Page 57 of Caught By A Cowboy

I jump when I see him step into the reflection and I already know that curious smile he’s wearing won’t last long once he hears what I have to say.

“I thought you were branding the herd today?” I laugh nervously as he steps up behind me. It sounds to me like it’s a big job, all the cattle need rounding up before they can even getstarted. Sawyer’s coming over to help and Jace has a few extra men staying in the bunkhouse too.

“We are, I just came to say goodbye.” He wraps his arms around my middle and kisses my cheek.

“I’m leaving town today,” I blurt out the words and close my eyes because I know they’re going to piss him off.

“What do ya mean you're leavin’ town?” He scowls at me.

“My mom messaged me yesterday, she wants to meet me. She doesn’t want to come all the way here, so I agreed to drive back home.”

“Absolutely not.” He screws his face up as if I’m insane.

“C’mon, Jace, you know how important having my family on board with this is, it really sounds as if she’s coming round to the idea. She even asked if the baby was okay.”

He looks anything but impressed with her efforts.

“It’s too far for you to drive. Just give me a few days and I can take ya myself.”

“They’re leaving to go on one of their traveling adventures, tomorrow night. They’re touring Asia for a whole month. Which means I might not get a chance to see them again until after the baby comes.” I look down and stroke my stomach, reminding him of the fact I’m giving him a child.

“You're killin’ me,” he tells me, shaking his head.

“I know, but I really need to do this.”

“What if Adam’s there? Or what if this is some kinda intervention?” He narrows his eyes and takes the bottle of Bio-Oil from my hand, shaking some out onto his palm before soothing it over my stretched-out skin.

“I think you gave Adam a pretty fair warning last time you saw him. He’s not going to be there, Jace, and this isn’t an intervention, this is just me and Mom building bridges.”

“It’s a four-hour drive,” he reminds me. Keeping his eyes focused on his hand as he continues to oil me.

“I’ll stay the night, I still have some stuff in my old room that I’d like to bring back, anyway.”

“And you really wanna do this?” He frowns the way he always does when he’s about to let me get my way.

“I’ll get to see Kendra.” I give him another reason why this trip is so important. I haven’t seen my best friend from home in months and she’s been very supportive of the decisions I’ve made. I’ve spent a lot of time talking to her on the phone and she always sounds so excited to hear about what's happening in my life now. I’m hoping her positive energy will rub off on Mom.

“Okay,” Jace sighs in defeat. “But you have to stop for regular breaks, and I wanna know the second you get there.”

I clap my hands together and although I want to jump on my feet, I know my body won’t quite let me.

“You’re taking my truck too, no arguments. At least I know if you hit anything in that thing, they're coming off worse.”

“I’m not going to hit anything, I’m a great driver,” I assure him, turning all the way around so I can kiss him.

I squeal with excitement as I head off to pack and send Kendra a text letting her know I’ll be seeing her tonight. These days I can barely keep my eyes open past ten o’clock, so I tell her to come to my parents’ place at seven, it’ll give me plenty of time to travel there and speak to my parents before she arrives.

Jace is checking the truck’s oil when I come out the door and when he sees me carrying my overnight bag he growls, and rushes over to take it from my shoulder.

“You have got to be the most impatient person I’ve ever met. Couldn't you have left that on the bed for me to carry down?” He tosses it across to the passenger side before adjusting the driver's seat so I can get behind the wheel.

“You’ll probably have to stop for gas but don’t use self-service, the fumes ain’t good for–”

“Will you stop panicking? We’re going to be just fine.” I take his hand and heave myself up into his truck, feeling a little embarrassed when he has to re-adjust the seat a little more to accommodate my bump.

“You just remember to text as soon as you get there.” He fixes my belt in place.

“And there's a spare tire in the back, right? You know, in case I get a blowout and have to change it.” I bite my thumbnail and watch his face turn blank. “Relax, I’m kidding. If anything like that happens I’ll call roadside assistance.” I put his mind at rest.

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