“I had no idea about that until the day you left for Denver, I swear.” He looks a little panicked as he takes my hand. “I would never have led you on or made ya false promises. When Grayson told me and–”
“Hang on, are you telling me that you’ve known about this for over a week?” The fact that Jace has been suffering this for so long makes me furious. He lives for this place, and the fact he didn’t share with me how much he was hurting makes me want to cry.
“Yeah.” He hangs his head and picks at one of the scabs on the heel of his palm.
“Jace, why didn’t you tell me?” I place my hand over his.
“Because you were busy getting kidnapped.” He turns his head and attempts a smirk.
“I’m being serious, this place is everything to you, you must have been heartbroken.”
“Baby,you’reeverything to me. And, yeah, I built all my hopes and dreams around this place, but what I was more concerned about was losing you.”
“There you go again with the losing me. Why would you think that?” I laugh at him.
“Jeez, Mads, I don’t know, maybe because your parents got a big fancy house and money you couldn't live long enough to spend? At least owning this place made me feel like I hadsomethingto offer you.”
“You know, for a man who’s so respected by so many people around here, you can be really stupid,” I tell him straight. “I’m not here with this huge, heavy belly and swollen ankles because of what you have to offer me. I ran away from all of that. I’m here because I…”
“Because?” Jace frowns suspiciously.
“Because I love you, you fool. I fell for you straight away, and I know you think you railroaded me with all this.” I look down at my changed body. “But I wouldn’t want it any other way, and whether you own this place or live in the bunkhouse wouldn’t change that.” I stroke the back of his neck with my fingertips.
“You mean it?” His eyes narrow as they focus on mine.
“Of course, I mean it.”
I watch his shoulders sag with relief before he leans in to kiss me.
“Wait.” I pull back from him. “Is this why you’ve been so weird, lately? You’ve been purposely avoiding me, haven’t you?”
“Darlin’, it ain’t been easy,” he admits, moving in to kiss me again.
“Uh, uh.” I hold my hand against his shoulder to keep him distanced. “You better be intending on giving me far more than just a kiss, Jace Sullivan, because you have deprived me for far too long.”
“Deprived, huh?” I can tell from the way he bites his lip as he stands up, that he’s about to give me exactly what I need.
“Baby Momma, you better stand up and turn your pregnant ass around because I’m about to make you scream the roof off.”
Dinner is silent and very awkward. Kendra's eyes keep flicking across at me as if she expects me to say something to break the tension.
“So, Mr. Sullivan, what do you do when you're not lawyering?” She decides to do it herself, as she picks up her glass and takes a sip of wine.
“I don’t have much time for hobbies,” he answers her politely before getting stuck back into his pot roast.
“That's a shame, all work and no play makes for a very dull bo–” She cuts herself off when he looks up at her sternly. “Well, that's what my daddy used to say anyway.” She bites her lip and quickly gets back to eating. There's more silence and when the front door opens and Tyler steps inside, he takes his hat off and holds it to his chest like he’s about to sing in church.
“Sorry to interrupt your Sunday, Boss, but I can’t seem to find my good jeans, do you mind if I check the laundry room?”
“Go ahead,” I tell him, feeling bad for the fact I haven’t been pulling my weight lately. Jace will barely let me lift a finger. I was only allowed to help with the pot roast if I promised to sit at the kitchen table and just chop.
I notice the way Tyler looks at Kendra and lowers his head as he makes his way through, and I also notice how she blushes back at him. The door bursts open again and this time it’s Tyler's brother, Kyle, who bolts through it, out of breath and searching for him.
“Sorry, Boss, did Ty come through here?” he asks. Straightening himself up when he notices Kendra sitting at the table. He quickly takes off his Stetson and runs his hand through his floppy, blond hair.
“Laundry room,” Jace answers with a curious look on his face.
“Thanks, Boss.” Kyle rushes on through and when we start hearing mumbling and whisper-yells come from the other side of the wall, we all stare across the table at each other wondering what's going on. Tyler’s the first to rejoin us, holding his jeans under his arm and looking…oddly nervous.