After Lynda let go of Josh, she thanked Emma and Garrett for letting her stay the night, and then she headed into the house. The smile she gave Heather was loud and clear. This girl was digging her nails into Josh and holding on for dear life.

Just then, my cell phone beeped with a text message. I was surprised it came through because I usually didn’t have a cell signal at the ranch. I pulled out my phone and saw the message was from Ellie.

Ells: Hey, big bro. I am dying here. How did it go last night? Can’t get a hold of Ari  Gunner just told me that we’re going to Belize! Eeeeppp! Love you, Jeff. Give Ari a hug and kiss for me.

I smiled as I read her text. I still couldn’t believe it. My little sister and Gunner…married. Fucking bastard with his carriages! Damn that romantic bastard!

“That must have been from Ellie,” Emma said with a smile.

I swore that this woman could read minds.

“Yeah, she wanted to talk to Ari. I guess Gunner let her know that Belize was their destination. To be honest, I’m surprised that Ari didn’t give it away.”

Just then we heard Ari and Matt riding up on Rose. I turned to look at them as they headed our way. God she’s beautiful. She was leaning down, saying something in Matt’s ear. He started to laugh, and she looked up at me and smiled. My knees about buckled.

Shit! Will she always have this effect on me?

Emma, Sue, and Mark walked past me.

Emma stopped and smiled at me. “Yes, Jeff, she will always make you feel weak in the knees.” She gave me a wink and then made her way over to Rose, taking the lead from Ari.

Jesus H. Christ, she does read minds!

CHAPTER FIVE

Ari

I was feeling so much better from just being alone with Matt and not thinking about Rebecca or Jeff. The moment I saw Jeff standing there though, my heart started to beat faster.

“Ari! There’s Jeff!” Matt said as we got closer to the ranch house.

“Yep, buddy, there he is. I bet the next time you visit, Jeff will take you for a ride on his horse. Would you like that, bud?”

“Yes. He’s an assmole, so is Josh. They are assmoles.” Matt said, laughing.

Oh, fuck a duck! I tried so hard not to laugh. I leaned down and told Matt not to say that word in front of Mommy and Daddy because that was a special word only for Jeff, Josh, and me. Matt nodded his head, then his smile grew bigger the second he saw Jeff.

Our mom walked up to greet us. “Did you have a good ride my little man? You like spending time with Jeff, Ari and the horses?”

“Yes! Jeff is an assmole, Mommy!”

Oh shit. My mother and father turned away from Matt and me. Bastards! I saw their shoulders moving up and down from laughing.

Then my dad turned to look at Jeff. “The jury is still out on that, buddy.”

Jeff looked shocked, and I really started to laugh. Dad helped Matt down. He told him that they had to get ready to drive back home and that Matt’s iPad was all charged and ready to go.

I jumped off of Rose, and Emma started to take her back to the barn. Just then, Dewy walked up and told Emma he would tend to Rose.

“Thank you, Dew. She deserves some extra oats. She’s so gentle when Matt is on her,” I said.

“You got it, Ari,” Dewy said with a wink.

I looked over at Jeff. He looked like he was going to be sick. I started to walk over to him.

We hadn’t talked since we’d woken up. I knew that I’d been in a mood this morning. I had tried to sneak out of the cabin, but failed big time. Jeff had woken up the minute I’d tried to get out of the bed.

I stopped right in front of him and attempted to put on my best smile. I stood on my tippy toes and leaned in to give him a kiss. He bent down and pulled me to him. Holy hell! He kissed the shit out of me right in front of everyone.

He pulled away from my lips slightly and smiled. “I missed you.”

“I just went for a short ride. What are you going to do when I’m in school this fall, and you’re here?”

Jeff pulled away from me and looked shocked. Yep. This was another thing that we hadn’t talked about.

“Have you called her yet?” I asked.

“Ari, do we have to talk about this here?”

I looked around and noticed the only person sitting on the porch now was Garrett. Josh had walked with Dewy down to the barn to take care of Rose. Heather must have gone inside to pack up to leave, and Emma had walked off with my parents.

“No, Jeff, let’s not talk about it and just keep putting shit off. Let’s just pretend that none of it matters.” I replied sarcastically.

I turned to walk over to the Jeep. I was ready to leave. I jumped in and started it up. Jeff had driven his truck back down to the ranch house this morning.

I looked back at Jeff. “I’m going to get my things. I’ll meet you back here in a little bit. I’m ready to head home.”

Jeff started to walk toward the Jeep, but I took off. I let myself look in the mirror, and I saw Jeff running his hands through his hair. Shit! I did it again. I ran away from him before we could talk. I hit the steering wheel so hard that my hand felt like it was broken.

***

When I got back to the hunters cabin, I walked in and the first things I noticed was the smell of lilies, It was amazing. I leaned against the door, and I finally allowed myself to cry as I slide to the floor. Oh god. What if this turns out to be his baby? Mother-fucking son of a bitch.

After ten minutes of endless crying, I finally got up and started to pack my stuff. I needed to suck it up and deal with this. I had to be strong and fight for what was mine. Even if this was his baby, Lord I prayed it wasn’t, I would not let her take Jeff away from me. Never.

Just then, a damn Katharine Hepburn quote popped into my head.

As one goes through life, one learns that if you don't paddle your own canoe, you don't move.

Damn my mother!

I packed up my stuff and loaded it into the Jeep. Then, I went back into the cabin and cleaned up a bit. Shit, who’s going to clean all of these flowers out? I wanted to bring them all home with me. Knowing Jeff, probably paid Jenny to clean it up.

I walked over to the kitchen table and pulled out my phone. Good I had a strong signal. Looking through my calendar, I went back to last November, thinking of the day Jeff and Rebecca would have been together. By my calculations, she would be about thirty weeks. I searched the Internet for a pregnancy calculator and found that mid- August would be her due date.

Just then, I heard Jeff’s truck. I jumped up and started to make my way to the door to leave. Before I could get out the door, I knocked over a bucket with Stargazer lilies and bluebonnets. Shit! I ran and grabbed some paper towels to clean up the water. I worked as fast as I could before Jeff could walk in.

I hurried and threw away the paper towels. As I turned to leave he walked into the door. He gave me that damn smile of his, and I stopped dead in my tracks. Okay, Ari, time to grow some fucking balls and just face this shit.

I smiled back at him. He walked up to me and hugged me. I almost started to cry. No! I will not shed anymore tears over that bitch.

“Ari. I love you, baby, so much. Please tell me what’s bothering you.”

Really? I wanted to laugh out loud. What a stupid fuck.

“If you have to ask me that, Jeff, then I certainly don’t feel the need to tell you the answer.”

He closed his eyes, and leaned his forehead against mine.

“Ari, I’m sorry. I didn’t want this weekend to be like this, baby. I wanted it to be special for you. I’m so sorry.”

“Me, too, Jeff, I just can’t seem to forget the fact that you might be a father in two months. That one little problem just seems to be a fucking thorn in my side.”

“How do you think I feel? I don’t want to have anything to do with Rebecca. She’s nuts. You should’ve heard her just now…”

Oh my god. He called her. My whole body started to shake. He talked to her on the phone. What did they talk about? I couldn’t breathe.

“Ari, are you okay, honey? Ari?”

I shook my head and held up my hand. I needed a minute to process this.

“You talked to her?”

“Well, yeah. You were the one who told me to fucking call her!”

I know that! Dickwad!

“I know. What did you talk about?”

Jeff stepped away from me and ran his hand through his hair. “I, um, I talked about meeting her for lunch tomorrow. I asked if you could come, and she said no. I couldn’t talk her out of the restraining order. I’m sorry, baby.”

Oh, gag me. I wanted to throw up at the thought of him having lunch with her.

“S’okay. Where are you having lunch?” I asked, trying to act like none of this was bothering me in the least bit.

“Um, we’re meeting at Hula Hut. I guess she’s been craving for their Hawaiian fajitas. I’m meeting her there around 11:30.”

I had work to do. I needed to get back to Austin. Now.

“Okay. Well I have a few errands that I need to run tomorrow, so I’m really ready to go home now. Can we leave, please?”

Jeff tilted up my chin so that his eyes captured mine. I wanted nothing more than to just strip down and spend the rest of the day in bed with him. I tried so hard to give him a normal smile.

His eyes lit up when I smiled. “I love you, Arianna, more than anything. It’s all going to be okay. I know this baby isn’t mine.”

“I love you, too, Jeff, and I pray to God you’re right.”

***

After Jeff took out my stuff from the Jeep to put into his truck, he headed back to the main house. I took the Jeep back to the barn and started to walk up to the house. I noticed Jeff and Josh were standing at Heather’s car with the hood up.

Heather looked like she was going to be sick.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked noticing Heather trying to hold back tears in her eyes.

“This stupid dumb-ass new car of mine won’t start. I bought a new car, thinking it was reliable, and then it fucking breaks down on me!” Heather yelled.

Wow! We all snapped our heads over to Heather. She never swore unless she’d had a few drinks in her.

“What? I’m mad! How am I going to get back to Austin? I have to go to work tomorrow.”

I noticed Lynda was sitting on the front porch, looking pissed-off beyond all get out. “What’s up with Lynda? She looks pissed,” I whispered to Heather.

Heather glanced over at her and then shrugged her shoulders.

“Don’t know. I guess she’s ready to leave as well, and Josh is her ride. She needs to get back to Austin too.”

Jeff shut the hood to Heather’s Toyota Camry. “Heather, I think you need to take it to the dealership.”

“What? That means having it towed to Austin!”

Josh walked up to Heather and took her into his arms. “Don’t worry princess. The dealership will pay for it since the car is still under warranty.” Josh said.

Heather was now in full-on crying mode. Lynda jumped up and started to walk toward us. Just then an idea popped into my head.

I blocked her route to Josh. “Lynda, Jeff and I are heading to Austin right now. Why don’t you ride back with us?” I smiled sweetly at her.