“And that’s why you moved a lot too, right?”
“It’s part of it. I’d go where I was needed and enjoyed seeing the different parts of the world.”
People don't take kindly to having items repossessed or foreclosed. That explains the assault charges and makes me realize he’s used to a certain level of daily danger. “Do you miss it?”
“No,” he answers right away. “I enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, but even when I’d find what I was looking for, it never felt like it. I was onto the next, searching for something I couldn’t explain. Something I didn’t know I needed until I met you.”
My heart skips a beat and more tears well in my eyes.
“It’s been three minutes,” he says softly.
“You do it.”
He steps forward and picks up the test, trying to stay calm. I cover my face with my hands, unable to look. My heart starts racing and I feel sick. Maybe it’s morning sickness.
“Just to be sure, one line means it’s negative, right?”
“Right.” I move my hands and look up. One line. Thank God.
“Then you’re pregnant.” Chase flips the test over and two dark pink lines stare up at me. I blink and look at the test again. There are two lines. Two obvious lines. We probably didn’t need to wait the whole three minutes for those suckers to show up. “Sierra?” Chase asks softly, setting the test down. “You okay?”
“I…I…I don’t know. Are you?”
“I’m in the same boat.” Chase takes my hand and leads me to the living room. He slowly sits and I go into overdrive making sure he’s okay.
“You didn’t take your medicine yet tonight.” I spring up and go into the kitchen, returning with his pills and a glass of water. “Take it.”
“Sierra,” Chase says calmly, knowing that I’m desperately looking for a distraction. He takes his pills and then pulls me into his arms. I rest my head on his chest and lay still, listening to his heart beating. “At least we know why you’ve been so tired.”
I sit up so I can look at him, not knowing if I should laugh or cry. It comes out as an awkward mixture of both. “I don’t know what to do. I’m not ready to have a baby.
Chase wipes away a tear. “Neither am I. I don’t know anything about babies. Or pregnancies.” He rests his forehead against mine. “Let’s take a day or two and let this sink in before we make a decision, okay?”
“Okay.” I exhale and melt into Chase. My mind is running a million miles an hour and I’m working hard to resist getting up and Googling all things pregnancy. I always knew I wanted to get married and have kids. I didn’t expect either of that to happen anytime soon…or at all, after Jake died.
I’m still getting used to the fact that I was able to fall in love again.
“Are you tired now?” Chase asks.
“Kind of. Mentally, I’m not, but it’s like my body can’t keep up.”
“You’re growing a human. Fuck that’s weird to say. Weird, and amazing. You have a little person inside of you.” Chase slides his hand down onto my abdomen. “Our person.”
“Our baby.”
As the words slip from my mouth, everything clicks into place. The timing is all wrong, but is there ever a perfect time for things like this? Won’t I always find some reason to prolong starting a family, even after marriage?
I know the truth about Chase’s past and am so looking forward to telling Lisa. I’ll try not to gloat too much about being right that he’s a good person.
“I don’t want to tell anyone yet,” I say. “Let’s just keep it between us for a few days.”
“That’s fine with me.” Chase kisses my neck. “I’m still in shock.”
“Me too.”
Chase keeps his hand on my belly and lays back. I get hit with another vision, though this time, it’s not about death or dying. It’s this: Chase and me on the couch, with his hand on my belly. Though in my mind, I’m close to my due date and we’re both feeling the baby kick.
“I love you, Sierra,” he whispers and I get an overwhelming sense that things are meant to be. That all the heartbreak and tragedy I went through before shaped me into who I am today.
“I love you, too.”
* * *
I look down the aisle, shoulders hunching forward as I reach out. Pausing, I listen for any signs of life. The store is empty, and Mrs. Williams is in the back, going over inventory. She never goes over inventory. Most of what’s in stock is on the shelves anyway. I take the time alone to grab the book What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I randomly open it to a page about mucus plugs, read a paragraph and feel entirely unprepared. With a shudder, I put the book away and move on, dusting the shelves.
The cramps continued throughout the night, worsening today. Chase kept me from asking Dr. Google what’s wrong, and instead I’m calling the doctor today. I never rescheduled the appointment I missed when Chase was in the hospital. It would have been too late then anyway. I was already pregnant at that point.
I call the doc on my lunch break and am able to get an appointment Monday morning. Since I don’t know when I conceived—holy shit that’s weird to think about—they can do an ultrasound that day as well. It hasn’t been a full twenty-four hours since we found out I was pregnant, but it already seems like so much has changed.
I finish dusting and go back to the register, sitting behind the counter. Chase has been texting me throughout the morning, making sure I’m okay, and vice versa. I can use his recovery as a good excuse to lounge around and do nothing, giving us more time to come to terms with everything. Though I will have to think of something good to say when my family notices I’m not drinking any wine.
Mrs. Williams leaves for the day around eleven, and I’m alone in the store until tonight. Customers trickle in and out, and I entertain myself with texting Chase, mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and Instagram, and reading. Around one, Chase comes in with lunch.
“Orange chicken and fried rice,” I say before I even open the bag. “You drove two hours to get me food.” My eyes gloss over proving that this obnoxious display of emotions is due to hormones.
“I did,” Chase says and kisses me. “I came home and heated it up so it’d be warm. Hopefully it’s still good.”
I open my to-go container and take a bite. “It’s the best.”
“Are you crying over Chinese food?”
“Yes! Don’t judge me.”
Chase laughs and comes around the counter. His hands land on my hips and he gives me another kiss. “Does this make you horny enough to have sex tonight?”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Oh, I want to. Trust me, I do. But it’s too soon to risk hurting you.”
“What about this?” His arms slip to my back and he kisses me, deep and passionate. My knees weaken and if it weren’t for Chase holding me up, I’d be on the floor right now. The bell rings and we break apart.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Lisa says, making a gagging noise. “I came in to buy porn to read, not see.”
“I should charge you extra,” I say back with a smile. “And you don’t read.”
“Not very often.” She gives Chase a wave. “I’d ask how you’re doing, but I see you’re getting along just fine.”
He chuckles. “I’m getting there. Sierra’s been taking good care of me.”
“Ew. You two make me sick.”
“Should I be sorry?” I ask, making a face.
Lisa waves her hand in the air. “Nah. I’ll just hate you in secret.”
I laugh. “How’s work?” I ask.
“Meh, the same. Francine came in today.” She dramatically rolls her eyes. “Which is why I came in here on my lunch break. I cannot fucking stand her and need to gossip.”
Chase takes his arms from around my waist. “I’ll leave you two to talk. I’m gonna go see my nephews.” He kisses me again.
“You’re supposed to go home and rest.”
“I’m bored resting. And I feel fine.”
�
�You won’t feel fine if you pop a stitch.”
“The stitches are halfway dissolved by now.”
I shudder. “That’s kind of gross to think about.”
“Don’t think about it,” Chase says with a laugh. He kisses me again. “I love you,” he says quietly.
“Love you, too.”
He leaves and Lisa waits until he’s out the door and down the street to talk. “So, you two are acting like a normal couple?”
“We are a normal couple.”
She looks away, eating the words she wants to say, then looks back with a smile. “Right.”
“I talked to him,” I blurt. “I asked him why he has so much money and why he was arrested.”
“And?”
“He repossessed items for the super-rich. They paid him cash and he got arrested more than once because he looked guilty until things were explained. And people sometimes got violent with him, hence the assault charges. But everything was dropped once the dust settled and it was clear what he was doing. He said he worked a lot for banks.”
“And you believe him?”
“I do.” Not believing him isn’t an option. Chase wouldn’t lie. The first night we met, he talked about taking that boat. Why would he lie then when we had nothing between us? “It makes sense, Lisa. That’s how he met Jax too, and why his record is similar to Chase’s. They’re basically bounty hunters, which is actually really hot to say out loud.”
“It’s not like he’s saving the world or anything,” Lisa quips.
My brow furrows. “I know. And he’s done with all that. He’s happy here, with me.” With us.
“Assuming it’s all true, then I’m sorry. He’s not a bad guy.”
“He’s not. And he’s going to be around for, well, forever. So please go back to liking him.”
“Fine. So you wanna hear the latest Francine drama?”
“Always.”
Chapter 28
Chase
I gently cradle my nephew to my chest, looking down at his tiny little face. He blinks up at me, opening his mouth as he lets out a soft coo. He yawns and his eyelids get heavy. I rock him back and forth, and he falls asleep.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I tell my brother. “This baby thing is easy.”
Josh gives me a dead stare. “He was exhausted from crying nonstop before you got here.”
Amusement plays on my face and I sit on the couch, moving as slow as possible to not wake the baby. I’m holding Noah, who’s the bigger of the babies. Josh has Aaron and is trying to get him to take a bottle. I lean back, letting Noah rest against me. My mind is on Sierra and the little life inside of her.
We sure as shit didn’t mean for it to happen. We were careless, getting caught up in the moment pretty much every time we fucked, and now we’re paying the price. Though right now, I don’t feel as panicked as I did before. Sierra will be a good mom, hands down. And me…I at least know what not to do thanks to my own dad.
“This is kinda nice,” I admit, looking down at the sleeping baby.
“Is it making you want one?” Josh jokes.
“Someday,” I answer, feeling the urge to blurt out that Sierra is pregnant.
“Wait until they wake up. You’ll think twice.”
“I will admit I want one at a time, though.”
“Going from one to three is quite the adjustment. When Dakota was a newborn, we were able to take turns. You’re still tired as fuck, but it’s one-on-one. Having two…it’s hard. But worth it. So fucking worth it.”
Josh pulls the bottle from Aaron’s mouth and sets it on the couch next to him. He turns on the TV, volume so low you can hardly hear it.
“How are you?” he asks. “You look a lot better.”
“I feel better. I’m sore,” I admit. “And kinda rundown. But I’m alive. Thanks to Sierra.”
“She seemed pretty upset when she called to tell me you were sick.”
I nod. “I guess things looked bad for a while. It’s weird having someone care like that.”
“So I take it you’re staying in Summer Hill?”
“I am,” I say casually. I’m never fucking leaving this place unless Sierra and our child come with me. Wherever she is—wherever they are—is where I’m meant to be. It’s home. “I never thought I’d end up here.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“You and Sierra are the only ones who think that.”
Josh raises an eyebrow. “Her family likes you though, right?”
“Hah,” I say with a snort of laughter, causing Noah to stir. I shush him back to sleep. “I’ll just say they’re not my biggest fans. I have no trust fund or background in farming. I’m their last pick for Sierra.”
Josh shakes his head. “I don’t get people like that. You two are happy together, right? Isn’t that enough?”
“You’d think so.”
* * *
“Take care of yourself, man,” I say to Jax and hand him his bag. Heat from the sun melts down on us, and mosquitos swarm around my face. I swat them away, squinting in the bright light. “Don’t get killed.”
“Rule number one,” Jax says with a toothy grin. “Same goes for you. It seems pretty dangerous here.” He raises his eyebrows and looks out at the water. “There aren’t crocodiles in there, are there?”
“Alligators,” I correct. “You’re going to fucking Florida. You should know that shit. And no. Sierra said it’s too cold for them up here, thankfully. Those fuckers freak me out.”
“You and me both.”
The taxi bumps along the country road, pulling into The Mill House parking lot. Jax claps me on the back, giving a curt nod before getting into the cab. His plan is to go visit his mistress in Miami for a few days before heading up north again. Mason, another bounty hunter, has been keeping an eye out for the Haynes brothers, who are after Jax’s head. He hasn’t seen them lately, making Jax think they gave up and moved on to something else, but I think they’re pissed enough to not let this go anytime soon.
A few months ago, the bank repossessed their matching pair of foreign sports cars and Jax tracked them down to collect on the cash. Since there were two cars, I drove one while he drove the other, taking them back to the dealership. The brothers, who owned a nightclub, weren’t happy. The matching cars, however douchy, were their pride and joy, and made them look legit when they pulled up to their club.
Having their cars taken back by the bank was an ego blow, plus proved that their club wasn’t doing as well as they claimed. Too stupid to understand that by not paying, they lost their cars, they blamed Jax, and think he still has the cars just sitting in a garage somewhere.
Once Jefferson gets back from Europe, he’ll get the proper paperwork along with a restraining order against the brothers. It’s the simplest way to get assholes off our case. Matt Jefferson is a lawyer turned state judge who resides in Indianapolis. Jax and I helped him out when his teenage daughter decided to have a party on their family boat, resulting in her twenty-three-year-old boyfriend ‘borrowing’ the boat, two jet skis, and a brand new Chevy Silverado to pull it with. He doesn’t understand what we do but appreciates it. The law can only go so far, and I wish we had more politicians like him…or maybe not.
Once Jax is gone, I go into the apartment and grumble at the mess. Even when we were working the same jobs, I could never live with Jax. He’s too much of a fucking pig. Not long into cleaning, I start to feel shitty. The skin around my incision is tight and itchy, and I’m overall tired. I lay down in my bed, and with the river in the background, I pass out, not waking again until Sierra calls me on her way home from work.
“Lisa wants to get drinks tonight,” she says, panic-stricken. “I can’t drink or sit in a smoky bar.”
“Tell her to come here,” I suggest. “Sit in the restaurant side where there’s no smoking. I’ll make you something with no alcohol and she’ll never know.”
“That’s a good idea. But you can’t work yet.”
&n
bsp; “I can help out for a bit while you two are here at least.”
“You sound like you just woke up,” she says, and I hear her start her car. “Are you feeling okay? The doctor said to be on the lookout for signs of the infection coming back.”
“I was asleep. Jax left and I had to clean up his fucking mess. I laid down and fell asleep.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Nah, it’s fine. When are you going out?”
“Seven. We’ll go to The Mill House. Stay there and get some sleep. I’ll bring you dinner at six. And Chase?”
“Yeah?”
“That picture you sent me of you holding baby Noah…I know we said we’d take a few days to really talk about it but I already know. I knew as soon as I saw that second pink line, actually.”
“What do you know?” I ask, needing to hear her say it out loud.
“That I, without a doubt, want to keep this baby.”
I’m grinning ear to fucking ear. “Me too.”
* * *
“These would normally be served in a copper mug,” I tell Sierra and Lisa. “This bar is not equipped for hipster drinks, apparently.”
Sierra laughs. “I’m not surprised.”
“It’s strong, you’ll probably only want one,” I say, making sure Lisa hears. The less Sierra drinks, the better. It’ll lessen the chance of her getting caught sans alcohol. “I’ll come back and see if you need a refill though.”
“I like that you’re fucking the bartender.” Lisa takes a big drink. “We get to drink for free.”
Sierra shakes her head. “Don’t work too long. I mean it. You’re supposed to take two to three weeks off.”
It’s Friday night, and we’re busy. “I’ll stay behind the bar. I won’t move around too much then.”
Sierra stares at me flatly. “I’ve seen the bar. And you behind it. You’re on your feet the whole time.” She takes another drink then makes a face, hand going to her stomach.
Small town romance boxed set Page 27
