroking over my pregnant stomach. “I guess maybe you are the luckiest woman in the world,” he agreed.
Click here to continue to my next book.
Get Each of My Newly Released Books for 99 Cents By Clicking Here
Click here to get my book Swipe for free
DADDY NEXT DOOR
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
Chapter One
Vivie
I switched the station when the opening riff of Guns 'n' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine hit my ears. It had always been one of Dad's favorite tunes — one he played on guitar a lot and one he'd sang to me as a kid. It didn’t matter that he'd been gone for four years; not a day went by that I didn't miss him or think of him. And something like that song remindin
g me of everything he’d been as a dad and how he loved me; it was just too much to take after the day I’d had. Not to mention, I sure as hell didn't want to break down and start crying in the middle of five o' clock traffic.
I kept one hand on the steering wheel as I flipped between stations, stopping on a local talk show where the radio host, Arthur Valley, was interviewing a local detective. I pricked my ears and fine-tuned the radio so I could hear more clearly; crime stories always fascinated me, and it sure wasn't as if we had many crime sprees here in Irvine. So, my interest was piqued.
“Good afternoon, and welcome to the show, Sam,” Arthur said. “I want to point out to our listeners that 'Sam' isn't our detective's real name; he needs to remain anonymous since he is working undercover, and if his identity is discovered, that would put Sam in serious danger.”
“That's true, Arthur,” said the man. “I deal with some very unsavory people on a daily basis.”
“And that, ladies and gents, is why we've also put a filter on Sam's voice. He doesn't actually sound like Darth Vader in real life.”
I chuckled at that. The guy did sound a lot like Darth Vader was coming through my speakers.
“Unfortunately, no, I don't,” Sam commented with a laugh. “But how cool would it be if I did?”
“Well, why don't we get started? First of all, thanks for coming on the show today, we really appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to be here with us.”
“Not at all, Arthur. The residents of Irvine need to know what's happening behind closed doors in this town, and some of it ain't pretty… it ain't pretty at all.”
“What exactly is going on here in Irvine that's got you working undercover?”
“I’m afraid we've got a problem here, Arthur. No, not just a problem: a crisis. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that. We have a serious, serious problem affecting our youth,” Sam said.
“What is this problem?” Arthur asked.
“Drugs. Local high schools – and middle schools as well – are riddled with a new drug that's been sweeping across Southern California.”
