All They Wanted

by Kelly Elliott

  Gus jumped up and down, trying to get Gunner to throw a stick. “Not now, boy.”

  His arm wrapped around my waist as we headed back to our tent. “Hmm, wonder why?”

  I leaned my head against his arm. “Thank you for this morning. It was amazing.”

  Gunner kissed the top of my head. “I agree.”

  “As much as I’ve loved this trip, I miss Alex something awful.”

  “Same here. I can’t wait to see her.”

  Gazing up at him, I couldn’t help but smile. I loved how Alex already had Gunner wrapped around her little finger.

  We dropped our things back at our tent and headed over to Jeff and Ari’s site. Josh and Heather were already there. As we walked up, we heard Josh re-telling the story of the mountain lion last night.

  “And it’s started,” Gunner said with a chuckle.

  “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Hayes. The mountain lion keeps getting bigger. It wasn’t that big,” Ari said as she shoved a piece of bacon into her mouth.

  Heather glanced up at us and smiled. “Good morning. Why Ellie, you certainly look beautiful this morning.”

  “I feel beautiful,” I said as I kissed Jeff on the cheek. He gave me a wink and said, “Good morning, sis.”

  Sitting, I reached for a piece of bacon. I inhaled deeply. “Pancakes,” I whispered.

  “Not just any kind of pancakes. Chocolate chip with fresh strawberries.”

  My stomach growled as I watched a large plate of pancakes be placed in the middle of the table. By the time I picked up my fork and went to get a pancake, they were gone.

  “What in the heck, y’all?” I asked as I looked at Heather and Ari.

  “What? I’m feeding two other people,” Heather said with a huge smile.

  Ari on the other hand stood and put a pancake on my plate. “There ya go, Ells.”

  I glanced down at the one cake then back up at Ari. “One? You’re only giving me one?”

  With a shrug, she motioned over to Jeff with her head. “He’s making more.”

  “Here, Ellie, got you some more.”

  Jeff placed two more pancakes on my plate. Heather and Ari were both eyeing them, causing me to slide down the picnic table away from their reach.

  “Hey, it looks like she has more chips in hers,” Ari called out to Jeff.

  Spinning around, Jeff grabbed the chips and dumped them over Ari’s food. “There. You’ve got more chips. Happy now?”

  “Yes, I am.” Her eyes widened as she looked up at Jeff. “What in the hell are you wearing?”

  Everyone looked at Jeff. I couldn’t help but start laughing. His T-shirt said,

  Gunner stood and walked over to Jeff, hitting him on the back. “Now I get the diving symbol on the back of your shirt. Only you, Jeff. Only you.”

  I walked into the stables and took a good look around. Taking in a deep breath, I smiled.

  “Any man who draws in that deep of a breath must either work with horses, or really love them.”

  Turning, I smiled at the young blonde woman standing in the doorway of the stables. She for sure must work at the stables. She had on dusty jeans, boots that had seen a better day, and work gloves were sticking out of her back pocket.

  “I guess you could say both,” I answered.

  Her face lit up with a wider smile. “I was hoping you’d say that. Is there something I can help you with?”

  I shook my head. “Nah, just snuck down here to see if I could get a jump on picking out a horse.”

  “Ah, you must be going on the group trail ride. I’m Kris, I’ll be one of the guides.”

  I tipped my hat. “Yes, ma’am I am in that group. So tell me, Kris, which one would you put a five-year-old on?”

  She frowned. “I didn’t see where there was going to be any young children on this ride.”

  I laughed. “There isn’t, well unless you include Josh; he acts like he’s five.”

  Giggling, she walked over to a stall. “This here is Peppermint. She’s a very sweet and timid girl. Likes to lead the pack and set the pace which is usually a very slow pace.”

  My hand ran along her neck where she treated me with a couple of head bobs. “She’s perfect.”

  The young lady leaned against the stall. I couldn’t help but notice how she let her eyes roam over my body. “Excuse me for saying this, but you don’t seem like the type of guy who needs a gentle horse. You look built to ride. Hard.”

  Well, all right then. She got right to the point and so will I.

  “I wasn’t looking for a horse for me, but for my wife who is pregnant. She’s been on horses her whole life, but she has fallen and lost a baby before, so I want to make sure she is safe.”

  The girl’s cheeks blushed. “I’m so sorry … about the baby and even more for my shameless flirting.”

  I lifted my hands. “It’s all good.”

  “I’m really embarrassed. But in my defense, you’re not a bad looking guy and it’s early in the morning. We’ll use that as my excuse.”

  Laughing, I shook my head and focused back on Peppermint.

  “Is this your first?”

  I motioned to go into the stall. “Yes, please go on in. She’ll love the attention.”

  “To answer your question, this will be our second child. We have an eleven-month-old little boy. Luke is his name.

  “How adorable. I love that name.”

  I lifted up each leg on Peppermint and checked out her shoes.

  Kris walked up to Peppermint’s stall. “I promise your wife is going to be safe. She’s the best horse we’ve got.”

  “So this is where you snuck off to, huh?”

  Peeking up, I saw Ari and Ellie standing there. “Hey, just thought I would come down and see the horses.”

  Ari narrowed her eyes at me. “Uh-huh. Have you personally checked each shoe on every horse in here?”

  Kris laughed. “He was asking about a horse for you to ride.”

  The second Ari’s hands went to her hips, I knew I was in for it.

  “Jeff Johnson. I’ve been riding horses since I was little. I don’t need you treating me like I’m a piece of glass.”

  Kris took a few steps back as she looked between Ari and me. “I think I’ll go ahead and start getting ready for the ride.”

  “Ari, I’m not treating you like a piece of glass. I love you and I love our baby. I’m being careful. That’s all.”

  The stern look on her face instantly melted away. Making her way into the stall, she kissed me tenderly before giving Peppermint attention.

  “She is a beautiful girl, isn’t she?” Ari said with a wide grin.

  Peppermint bobbed her head, causing all of us to laugh.

  “Smart too,” Ellie said.

  “If y’all want to help round up the horses, I won’t say no to the help. We’re two people down today.”

  “I’d love to help,” Ellie answered as she walked over to Kris.

  Ari quickly gave Peppermint a kiss on the nose, turned and said, “Count us in too.”

  We’d been out on the trail for over an hour, and I was pretty sure each of us was in heaven. There was nothing like being on the back of horse and seeing some beautiful Texas country. I could ride all damn day and look at this country side.

  Kris rode up front with Ari and Peppermint, while Tripp, the other guide, brought up the rear. He and Gunner instantly hit it off. Tripp had grown up on a cattle ranch in Leakey, Texas. He was helping out the owners of the stables for a few weekends until their son recovered from a bull riding accident.

  “You say you have a ranch in Mason?” Tripp asked.

  Gunner smiled. “Yes, sir. Been in my family since my great-great-granddaddy.”

  Tripp nodded. “My family’s been raising Longhorns in Leakey since 1884. My dad got eighty thousand for a cow at auction last year.”

  “Holy shit,” Gunner and I both said at once.

  Laughing, Tripp took off his hat and wiped his brow before placing it back on. �
��Elite genetics, gentleman. My great-great-granddad knew what he was doing. We’ve got some Black Angus and Herefords as well. But mostly Longhorns.”

  Ellie let out a very loud groan before turning back to Gunner. “I know you could talk cattle all day, Gunner, but can we leave the shop talk out please. I just want to enjoy what’s around us.”

  Gunner gave my sister a wide smile. “No more shop talk.” He rode his horse alongside Ellie and they moved slightly away from the rest of us.

  “Y’all are a great group of people. Been friends for a while?” Tripp asked.

  I glanced around at everyone. Ari and Kris were lost in a conversation as were Josh and Heather.

  “I’ve known Gunner and Josh since college. The girls have known each other longer.”

  “Wow, and you all ended up together as couples? That’s pretty cool.”

  Focusing back on Tripp, I grinned. The kid couldn’t have been but eighteen years old. “It is cool. For a while, it didn’t look like we would all end up together like we did, but in the end … love won.”

  Tripp’s mouth rose into a wide smile. “I think that’s pretty damn cool. It’s also great to see y’all out here, enjoying some time together.”

  I nodded as I looked out over my friends again.

  “Yeah. It is pretty damn cool.”

  Ellie, Heather, and I all walked down to the river after we had gotten back from the trail ride. The guys were packing up the last of things while we decided to go for one more peek at the water. Ellie was abnormally quiet and Heather was the one chatting it up as we walked up and found a spot to sit.

  I laid out the blanket and kicked my shoes off.

  Ellie and Heather followed my lead.

  “How are y’all feeling?” Ellie asked as she sank down onto the blanket.

  “I’m actually feeling pretty darn good. This weekend was exactly what I needed. Thank you, Ellie, for pushing us into it.”

  Ellie grinned. “It was really more Jeff’s idea. I’m glad we did it though.”

  Her smile faded and she looked away. Sitting up, I took her hand in mine. “Ells, what’s going on?”

  With a shrug, she turned to look at us both. “I guess I’m worried this is it. That once you both have the babies, our friendship will kind of take a backseat.”

  “What?” Heather said as she moved closer to us and took Ellie’s other hand.

  My chest felt tight. I knew exactly how Ellie felt because I’d been feeling the same way.

  “Truth be told, I’ve already expressed my concerns to Jeff. I don’t want to give up times like this, but once we all have kids, will we still be able to do stuff like this?”

  Heather squeezed both Ellie and mines hand. “Apart from my moment of insanity this weekend, I can honestly say you two mean so much to me. But, things are going to change. They already have. We made this weekend work; we’ll make another one work. The great thing about this is we can still do things together, but now we can do them with our kids.”

  A tear slipped slid down my cheek. “I want our kids to all grow up together.”

  “They will,” Heather said with a smile. “They’re going to grow up loving each other and being the best of friends. They’ll fight.” Heather winked at us then scrunched up nose up. “They’ll be the best of friends and probably get into a lot of trouble together.”

  Ellie giggled. “Especially if you have a boy, Heather. Him and Luke, I can see it now if they are anything like their fathers.”

  We all laughed. Ellie took in a deep breath and exhaled.

  “Ells,” Heather said with that sweet smile of hers.

  “I just love you both so much, I don’t ever want to lose what we have. I don’t want it to change.”

  I stood up and motioned for Ellie and Heather to stand up. “We’ve been friends a long time. Been through a lot together and I know the future is going to hold a lot of laughter, tears, and most likely a few arguments.”

  I took both of their hands in mine. “But the one thing that will never change is us.”

  We all embraced in a hug and started laughing when Heather’s pregnant belly nearly touched mine.

  My heart felt full and I knew deep down inside, nothing important would ever change. I’d always have these women by my side through thick and thin.

  “I love you bitches,” I said through a sob.

  Ellie sniffled and hugged me tighter. “I love you too, Ari.”

  Heather pulled back and looked into my eyes. “I love you to infinity.”

  We hugged for a few more minutes before we got our emotions under control.

  Sitting back on the blanket, we talked about baby rooms and Heather’s wedding. The whole time I couldn’t help but think about Jeff’s promise of coming back to the state park with our kids and their kids.

  With a smile, I filed this spot deep within my heart. The three of us would sit in this spot again one day; I believed it deep within the depth of my soul.

  I leaned back and let the warm Texas sun hit my face as I listened to Heather and Ellie argue about what would be the best way to set up the chairs on the beach for Heather’s wedding. With a smile, I listened to them go on and on.

  This is what life was all about and I’d never take it for granted. Every smile, tear, and angry word spoken. It all shaped us into who we were and who we would become.

  My heart felt heavy as I shut the tailgate on my truck. The weekend was over and we’d all be heading back to reality.

  “You all right, Gunner?”

  Josh’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. A little sad to see the weekend ending. It’s been fun hanging out like old times.”

  Josh nodded and blew out a deep breath. “Things are really going to change in a few months.”

  I smiled and hit his back. “Especially for you, dude. You’re getting married in a few weeks, babies on the way this summer. Your world is about to be turned upside down.”

  He frowned and snarled his lip. “Gee, thanks for the pep talk there, Gunner.”

  “Keeping it real my friend, keeping it real.”

  “You both packed up and ready to go?” Jeff asked as he made his way over to us.

  “I think so. The next time we want to do a weekend getaway, I vote for somewhere warm, with a place on the beach and comfortable beds,” Josh said as he rubbed his lower back.

  “Too much sex on the blow-up?” Jeff asked with a straight face.

  Rolling his eyes, Josh gave Jeff a dirty look. “You could probably have sex anywhere, I swear.”

  Jeff nodded. “My goal someday is sex on a horse.”

  Josh and I both stared at Jeff. Pinching my brows, I asked, “Sex on a horse. With Ari?”

  “Well certainly not with the fucking horse, Gunner. Yes, with Ari. What in the hell, dude?”

  Tossing my head back, I laughed then punched Jeff on the arm. “Hell, you don’t really know with you, Johnson.”

  Josh chuckled as we made our way over to the girls. “Think they had fun?” Josh asked.

  “Well I don’t know about you two, but I made sure my wife had a good time. At least when we were alone I did.”

  “Jesus, Jeff. Is that all you think about is sex?” Josh asked.

  “Yes,” Ari answered as she turned and looked at us. “Ninety-nine percent of the time.”

  Jeff pulled Ari to him and kissed her on the lips. “And you love it.”

  She rubbed her stomach. “I must if I’m pregnant again with your baby.”

  Heather seemed to melt into Josh as he held her close to him. She looked up at Josh then over to Ellie and smiled. “I’ll be the first to admit I wasn’t so sure about this trip, but I’ve had a blast. I miss my bed, but it’s been a nice break from reality.”

  I motioned with my finger for Ellie. She stood and walked into my arms. Her warm body brought mine to life. Standing on her toes, she kissed me gently then said, “This has been so much fun, but I miss Alex.”

  Ari let o
ut a sigh of relief. “I’ve been almost on the verge of tears I miss Luke so much.”

  “I can’t wait to see the little guy,” Jeff added.

  I looked around at my best friends and felt a peace settle into my chest. I wasn’t sure when the next time we would be able to sneak off like this for a weekend would be, but I made a promise to myself that I would make sure we had small moments like this. Just us, being us.

  Ellie turned in my arms and faced everyone else as we stood in a circle. Turning my attention on Josh and Heather, I said, “So, in a few weeks we’re marrying off the last two of the gang.”

  Heather’s face lit up as did Josh’s. “I’m ready. More than ready, honestly,” Josh said as he placed his hands over Heather’s swollen belly.

  Looking up at Josh, Heather softly said, “I’m counting down the days.”

  We stood there in silence. It was almost like no one really wanted to leave, but I knew we were all ready to get home and get settled back into life.

  “I guess we should head back,” Jeff said first. “But there is one thing I want to do before we go.”

  Ellie looked at her brother and asked, “What’s that?”

  With a smile, he looked at each of us, one at a time. “I want us all to stand here and make a promise to each other that someday we’ll return to these campsites with our kids and their kids.”

  Ari wiped a tear from her face.

  I nodded. “I’m all about that promise, Jeff.”

  “Same here, I think that’s a great idea,” Josh said as he leaned down and kissed Heather’s forehead.

  We all turned and faced the river. Before I knew it, we stood in a line, our arms all wrapped around the person next to them as we looked out over the scenery.

  “What do you think it will be like?” Ellie asked with a wide grin. “I can’t help but wonder how many kids each of us will have and how many kids they’ll have. Will they grow up and move away or stay close by us?”

  “I’m going to say, after this, I’m think we’ll stick to the two we’re having,” Heather said with a light sigh.

  Everyone laughed.

  Ari peeked up to Jeff. “I think two sounds about right for us as well.”