Page 178 of Sugarloaf Ridge Lies

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Jerry

Liv cuts through thetape of another package, the kitchen a mess of cardboard and packing plastic. There haven’t been many days this week the postman hasn’t visited. She’s already bought a ton of Christmas decorations. It’s the first week of November. Is this normal? Clearly, it’s a chick thing. I’ve never decorated the place for Christmas. I always spend the big day at Banridge where Mum and Aunt Bernie have taken the reins with that stuff. Next weekend is the baby shower, and no doubt Bernie will go all out.

Liv gasps as she takes a glittery green bauble from the box and detangles it from strips of shredded tissue paper.Jerryis written in wide white lettering.

My heart thumps hard as her smile widens. “Do you love it?” She hands it to me, but it’s not what holds my attention. It’s the pure joy in those mesmerizing blue eyes. Every day I fall deeper for this woman. The way she makes me laugh, how she continues to kick my arse at Uno, and the way she’s made this cottage more of a home than it was when it was me and my trusty dog.

“So, do you?” she prompts.

I’m a man, a man’s man, but the sight of a personalised decoration just for me has me tearing up. No one has ever done something so thoughtful for me before.

I swallow hard and lean over, pressing a kiss to her soft lips. “It’s the best. What else you got in there?”

She reveals the next one, a red one withLiv. She holds it up, as if she’s on a game show revealing a prize. “They get better.” The next is a shiny bronze withPirateand two small paw prints underneath.

I laugh. “Pirate is gonna lose his shit when he sees it.”

She tilts her head and grins. “Oh, he will if he knows what’s good for him.”

“They’re beautiful, babe. Never said that about Christmas stuff before, but there’s a first for everythin’.” So many firsts with this woman. My future has never looked so bright.

She smirks and reaches into the box. “There’s one more.”

Four silver letters wrap around a white shimmery ball. Each letter causes my heart to trip. My brain struggles with the emotions swirling inside: love, pride, protect. I take the ornament in my worn-out hands and cradle it, as if it’s the most precious gift in the world.

B-A-B-Y.

Come Christmas I’ll be holding a baby.

“I want a real Christmas tree,” Liv blurts.

I glance over at her, my gaze as watery as hers.Is she asking me again now that she has me all soft inside?

“So you’ve said. On multiple occasions.”

“I heard there’s a Christmas tree farm out near Willow Creek with a gift shop. Maybe we could take a look this weekend? They opened today.”

“Youheardor you did some research?” Something my girl is a star at. The farm wouldn’t be headed in the direction it is without her brains. Between her and Daynah working on future advertising strategies, I have a lot to live up to.

She rolls her eyes. “What’s the difference. We should take measurements before we go, as there’s not a lot of space in the lounge room. I might get carried away and buy one while we’re there.”

One of these days I’m gonna build this woman a house she deserves to fit the biggest damn tree. Until then, we have to make the best of what we’ve got.

“Sugar, I adore your enthusiasm, but if we get one soon, won’t it be shedding pine needles before Christmas rolls around?”

“Not if we follow the care instructions. The website said—”

“Oh, it did, did it?”

Liv pokes out her tongue. Her phone pings with a message. She swipes across the bottom of the device. “Aww,” she says and shows me a photo of a milk drunk baby with dark wispy hair. “George is doing well. Poor Nat’s nipples aren’t coping though. Chewed to within an inch—”

“Um, not sure I wanna talk about your girlfriend’s nipples.”

“You can bet we’ll be talking about mine as soon as this baby is born.”

I shrug one shoulder. “I already talk to about your nipples. To anyone who’ll listen. They’re fuckin’ perfect. All perky and pink and—”

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