Sunlight catches on the ring as I twist it between my fingers. Something—orsomeone—flutters low in my belly, and I run my hand over my bump. “It’s Tyler’s. You would’ve hated him, I think, but you weren’t here to stop me, so it’s partially your fault I’m even in this mess. You never should’ve left me to fend for myself. My judgment can’t be trusted. I told you I wouldn’t fall for a cowboy, and then I broke my rule. Twice.”
That pang I didn’t get earlier hits me full force now—not for him but for Jess. My throat constricts as my eyes begin to sting. “We were supposed to raise our babies together. Best friends, remember?”
I let out a humorless laugh as the wind rustles my hair. “I guess I tend to hold onto the past when everyone else has already moved on. I can’t do it anymore. I have to free myself from everything that’s holding me back. Tyler wants nothing to do with us, but Griffin… Griffin wants to give us the world. He’s exactly the man you said he was. I should’ve listened to you all those years ago.”
I slide the ring onto my finger just above the wedding band Griffin placed there. The band is nothing fancy, a gold circle with a ring of diamonds, but it’s perfect in its simplicity. It fits like a glove, like it was always meant for me. The engagement ring feels all wrong, like a shackle binding me to my old life and the memories that died with it.
What would Jessica Louise Hayes do?
The answer is immediate.
I pull Tyler’s ring off my finger and inhale a fortifying breath, then I draw my hand back and launch it over the cliffside into the rolling tide below. Relief washes over me like the first breath of fresh air after a thunderstorm. Freedom never felt so good.
I feel like I’m floating on a cloud as I drive back to Griffin’s house and park next to my car in the driveway. The door opens before I even make it up the front stairs.
As Griffin steps out onto the porch, I launch myself at him, pushing him back against the siding. Our mouths collide in a frantic kiss, and he lets out a strangled groan as my fingers tangle in his long hair. Time passes in a haze as I lose myself in every caress of his hands along my body. I let my hands wander, too, scraping across his beard and down to his chest.
When we finally come up for air, he sweeps a lock of hair away from my forehead and grins down at me, his eyes full of unmitigated desire. “Christ. What was that for?”
I wrap my arms around him and slide my hands into his back pockets. “I want to move in.”
He pulls me tighter to him and lowers his face to nuzzle against my neck. “Thought you were gonna make me wait forever.”
“I considered it,” I say teasingly.
He presses his lips to my collarbone. “Thank you for putting me out of my misery.”
I take a step back, eyeing the scattered packages littering the porch. There have to be at least thirty boxes, some small, about the size of a pair of shoes, and some much larger. “What is all of this?”
He slides his hands into his pockets. “Did some online shopping.”
“Why do they say Tater Tot on the shipping address?”
He runs his hand down my forearm and threads our fingers together, reverently gliding his thumb along the side of my palm. “Even if you weren’t going to move in with me, I planned to make up the nursery anyway. I promised to take care of you, and I meant it.”
“Griff…”
“It’s all from your wish list, but we can return anything you don’t like if you change your mind.”
I lay our joined hands on my belly. “I won’t change my mind. About this or anything else.”
When I left for Willow Valley this morning, I thought I was going to clear my head. What I found there was so much more than just clarity—it was a way forward—a pathway to the future I’ve been dreaming about my entire adult life. One that involves a cowboy, a ranch, and a tater tot.
Chapter 26
Breeding Season at Whispering Oaks Ranch
? I would, Would you - Kelsea Ballerini
Angelina
Baby Mamas
Me: Help. Does the horniness ever go away?
Callie: Don’t ask me. I’m about to throw myself at Jaxon again.
Olivia: Hot.
