Page 136 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
My wedding gift to Silas hadn’t been quite as fancy. When we’d left the party and come back to the loft, I’d handed him a plastic baggie with my positive pregnancy test sealed safely inside.
That night, Silas got his ranch and I got my family.
Now, nearly nine months later, we were on our ranch, expecting our first baby and preparing for another branding.
“My break time is over,” Olivia said. “I’d better get going on the lunch buffet.”
&
nbsp; “Leave that coffee,” I said. She gave me a sideways look. “I just want to smell it. I promise not a drop shall pass these lips.”
“Would you like me to make you some decaf?”
I grimaced. Let the record show, decaf coffee was not the same as regular.
Twenty potatoes later, I struggled out of my seat to help Olivia in the kitchen, hoping that standing would ease the pain in my lower back. Let the record also show, pregnancy was equivalent to a perpetual state of discomfort.
“We’re here!” Khloe pushed inside after a quick knock, Paxon following close behind. “Where do you want these?” She lifted five boxes of cookies she’d made for today’s festivities.
“Come to mama.” I held out my hands, planning to steal an entire box for myself and baby girl.
“I’m going to head down to the corral and help get the rest of the stuff ready. Do you need anything before I go?” Paxon asked Khloe.
“Can you bring in the cake for me?”
He nodded and jogged outside.
“Cake?” I shoved a snickerdoodle cookie in my mouth.
She shrugged. “It’s his favorite. He wouldn’t stop pestering me while I was baking so I finally gave in.”
“It’s tough to find good roommates these days,” I teased and she smiled.
Paxon had bought that little beige house by the cemetery, and not two weeks after he’d fixed up the spare bedroom, she’d moved in as his roommate.
Khloe hadn’t needed to bunk up. I’d brokered the sale of her and Derrick’s former house and she’d made a killing, plenty to afford her own place, but living with Paxon made her feel safe. Derrick was enjoying a fifteen-year sentence at Montana’s state prison for attempted murder but Khloe still had a lot of fears to overcome.
It was actually good for both of them. Khloe gave Paxon peace and he was steadier when she was around. Over the last year, he’d been seeing a counselor in Bozeman, and I think Khloe’s influence complemented his therapy.
“Ouch,” I muttered, rubbing my back. It was going to be a long day with this backache. Eating two more cookies, I went back to cooking, ignoring Elliot’s and Silas’s warnings to take it easy.
Hours later, the ranch was crowded with people and I had traded my post in the kitchen for a chaise lounge outside, visiting with Gigi and Emmeline as the kids played in the yard. Inside, Khloe and Maisy had come to my rescue, taking my place in the kitchen to work with Mom and Olivia as they prepared everything for the big dinner tonight.
“Ba, ba, ba, ba.” Adeline, my almost one-year-old niece, crawled over and pulled herself to her feet by my chair. With one hand, I stroked her pretty brown hair while the other rubbed the side of my belly. As nonchalantly as possible, I snuck a glance at my watch.
Surprise. My backache wasn’t a backache. This baby was coming a week early.
I was definitely having contractions and, holy hell, those fuckers hurt. They weren’t close enough together for me to raise the alarm but I was having a hard time concentrating on the conversation.
“What’s wrong?” Gigi asked me.
“Huh?” I looked up from Adeline. “Oh, I’m fine,” I lied. “The kids seem like they’re having fun.”
In the yard, Rowen and Mason were running around while Ben and Coby did their best to keep up. Draven, Nick and Emmeline’s one-year-old son, was more interested in the sand box than in playing with the bigger kids.
“Did you get the nursery finished?” Emmeline asked.
“Yep. Silas set up the crib, and I finished my last load of baby laundry last—ouch!” My hands immediately clutched my belly as I breathed through the strongest contraction yet.
