Now, the nose piercing, yeah, I’m pretty sure that I was not going to Ells live that one down. I’d never heard Ellie say fuck so many times or use the names she’d called the poor guy who had pierced her nose. I let out another giggle.

“What the hell do you find so funny, Ari? You barely flinched when he pierced your stomach. I thought I was going to die when he put that damn needle through my nose. My nose, Ari. I just pierced my nose and got a tattoo on my back. Gunner is going to freak.”

“No, he’s not. Shit, he has two tattoos himself. He’s gonna think it’s sexy as hell, and you know it.”

Ellie shook her head as she got into her car. “I sure as hell hope this thing doesn’t get infected.” Ellie looked in the rearview mirror. “Oh. My. God.”

When she looked back at me with her smile, I grinned right back at her because I knew what was coming.

“It looks so damn cute!” she said.

I laughed and agreed. “Let’s head home. I want to get me some Jeff.”

“Oh god, Ari. Come on, I don’t need that visual. He’s my brother for shit’s sake.”

***

The drive back to Mason was filled with laughter and tears.

Ellie was starting to get down because she hadn’t gotten pregnant yet, and she was getting worried.

“What if I can’t have kids, Ari? What if I’m never meant to be a mother? I know how much Gunner wants kids. What if.”

“Just stop. First off, you have plenty of time to have a baby, and you will have a baby, Ells. Maybe you’re just so worried about trying that you’re too stressed to get pregnant. You know, my mom and dad didn’t think they were ever going to have kids. They ended up going on vacation, and nine months later, I made my grand entrance in the world.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve already talked to Gunner about maybe not trying so hard for now. I mean, if it’s meant to happen, it will happen. Right?”

“Right!”

“Ari, are you really okay, sweets?”

I looked out the window and felt the tears building for the first time since this morning. Taking a deep breath in, I thought about Jeff with his arms wrapped around me so tightly, his whispers of love in my ear, and the way he just made me feel so safe.

I smiled and turned back to Ellie.

“Yeah, I’m really okay, Ells. For once, I truly feel like Jeff and I are finally on the road we are meant to travel on. I don’t think you can get to where you’re truly meant to go until you travel that one road…the one that’s filled with sharp turns, steep hills, and nothing but pot-holes that you have to try and get around. After you make it off that road, you find the one that is straight, smooth, and filled with nothing but happiness.”

Ellie pulled over on the side of the road and stared at me.

“What’s wrong? Why the hell did you pull over?”

She reached over and put the back of her hand on my forehead. I just looked at her.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m just making sure you’re not getting a fever or something from that piercing and tattoo. Holy hell, that was some serious shit.”

I let out a laugh and pushed away her hand.

“I love you, bitch,” I said, hitting her in the shoulder.

“I love you, too. Let’s get home and show our guys what we got today!”

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

JEFF

With Ari’s birthday tomorrow and the wedding in four weeks, my head was spinning in every direction.

Ari had been flying high the last two months, which was a relief. I knew things were definitely getting better when she’d gotten back up on Rose. Our ride yesterday morning had been amazing. We’d made a small pit stop to make love under her favorite oak tree.

I smiled when I thought about how fucking sexy that girl was. I had to shake my head when I thought back to a couple of months ago when she and Ellie both came home with tattoos and piercings. With the way Gunner had looked at my sister when she’d showed him the tattoo, that fucker had been lucky as hell that he was married to her. I could practically read his damn min. Bastard.

I heard a truck coming down the driveway before I even saw it. Scott was coming today to pick up the horses he’d left for breeding. I still didn’t like this guy. He flirted way too much with Ari for my liking.

Scott pulled up next to my truck and got out with that stupid-ass grin on his face. Walking up to him, I smiled and reached out to shake his hand.

“How’s it going, Scott?” I said in the nicest way I could. I couldn’t help but notice him looking around for what I was pretty sure was Ari.

“Hey, bud, how’s it going? How’d those horses do?”

“Good. We left them out in the back pasture for about a week.”

Scott was looking over toward the barn.

Fucker. Okay, let’s just make this short and sweet.

“So, let’s get your boys loaded up in your trailer.”

Scott looked back over at me and nodded. “Sure, let’s do it.”

“They’re in the barn.” I turned around and led the way.

***

After we got Scott’s two studs loaded up, we were about to shake hands when he broke down.

“So, where’s Ari today? Is she feeling better?”

I just smiled at him. “She’s doing wonderful. She and my sister are in Austin today, looking for a wedding dress.” Chew on that, prick.

“A wedding dress, huh? Y’all getting married soon?”

“Four weeks.”

Scott smiled and shook his head. “Well, I don’t have to tell you that you’re one lucky son of a bitch, I’m sure.”

“No. No, you don’t.”

He stuck his hand out to shake mine. From the look on his face, I might have gripped his hand a little bit too hard, but at this point, I couldn’t have cared less.

Ari was due back at any minute and all I wanted to do was get him the hell out of here.

I watched as he drove off, and then made my way back into the barn. I set my iPod on the docking station and turned on my song while I started to clean out the stalls. There was nothing like a little Kid Rock’s “Cowboy” to get me going.

I started to think about Ari’s birthday tomorrow. I smiled as I thought about marrying the girl of my dreams. I was going to do everything in my power to make sure she was happy for the rest of our lives. It was hard to believe a year ago I’d almost lost her to Jason.

Just then, I felt something hit my back. I turned around to see the love of my life leaning up against a stall. I walked over and turned off the music.

“You know, I never thought I would say this, but I actually would prefer for you to listen to ‘Truck Yeah’ again.”

Walking up to her, I grabbed her around her waist and pulled her to me.

“Oh yeah? You don’t like my ‘Cowboy’ song, baby?”

“Um…no. You play it all the damn time, Jeff. I think Ellie is about ready to take away your iPod.”

“I love my sister, but her taste in music sucks. Speaking of my sister, how was the dress shopping?”

Ari smiled so big it caused me to smile.

“I found it.”

I picked her up and spun her around. Fucking finally. I was so tired of hearing Ellie and Ari talk about dresses, looking at dresses, and shopping for dresses. I was just about ready to take her to a beach somewhere and marry her in the nude.

“That’s great, baby. I’m so happy you finally found it. Was your mom with y’all?”

Ari smiled. “Yes, and that made it all the more special. Amanda and Heather were there, too. Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Always baby.”

“Have you talked to Josh lately? Is he still dating Lynda?”

“I talked to him earlier as a matter of fact. He’s coming to your party tomorrow, and yes, he’s still with Lynda.”

“Huh.”

“Why? What’s going on? Did you ever able to find out what happened with Heather? I asked Josh, and he’s was very vague. All I know is that what ever happened fucked him up for a few months.”

“Nope, she hasn’t said anything to Ellie, Amanda or me. She’s changed though, Jeff. She just seems so…lost. It breaks my heart. I know she loved, or loves, Josh, but this crazy idea of him leaving her or whatever bullshit she’s afraid of is just stupid. I mean, he did leave her…at her request. Anyway, she asked about him today. She wanted to know if he was still with Lynda. I told her that I wasn’t sure, since we hadn’t seen him in a few weeks. I guess she’s still dating Jerry. I don’t trust that guy one bit. Heather seems to think he would never do anything to hurt her. I just have a bad, bad feeling about him.”

I agreed with Ari. I’d already seen the asshole slip a waitress his number. Dickwad.

“You want to know what else I did today?” Ari asked.

“Of course I do. I always want to know what my beautiful girl is up to twenty-four seven.”

“I went to an appointment that I went to with my mom before we met back up with Ellie.”

“Really? About the wedding?”

“Nope, not about the wedding at all.”

I raised my eyebrows at the cute-ass little smirk on her face.

“Do I have to guess, baby, or do I need to get it out of you another way?”

Ari smiled at me with an unbelievable light in her eyes. I just wanted to take her in arms and make love to her. During the last few weeks, she had such a glow about her even though I knew she was stressed about the wedding. Thank God for Jenny and Ellie.

“I went to see Dr. Wyatt today.”

My heart started to pound. Please God...

“Yeah?”

“Yep!” Turning, she walked over to Rose’s stall and leaned against it.

“Ari, you’re killing me. Why did you go see him? Is everything okay?”

She threw her head back and laughed. Then, the look she gave me made heart drop into my stomach. God I love this girl with every ounce of my being.

“Everything is more than okay, Jeff. You’re gonna be a Daddy in about seven months.”

Holy shit. It felt like my knees were about to give out. I just stood there for a few seconds and stared at her smiling face.

She’s two months pregnant…two months ago...the day in the barn. It was the day in the barn!

I walked over to her and put my hands on the sides of her face. Leaning down, I kissed her lightly at first, nipping at her bottom lip, and then I kissed her with as much passion as I could.

After what seemed like forever, I pulled my lips from hers, both of us were breathing hard. When she smiled at me, I almost dropped to ground.

“I love you, Arianna. I love you so damn much.”

“I love you more.” She giggled.

I put my right hand on her stomach and looked down at it. I’m going to be a father. I smiled at the thought of Ari having my baby.

“When I’d asked you to marry me and you’d said yes, I thought that was the best moment of my life…” I looked into her eyes that were filling with tears.

“But I was wrong. This is the best moment of my life.”