“You feeling okay?” I asked, reaching for her hand as she used her fork to scoot her food around her plate with the other.
She nodded, setting her fork down. I squeezed her hand in support as she picked up her glass of water and took a drink.
“I have a surprise for you. Something to tell you…”
“Whatever it is, Hannah, you can tell me.”
Looking straight at me with a nervous smile on her face she finally spit it out. “I have a new job offer.”
My shoulders relaxed with her words, a tension in them I hadn’t noticed lifting. I’d known she hadn’t been happy with her current job for a while, but she’d been determined to stick it out for a year. That year was now nearly up.
“That’s great, babe. I hadn’t realized you were already looking. What is it? Are you going to accept?”
She cleared her throat, her eyes falling from mine back to her plate. “That’s the thing…I’m not sure. I want to, because it’s a great opportunity. It’s just…”
I could hear the worry in her voice and knew immediately what had her all worked up. The job wasn’t in Seattle. She’d told me before she may have to move for a job elsewhere. Shifting forward to the edge of my seat to get closer to her, I lifted her chin to look at me. “Hannah, wherever it is we’ll make it happen. You don’t have to worry. I’m not tied to Seattle. The only thing I’m tied to is you.”
And that was the damn truth. I’d chase after Hannah wherever her job took her. She was my dream come true. The best thing to ever happen to me.
The somberness in her expression slowly lifted with her smile. “That’s good. Because it’s an offer I’m not sure I could refuse… How would you feel about living in a small town in the middle of Nowhere, Texas? I hear the service is terrible, and the people are nosy as hell, but they have one of the best burgers you’ll ever have the pleasure of putting in your mouth.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. I pulled her from her chair and into my lap. “I’d say that sounds like a damn fine place to be. And I really like your kind of surprises.”
“That’s good,” she said with another big smile. “Because I have another one for you. A big one that I’m hoping you’ll like even more.”
She nibbled at her bottom lip, hesitating to deliver the next surprise she had in store for me.
“I’m on pins and needles here, blondie.”
With a deep breath she said the last two words I expected to hear: “I’m pregnant.”
Epilogue
BILLY
If you’d have told me a year ago that everything I’d dreamed of happening would come true, I would’ve said you were out of your damn mind. Dreams didn’t come true for me, something always came along to dash them no matter how badly I wanted them, or how hard I fought for them.
Today, I was no longer that man. I believed things happened for a reason, even if you don’t understand it at the time. Dreams are always changing. And the ones you work for and achieve are the ones I believe are truly meant to be your path in life.
Looking over at the woman sitting beside me in my truck, I knew she was the one. I probably knew it from the first moment I laid eyes on her. I pulled the vehicle to a stop near the river. A few hundred yards away would be where Tucker’s construction company would be breaking ground on our new house in the morning.
Hannah rubbed her palm over the tiny baby bump below her dress, her skin glowing, her big hazel eyes full of peace. She’d been happier here than I ever expected when we first moved to Billingsley a few months earlier.
She’d taken the offer Lottie had given her. Turned out Hannah wasn’t the only one pregnant. Lottie and Tucker were expecting one of their own, and Lottie had asked Hannah to be part owner of the shop. She needed someone she could trust to help her run things, so she wasn’t working as much. Knowing Hannah was the person she trusted most and deserved it the most, she’d made the offer for Hannah to buy in and be a fifty-fifty partner. The idea of the store in Billingsley had after all been Hannah’s.
“What are we doing here?” she asked.
I’d told her we were going out for dinner tonight to celebrate my Little League team’s first win. Turned out, I found a new calling while living in Seattle. I hadn’t realized how much satisfaction I’d get out of coaching the next generation of baseball players. As soon as we returned to Billingsley, I signed up as a volunteer coach.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“Of course, you do.” She chuckled.
I grinned, jumping out of the truck. I jogged to the other side and helped her out. Taking her hand in mine, I walked us closer to the river, where I had Leighton and Aaron help set up a little picnic on a blanket for us. Her head fell against my shoulder as we walked, her one free hand always caressing our baby.
When she first told me the news that night in Seattle, I’d thought I heard her wrong. I knew we hadn’t been using protection, but she’d been on the pill. Turned out the antibiotics she took for a little bacterial infection she’d had made them temporarily ineffective.
It didn’t matter. I’d always planned on having kids with her someday. It just came a little sooner than expected, and I was more than fucking thrilled at the idea of her carrying my child. Boy or girl, I didn’t care, because I planned to have more than one with her.
“What’s that?” she asked as I helped her to a sitting position on the ground. Her eyes were looking curiously at a box wrapped up perfectly with a bow and her name on it.
“That’s part of the surprise.”
“Can I open it now?”
I chuckled, taking a seat beside her. “I don’t know. I was thinking about having you wait awhile before allowing you to.”
“You know I’m not that patient, right?”
“Yeah.” I kissed her head. “I know. Let’s hope our child doesn’t get that from you.”
She gave my side a light jab with her elbow as I pulled her into me. “Sometimes, I wonder why I put up with you, cowboy.”
“I figure it has to do with my culinary skills. You’d starve otherwise.”
“I managed just fine for years without you.”
“Managed? Sure. But you weren’t living until you met me, and you weren’t pregnant, with late-night cravings, in the middle of nowhere.”
“You sure have an ego on you, lately.”
“How could I not when I have you on my arm? Plus, I’m hoping you’ll want to put up with me for even longer after you open that box.”
“Does that mean I can open it now?”
“Sure.” I shrugged.
She picked it up, tearing through the paper and flipping open the lid. She tossed out a few pieces of the surrounding tissue paper to reveal her surprise. She lifted the baseball from the box, her eyes flooding as she rotated it around in her hand to read the words I’d written on it for her.
Will you marry me, slugger?
Her hand went to her mouth as she held back her tears. She looked up at me where I’d shifted to one knee, a ring in my hand.
“Hannah, that first night I met you I knew there was something different about you, something that would change my life forever. You were never a one-night stand for me. You were once in a lifetime. I’m pretty sure that’s why I felt the way I did when you let those three words slip. Because deep down, I think my heart fell in love with you the moment I laid my eyes on you… So, please tell me you’ll make one more dream come true for this small-town cowboy.”
Her head bobbing, tears streaming, she flew into my arms, tackling me to the ground. Her lips were all over me as I rolled her to the side, pulling back slightly. “Is that a yes?”
“No.” She shook her head. "It’s a hell yes, cowboy.”
I took a brief moment to stare at her, committing to my memory the way this beautiful, glowing woman looked while promising to spend her life with me. Then, leaning in again, I kissed her the way I planned to every day for as long as I lived.
THANK YOU FOR READING!
/> I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, I would greatly appreciate a short review on Amazon, Goodreads or your favorite book website. Reviews help readers find books.
Thank you again!
BOOKS BY MELISSA ELLEN
BLACKWOOD SERIES
A REASON TO STAY
THE ONLY ONE
A REASON TO LEAVE
FOREVER YOURS
BILLINGSLEY SERIES
REDEEMING LOTTIE
CHASING HANNAH
TAMING WES - COMING FALL 2018
About the Author
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Acknowledgments
There is always so many people that stand behind an author as they write, encouraging and supporting them on their journey. With each book, I feel like this support team is more and more important. I also love how much mine has grown.
I’d like to start by thanking all my readers! Thank you for spending your precious spare time picking up and reading my books. Thank you for your words of encouragement and referring your friends and family to my books. It means so much to me.
I would like to thank my two lovely of beta readers for Chasing Hannah. Thank you Christy and Samantha for hanging in there with me. I know this one was a whirlwind and fast turn around. Your quick and honest feedback is greatly appreciated. The book wouldn’t be complete without you being a part of its creation.
I would also like to thank my editor, Taryn. She has been a huge blessing and a joy to work with. She’s taught me quite a bit in a short amount of time, giving me the confidence to keep writing and knowledge to improve. I look forward to working with her in the future.
Last but never least, thank you to my husband and son. I know I was MIA for quite a few nights while trying to get this book written. I hope you both know how thankful I am to have you two in my life.
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