Page 23 of The Truth

“I’m pregnant.”

Gunn just stood there, and stared.

That was the last thing he had ever expected to hear.

16

Ayla had spentthe night at the ranch again, staying close to Greer. Gunn had spent most of the evening trying to wrap his head around what Greer had said.

She was moving home. She was going to have a baby. And the father was a man she wanted nothing to do with.

He didn’t think that was how it would end up playing out—Gunn suspected there was more to the story than his sister was saying. He would be there, though. For his sister, and her baby. However she needed him.

But Ayla had stayed the night there, helping Greer get settled back in. Ayla and Hala. The two of them had stuck close.

Gunn hadn’t gotten much time with Ayla after that.

He’d spent most of the evening trying to keep his brothers from going on a manhunt, honestly. Grady was especially ready to find the father of Greer’s baby and rip him apart. Grady and Gene. They had tangled with that man several times before, and were beyond furious right now.

But Gunn had calmed them down as best he could.

No matter what happened going forward, he had faith Greer would be just fine. She’d stay at the ranch, Greer and the baby,and he and his brothers would make sure they were okay. Taken care of and protected forever, if that was what Greer needed.

Family took care of family.

Now, he had volunteered to drive Ayla to the library, after he had taken it upon himself to feed her and Greer and Genny breakfast. He hadn’t liked the idea of her riding the transit, not when he was perfectly capable of driving her. And… it was just that much more time they could spend together.

He walked her inside, mostly to make sure she got inside safely and to confirm Jake wasn’t planning to leave at any point during the rest of the afternoon. If she needed a ride home, he’d make sure someone could be there to get her.

He’d wanted to stay and watch her do story time with the kids, but… church business.

Church business came before his love life. It was just the way it had to be. He finished his meeting, then got a later start to the airport than he’d intended. They’d discussed that after the movie, too, how his job wasn’t a regular nine-to-five. His job was to be there when his congregation needed him. Whenever that would be.

He had a lot of time on the drive to the airport to just think. He had almost kissed her in her backyard. He had sat right there next to her on the chaise lounge, probably far closer than he should have, and just talked to her. Long after he had taken her home from the movie.

He’d even left his own little sister inside Ayla’s house with Aubrey, and the two of them had looked at the stars from Ayla’s yard, too.

Gunn had told her things he had never told anyone before. He had made certain to keep that blanket between them like a barrier. But he’d been on alert the entire time. Every single time she hadmoved,he had felt it almost to his soul.

No wonder his brother stared at her sister like he was starving. Gunn… Gunn finally understood what that meant. He was going to have to tread carefully here, or he would do something he would regret. He hadn’t touched a woman since before he had applied to the seminary.

Not that he hadn’tkissedwomen in that time. There had been a few he had been seriously attracted to. He was thirty-three years old, not a virgin despite what his family thought, and a healthy single male.

But he had wanted to kiss her so much. Every time she’d laughed, he’d fought the urge to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer anddo thingsto her. Things he hadn’t done in a long, long time.

Gunn rolled the window down. Time to cool himself off. Before…

He was going to have to marry that woman as soon as he possibly could. There really wasn’t any other solution. She was driving him mad.

And whirlwind romances worked for his family. Hadn’t his parents married after knowing each other three weeks? Yes, he was reaching here. He knew that. But…

How was a man supposed to deal with a beautiful woman like her?

The man he was there to find was easy to spot. Reverend Emerson Riordan was around Gunn’s own six-four. Around Gunn’s own age, they had met when Emerson transferred into the seminary in Finley Creek Gunn’s second semester. They’d roomed together for a little while, in an apartment near the campus. Emerson was one of his closest friends on the planet. And Gunn hated how his friend had struggled the last few years. How Emerson hadhurt.

It had been inEmerson’schurch where the JD Rei Hope Lifer cult had been first discovered. That kind of blow hadnearly destroyed Emerson. Gunn had flown up there to be with his friend after. He would never forget how hurt and broken Emerson had been then.

“Gunn,” Emerson held out a hand to him. Gunn hugged him quickly. Emerson was almost as close to him as his own brothers. “How are you?”

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