Feels Like Home

by Kelly Elliott

  I grabbed her and pulled her into my arms. She let out a scream and then laughed.

  “Don’t worry, the only woman I want petting anything is you.”

  I pressed my mouth to hers and kissed her until we both needed air.

  It was then I got a closer look at her. “What’s wrong? You’ve been crying.”

  Her eyes widened in shock. “What? I haven’t been crying.”

  Giving her the look that my mother used to use on me, I said, “Don’t lie to me. What’s wrong? Are you still not feeling well?”

  “Honestly, no. I’m exhausted. I’ve already told Ida I’m not doing Bunco tonight and to call in a replacement.”

  “Well, in that case, I’m not going to poker.”

  “No! You should go, Anson.”

  “Hell, no. One, I would rather spend the time with you, and two, you’re not feeling well.”

  She smiled, and I felt my heart jump in my chest.

  “Then maybe I can make us a romantic dinner for two.”

  “That’s perfect. I have something I want to run by you,” I said.

  “Okay.” She reached up on her toes and kissed me quickly before she turned to head back into the kitchen. I smacked her ass as she walked away, causing her to let out a little yelp.

  I watched as she and Zeus headed out of the room. I chuckled to myself. I was going to turn her world upside down tonight, and I couldn’t wait to see her reaction when I told her I wasn’t going back to Nashville.

  Bristol

  THE SMELL OF chicken enchiladas filled the house, and I couldn’t help but moan.

  “What is that amazing smell?” Anson asked as he walked up behind me, wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me on the cheek.

  “Chicken enchiladas with a homemade ranchero sauce. I even made a cashew sour cream.”

  “You had me right up until cashew sour cream. That should be illegal, Bri.”

  Laughing, I stirred the sauce then placed the spoon on the counter and faced him. “The thought of eating sour cream right now makes me feel sick to my stomach.”

  “Really?” he asked with a slight frown. “My mother went through a phase like that, but she was pregnant with me.”

  I stilled and tried not to show any emotion on my face whatsoever.

  “Really?” I asked.

  The fact that Anson hadn’t asked me about my period yet shouldn’t have surprised me. I was supposed to have started my period almost three weeks ago, and when it didn’t come, I had been so busy and focused on me and Anson that I hadn’t even thought about the fact that I was late. At least not until I went to the doctor to get on the pill, and they had asked the date of my last period.

  “The enchiladas are actually done. Are you ready to eat?”

  “I’m always ready to eat. I’ll grab the plates and get us some drinks. You want a beer?”

  “No, I’m going to stick with water tonight.”

  He quickly went about setting the table and then poured me a glass of ice water and grabbed himself a beer.

  “Holy crap, Bri. These look and smell delicious.”

  I spooned two enchiladas on his plate and then topped it with the ranchero and a dollop of cashew sour cream.

  “Hopefully you didn’t just ruin my meal,” he said with a wink.

  “Trust me, you’re going to be saying you’re sorry here in a second when you take a bite of it all together. I’ve been dying for enchiladas.”

  As I took a seat, I reached for my water to wet my suddenly dry mouth and throat. I had no idea how Anson was going to react. All I knew was that I was about to turn his world upside down.

  “Dad and I went for a ride today.”

  “You did?” I asked, hopefulness in my voice.

  “We did, and we worked everything out.”

  He smiled, and so did I.

  “Anson, I’m so happy y’all finally worked it out. You know your father loves you very much, and, according to your mama, he follows your career on the sly.”

  He winked. “Seems like you two had that in common.”

  I glanced down at my food as my face heated.

  “Anyway, I ran something by him, and I’d like to run it by you as well.”

  “Sure, what is it?” I took a bite of my enchilada and nearly moaned in delight. My gosh, it was good.

  Anson also took a bite, and when he tasted the cashew sour cream with the ranchero sauce and enchilada, his eyebrows rose. Then he talked with his mouth full.

  “Mmm, dis is so good!”

  I giggled and kept eating. “What was it you wanted to run by me? I mean, if you can take a moment to break away from that cashew sour cream you’re scooping up in every bite.”

  He closed his eyes and moaned then looked at me. “If this is how you cook all the time, I’m going to gain weight!”

  “Are you kidding me? I saw that gym you had at your house in Nashville.”

  His smile faded, and he set his fork down before reaching for his beer.

  “The whole reason I flew back to Nashville was because of the record company. They offered me a deal for three new albums.”

  I nodded.

  “I told Robert to tell them no.”

  It felt like everything in the room went silent. The only thing I could hear was my heart pounding.

  “What do you mean, you told him to tell them no?”

  “No more records. I’ve got one more single I need to give them, and we recorded it before we left Nashville. After that, I’m only going to be writing songs. I’m done with performing.”

  I stood up and pushed the chair back, nearly causing it to fall over. Anson looked at me, confused.

  “Why would you do that?” I asked. “Why would you give up your career?”

  “I’m not giving it up, Bri. I’m taking a different path. I’m following what my heart is telling me to do. I want to be here, in Comfort. With you, my folks, Grams, and Granddad. Dad and I talked about me taking over more of the ranch, learning how things are run.”

  My hand shook as I placed it over my mouth in an attempt to keep my emotions at bay.

  “I know you love this house, but I figured…I know right now you want to be by the tea room and all, but I talked to Dad about building a house on the ranch. I’d like to put in a little recording studio for when artists come for writing sessions. The idea is to have a few songwriting retreats, maybe even lay some tracks down on occasion. It would take probably a year to build, and I was thinking by then you might be ready to have a manager to help you run the tea room.”

  His cheeks went red as he smiled and shrugged.

  “I don’t know, maybe we could think about kids when you’re ready.”

  A sob slipped free, and I turned and practically ran out of the kitchen and into the living room.

  I heard Anson’s chair fall to the floor as he called out, “Bri? Bri!”

  He knelt down in front of me and took my shaking hands in his as I cried.

  “Hey, we don’t have to build a house on the ranch. We can stay right here if you want. It was only a thought I had since I’ll be working on the ranch. We can live anywhere you want, Baby. I swear.”

  I shook my head and tried to speak, but the only thing that came out were more sobs.

  “Fuck, what did I do? Tell me what I did, and I’ll fix it.”

  Suddenly, my crying stopped. He reached up and wiped my tears away with the pads of his thumb.

  “Baby, tell me what has you so upset.”

  “I’m…I’m not upset. I don’t know what this feeling is, but you didn’t do anything to upset me.”

  He lifted my shirt and wiped under my nose as he screwed up his face, which made me laugh.

  “You okay now?”

  With a nod, I replied, “Yes.”

  “Will you tell me what happened?”

  “A part of me feels guilty because I feel so relieved.”

  “Relieved? Were you worried about me going back to Nashville?”

  “No
. Yes. It’s just, I didn’t know how I felt. I wanted more time together, and then I was worried about doing this alone or you missing out on an important opportunity. It was all swirling around in my head.”

  He frowned. “Bri, you’re kind of confusing the hell out of me.”

  A giggle slipped out. I drew in a deep breath, counted to ten, and then slowly let it out.

  “Anson, I need you to know that no matter what you decided to do, I would have supported you a hundred-and-ten percent.”

  “I know that, Baby.”

  I nodded and smiled. “And I’m proud of you, and I knew the arrangement when we got back together. I knew someday you’d be going back to Nashville or spending a lot of time on the road, and I was okay with all of that.”

  He stared as he waited for me to go on.

  “But then you said you were staying here. Working on the ranch and building a house. Then…then you…you mentioned kids.”

  The brilliant smile that appeared on his face nearly left me breathless.

  “Anson, I’m pregnant.”

  His smile never once faltered as he raised his brows and said, “Wait, what?”

  I sniffled and felt my tears building once again. “I just found out today when I went to the doctor to get on birth control.”

  Anson laughed then cupped my face within his hands. “You’re pregnant?”

  “Yep,” I said with a giggle.

  “Holy shit, we’re going to have a baby?”

  “You’re not mad or upset? We haven’t even talked about planning our wedding and bam! Instant family.”

  “Mad? Bristol, I didn’t think I could ever be happier than the day you said you would marry me. I was so wrong.”

  He pulled my mouth to his and kissed me. It was soft and sweet at first, but then turned hotter by the second.

  Anson laid me down on the sofa and smiled against my lips. “You’re really having our baby?”

  “I really am.”

  “I love you so damn much, Bri.”

  His hands worked quickly as he pulled my shorts and panties down in one movement, only stopping to place kisses on my body.

  “Our dinner,” I whispered as I felt him between my legs.

  “We can heat it up. Right now, I want to make love to you.”

  He placed his mouth on my stomach and then looked up at me. My stomach fluttered, and I sighed in anticipation of what was to come.

  Anson stood and pulled off his shirt. I sat up, slipped mine off, and tossed it to the floor. When he took off his boots and then his jeans, I let my gaze wander over his perfectly fit body. A sudden urge to touch him everywhere hit me. I wanted to memorize every inch of his body once again. My fingers longed to softly move along his back muscles as he pushed inside me.

  Pausing, Anson looked down at me and laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked, pretending to be irritated.

  “I just realized I don’t have to use a condom.”

  Lord, I hadn’t even thought of that. Anson lowered himself onto me and said, “I should take you to our bed.”

  “No,” I said with a shake of my head. “Here. Make love to me here, right now.”

  He lifted one of my legs and placed himself at my entrance. He teased me for a few moments by slipping inside a little, then pulling out. He kissed my mouth, my jaw, down my neck, until he found one of my nipples and flicked it lightly with his tongue.

  My back arched, and I wanted to beg him for more. Plead with him to push deep inside of me. I thought about the limo ride on Saturday night. How brazen I had acted. I wanted to ride him like that again. God, how I wanted him deep in me.

  He pushed inside of me when his mouth came to mine again, and I forgot all about what I wanted to do to him. I could only think about how amazing this felt. He felt. How we felt together.

  I wasn’t sure if it was simply because my body craved him like never before, but my orgasm was beginning to build. He moved his hips and went faster.

  “Harder. Anson, go harder!”

  “Are you…you sure we can?”

  Laughing, I looked into his eyes. “I’m positive. Faster.”

  “I don’t want to hurt the baby.”

  “You won’t, Anson! Fuck me harder!”

  He had the nerve to smile but then finally gave me what I wanted so desperately.

  “That’s it. Oh, God, I’m going to come!” I cried out as my orgasm hit me so fast and hard that I saw stars.

  Anson pressed his mouth to mine and then let out a groan as his own release took him over. I loved the sound of our bodies coming together.

  He slowed and then rested his forehead against mine.

  “That was the best sex of my life.”

  I laughed and wrapped my arms around him as I kissed him.

  He pulled out slowly, reached for his shirt on the floor and cleaned himself off first and then me. He dropped down next to me and took in a few deep breaths.

  “We’re having a baby?” he asked again. I loved the wonderment in his eyes.

  “We are.”

  “Okay, so let’s talk about this. When are you due?”

  I couldn’t stop the smile that spread over my face. “I have a feeling you’re going to be writing a song about it if I really give birth on my due date.”

  He chuckled. “What is it? Christmas?”

  When I didn’t answer, he tilted his head and looked at me. “Are you serious? Our baby is due December twenty-fifth?”

  “Yes! Isn’t that so precious! I gave them the date that I knew for sure we conceived the little peanut.”

  “I love that,” he said as he placed his hand on my stomach. “When do you want to get married?”

  “When do you want to?”

  Anson pulled the blanket down from the back of the sofa and wrapped it around us.

  “Before I knew about the baby, I thought maybe we could get married in the summer, and then we could make the European tour our honeymoon.”

  “That’s perfect, Anson! I love that idea.”

  “Yeah?”

  I laced my fingers with his. “Yeah. When will Robert know the dates?”

  “He’s working on it now with Lanny. The only thing that will change is how you and I get to each event. I normally travel with the band, but this time we’ll go separately.”

  I giggled and said, “I can’t believe we’re going to four different countries for our honeymoon.”

  “Where do you want to stay the longest? I’ll have Lanny arrange the dates so the last show is in that country. Or we could go first and then finish up the tour.”

  I shrugged. “I have no idea. You’ve been to Europe before, which was your favorite place you’ve been?”

  “Man, they’re all beautiful for different reasons. But romance-wise, I’d say France or Italy. If I remember right, when we were in high school you mentioned a place in Italy you wanted to go.”

  “Riva del Garda?” I could hear the excitement in my voice.

  “Yes. I’ve got a show in Spain, so we could end the tour there and go over to Italy after, if you want.”

  “Anson, that would be a dream. Are you sure?”

  “Am I sure about honeymooning in Italy? Hell, yes. Bri, I want to take you to every place you’ve ever dreamed of going. You name the place, and I’ll make it happen. I swear to you.”

  I felt my eyes fill with tears as I placed my hand on his chest and whispered, “I’m already there.”

  Bristol - Two months later – June

  “HERE WE GO, your dream house,” Anson said as he and Drake rolled open the house plans that he had just picked up in Austin.

  “Drake’s friend did an amazing job!” Mindy said as she attempted to do a happy dance and quickly stopped. She was now seven months’ pregnant and moving around a bit slower. I was three months’ pregnant and only had the tiniest bump showing. My morning sickness, however, was over the top, and I was more than ready for it to end.

  “What do you think of the front?�
�� Anson asked.

  I brought my hands up to my mouth as I stared at our future house. It was a two-story ranch with a wraparound porch on the bottom. It was perfect and so completely different from the house in Nashville.

  “It’s perfect,” I said as Zeus barked. “The dog agrees!”

  Anson ran his hand over the front. “Picture sandstone rock with cedar posts.”

  “Who had the idea for the black shutters?” Mindy asked.

  Drake smiled. “Me. I told Blake I thought it would look nice because the original ranch house that Anson’s folks lived in had black shutters.”

  “I love it!” I said as I leaned over and kissed my brother on the cheek.

  Anson turned the page to show the back of the house. The porch was beautiful, and I could already imagine sitting on it as we watched the sunsets. The spot Anson and I had picked out on his family’s ranch sat up on a hill and had the most beautiful view of the Texas hill country.

  “Okay, here’s the inside,” Drake said as we flipped through the pages. Everything was going to be perfect. It was a simple country house, perfect for a family living on a ranch, yet elegant enough to be able to host people Anson worked with in the music business.

  “Will the studio and guest house be made of the same rock?” I asked.

  “Yes, it’ll all be the same. The guest house is pretty much a mini version of our house.”

  I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Everything seemed to be falling into place. The song Anson and I had recorded, “Memory Lane,” hit number one on the country music charts this morning. Now our beautiful home was all planned out.

  “It’s perfect, Bri,” Mindy said as she kissed me on the cheek.

  Drake cleared his throat and said, “I’d like to point out that it doesn’t have a gym like the Nashville house.”

  I rolled my eyes as Anson laughed. “Dude, does that house give you a boner or something?”

  Anson had to fly back to Nashville in order to meet with the realtor to put the Belle Meade house on the market. We had flown Drake and Mindy out with us. Mindy had gotten her craving for fried pickles out of the way, and Drake had fallen madly in love with Anson’s personal gym. He would have slept in the damn room if Anson had let him.

  “Ah, but wait. I had something added just for you, Drake,” Anson stated.