by Jules Dixon
“Maybe Holt found a job here?” Bryson took his new beer from Tia and handed off the empty bottle.
“Maybe. Or he’s packed and ready to head back to Montgomery.”
“I guess you’ll find out in thirty minutes. And maybe you should slow down on the alcohol? Or you won’t be able to talk soon.” He grabbed my wrist when I tried to take another drink.
Tia set Jake’s drink in front of him, and I shook my low glass. “Another, please.”
Tia’s eyes darted between the two of them.
I rattled the ice in my glass again. “They’re not my babysitters. Well, actually, they might be when I have a baby.”
“Not me,” Jake said solidly.
“I’ll do it. I love kids,” Bryson offered.
I dropped my hand to the table. “Bryson, I had a huge crush on you when I first started working at VSI.”
That admission effectively stopped conversation.
Tia rolled her huge coffee bean colored eyes and walked away.
“Um, thanks? I guess?”
I rubbed the palms of my hands into my eye sockets.
Fuck, that was great.
“Sorry, Welch, having your substitute boss telling you you’re fucking hot and those goddamn eyelashes of yours are like gay-and-bisexual-man catnip is probably uncomfortable. Right?”
“I’ve been hit on before. Don’t find it offensive. I’m just not interested.”
Tia returned with my next drink.
Jake grabbed it, moving it out of my reach. “He needs food before this.”
“I’ll go check again,” she said. “It should be up next.”
I finished off my glass and pointed across the table. “Hand it over. Now, Greenstein!”
“You’re not going to be able to talk to Holt.”
“I don’t need to talk, I only need to listen. I’ve said everything I need to. He needs to tell me if he’s in or he’s…” I chuckled. “Out.”
Jake joined me. “I think he’s out.”
Tia brought over the food, and there was nothing that silenced a group of guys quicker.
After we’d devoured our meals, Bryson ordered another beer and Jake finally slid my second glass of vodka to me.
“Thanks, babysitter.”
“No problem, mini-Ogre.”
I didn’t want to be like this. I wanted to be myself. If there was anything I really wanted, it was to know which way things were going to go with Holt. Not knowing was too hard on my heart. If I just knew the reality, I could accept the aftermath and move forward.
“Ollie. Hey guys, Jake, Bryson.” His voice rolled all of our names with his slow southern charm.
Bryson stood. “We’ll move to the bar.”
“That isn’t necessary,” I offered. “If he can’t just tell me what he needs to with you guys here, then I don’t need to hear it.”
There was asshole in my voice, but love in my heart. Too bad the asshole was the one doing all of the talking.
Chapter Seventeen
Holt
“Let’s go, Jake.” Bryson stopped near me and shook my hand.
Damn, his lashes are long.
He lowered his voice and stepped closer. “Holt, he’s had one too many. I’ll drive him home, if needed.”
“Thanks, Bryson.”
Jake cleared his throat. “Hey, Holt. I just want to say I’m sorry for how I acted on Saturday. You can get the full story from Ollie, but let’s just say I’m flying a rainbow flag at full mast now and I accept you how you are.”
I tipped my hat to Jake. “Thank you for the apology. No harm done.” I stared across the table. “I believe in second and sometimes third chances.”
“Good to hear. You need us, just whistle.”
“Will do.”
I wanted to be closer to Oliver. I took the chair next to his and removed my jacket. As I stared into his glazed eyes, I wondered if now was the best time to do this, but then I remembered back to a conversation this morning.
Family is what matters…
“But Mama…”
“No, you stop bein’ afraid of what could happen and enjoy what is real. If you love Oliver and he loves you, this baby is a gift to both of you.”
“But—”
“You say that one more time and I’m gonna come up there and kick your butt! Holt Abraham Jamison, I know you are a grown man, but you are actin’ like you are two years old. Grow up. Take responsibility. Be the man I raised!”
“I still don’t know. Maybe it’s just too quick.”
“Does Oliver kiss you in public?”
“He wants to.”
“Let him. Does he show you off to his friends?” The questions were typical for her.
“Yes.”
“Good. You do the same with him to your friends and family. Does Oliver think you’re perfect the way you are?”
“I think he does.”
“Well, to him you should be and he should be to you, too, regardless of any faults or mistakes. So what else is there to think about, Holt?”
“I’m scared that I won’t be a good father. Mama, I didn’t know how to be me until a few days ago, and I’m still learnin’.”
“Better late than never,” she rattled off the words like they were actually going to help.
I’d yanked the phone away from my ear and shook my head at the screen.
That’s your wise advice?
“Okay, now that’s cleared up. Your daddy and I will be coming up for Thanksgivin’ to see all of you. I expect to meet this girl who will be a part of our lives, too. She’s an angel and we need to remember this is going to be the hardest thing she’s ever had to do in her life, Holt.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
“Nope, ‘cause all you were concerned with is you and how bad your life seemed, when honey, you have a loving boyfriend, a family who adores you, talents that will take you into any job, and now a woman who is willin’ to bless you with the next generation of your own family.” She huffed. “Frankly, you need to get your head outta your ass, Holt. Listen to your heart and remember family is what matters most.”
“I love you, Mama.”
“Don’t suck up. That’s Cade’s method of gettin’ me to do what he wants me to.”
I chuckled. “But it’s true.”
“I love you, too. Now, you go talk to Oliver and work this out and accept the gift this child is. Yes, Red! I’ll be right there. I gotta go. Your daddy is yellin’ for his lunch.”
“I’ll call you next week.”
“You better. Bye, my beautiful boy.”
“Bye, Mama.”
What was crazy was I’d really called her to see if she and Daddy would front me the down payment for the farm, but I’d blurted out what’d happened between Ollie and me instead. After getting that settled, being a farmer seemed less important than having him and our baby in my life. I would and could find another job, probably one that paid more than farming, but I wouldn’t enjoy it quite as much. Still, there were options, and I needed to see past myself.
I stared at Oliver as the wisdom of Mama’s words settled into me again.
A baby. An amazing boyfriend. No job. Seems less than perfect, but perfect is an exaggerated delusion. Family is what’s important, and what’s real.
“Ollie, I’m scared.”
He leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. “And you think I’m not? Shit, Holt, if I had boots on they would be shaking right now. I just want you to tell me what you’re going to do.”
I stood from my stool and swiveled his chair so he faced me. Separating his legs, I stepped in between them, and after clasping my hand behind his head in the not-so-busy, but busy-enough-to-make-a-statement bar, I tipped my brim high on my head and sealed my mouth over his. I sunk into the kiss to show him what I was going to do. He whimpered his approval.
There was no hiding our love anymore and to hell with those who didn’t agree with or appreciate our love. Only he and I needed to, a
nd at the moment I was willing to take anyone on who felt the need to tell me otherwise. I showed my man he was mine and I wasn’t going anywhere.
I slid from the kiss to his ear. “I will travel any road as long as we make the journey together. This baby may not have my DNA, but if he or she has yours then that is all that matters, because I am a part of you and you are a part of me.”
I stepped back and pulled a small box and package from my jacket, setting the package on the table. “Oliver Aston, I love you and I want you to be mine forever.” I opened the box and inside were two simple platinum gold bands. “The right one is yours, the left one is mine. I put that on your finger and there will be no promise that will ever be stronger.”
“You’re sure?”
“Ollie, I just kissed you in public. I can’t wait to show you off to my friends and family. No matter what happens, I can’t imagine being without you. I don’t know what life has in store for us, but let’s face it as a couple.” A smile brightened his face. I added, “With our child or maybe children, if we decide that’s what we want.”
“I want two or three kids with you, Holt.”
I smiled back, but braced myself with the table and tried to hide the fact that my knees had weakened. “Good to hear. Now, are you gonna put that ring on your finger or do I have to hold you down and force it on there?”
Ollie smirked. “I wouldn’t mind that either.” He flicked his blonde eyebrows up and down.
I threw my head back and laughed. “Later, Aston.”
Tugging a band from the box, he stood as I sat on my stool. “More than any promise, only you and me, Holt.” He slipped the band on my hand.
“You and me, forever.” I slipped the other one on his hand.
Ollie sealed our commitment with one of his slow kisses that spun my head in fifty different directions. When he broke away from me, without even asking if it was for him, he tore into the small package like a four-year-old at Christmas. He held the gift up and beamed a smile. “Did you do this?”
“Yep. Mrs. Whiteman had a sewin’ machine and Mama talked me through it over a video call on my brother’s cell phone. I can see her gettin’ a cell phone or a computer just to be able to see our baby and us. They’re planning on comin’ up for Thanksgiving.”
“That’s great!”
He held the onesie, which was half Alabama Crimson Tide and half Nebraska Cornhuskers, in the air. Split down the middle, the outfit spoke to our own tiny bilingual north/south cheerleader dressed in love.
“I kind of hope for a girl,” Oliver said while examining my minor-league handiwork.
“Healthy and happy is all that’s really important.”
The waitress came to the table and squealed while she grabbed the tiny baby clothing. “Ollie!” She nodded her head at me.
“Sorry, Tia Cotes, this is Holt Jamison.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Holt. Congratulations, I kind of saw all of the excitement from the waitressing station.” She picked up my hand and examined the band. “Beautiful. You want a drink?”
“Thanks. You have champagne?”
“I think so. Maybe not the fancy French stuff, but bubbles are bubbles, right?” Her black ringlets brushed my shoulder as she turned toward the bar. “Damn! Presley is right. So fucking hot.” I heard her mumble under her breath before she walked away.
Oliver burst out laughing. Nodding to our table, he called out, “Welch! Greenstein!”
I did a country whistle to get their attention.
“Engaged?” Bryson asked, holding out his hand for another shake.
Ollie and I met eyes. My throat tightened as the reality of the moment overtook me. “More like—forever together,” I choked out.
Ollie mouthed “thank you,” and I dragged his chair closer to mine.
“I like that.” Bryson shook our hands.
“Congratulations,” Jake said from across the table.
“Thanks, Jake.”
“Mind if I tell some people and invite them here to celebrate?” Ollie asked.
“Whatever you want, babe.”
Soon there were tables moved and twenty-plus people surrounded us with multiple bottles of popped champagne sparkling in glasses. Cade sat next to me and had texted every family member with the news. I didn’t tell him to do it or not to, but he said that if my brothers and sisters couldn’t be happy for me, then they didn’t deserve to be part of our family. Within minutes of his text, I received text after text congratulating Ollie and I on both our commitment and the baby. I’d never tell the pain-in-my-ass but that one gesture would be the one I held in my heart as a bond that could never be broken between us.
An hour into the celebration, a warm hand landed on my shoulder, and I turned in my swiveling bar chair. “Hey, Rahl.”
“Holt, can I talk to you in private, please?”
His somber presentation made me wonder if something bad had happened to Sage and he didn’t want to ruin the celebration. But I quickly remembered his nickname and assumed he always appeared a step below pissed and a step above depressed.
“Sure. Ollie, I’ll be right back.”
Presley, Willow, and Jake’s friend Ember had Ollie’s attention as they passed the baby onesie back and forth like it was filled with a tiny body already, and he beamed a smile. No one had been anything but accepting and welcoming to us as a couple. And no one in the bar had even blinked an eye. At least I didn’t see them, but my attention was only on one person. Plus, I was sure that if anyone voiced something other than support, Oliver would tell them they could leave or any one of the guys at the table would take care of it for us, which meant as much to me.
Rahl and I walked outside and the air chilled my skin through my checkered cotton shirt.
“How’s Sage doin’?”
“She’s at home sleeping. I told her I would be back in an hour and I will. The contractions have stopped and she’s only getting fucking rainbows and goddamn butterflies from me.”
I chuckled. “All good to hear.”
“This whole thing with her grandparents and Dave has taken a toll on her and that’s where you come in, Holt. Soldier, you have a choice.”
I roamed his face with my eyes. Rahl’s brown eyes were the only things soft on the solid man.
“Choice?”
“I talked to some contacts today and you have a contracting job waiting with VSI doing translation, if that’s what you’d like to do. Even if it’s only part-time, you would make a very good living.”
“Rahl, I don’t think—”
“I. Wasn’t. Done. Soldier.” He snapped his arms in front of his massive chest.
“Yes, sir.”
“Your other choice is to stay on at the farm. You, Ollie, and your soon-to-be family can live in the house, you care for everything, and you rent the land.”
“I thought the Whitemans’ were sellin’?”
“They did sell. To me. Well, technically, Dave, Sage, and me.” He leaned back against the brick that covered the building’s façade. “Dave gave the majority of the money to buy the farm so it could stay in the family and since Sage is his child, the property will become hers after his”—he sighed—“death. His legacy to his daughter. We put in a portion of our savings to finish out the transaction. It was a rough afternoon of hearing him preparing to leave, but she’s hanging in there.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’ll take care of something that means so much to my girlfriend that she made herself sick with stress worrying about it. She and I will sleep better knowing you’re out there taking care of the animals and the farmland. We trust you to do it right, Holt.”
Looking to the east, city lights haloed a ring of brightness into the sky. Looking to the west, stars dotted the countryside. Those stars called out to me.
“All right. I’m in. I know keepin’ land in the family means a lot to my family, and I’ll do my best to respect your investment in the farm, and me.” I held out a hand
. “Thank you, Rahl, and please give Sage my best.”
He shook and his shoulders lowered. “That’s what I wanted to hear. Congratulations on the…”
Everyone seemed to wonder what to call the announcement.
“Forever together.”
“You and Ollie, forever together, and congrats on the upcoming addition to your family.”
“That part hasn’t quite settled in yet.”
“I’m not sure it will until we’re holding those tiny bodies in our arms.”
“I think you need to grow more arms for triplets.”
Rahl chuckled. “I need to get back to Sage. I gave Ollie my congrats. I’ll see you soon to discuss a rental price and we’ll have a lawyer set up the agreement.”
“I look forward to it.”
We shook hands and he walked off.
New families come in all different sizes and ways.
“Hey, Jamison!”
I’d started back toward the bar’s front door but spun in my boots. “Drex!”
“Hey, man, I got Ollie’s text, and Jude’s text, and Kanyon’s text and Willow’s text and Presley’s. I guess there’s big news?”
“Ollie and I are gonna be parents, and I asked him to be mine forever. He said…” I thought back and chuckled. “Well, he never actually said yes, but since he’s wearing the ring I picked out, I’m assumin’ it’s a yes.”
He clasped my shoulder and gave a shake. “That’s great, Holt. Good for you.”
I wondered if now was the right time, but I’d come to realize that there’s always a right time in life for family to be concerned about each other, and family meant so much more to me now. “Drexel, I think there’s something that’s not good for you in your life.”
His hand slid from my shoulder. “I’m doing better. I’m trying to make some changes. Losing my friend really hit hard. I’m gonna be fine.”
His eyes traversed the parking lot, and his stuttering screamed deceit. My heart wanted to drag the truth out of him, but he didn’t need absolute tough love, not yet. Friendship would get him to admitting and finding help. Badgering wouldn’t.
“Glad to hear that. If you ever need an ear to listen, you know where to find me.”
“Thanks, Holt. I will.”
