Page 14 of Amaze Me

“Yes. I really could have loaded up my car and driven over myself, you know.”

“Thanks for humoring me.”

To my surprise, Wilt pulled me into a hug. “Hey, sis. Glad you’re putting him out of his misery. He’s been a mess.”

I glanced over at Judd, who shrugged, admitting the truth in his brother’s report.

I mirrored Judd’s shrug when I glanced back at Wilt. “Truly, I’ve been a mess, too.”

“Well, let’s get you home.”

It took just fifteen minutes, including the time it took to load up the vehicles, before we were pulling up to our house. The test results remained at the edges of my thoughts the entire time. Despite my growing excitement, dread edged my anxiety, amplifying when I saw Selma, Judd’s mom, standing on her porch with crossed arms as we pulled up. The angle of her position to the late day sun cast her in shadows, upping my ominous feelings about being back here.

Judd reached over and grasped my hand. “Don’t let her get to you. I love you and you love me, and nothing she does or says is going to change that. If it gets unbearable, I promise we’ll leave. It’s you and me. Always.”

My tongue flicked out to dampen my lips as I stared down at our hands, his larger palm and long fingers covering my smaller ones. My left hand with no ring on it. My gaze swept up to where he guided the steering wheel and the thick gold band onhisleft hand. Not everything had gotten back on track yet. But we were getting there.

If we were going to survive, I had to learn to stand my ground. And now, I knew I had Judd in my corner. But Selma was his mom. I didn’t want him to be torn because he got caught between us. That meant, I had to find a way for there to be peace.

Judd pulled the truck into the driveway beside where Wilt had parked my car. Wilt hopped out and opened my door, helping me down while Judd grumbled behind me, not liking his sibling touching me. My brother-in-law ignored him and pressed my keys into my hand before he turned to swing both my suitcases out of the truck bed.

“Why don’t you unlock the front door while I grab boxes?” Judd instructed.

The door was locked? That was unusual.

“Okay…” I answered, the question in my voice.

“Privacy,” he muttered when he came up behind me. “I’m finding it’s in short supply around here, and it seems more important than ever, now.”

In a minute, my things were piled in the foyer, and Judd and I were alone in the house. Our house. Where we’d lived for the past two years since we’d gotten married, making sweet memories that assailed me while I looked around. It looked the same, yet…different. My husband wasn’t exactly neat. He hadn’t dusted or vacuumed, and his things were dropped all over the place.

“Uh, yeah, sorry,” he said, following my gaze. “I’ll get it cleaned up.”

I nodded, not even caring. Call me crazy, but I kind of liked this evidence of him not being perfect, of him missing and needing me.

He headed toward the kitchen, and I followed him, dropping my purse on the counter when we got there. The old farmhouse had been remodeled years ago, making it an open and airy floorplan, and the long island, with two tall stools against it, divided the kitchen from the living room.

“Did you eat dinner?” he asked.

“No.”

“I stocked up earlier. Gotta admit things were looking pretty slim in the pantry. How’s your stomach feeling?” he asked, turning toward the fridge.

“It’s been okay.” My hand went to my middle, remembering I had to check that little stick I’d hidden away. With Judd rooting through the refrigerator, saying something about burgers and a salad, I unzipped my purse. My hand trembled when I pulled out the test, my heart slamming against my chest. It had to be positive. Ithadto be.

My gasp was loud as I stared at the double lines. When I could breathe, the harsh sound was choppy and loud. My hand shook while tears blurred my eyes, my emotions overwhelming me. Jill had been right. It wasn’t food poisoning. Judd and I were having a baby.

“What is it?” Judd asked, spinning around. His eyes were wild, and I knew he expected a problem, another roadblock. It took him a second to clock the scene he’d seen several times before, though not at the kitchen counter and not with this result.

I held out my hand. “I-I took it right before you guys got to the apartment…”

As he closed the space between us, reaching for my wrist so he could see the little window, hope filled his face.

“You’re pregnant. We’re pregnant,” he whispered. Joy and wonder bloomed across his features and showed me what I’d always known, even though he’d tried to hide it from me. He’d craved a baby just as much as I had. All the months of negative tests had hurt him just as much as they had me.

“We are,” I sobbed.

He crushed me to him and buried his damp face in my neck. We shook, holding onto each other, his arms tight around me and my hands clenched in his shirt. I basked in the quiet awe and celebration. We were together, and soon, there would be three of us.

“I don’t want dinner,” I whispered. “I just want you. Please.”

“You have me. Always.” He swept me up into his arms and carried me upstairs to our bedroom. It was a long time before either of us thought of dinner or anything else besides each other and our good news.

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