“Hey.” Her hand reached up and cupped his cheek as she pressed away from his chest. “It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“You don’t know what I’m thinking.”
“Yeah, I do. It’s written all over your face. I just wanted us to have time to work through everything before my family got involved. Because if it’s really us together against everything, if it’s you and me andBeeas a family, I wanted us to be able to present a united front when I told them. That’s all. It’s not about you. It’s about them.”
“We’re about as united as we’re going to get, Pretty Girl, unless you finally want to say yes to?—”
“Stop it,” Jessie chuckled as her eyes dropped to the doughnut box on the ground by his hip. “I’m scared to death over here. But you know what? I think I’m feeling up to taking a bite of that sour cream one.”
Hawk smiled. “The no stings,” he laughed. “But I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He maneuvered the box open, grabbing the sweet treat with his free hand before bringing it to her lips.
Lachlan and Dakota walked out of the shop, the two clearly in a heated discussion, before Dakota turned and walked away with his phone held up to his ear. He sat on what Hawk assumed was his motorcycle while rubbing the back of his neck. The stiffness in Lach’s shoulders and the way he was laser focused on his sister put Hawk on high alert.
“So,” Lachlan looked down at his feet. “You two…”
“Lachlan…”
“Jess. Enough is enough. It’s time to stop hiding this secret. Tell Mom and Dad about the baby, please. About Hawk, and whatever the hell is happening between the two of you.”
Her face fell. “You don’t have any room to talk about hiding secrets. What is going on with you and Dakota? I’ve never seen you two like that before.”
“Leave it.” He looked at Hawk. “Take her back to your place. She shouldn’t be here if she’s not feeling well.”
Sixteen
“Hey, Dad!” Jessie called out as she entered the house. Her heart was tumbling around in her chest, but she’d seen his work boots off by the door and knew he had to be somewhere nearby. She’d finally gathered up the courage after Lachlan’s push to tell her family. It took her another week to figure out how exactly she wanted to tell them, and Hawk had been so supportive. She knew he was dying to tell his parents, but had held out so Jessie wouldn’t feel guilty that only her family didn’t know.
Daniel Ford’s head full of gray hair popped out from the kitchen, a cup of coffee with steam still swirling off the top in his hand.
“Hey, kiddo. What’s going on? Thought you were working with Lach until dinner tonight?”
“He gave me the afternoon off. I’ve been pushing off my responsibilities here onto Beau, and I figured after I took care of Lucky, I’d come help Mom with dinner.”
“Sounds like a plan. But your Mom put something in the slow cooker before she went into town. Now, before we both head outside, are you ready to tell me why we’re hosting Hawkat this family dinner? Do I need to clean my shotgun this afternoon?”
Yes. If Hawk had his way, they’d be coming to tell her family not just about Bumblebee, but also that they’d gotten hitched. Thankfully, she had some sense. Those Montgomery Defense men did not play around with settling down. And she wouldn’t be the reason Hawk ever felt trapped just because she’d gotten pregnant. He’d said all the right words, and he’d been showing up for her in the most incredible ways, but she wasn’t going to let herself get attached to the idea of everything just magically working out.
“Jess? You’re not making me feel great about why he’s joining us.”
“No! Dad… It’s nothing to worry about.” Her dad lifted his coffee to his mouth and nodded. Before he could respond, Jess turned on her heels and headed towards the stairs. “I need to put my laptop up on my desk and change before I head out to the barn. I’ll see you later!”
It took all of five minutes to drop her things off in her room before sliding into her work boots and heading out to the small barn where she could finally tackle the list of chores Beau had sent as payback for taking care of Lucky a couple of times over the last few weeks.
The walk to the small barn felt heavy. A million thoughts were racing through her head, but Jessie tried to shove them all down as she walked past the homestead that had once belonged to her great-grandparents. While her brothers all lived in their own homes on the Silver Ridge Ranch property, Jessie had been happy living in the main house with her parents. But she’d always known growing up that one day, that homestead would be hers to renovate.
She’d spent countless hours on the front porch, wondering what it would be like to hear her children running in the fields out back like she’d done with herbrothers. It was bittersweet to realize that Hawk would probably always want to stay in town. His team was there, for the most part.
Lucky greeted Jess with a bleat, hopping down from his favorite tree stump to mosey over to the gate.
“Hey there, handsome. I’ve missed you so much.”
The goat greedily accepted some pats on his head before Jess took off to tackle her chores, Lucky never once leaving her side. Well, not until about a half hour in when Jess couldn’t shake the feeling she was being watched.
Lucky trotted from the barn, putting Jess on even more of a high alert. But as soon as she stepped fully out into the sunlight, she realized her nerves were just getting the best of her. Lucky was back up on his stump, happily surveying the land around him.
“Alright, Luckster. I’ve got to go back up to the main house. You be sure to give Beau as much grief as possible if he comes out here to take care of you, okay?”
She swore a mischievous sparkle twinkled in his eye, and Jess laughed all the way until she stood at the bottom of her parents’ porch.
