Before Josh could answer a nurse ran into the room. “Mr. Carver, I think you better come quickly. Jenna is having a bit of trouble.”
Josh looked at their gathered family and caught Callan’s eye. “We’ll pray,” she said quietly and he nodded before he hurried out of the room behind the nurse.
Reaching Jenna’s side, she was so pale her skin was nearly translucent. Her eyes were shut and she now had on an oxygen mask. Taking her hand in his, he looked at the doctor with a question in his eyes.
“We’re doing everything we can, Josh, but her organs are starting to shut down and she had a seizure. On rare occasions that happens with preeclampsia no matter how hard we try to stop it.”
The doctor continued working while Josh continued praying. All of the sudden a monitor started beeping.
“We’re losing her,” a nurse said loudly. “Come on, don’t give up now, Jenna.”
The medical team worked frantically to keep Jenna alive. “Josh, maybe you better step back now,” Dr. Meliah said.
Josh shook his head and squeezed Jenna’s hand tightly in his own as he put his lips near her ear. “Jenna, don’t you dare leave me now. We’ve got two beautiful boys just waiting for us to take them home. I need you with me. I love you, Babe. Always have, always will.”
“No pulse. She’s flatlining!”
“Jenna, don’t leave me,” Josh cried out. “Jenna, no!”
Epilogue
Four years later
Josh smiled as the receptionist at the tire store handed him an invoice to sign. Writing his name and the date, he turned the paperwork back around to her and slid it across the counter.
“Those boys of yours are growing like weeds,” the receptionist said, handing Josh his copy of the receipt as she looked over the counter at the twins, standing one on each side of their dad.
“They sure are,” he said in agreement. He couldn’t believe the boys were already past their fourth birthday. The twins were identical in appearance except for their skin color. While Jaret had Josh’s dark olive toned skin, Jace’s fair skin with a sprinkling of freckles across his nose came from his mother. They both had Josh’s dark hair and big gray eyes.
Jace, born with the cord wrapped around his neck at birth, was a little smaller and weaker than his twin. Jaret was already protective of his brother, seeming to know he was the stronger of the two. When they were tiny babies, they often wouldn’t go to sleep unless Jaret had his arm or hand touching Jace.
Smiling down at the boys, they looked up at Josh expectantly.
“Would you like some popcorn?” Josh asked, already knowing the answer. The tire store usually had fresh popcorn popping for their customers and the boys loved to get some anytime they stopped by.
“Yes, please,” Jaret replied while Jace nodded.
Josh partially filled two small bags with the warm treat and handed them to the boys.
“Thank you,” they both said as they dug their little hands into the bags and took a bite.
“You two ready to roll?” Josh asked as he herded them out the door with a wave to the receptionist. Callan had watched the boys today and Clay came home on his lunch break to play with them, so they were full of stories and excitement.
“Yep, Daddy,” Jaret said. “Let’s roll.”
Helping the boys into their car seats, he knew his pickup was soon going to smell like popcorn, but he didn’t mind.
Snitching a few kernels from Jace’s bag, the little boy wrinkled his nose in a way that reminded Josh so much of their mother that it made his chest tighten with emotion. Both of his sons may look like him, but so many of their mannerisms reminded him of his beloved Jenna. “Daddy, that’s mine.”
“It is? I better even things up then,” Josh said, stealing a few pieces from Jaret’s bag.
“Daddy!” the boys said in unison, then started giggling when Josh made a funny face at them.
“What do you think we should have for dinner tonight?” Josh asked as they drove toward home, fully anticipating their response. He watched the twins devouring their popcorn in the rearview mirror. They were sweet boys with nice manners, especially for 4-year-olds, and Josh was so proud of them some days he thought he might burst.
“Burgers please,” Jace said, munching his popcorn.
“Yeah, burgers,” Jaret agreed. “With a pickle.”
“With a pickle? Who likes pickles?” Josh asked as they pulled into the driveway and he parked by the back door.
“I do, I do,” the boys yelled in unison.
“Why don’t you two go play in the backyard for a while,” Josh said, setting them down on the ground, as he took a bag of groceries into the house.
Running into the backyard, they hurried toward their tire swing hanging from a big oak tree. They were reaching out for it when a familiar voice called out to them.
“Where’s my love, you two?”
Turning around they ran up onto the back porch and into Jenna’s open arms. “Hi, Mama!”
Both boys climbed on her lap and gave her a kiss before scrambling down and bouncing off one foot to the other.
“Mama, we got to help Auntie Callan plant flowers today and Uncle Clay had lunch with us and gave us horsey rides,” Jace said, his little hand resting on Jenna’s leg as he looked at her excitedly.
“Auntie Callan said we are big boys and good helpers,” Jaret added, leaning against his mother’s other leg.
Jenna grabbed them both in a warm hug and kissed them again. “Your Auntie Callan is correct. You are good helpers and big boys. And I love you very much.”
“Love you, Mama,” they said running back out to their swing and jumping on it together. Jaret turned around and added, “Daddy said we could have burgers with a pickle for dinner.”
“Oh he did, did he?” Jenna questioned, laughing when both boys nodded their heads so enthusiastically they nearly knocked off their little ball caps.
Jenna had been sitting in the backyard enjoying the warm April afternoon waiting for her men to come home. Leaning back against her anniversary bench, she ran a hand over the smooth wood. Releasing a deep, contented sigh, she looked around and smiled. Life was so good. She could hear the pivots cha-chinking as they watered the hay fields and their new baby Herefords chased each other in the pasture behind the house. Watching them frolic and play reminded her of Jace and Jaret’s antics.
Working two days a week in the office, Jenna spent the rest of her time working from home. Despite her initial reservations about how it would work, she discovered it was possible to have a successful and fulfilling career while fulfilling her most important roles as a mother and wife.
Jace and Jaret had been miracles for which she daily gave thanks, along with her own spared life. Those two little boys, the babies she at one time vehemently wished would just disappear, were everything to her. Well, everything along with their daddy. Josh had to be one of the best fathers ever. He never shied from changing a diaper, sitting up when the boys were colicky, or rocking them to sleep. Now that they were bigger, he often took the boys with him so Jenna could have some peace and quiet while she worked.
Callan kept the boys on Mondays while their Wednesdays were spent in Portland with Aunt Amelia having any number of adventures.
Starting to get up from the bench, Jenna watched Josh come out the back door with two glasses of iced tea and sat back down.
“Hey Babe, I thought you might like a cold drink,” he said, handing her a glass as he settled beside her. Putting his arm around the back of the bench, he pulled her closer to him and kissed her cheek.
“How did your afternoon go?” he asked, taking a deep drink of the tea.
“Great. I was able to leave the office early. It was such a beautiful day I just had to sit out here to enjoy the warmth and sunshine. How did the boys do with Callan?”
“Good. You know how much she and Clay enjoy having them.”
“Almost as much as we do,” Jenna said with a smile. Growing serious, she l
ooked at Josh with love and warmth while he fell into the molten pools of her eyes. “If I haven’t mentioned it before, I am so grateful to you for giving me all this,” Jenna waved her hand around for emphasis.
“All this?” Josh asked, giving Jenna a teasing grin. “All what?”
“You know what I mean,” Jenna said, smacking his leg. “This beautiful farm, the peace of the country, our sons and most of all your love. You took on this city girl and turned her into a country wife. I can’t imagine my life any other way now.”
“I can’t imagine life without you in it, Jenna. When I think how close we came to losing you, it just makes me want to fall on my knees and thank God for leaving you here with me and the boys,” Josh said as he set down his empty tea glass and wrapped Jenna in his arms. “Thank you for loving this country boy enough to follow along with my dreams and make new ones together. I love you so much. Always have, always will.”
“I love you, too,” Jenna said, turning in Josh’s arms to give him a kiss. Before their lips connected, she heard a little voice whispering loudly from behind the bench.
“I told you they were doing it again,” Jaret said.
“Yep. They are,” Jace agreed. Standing on his tiptoes he looked over the back of the bench. “Mama, don’t you get tired of kissing Daddy?”
“Never, Jace. Never, ever.”
“That makes two of us,” Josh said, pulling her closer. “Close your eyes, boys, or you’ll see me kiss Mama again.”
“Ewww,” the twins said, covering their eyes with their hands.
Josh and Jenna laughed, knowing in each other’s arms, with their boys beside them, was the best place they could ever be.
###
JENNA’S CHOCOLATE BUNDT CAKE
1 box chocolate fudge cake mix
1 small box instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
½ cup water
½ cup oil
3 eggs
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate squares chopped into chunks
½ cup chocolate frosting
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine cake mix, pudding, sour cream, water, oil and eggs until well blended. The batter will be really thick – but that is how you want it!
Stir in chips and spoon mix into a greased bundt pan.
Bake for an hour or until cake pulls away from edges of pan and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let cool completely before turning out on to a platter or cake stand.
Put pre-made chocolate frosting in a microwave safe pourable container (I use a cream pitcher) and warm on high for about 12 seconds. Pour over cake then dust with powdered sugar.
Enjoy!
Thank you for reading Josh and Jenna’s story.
Read all the books in the Women of Tenacity Series, starting with the Prelude…
The Women of Tenacity - A Prelude
Welcome to Tenacity! Meet the stubborn, independent women who live here and the wild, rugged men who love them in this short story. Callan Matthews lives a hectic life balancing a demanding job and starting her own business. Her husband Clay, the consummate prankster, decides it is up to him to get Callan to lighten up and have a little fun. Jenna Carver is a confirmed city girl even if her husband Josh conveniently forgets that fact as he drags her from one farm adventure to another.
Heart of Clay - The Women of Tenacity Book 1
Callan Matthews has become a master at burying pain and emotions. Her husband Clay mistakenly thinks he knows everything there is to know about this woman he loves. Callan’s secret, once revealed, could create a chasm too deep for either of them to cross.
Country Boy vs. City Girl - The Women of Tenacity Book 2
Jenna Keaton is perfectly content with her life as a city girl and has no plans to change it until she falls in love with dashing urbanite Josh Carver. He is everything she’s ever dreamed of in a man – refined, charming, and handsome with a lucrative career. When he unexpectedly reveals his lifelong aspiration is to be a farmer, she decides he’s gone off the deep end. It’s a headlong battle of stubborn will, outrageous adventures and unexpected heartbreak as the country boy takes on this city girl.
Not His Type - The Women of Tenacity Book 3
Anna Zimmerman is a self-declared old maid. A spinster. Washed up and doomed at the ripe old age of 24 to live alone in a tiny apartment full of cats. And she really isn’t all that fond of cats. Then a chance encounter with a handsome cowboy thrusts her down a different path. Jake Chandler likes his women blond, petite and vivacious. At least he thinks he does until he bumps into the painfully shy librarian who works across the street. She is everything he never knew he wanted in a woman. Now he just has to convince Anna that she’s perfect for him.
SHANNA HATFIELD spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist before moving into the field of marketing and public relations. She has a lifelong love of writing, reading and creativity. She and her husband reside in the Pacific Northwest with their neurotic cat along with a menagerie of wandering wildlife and neighborhood pets.
Shanna loves to hear from readers:
Blog: shannahatfield.com
Facebook: Shanna Hatfield’s Page
Twitter: ShannaHatfield
Smashwords: Shanna Hatfield’s Profile
Email: [email protected]
Country Boy vs. City Girl Page 24
