Page 58 of Caught By A Cowboy

“It’s a damn good job you're beautiful.” He kisses me, then leans lower to kiss my stomach. “Don’t give momma any shit,” he whispers before straightening up and checking my seat belt,again.

“Don’t break any speed limits, and if you get there in any less than four and half hours I’ll?—”

“Punish me,” I interrupt, letting him know just how much I’d like that, by licking my lips.

“Just go steady. You got no idea how much I hate this.”

I have to admit I’m surprised he’s letting me go, I’m assuming it’s got something to do with the fact I called him an overbearing asshole during the last fight we had.

“I love you, and we’ll be just fine.” I close the door and lean out the window so I can kiss him one last time.

“Remember what I said, self-service,” he calls out at me as I pull away. When I look back in the rearview mirror and see him watching me leave, I stroke my hand over my stomach and smile to myself.

“I think your daddy’s really going to miss us.”

I take a photo of the guy filling the truck with gas and send it to Jace so he knows I’m behaving, and have to take the final hour of my journey a little steadier to make up the time I gained on the freeway. I’m not prepared to admit to him that I got a little throttle-happy while listening to Taylor Swift and forgot to check the speedometer.

When I eventually pull up onto my parents’ drive I’m feeling nervous, and excited at the same time. I’ve thought about being able to talk baby names and nursery ideas with my mom the whole trip here, and I just know that when I tell her more about Jace and how he takes care of us, she's going to view him differently. I doubt my mom would have ever met a man like him before. She’s judgy by nature and won’t have seen much past his rugged look and tattoos when she first met him. I’m determined to make her see how good he is for me.

I text Jace to tell him I’ve arrived, then take a deep breath for courage before I head for the front door. I try to let myself in, and when it won’t open I realize it’s locked.

Mom knows what time I was supposed to get here, I’m sure she would have had at least someone here for my arrival. I call out and when I see no sign of my parents or Stella through the window, I stretch up on my toes and feel across the door ledge for the spare key.

Once it’s successfully retrieved, I open the door and let myself inside. It’s strange that there’s no one home, at all. Stella is always here during the day and when I call her name and get no answer, I check the laundry room and the kitchen in case she is too busy to hear the door. She’s nowhere to be found and the house is so silent you could hear a pin drop. My phone startsto ring and when I see Isabel’s name on the screen I give up searching so I can answer.

“Hey, I heard you took a trip back home.” I’m glad to hear her sound a little more cheery. We’ve grown close over the past few months, and I’ve noticed that lately, she’s been kind of down. I tried asking her how she felt last week, but she gave that same fake smile that she gives all the town folk and promised me she was fine.

“Does anything stay secret in Clearwater Creek?” I laugh as I open the refrigerator door to see what there is to snack on.

“Well, Miles stopped by the diner to place the guys’ food order for tonight, and he told Jean, who then told–”

“I know how it goes,” I moan as I press my palm into the base of my spine to straighten my back. Sitting in one position for so long has really made it ache.

“You good?” Isabel sounds concerned

“Yeah, just my back playing up. Nothing to worry about.”

“You're not going into labor, are you? Remember what Jean said about the three days of slow labor she suffered, all that excruciating pain was in her back,” she reminds me with a sarcastic laugh. “I swear that woman makes it her mission to put the fear of God into people.”

“It’s far too early for any of that, this is from driving and not listening to Jace. I should have made more rest stops.”

I hear a knock at the door and keep her on the line as I move through the house so I can answer it. “To be honest I was expecting to have to stop more so I could pee. I’m usually lucky to last more than an hour. Hang on, just let me get the door…” I cradle my phone between my ear and my shoulder as I open it and I’m shocked to see who’s standing on the other side.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I smile politely and then gasp in fear when that person grabs hold of my throat, forcing me backward.

“Isabel!”I scream as I feel their fingers grip around me, cutting off my oxygen and making me drop my phone. I claw at the skin on their forearm because I can’t scream anymore, and I can just about hear Isabel calling my name down the phone as I get forced back toward the wall beside the stairs. My head cracks against the brickwork, and a pain like I’ve never felt before explodes in the back of my head.

“I think you and I need to have a talk.” The words ring in my head before my head goes light, and I completely black out.

JACE

“She got there, okay.” I sigh with relief as read the text Maddison just sent, and slide my phone back into my top pocket.

“Noware you gonna relax?” Sawyer looks across to Grayson who's wearing the same clever smirk that he is.

“One day, you're gonna meet that woman who changes it all then we’ll see who's pulling faces,” I warn him, knowing full well that he’s got it bad for that new sheriff, even if she has come here to bust our asses.

“Not a chance.” He shakes his head and laughs. “Females ain’t nothin’ but trouble, ain’t that right, old man?” He kicks on his horse so he can go after a stray, while I continue to hold the left side with Grayson.

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