“Jesus, Jess. I know I’m older than you, but I’m not ‘forgetI took every important operating receipt from last year and forgot to put it back’ old.”
“What made you come look for it in the first place?”
“Dakota asked. He floated the idea of buying into the business to me a few months ago. I guess he finally went to the bank, but that triggered a whole shit storm. The bank called me. They’ve apparently been sending notices in the mail about our failure to pay the mortgage on this place. For the last six months. That can’t be right though, because I haven’t seen a single letter from them.”
“They’re going to foreclose on you! Oh my god. I swear I haven’t seen a letter come from them. What happened to the money you got in your grant from Sebastian? We put all of that money in the account. They should have been able to pull from that.”
“I don’t know. I don’t understand why they’re not taking it.”
“Okay, shit. It’s already after five. They’ll be closed until tomorrow. I’m going to go down there in the morning and figure it all out. You and Dakota didn’t change anything, did you? I’m still listed on the account, right?”
“Yeah. It’s just you and me.”
Jess nodded, her fingers landing on a tan envelope she hadn’t seen before. It was simply addressed to ‘Lachlan’. “I’ll figure out what’s going on. I don’t know what this is.”
Lachlan took the envelope from her hands, opening it while she went back to look through the small pile of paperwork they actually had still in the office. Jessie turned to ask him what was in the envelope, but stopped as soon as she saw the look on his face. His eyes went wide as he looked from her to the laptop.
“I’m going to figure this out, Jess. You have enough on your plate already. I just needed you for the paperwork. But I’ve got it handled from here.”
“I can?—”
His face dropped and she felt the change in him immediately. “I said I’m going to handle this. So I will. Show me where the files are on the computer and go home.”
Ten
Hawk clenched the phone in his hand as he stood outside the main two story farmhouse on Silver Ridge Ranch. He’d been waiting for Jessie to come down for the world’s longest five minutes, and his need to pace was only growing bigger the longer she made him wait.
The door opened and she walked out, denim jeans that hugged her curves and a sweatshirt that covered her belly with overflowing fabric. He was so used to stealing glances at her that the freedom to drink her in at a leisurely pace made his head feel like he’d had one too many drinks served to him at Davney’s.
“You didn’t have to pick me up.”
Hawk pushed off the front of his truck and took two steps forward before wrapping Jessie up in his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and soaked in the feeling of holding her under the cold and crisp Texas sky.
“It’s your first day off since we found out about the baby that doesn’t include an intense medical procedure being performed. I’m so damn excited about spending the day with you I could barely sleep last night, so of course I’m going topick you up.” He lifted her chin with his thumb. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“I’m okay.” The smile she gave him didn’t quite meet her eyes, and that fucking told him everything he needed to know.
“You got sick.”
Her bottom lip was quickly captured by her teeth as her hands slid into the pockets of her jeans. “Only once, and it was my own fault, really.”
She shivered as Hawk pressed his hand to the small of her back. “Let’s get you in the truck and you can tell me all about it.”
“I don’t really want to talk about throwing up. Maybe you should tell me what you have planned for today instead,” Jessie laughed as he opened the door for her and helped her inside. He stepped up on the running board, grabbing her seat belt and draping it over her hips before clicking it into place.
“I could do that myself, you know?” Her left eyebrow rose up in challenge, but Hawk just chuckled.
“Not when you’re with me. I’m taking care of you, remember? And now I know for sure that my girls are safe.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek before hopping down and closing the door gently behind him.
“You’re girls, huh?” she questioned as he sat in the driver’s seat.
“You said you felt like it was a boy, so I’m just helping us cover our bases.”
“If you’d covered your base properly, we wouldn’t be having to cover other bases now,” she laughed.
“The thought of a broken condom before would have sent me to my knees, but I’m fucking ecstatic about it now,mama. I’m thinking we should send a birth announcement to the companies when she’s born, thanking them.”
“That’s actually a really cute idea.”
