Page 73 of Fall to Me
No. I need to be rational, plus I don’t even know if she wants kids. It’s not something we’ve really talked about.
Not yet.
Because I want to give her exactly what she asked for, I booked us a trip to Oklahoma. It’s a little after 8 pm when we land in Tulsa. A few guys from the security detail hang back behind us as I sign the paperwork to our rental car. They’re playing their part well.
Have I told her about them yet? No.
Am I going to? Eh, that’s still up in the air.
Since we don’t know where Jaxon is, I thought it would be best to have her guards on hand in case she and her mom decided to give me the slip.
The woman behind the counter hands me the key. I pocket the ring with the yellow tag and fob, then slide my hand to the small of River’s back and guide her to the ladies’ room.
“Let’s hit the restrooms before we head out,” I encourage, trying to stall for time while security grabs their rental car.
We both handle our business and head to the car, the men following us from a safe distance. One behind us, one a couple of cars over to the left, and the other on the right. It’s comforting to know she feels safe with me, but it’s also concerning that she hasn’t noticed them yet. Especially since these same three guys have been following her since Monday.
It takes us an hour to get to Stroud. We’re in the middle of bum-fucked nowhere, winding down dirt roads. I take washboards a little too hard, earning me a side eye from River.
“Want me to drive?”
“No. I got this,” I tell her.
“Remember when you get to our driveway, to kill the lights. Oh, and don’t slam your door when you get out.” We turn onto another gravel road, taking it for a bit.
River smiles, giddy with excitement as she bounces in her seat. “I can’t wait to see Mom’s face when she sees we’re home for Thanksgiving. See that turn right up there? That’s our drive.”
I kill my lights right before turning onto the gravel road only lit up by the moon light. We wind around trees, and I hit a washed-out section a little too hard, causing River to grunt.
Oops.
We pull up to an old beautiful white two-story farmhouse. A light illuminates a wraparound porch with two rocking chairs. The place reminds me of something you might see in a movie. Country music is turned up loud, playing from inside the house. River holds her finger to her mouth, creeping up the porch.
She quietly opens the front door with me trailing her heels.
“Surpri—ohmygod!” she yells, covering up her eyes. “What the fuck?”
“What the fuck is right,” Rhett counters as he pulls out of Marcy.
I did not need to see that. Fuck! I need to burn that image from my brain. It’s like a car wreck. You don’t want to look, but you can’t look anywhere else. Reaching back, River places a hand on my chest, pushing me backward, but I’ve already received an eye full. I tug River into my arms, cradling her head to my chest and back us out the door.
“I can’t fucking believe this,” she says. “They hate each other.”
“Now, bug, we don’t hate each other,” her dad calls out as her mom adds, “Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“You weren’t saying that two seconds ago.”
“I’m surprised you even lasted two seconds, Rhett.”
“If it wasn’t good, Marcy, you wouldn’t keep coming back for more.”
My shoulders shake as I laugh, but River looks like she could puke.
“Okay you two can stop talking now,” River calls back as I take her hand, guiding her to the rockers while her parents put their clothes back on.
Running my fingers through my hair, I rock in the chair beside her and let out a chuckle when she says, “I’m gonna need extra therapy and maybe hypnosis to repress the image of my parents going at it.”
I feel that. Seeing my in-laws fucking in the living room wasn’t on my bucket list.
