When we’re away from the girls and away from the small group of people on the other side of the tree who are still standing around gossiping, I wrap my arms around Leo’s neck again. He holds me tightly against him and we sway gently to the soft music playing across the yard.
“So, you chucked a coffee cup at the VFW president’s head, did you?” Leo asks, repeating the gossip I’d been listening to from behind the tree a little bit ago.
“Oh, totally. Gave him a concussion and everything,” I smirk. “I was also a few minutes late for the ceremony because Buddy threw me in the clink for stealing booze again.”
Leo laughs, squeezing me in a hug and kissing the tip of my nose.
“Then I guess it really is true that we had to get married because I knocked you up,” he laughs again.
When I don’t answer him and just continue staring up at him, his laughter immediately stops and he stares down at me, his eyes wide and his mouth dropped open in shock.
“Seriously?” he whispers.
“I wasn’t late for the ceremony because I was in the clink. I was late because I was puking up my guts in our bathroom. Congratulations, Mr. Hudson. We’re going to have a little baby cup of coffee!” I exclaim with a nervous smile, not entirely sure how he’s going to take this news.
I should have known better than to be nervous. Leo immediately drops to his knees with one hand on my hip and the other pressed gently to my stomach. He looks back and forth from my still-flat belly up to me, and the wide-eyed shock disappears. His bright blue eyes fill with tears and a huge grin stretches across his face from ear-to-ear.
“Amazing,” Leo whispers. “The nerd knocked up the hottest girl in school.”
Wrapping my hands around his arms, I tug him back up onto his feet, sliding my arms around his waist. He brings his hands up to my face and cradles it as he stares down at me.
“Promise me you won’t teach our child about cow insemination or goat testicles,” I beg him.
“Only if you promise to never, ever bake me a blueberry pie,” he replies with a grin.
“I promise. Just as long as you don’t do anything to piss me off, Sheriff Hudson,” I tell him with a wink, pushing up on my toes and sealing my promise with a kiss.
The End
Acknowledgements
As always, thank you to my beta readers – Jessica Prince, Michelle Kannan, Stephanie Johnson, and Valerie Potjeau. Jessica, thank you for saying, “Just have them talk to each other like we talk to each other.” I love you, fuck truck. Valerie, thank you for your Chicago knowledge and teaching me how to hate Ugg-wearing DePaul girls.
Thank you to all the awesome people in Tara’s Tramps for your continued support, pimping and love.
Thank you to my agent, Kimberly Brower, for loving the idea of this story and actually making me excited to write it. Thank you for putting up with my 10,000 emails and text messages and talking me down from the ledge. Weekly.
Thank you to Scheva Hurn for your help with small towns in Kentucky. We’ll always have Philpot.
Thank you to my husband for helping me come up with excellent names for this book. Jethro Snell will always be the best.
Thank you to my spawns for only asking 100 times if Jed was dead yet while I was writing. I know it could have been 200 times. I appreciate your restraint.
Last but not least, thank you to every single one of my readers who continues to support me with every crazy new book I put out. I love you all to the moon and back.
Tara Sivec, Jed Had to Die
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