“Yeah, like that’s possible. I’m ready to choke her until she spills the truth.”

“Glad to hear that! I’m glad you’re coming back. I actually need to talk to you about a few things.”

“Okay…well, we should be in around four. Are y’all heading out to the ranch?”

“Yeah, Josh and Jeff have the whole house almost cleared out. We’re making a trip out there now. I think Josh and Heather were planning on staying the night. We can all catch up, that is, if y’all aren’t too tired by the time you get in. Heather and I were going to go into Mason for dinner. Do you want us to wait?”

“Hell no, I won’t be too tired! I can’t wait to see you. It feels like I’ve been gone forever. Why don’t y’all go ahead and eat? There is a bar on Main Street I think. I’m sure Jefferson knows about it. Maybe we could all just meet up there? Damn it, they’re calling our flight. I’ll see ya in a few. Love you sweets. Kiss and hug Jefferson for me. Hang in there. I’m almost home.”

The moment I hung up with Ellie, I could feel my stress lifting away from me. Things would be so much better when she got here. I’d felt so alone this last week. Even with Jeff and I being so close, it still felt like I was lost.

Jeff walked up to me. He hugged me so tightly that I felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“Was that Ells?”

“Yeah, she told me about Gunner’s dad. Is he going to be okay?”

“Gunner said he should be. He said that his dad probably needs to retire from the Army. His mom is doing everything she can to talk to him about it. The fact that she got him to go to the ranch for a few weeks blows my mind.”

“Well, it’ll be good for both Gunner and his dad. They need to work on repairing their relationship, especially with Gunner being married now. I don’t think his dad wants to miss out on having grandkids someday.”

I looked up and smiled at Jeff. The smile he gave me in return melted my panties.

“I sure as shit wish Josh and Heather weren’t here,” Jeff said as he wiggled his eye-brows up and down.

Giggling, I glanced toward the house. Heather was carrying out another box while Josh was on her heels, asking her to put it down.

“Maybe we should make Heather ride with Josh again,” I said looking back at Jeff.

He threw his head back and laughed.

“If she wants to come out to the ranch, she either has to drive her car or go with Josh. I have the truck packed full of shit.”

I had to laugh. Heather had just gotten her car back from the dealership. There was no way was she planning on driving out there again.

I looked over at her as she started to walk up to us.

“Ellie is on her way back,” I said to Heather.

She came to a stop with a confused look.

“Gunner’s father had a heart attack, but he’s okay.” I explained.

Heather’s face turned white as she brought her hand up to her mouth. She leaned over, like she was going to be sick.

“Heather... honey, are you okay?” Shit. I didn’t even think about what I was saying. I suddenly remembered that Heather’s dad had a heart attack while driving and that’s what caused their car wreck.

Heather spun around and ran right into Josh.

“Hey, what’s wrong? Heather, look at me, princess. What’s wrong?” Josh asked, concerned.

Heather just broke down and cried. Josh pulled her into his arms, and she completely lost it. This was the first time that I’d ever seen her cry about her parents. Trying to figure out what was going on, Josh looked over at Jeff. Jeff mouthed her parents to Josh.

Jeff walked up to Josh, leaning in to whisper to him. Jeff must have told Josh about Gunner’s dad and Heather’s dad. Josh closed his eyes. Then, turning around with Heather still in his arms, he started to walk with her into the house.

“Jeff, I honestly believe that is this is the first time that girl has cried since her parents have died. She’s been holding it in for so long. I knew that one of these days, the damn was going to break.”

Just then, Jeff’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and answered it without even looking at who it was.

“Oh, hey, Rebecca.”

Jeff mouthed sorry to me. I turned and walked toward the house. The last thing I wanted to do was have to listen to him to talk her.

“Um… well, we’re kind of getting ready to take a load of stuff out to the ranch. My truck is packed up, so, I can’t help you with that.”

Before I walked in the front door, I turned to look at Jeff. He was watching me, so I just gave him a smile before I headed into the house. Since there was not furniture left anywhere in the house, Josh and Heather were sitting on the floor in the living room.

I sank down on the floor next to Heather. She seemed to have calmed down. I reached for her hand, and she smiled at me.

“Where’s Jeff?” Heather asked.

“Talking to Rebecca.”

“Bitch!” Josh and Heather said at the same time.

We all started to laugh when the front door opened as Jeff walked in.

“What’s so funny?” Jeff asked as he bent down to look at Heather.

“Nothing, dude. Nothing at all.” Josh said with a smirk.

Jeff gave Josh a dirty look. He turned back to Heather. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, Jeff, I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting that. Josh actually made me feel a lot better with his stupid jokes.”

Jeff smiled and then looked at me, and his smile faded just a little.

“Ari, do you think I could use your Jeep for about an hour?”

“I thought we were getting ready to leave for the ranch, Jeff. Man, we’ve got a lot of shit to get unpacked in both the cabin and your place. Where the hell are you going?” Josh asked Jeff.

“Rebecca’s car won’t start, and she’s tried to call everyone she could think of to give her a jump.”

“Can’t she just call a tow truck or something for Christ’s sake? How the hell has she managed without you for the last seven months, Jeff? This is getting insane.” I said as I stood up.

Jeff stood up and ran his hands through hair and then down his face.

“What am I supposed to do, Ari? Just leave her stranded? What if something happened with the baby and she needed her car?”

“Come on, Jeff, even I can see this for what it is. You mean to tell me that this girl couldn’t find one person to come and help her. Jesus, dude, you’re not that stupid,” Josh said as he stood up, holding out a hand to help Heather up.

I reached into my purse and threw Jeff the keys to my Jeep before I headed toward the back door.

“What the fuck are we supposed to do while you rescue Rebecca?” Josh asked, annoyed.

As I walked into the backyard, I had to lean over and rest my hands on my knees, because I couldn’t catch my breath.

I felt someone’s hand on my back. I stood and turned around to see…Heather.

“I’m sorry, Ari. He left to go help her.”

“Motherfucker, I can’t believe it. He left? He went to her?”

Heather had tears in her eyes again.

I stood up straighter. “Don’t you dare shed a tear for that bastard, Heather. Do you hear me?”

I stepped around her to go back into the house. Josh was looking out the front window. I walked up next to him, and he bumped me with his shoulder and gave me the sweetest smile.

“I’m sorry, Ari. I hate to see that bitch coming between you and Jeff.”

I looked over at Josh and smiled at him. “Who are you? And what have you done with Josh-the-man-whore?”

Josh threw his head back and laughed. “Well, I guess it’s time to grow up and find someone worth being faithful to.”

“Really? Do you think you found that person?” I asked bumping my shoulder against his. He looked down at me and gave me the sweetest smile.

“I think so. It’s just a damn shame that she doesn’t feel the same way.”

I turned around to see if Heather had come back into the house yet.

“Josh, give her time. I know she likes you. Just…give her some time to let you in.”

“Shit, Ari, I’m trying. I’m trying to do everything that I can think of to prove to her that I’ve changed, but she just keeps saying that she wants to be friends only. I don’t really know what else to do but wait.”

I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

“That’s all you can do. Wait.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

JEFF

I knew Ari was going to be pissed when I got back. I shouldn’t have left without talking to her. Fuck! I slammed my fist on the steering wheel. By the time I got to Rebecca’s apartment, a friend had gotten her text message for help and showed up. Right as I was pulling up, I got a text message from Rebecca, saying she didn’t need me. Too fucking late now.

I parked and started to get out of the Jeep.

“Jeff! I’m so, so sorry, honey. I tried to send you a text as soon as I could. I hope this didn’t cause too much trouble for you,” Rebecca said.

“No, it’s okay.” I looked over at the guy who was doing something to Rebecca’s battery. I started to walk over and he slammed the hood shut right before I got to it.

“It’s okay, dude. I took care of it. Nothing that a little bit of Coke on the battery posts won’t fix.”

I just looked at the guy. He seemed nervous. I turned back around and looked at Rebecca, who had a huge smile on her face.

“Well, since you’re here do you want to see the baby’s room?”

Fuck me. “Sure, but I really need to leave in like two minutes, Rebecca. Everyone is waiting on me.”

Smiling she hooked her arm with mine and led me into her apartment. After we walked through the living room, she opened up the door to a room that was pretty much filled with boxes and shit that looked like it needed to be put together.

“Wow, what the hell is all of this stuff?” I asked.

Rebecca let out a giggle and started to walk into the room.

“Well, it’s the crib, basinet, changing table and other things like that. I have a hard time leaning over and such, so I haven’t had a chance to put it together. My brother was going to help me, but he never seems to have the time.”

I looked around. There was a ton of shit. The walls were white, and I remembered her saying that she wanted to paint them.

“Don’t you need all this stuff out of here to paint the walls? Who’s going to move all of this? You can’t do it, Rebecca.”

When I turned to look at her, the smile on her face was almost one of victory. I was beginning to think that Josh was right. She’d planned for this to happen. This was all just a way for me to get over here to see all this shit and feel sorry for her. Fuckin’ A.

“I know I can’t move it, Jeff. That’s why I was hoping that you would be able to help me. The sooner, the better before the baby comes.”

“Well, you have until the middle of August. It’s just the middle of June, so you have two months.”

Rebecca frowned. “Yes, I know, but I don’t want to wait until the last minute. I’m getting bigger by the day. I need this taken care of, like, soon. Are you free sometime next week, maybe?”