The worse feeling came over me. Lynda was not going to give up on Josh without a fight.

I also knew she wasn’t going to fight fair.

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

JEFF

I walked into the Oasis with Luke in my arms and Ari at my side. My baby boy, the love of my life, was two months old.

Ari looked beautiful, and just by looking at her, I would have never known she had a baby two months ago. She’d been riding Star and Sweet Pea bareback for weeks, and she seemed to be in heaven now that she could ride again.

I looked around for Gunner and Ellie.

“There they are!” Ari said, pointing to where they were standing in the waiting area.

We walked up to Gunner and Ellie and saw Jack, Grace, Emma, and Garrett with them.

“So, the gangs all here now,” Garrett said with a wink.

“Let me hold that baby,” Emma said as I handed Luke over to her.

Grace and Emma walked over to a bench and sat down.

When I put my hand on Ellie’s growing belly, I instantly felt the baby kick. Ellie and I both started to laugh.

“Still not going to find out?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Ells, have you talked to Heather? How is she doing?” Ari asked.

Ellie’s smiled faded, and she looked at Gunner.

“I don’t know. Lynda now seems to be having some kind of mental breakdown, so Josh still hasn’t called it off with her. Heather is trying to act like she’s okay, but I know she’s dying inside. She went on a date the other day.”

“What? Why would she do that?” Ari asked in a panicked voice.

I pulled Ari closer to me and held on to her.

“I think she’s lonely, Ari. She’s so confused on what she should do. She loves Josh, but clearly, Lynda is not going to give up that easily.”

Ari said, “I think it’s time we kick some ass. Stupid bitch. Why does she want a guy who she knows wants to be with someone else? Douche-twat. Oh, sorry, Gunner. I know she’s your cousin.”

Gunner laughed and held up his hands.

“Hey y’all!” Heather said as she walked up and hugged everyone. “We’re a back room on the second floor.”

We all followed Heather into one of the larger rooms. I knew a few of the people, but most were friends of Heather’s aunt, uncles, and cousins or friends of Heather’s parents.

***

We talked, we laughed, and celebrated Heather’s graduation from UT. With the absence of her parents, I could tell that this happy occasion was very emotional for her family. Despite any sad thoughts, her grandfather seemed to be very proud of Heather.

I leaned over to Gunner. “Josh isn’t coming, I take it.”

“I talked to him earlier. Lynda had some kind of breakdown, and he couldn’t leave her.”

“Dude, does he know she’s playing him for a fucking fool?”

“Jeff!” Ari said as she punched me in the arm. “Don’t swear in front of the baby.”

“He’s two months old, Ari. I’m pretty sure he isn’t going to know what fuck means.”

Just then, Matthew who was sitting on the other side of Ari, called out, “I wanna be a mudder.”

Ari quickly turned and started to tickle Matt before she whispered something into his ear.

She turned back and glared at me. Gunner let out a laugh, and I had to bite my cheek to keep myself from laughing, too.

Heather’s uncle stood up to make a toast. As he was talking, Heather let out a gasp. She was staring straight ahead, and we all turned to see Josh standing in the doorway smiling at Heather. She got up and walked over to him. He whispered something in to her ear, and the next thing I knew Heather flew into his arms.

I turned around to see everyone watching them.

Then, louder than she meant to, Ari said,

“Shit, it’s about fucking time.”

Right on cue, Matt started singing,

“I wanna be a mudder fuckin’ cowboy!”

Ari, Sue, and Grace all said at once, “Matthew!”

CHAPTER SIXTY

ARI

December

“Can you believe he’s six months old?”

Jeff let out a laugh as he crawled after Luke on the floor.

“Nope. The little monster is fast as shit.”

I tried to keep up with them as I videotaped Jeff and Luke.

“So, should we go shopping for more toys for Santa to bring?”

Jeff looked up at me with the biggest smile on his face. I swore I’d never seen a man who loved to go shopping for toys like Jeff did. I think he liked the stuff more than Luke.

“Do you even need to ask that, Ari? Hells yeah, my little buddy needs more stuff. Don’t forget. I want to find something really cool for Matt.”

“As long as it doesn’t make too much noise. The drum set you got him drove my mother and father insane.”

I saw the smile spread across Jeff’s face, and I knew he bought that thing just to piss off my father.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Jeff jumped up to get it.

“Heather! What brings you here?”

“Hey! Just wanted to come for a visit.”

Heather walked into the living room and immediately went down to the floor as Luke crawled up to her and got in her lap.

“Oh my gosh, you’re getting so big, my little man!” She looked up at me and smiled.

I knew something was wrong. Her beautiful blue eyes were…dead. I hadn’t seen her sad in months. Josh had left Lynda at the end of August after he’d had enough of her crazy bullshit. Heather got a job teaching first grade at the elementary school in Fredericksburg while Josh’s furniture business was growing in Austin. I knew they tried to see each other as much as possible and Josh was ready to move the business to Fredericksburg just to be with Heather.

“Is everything okay?”

Just then, the phone rang.

Jeff ran into the kitchen and picked it up.

“What? Right now? You have to take her to Fredericksburg, Gunner! No, not Austin…don’t drive…meet me at the main house. Dude, calm down. We’ll be right there.”

He hung up the phone, looked at me, and then to Heather on the floor.

“Ellie’s water just broke.”

Heather and I both let out a scream, and then Luke screamed and clapped his hands. I reached down and grabbed Luke. It’s about time! Ellie was overdue and ready to pop any day.

“Let me change his diaper really quick,” I said.

I grabbed a few things for Luke while Jeff and Heather were getting baby food ready in the kitchen. We had a plan. When Ellie went into labor, Jenny and Aaron were going to watch Luke for us. I grabbed my cell and did a fist pump when I saw I had a signal. I called Jen, told her about Ellie, and said we would drop off Luke in a few minutes.

By the time we got to Emma and Garrett’s place, Emma was sitting on the porch with Ellie.

Heather and I ran up, and I fell to my knees next to my very best friend, who had a huge pregnant belly. I could look at Ellie from behind and never known that she was pregnant, but when she turned around, she was all baby in the front.

“Hey, baby, how are you feeling?” I asked.

“Fine, Emma here is distracting me with a story, so I’m okay.”

Emma who rolled her eyes, and I let out a giggle.

“Ellie needs to take some deep breaths, girls. Can you stay with her while I go in with Garrett? He’s about to beat the hell out of my grandson.”

“Ah…okay.” Heather said.

I looked at Ellie as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Ells, are you okay?” I asked.

“No, I want to have the baby in Austin, but I don’t think I’m going to make it, so we have to go to Fredericksburg.”

“Alright, babe. Why are we just sitting on the porch? And why is Garrett about to beat the hell out of Gunner? I think we should probably be on the way to the hospital, honey, don’t you?”

Ellie let out a laugh. “Yeah, I think we should...oh shit, here comes another one.”

I looked at Heather. “Can you go into the house and see what the fuck is going on?”

Heather nodded and went inside.

“Ellie, baby, just take deep breaths. Come on, let’s walk over to Gunner’s truck. Can you get into the truck?” I pulled her up and held on to her as we made our way to Gunner’s truck.

“Yep,” Ellie said between breaths.

“Is your bag in the truck, Ells?”

“Yeah, I put it in there the other day because I was worried I’d forget it.”

Sounds like Ellie.

I helped her into the truck. “Do you need a pillow or anything?”

“Nope, I just need Gunner. Please, Ari, can you go get him? I can’t breathe.”

I smiled at the thought of how only Gunner could calm Ellie down.

“Okay, baby, I’m going to go get his ass right now. He’ll sit back here with you while Jeff drives. Heather will follow us.”

“Sounds good, but I really think we need to hurry.”

I jumped out of the truck and started to make my way back to the house. Jeff came walking out with Gunner, and I stopped dead in my tracks.

“What the hell happened?” I asked, confused.

Gunner was holding a bag of ice to his head. When he pulled it away, he already had a huge black eye.

“Stupid bastard passed out and hit his eye on the table,” Garrett said as he threw his head back and laughed his ass off.

Gunner turned and looked at him.

“Thanks, Gramps, thanks a lot.”

“Okay, boys that’s enough. Gunner get in that truck with Ellie.” Emma said. She turned to Heather. “I called Grace and Jack, and they’re leaving from Austin and will meet us at the hospital.”

After we got Gunner in the truck, Jeff and I jumped in.

Ellie turned to Gunner. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Jeff looked over at me and smiled. I’d never known Gunner to be nervous or scared of anything. I thought back to when I’d gone into labor and how Jeff reacted. Jeff reached across and grabbed my hand.

I turned around to see that Ellie had her head on Gunner’s chest. He was softly singing to her. My heart started pounding. Ellie was about to have the baby she so desperately wanted.

As Jeff drove to the hospital, I looked out the window at the beautiful country side. Then, I thought about Heather.

Something was very wrong, and I needed to talk to her as soon as possible. Right now Ellie and the baby were my main concern.

“Gunner, will you please stop singing?” Ellie asked.

“Sure, baby, but I thought you loved it when I sang to you.”

Jeff and I looked at each other.

“You’re driving me fucking nuts with that song. Just please stop.”

I let out a giggle. Jeff smiled as glanced at Ellie and Gunner in the rearview mirror.

He reached over and turned his iPod on. Keith Urban’s “A Better Life” came on.

“Yes! I love this song.” Ellie called out.

Jeff looked straight ahead and let out a small laugh.

“Let the fun begin,” he said as he squeezed my hand.

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

GUNNER

Ellie seemed to be so much more relaxed after they gave her the epidural. My mom and dad made it, and they were in the waiting room with Gramps and Grams.