Cherished

  I hit End on my cell phone and looked over at Jessie, who was sitting on a hay bale with her knees tucked up under her chin.

  “I don’t want to go,” she whined.

  I let out a laugh. “Baby, we have to. We’ve told everyone but them.”

  She threw her head back and let out a frustrated moan. “Ugh, Scott, they already don’t like me. Now, add me running off for five weeks, causing their baby boy heartache, on top of me not being the girl they wanted you to marry.”

  “I don’t give a fuck who they wanted me to marry. I want to marry you, the love of my life and the woman who is having my child.”

  She stood up and pouted. “But they’ve never liked me. Amanda has told me horror stories about her in-laws. What if that’s how this is going to be? I mean, I don’t come from money, and my name is Jessie, not Chelsea.”

  I walked over to her and used my finger to pull up her chin. I looked into her eyes, and they sparkled when I smiled at her.

  “I. Don’t. Care.” I leaned down and kissed her.

  She opened her mouth, and our tongues immediately began to explore each other. I was so lost in the kiss that I didn’t want to hear the person clearing his throat behind me.

  Jessie pulled slightly away and smiled. “Someone’s here, babe.”

  “Go away,” I said, without bothering to turn around to see whom it was.

  “Fuck you, asshole,” Lark said from behind me.

  I smiled and looked over my shoulder. “I’m glad you changed your mind and showed up a day earlier.” I walked up to him and reached my hand out to shake his hand.

  He shook it and then tipped his cowboy hat at Jessie.

  “My god…I would have never imagined you as a cowboy, Lark,” Jessie said with a chuckle.

  Lark grinned and slammed his right hand over his heart. “Oh, Jessie, you wound me. I grew up on a sixteen-section ranch in south Texas. I put the meaning in the word cowboy.”

  “Wow. What is that? Like, ten-thousand acres?” Jessie asked.

  I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on top of her head. Shit, the smell of her shampoo drives me crazy. I can’t seem to get enough of her.

  “Ten thousand two hundred and forty, if you want to get down to the nuts of it.”

  I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Lark’s dad owns one of the biggest and best hunting ranches in Texas.”

  “Ah, so I bet your house is probably loaded with dead animals,” Jessie said with a laugh.

  Lark shook his head. “Nope. I live in a condo in downtown Austin.”

  “Yeah, except when his crazier-than-rich boss calls him to duty. Communications, my ass. You better not be into anything illegal, Lark.”

  Lark let out a sigh. “Scott, Skip works for the U.S. government. He’s sort of like a…contractor. That’s how I got the job with him.”

  “And what do you do besides fly his helicopter?” Jessie asked.

  Lark gave her that smile that would melt any girl’s heart. “Oh, I help out in areas of expertise. I learned a lot during the short amount of time I was in the Marines,” he said with a wink.

  “Fair enough,” Jessie said. She turned and looked at me as she whispered, “All secretive and shit. I can see why he’s a ladies’ man.”

  Lark laughed. “Shit. Speaking of…any new chicks since the last time I was here?”

  “Damn it, Lark. You need to stow your dick for just a few days. I promise, it won’t kill ya.” I grabbed Jessie’s hand, and we made our way back toward the house.

  “Bullshit. Country ass is the best kind of ass…sorry, Jessie.”

  I just looked at him. “You’ll never change.”

  Jessie laughed. “Oh, he’ll change the moment he meets the love of his life.”

  Lark let out a loud laugh. “Well then, Scott is right. I ain’t ever gonna change ’cause there is no way in hell this boy is settling down with just one pu—ah…um, girl. No way I’m just settling with one girl for the rest of my life.”

  Jessie smiled and turned. She walked backward and faced both Lark and me. “We’ll see. I’ll make ya a bet—by this time next year, you’ll be head over heels in love with a girl, and you’ll want to ask her to spend the rest of her life with you. Yep…that’s right, Lark. You’re gonna be a one-pussy kind of guy by next Christmas.”

  She turned and walked into the house as Lark and I both stopped dead in our tracks. I glanced over at Lark.

  He had his mouth hanging open as he slowly turned his head and looked at me. “Jesus, dude. I think I’m in love with your girl.”

  I smacked him on the shoulder and made my way into the house. I walked up to Jessie, who was now filling up three glasses with tea.

  I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I want to be inside you…right now.”

  She smiled as she poured the last glass of tea and then turned to face me. “Can’t. We have to go to your parents’ house. Remember?”

  I closed my eyes and silently cursed my own parents. I whispered, “Fuck.”

  Jessie giggled as she shook her head and looked toward Lark. “So, you get to pick which guest room you want to stay in. I have a friend from college who’s coming to spend a week with us also.”

  Lark raised his eyebrows and smiled. “Oh yeah?”

  “Oh no…no way. You are not allowed anywhere near her. She is pure. And when I say pure, I mean, P.U.R.E. Lark, don’t even think about it,” Jessie said as she put her hands on her hips.

  “Wait—she’s a virgin?” Lark asked with a Cheshire cat smile on his face. “I haven’t popped a cherry in a while.”

  “Ugh. Oh my god. You are just…ugh.” Jessie rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Scott, control your friend!” She looked at me. “Make sure he stays away from Azurdee.”

  I couldn’t help it. I had to laugh. This was just Lark. He had always been this way, ever since I’d met him our sophomore year of college. The only thing I really knew about his life before then was that his high school girlfriend had died right after his freshman year of college. His brother had told me how much Lark had changed. He’d basically become the opposite of what he had been before she’d passed away.

  “Azurdee? Huh, it’s about as interesting as Lark,” Lark said with a smile.

  Jessie rolled her eyes again. “Is that your real name?”

  Lark smiled and leaned against the counter. “Lark is my middle name. I don’t like my first name, so I go by my middle name.”

  “What’s your first name?” Jessie asked.

  “Michael,” Lark said as sadness filled his eyes.

  “I like that name. Why don’t you like it?” Jessie asked as she quickly glanced at me.

  I shook my head. Lark had told me once when he was drunk that the idea of another girl saying Michael while they had sex made him sick to his stomach, so he had gone by Lark ever since his girlfriend had passed away.

  I started to make my way out of the kitchen. “Dude, let’s go and get you settled in your room. I’ll make sure there is at least one room between him and Azurdee, babe.” I gave Jessie a quick smile.

  She gave me a weak smile. She seemed to understand what had just happened.

  As I helped Lark bring his stuff up to his room, he set his rifle case down next to the bed. I smiled, and he smiled back.

  “What? I thought maybe we could get some target shooting in while I’m here. Brought my bow, too. Maybe I can get a buck and show my dad that they do grow ’em big in the hill country.”

  I nodded my head. “Hell yeah, we do. I can’t wait for you to meet Jeff, Gunner, Brad, and Josh. I have a feeling you and Jeff will hit it off the most,” I said with a gruff laugh.

  “So, which one is having the big New Year’s party?” Lark asked as he put his suitcase on the bed.

  “Gunner. They’re going to build a huge bonfire with all the Christmas trees. It’s pretty cool. Just know that they all have kids. Gunner has a little girl, who just turned one, and they’re expecting another one in May. Jeff has
a little boy, year and a half, and a four-month-old little girl. Josh has twins, four months old also. Brad has a little girl, nine months old.”

  “Jesus Christ. What in the hell is in the water here? Remind me not to drink it. What about you and Jessie? How far along is she?”

  “We have to go to the doctor, but Jessie thinks she is a little over two months,” I said with a smile plastered on my face. “Speaking of, we were heading to my folks’ house to break the news to them before you showed up.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Ah hell, Scott, please let me come. I really want to see the look on your mom’s face. She’s gonna piss her pants. First, her baby boy did not marry the richest girl in the state of Texas. Then, you go off and knock up a simple country girl, and you’re not even married. You’re going to hell, you bastard,” Lark said as he gave me a sad face.

  I punched him in the arm. “Fuck off, asshole. Make yourself at home. We’ll be back in a few hours. Sorry to leave you hanging like this, but we just went to the store, so everything is stocked up in the kitchen.”

  Lark stood up and smiled. “My fault for showing up a day early.”

  I said good-bye and headed back downstairs. Jessie was sitting on the sofa, pouting.

  “Baby, pouting just makes you look sexy as hell.”

  She stood and stomped her feet. “Scott, I don’t want to go. Can’t you just tell them yourself?”

  I walked up and grabbed her hand. “Come on, we have one stop before we head to my folks’ place.”

  My heart had been pounding since Scott had pulled out of the driveway. The idea of going to see his parents always made me feel sick, but now…I really felt sick. I already knew what was going to happen. They would look at me like I was something to be stomped on, and then they’d pull Scott to the side and question the hell out of him.

  Scott turned in the opposite direction of his parents’ house and started driving toward the river. They owned the ranch that butted up to Scott’s ranch. I was guessing that they’d probably bought more land near the river.

  Scott and his parents pretty much owned most of the land around here. Garrett…well, actually, Gunner and Jeff now owned the second-largest chunk of land. With Scott taking over his family’s breeding business so that his dad could focus on his partnership in an oil company, his parents were hardly ever in Mason anymore. And that was fine by me.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “I need to show you something before we go to my parents’ place. I already told Mom we were running late because Lark had shown up a day early.”

  I let out a huff. “Great, she’ll just blame me for making us late.”

  I looked out the window and put my hand on my stomach. I smiled, thinking about our child growing inside me. Not even Mr. and Mrs. Tight-Ass Reynolds can spoil this for me.

  Scott pulled down a dirt road that ran along the backside of his property and his parents’. It led down to the river, and it was one of the first spots where he had taken me on a date. I smiled, remembering back to that day. I remembered Heather telling me about how Josh and she had made love by the river for the first time, and it always made me swoon.

  How romantic.

  I couldn’t help but smile, thinking about that date with Scott. He had come down a few hours before and set up an old quilt, picnic basket, and a bottle of wine for dinner by the river. By the time we had shown up, ants had been all over the place, and I remembered standing there, looking down at the old quilt covered in ants, and laughing.

  I let out a giggle. Scott reached over and grabbed my hand. I instantly felt that jolt of electricity, and my stomach took a dive.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  “I was thinking about when we started dating, and you brought me to the river to have dinner, but then we found ants everywhere.”

  Scott shook his head. “Oh my god, that pissed me off so bad. Fuckin’ ants.”

  I laughed harder and kissed the back of his hand. I looked over at him and almost couldn’t believe that he was mine, that I was actually going to have his child. The feeling of love just engulfed my whole body, and I had to look away because it felt like I was going to cry.

  As Scott turned down the same little road as on our first date, I noticed he sat up a little straighter. I peeked over at him, and he was smiling from ear to ear. I looked out the front window to see what he was smiling at, and I sucked in a breath of air.

  “Oh my word. What’s going on?” I asked in almost a whisper.

  There was a white tent set up right next to the riverbank with a small black wrought iron table. There were four people walking back and forth from the tent to a trailer that said Bon Vie Chef Services.

  Scott parked the truck and jumped out. I watched as he walked up to one of the men in white and shook his hand. For some reason, I was frozen in the truck. Scott turned and walked to the passenger side of the truck. He opened the door and held out his hand for me.

  I looked down at him and said, “What’s going on?”

  The moment he gave me that panty-melting smile of his, I knew this was his way of making up for our first failed attempt at a picnic here. I couldn’t help but smile back at him as I held my hand out and hopped out of the truck.

  “We’re celebrating,” he simply said.

  I giggled. “The baby?”

  He stopped and turned me toward him. He leaned down and kissed the tip of my nose. He let out a small laugh. “Among other things.”

  Scott grabbed my hand and walked us over toward the table. One of the gentlemen pulled the chair out for me, and I thanked him. He poured me a glass of spring water and then one for Scott.

  “Good afternoon, Mr. Reynolds, Ms. Rhodes. We will start off with butternut squash bisque since there is a bit of a chill in the air today. That will be followed by your main course of roasted lemon chicken with sage, thyme, and rosemary along with roasted root vegetables in a walnut dressing. For dessert, Mr. Reynolds has chosen the blueberry crumb cake. Mr. Reynolds, would you like a glass of wine?”

  Scott looked up and smiled as he shook his head. “No, thank you. I’ll stick with water.” He looked back at me and smiled.

  I knew he wasn’t drinking wine because I couldn’t have a glass.

  “Scott, oh my god, this is all way too much!” I said.

  “I don’t think it’s enough. We have a lot to celebrate,” he said with a wink as he reached for my hand.

  When they brought out the soup, it hit me how hungry I really was. I practically devoured it in two bites. Scott grinned and seemed very pleased by my healthy appetite.

  I took my last bite of chicken and leaned back in the chair. “Oh wow. That was probably some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. Scott, I don’t think I could eat dessert. I mean, it sounds so yummy, but I’m stuffed.”

  Scott looked up, and one of the servers came over.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Would you mind boxing up the dessert? My girl here is full.”

  I blushed as Scott looked at me. I wasn’t sure why I’d blushed. Maybe it was the look of pure passion in his eyes. He had been watching me eat the whole time, and he almost seemed nervous. Maybe telling his parents right now about us being pregnant wasn’t such a good idea. I glanced over, and the sun was slowly starting to go down. I was glad I had a long-sleeved shirt on as I started to feel chilly.

  Scott stood up and reached for my hand. I smiled as I got up and placed my hand in his.

  “Let’s go for a walk,” he whispered.

  He leaned down and skimmed his lips against mine. I turned back and looked at the table, feeling guilty.

  “Don’t worry, baby. That’s what they get paid to do. Come on, the sun is fixin’ to set soon.”

  As we walked for a little bit, we talked about the baby and the plans to make the guest bedroom downstairs the nursery since I couldn’t bear the idea of the baby being upstairs and so far away from us.

  “Do you want to find out if it’s a boy or a girl???
? I asked.

  Scott came to a stop and turned as he took both of my hands in his. “Do you?” he asked.

  I giggled. “Yes! I don’t think I could stand the wait. Plus, we can decorate the room either for a boy or a girl.”

  Scott grinned. “Then, it looks like we’ll be finding out.”

  I looked out over the river. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The sun still had a good thirty minutes before it would set, giving us plenty of time to walk back to Scott’s truck.

  “It’s beautiful,” I whispered as I watched the sunrays dance along the top of the water.

  “Yeah, it is,” Scott replied back.

  Then, I turned to see him getting down on one knee as he reached into his pocket. He took out a small blue velvet jewelry box, and my mouth dropped open as I instantly began crying.

  “Oh, Scott…” I put my hand up to my mouth to hold back the sobs.

  He let go of my other hand and opened up the ring box.

  I let out a gasp. Oh…it’s the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen.

  “Jessie, I think I’ve known that I wanted you to be my wife from the first moment you smiled at me. I want to have kids with you, grow old with you, fight and make up with you.”

  He wiggled his eyebrows up and down, and I let out a giggle.

  “I want to be able to tell you every day that I love you. I want to prove to you every day that I’ve never loved and cherished anything in my life like I do you. I love you to the moon and back, baby. I always have, and I always will.”

  I couldn’t control my sobs. Damn hormones. I smiled and wiped the tears away as he took the ring out and held it up.

  “This was my grandmother’s ring, and I know she would have loved you, Jessie. You would have captivated her, just like you have me.”

  He took my left hand and went to put the ring on my finger, but he stopped and looked back up at me with tears building in his eyes.

  Scott tried to talk, but his voice cracked. He cleared it and smiled. “I know the last few months haven’t been exactly how we would have liked, but if I had the choice of whether or not to do it over again, knowing it would put me right here in front of you, I would do it again. I’d rather die than ever lose you. You will always be mine. Forever. Jessica Ann Rhodes, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”