One year later . . .
“Don’t overdo it today,” Elliot warned.
“Uh-huh,” I muttered.
“He’s right,” Silas said. “Take it easy.”
“Leave her alone.” Olivia came to my rescue. “She’s just sitting there.”
“No, she’s not. She’s cooking,” Elliot argued.
My lip curled. “She is just peeling potatoes. I’d hardly say what I’m doing is strenuous.”
“You’ll get carried away,” Elliot said. “I think you should go sit on the couch. Watch TV or read a book.”
I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. I was about ten seconds away from throwing a potato at his face.
“Come on, Dad,” Silas said. “Let’s get out of here before she maims you with that peeler.”
“Fine,” Elliot muttered and kissed Olivia good-bye. He came to me next and kissed the top of my hair before going outside.
“See you in a bit.” Silas’s arms wrapped around my stomach as he bent over my chair. “Love you.”
“Love you too, baby. Good luck out there.”
He kissed my cheek and followed Elliot outside. I enjoyed the view of him leaving almost as much as him coming. If I could move faster, I would have hustled after him and given that sexy butt of his a good squeeze before he’d left. As it was, it would take me ten minutes just to stand from this chair.
“Finally, they’re gone,” Olivia sighed. “You’d think you were the first woman to ever have a baby.”
“It’s a good thing she’ll be here any day,” I said, rubbing my belly. “I don’t think I can take more of his smothering. I’m peeling potatoes here, not running a marathon. Me, of all people, should be able to tell when I need a break.”
I sighed and took a drink of my herbal tea. God, I miss caffeine.
Olivia sat beside me with her rich, black coffee. “He’s just hovering because he cares.”
“I know. It’s actually quite sweet.”
If someone had asked me a year ago if I thought Elliot and I would have a loving father/daughter-in-law relationship someday, I would have said, “Fuck no.”
But the night of Derrick’s attack had changed everything.
Since that night, Elliot and Silas hadn’t had a single disagreement about the ranch, and Elliot had made it his personal mission to become the positive father figure I’d never had. He’d even asked to do the father-daughter dance with me at my wedding.
Silas and I had gotten married in a one-room country church, surrounded by family and close friends. Silas, wearing a simple black suit, had been waiting at the end of the aisle as Jess had given me away. Since Sabrina couldn’t be there, we had decided not to have attendants, with the exception of Rowen as my flower girl. She’d led the way down the aisle, wearing a simple plum dress with matching flowers in her hair. I had followed in my cream gown with a delicate lace bodice and billowing chiffon shirt.
Just as he had wanted, Silas and I had hosted a huge reception at the ranch after the ceremony. The white tent that I’d rented had taken up nearly all of the Grants’ backyard. The party had been in full swing when Elliot and Olivia had asked us to pop inside for a minute. Waiting for us in Elliot’s office had been their wedding gift.
The Lucky Heart.
That night, they’d deeded the entire place over to Silas and me.
My wedding gift to Silas hadn’t been quite as fancy. When we’d left the party and come back to the loft, I’d handed him a plastic baggie with my positive pregnancy test sealed safely inside.
That night, Silas got his ranch and I got my family.
Now, nearly nine months later, we were on our ranch, expecting our first baby and preparing for another branding.
“My break time is over,” Olivia said. “I’d better get going on the lunch buffet.”
“Leave that coffee,” I said. She gave me a sideways look. “I just want to smell it. I promise not a drop shall pass these lips.”
“Would you like me to make you some decaf?”
I grimaced. Let the record show, decaf coffee was not the same as regular.
Twenty potatoes later, I struggled out of my seat to help Olivia in the kitchen, hoping that standing would ease the pain in my lower back. Let the record also show, pregnancy was equivalent to a perpetual state of discomfort.
“We’re here!” Khloe pushed inside after a quick knock, Paxon following close behind. “Where do you want these?” She lifted five boxes of cookies she’d made for today’s festivities.
“Come to mama.” I held out my hands, planning to steal an entire box for myself and baby girl.
“I’m going to head down to the corral and help get the rest of the stuff ready. Do you need anything before I go?” Paxon asked Khloe.
“Can you bring in the cake for me?”
He nodded and jogged outside.
“Cake?” I shoved a snickerdoodle cookie in my mouth.
She shrugged. “It’s his favorite. He wouldn’t stop pestering me while I was baking so I finally gave in.”
“It’s tough to find good roommates these days,” I teased and she smiled.
Paxon had bought that little beige house by the cemetery, and not two weeks after he’d fixed up the spare bedroom, she’d moved in as his roommate.
Khloe hadn’t needed to bunk up. I’d brokered the sale of her and Derrick’s former house and she’d made a killing, plenty to afford her own place, but living with Paxon made her feel safe. Derrick was enjoying a fifteen-year sentence at Montana’s state prison for attempted murder but Khloe still had a lot of fears to overcome.
It was actually good for both of them. Khloe gave Paxon peace and he was steadier when she was around. Over the last year, he’d been seeing a counselor in Bozeman, and I think Khloe’s influence complemented his therapy.
“Ouch,” I muttered, rubbing my back. It was going to be a long day with this backache. Eating two more cookies, I went back to cooking, ignoring Elliot’s and Silas’s warnings to take it easy.
Hours later, the ranch was crowded with people and I had traded my post in the kitchen for a chaise lounge outside, visiting with Gigi and Emmeline as the kids played in the yard. Inside, Khloe and Maisy had come to my rescue, taking my place in the kitchen to work with Mom and Olivia as they prepared everything for the big dinner tonight.
“Ba, ba, ba, ba.” Adeline, my almost one-year-old niece, crawled over and pulled herself to her feet by my chair. With one hand, I stroked her pretty brown hair while the other rubbed the side of my belly. As nonchalantly as possible, I snuck a glance at my watch.
Surprise. My backache wasn’t a backache. This baby was coming a week early.
I was definitely having contractions and, holy hell, those fuckers hurt. They weren’t close enough together for me to raise the alarm but I was having a hard time concentrating on the conversation.
“What’s wrong?” Gigi asked me.
“Huh?” I looked up from Adeline. “Oh, I’m fine,” I lied. “The kids seem like they’re having fun.”
In the yard, Rowen and Mason were running around while Ben and Coby did their best to keep up. Draven, Nick and Emmeline’s one-year-old son, was more interested in the sand box than in playing with the bigger kids.
“Did you get the nursery finished?” Emmeline asked.
“Yep. Silas set up the crib, and I finished my last load of baby laundry last—ouch!” My hands immediately clutched my belly as I breathed through the strongest contraction yet.
“You’re having this baby today, aren’t you?” Gigi asked.
I nodded. “I think so.”
She held out a hand to help me up off the chair.
“I’ve got the kids,” Emmeline said as Gigi walked me inside. “Good luck!”
I followed Gigi blindly into the kitchen, the reality of what was about to happen both unnerving and exciting. Oh my god. I’m having a baby.
“Olivia,” Gigi said into the kitchen, “would you mind going down to the corral and telling Silas he’s about to be a daddy?”
The room erupted in cheers and clapping. Mom and Olivia rushed to my side for hugs and kisses before making room for Khloe and Maisy.
“I need my bag,” I said. “Would one of you buzz down to the house and get it? It’s in our bedroom, right inside the closet.”
“On it!” Maisy bounced toward the door with a beaming smile.
I sucked in a sharp breath as another contraction started, gripping Mom’s hand as I waited for the twisting pain to subside. “Phew. I am definitely getting the drugs.” I had been flip-flopping on whether or not to try a natural childbirth. Definitely not.
Waddling outside with my entourage, I caught a glimpse of Maisy’s car disappearing down the gravel road toward our house.
A few months ago, the construction crew had finished building our forever home. Silas and I had gone a little crazy on size, building a five-bedroom, three-bath house on the edge of the meadow where he’d had first taken me fencing. We’d opted for a craftsman style instead of log but had incorporated a lot of wooden beams and stone accents to give it a rustic feel.
It was everything I wanted in a house, designed with plenty of open space for family time and entertaining friends.
My head whipped away from the road and toward the corrals as the sound of a galloping horse pounded our way. I smiled as Silas came barreling up on Courage, his cowboy hat shielding his dusty face from the sun and his T-shirt pulled tight across his rippled stomach. God, he was sexy. Any other day, and I’d sneak him into the now-empty barn apartment for some afternoon nooky.
Silas swung down off Courage and took the porch steps two at a time. “You’re in labor? Are you okay?” he asked as he wrapped me in a hug.
“I’m fine.” My nose scrunched up as I pushed him back. “But you smell like burnt hair and cow shit. I’m not pushing out this baby with that smell wafting in my nose. You need to shower.”
He lifted his armpit and sniffed. “It’s not that bad. Let’s go.”
“Oh, no you don’t,” Gigi said. “She’s right. You stink. Shower, use extra soap, then meet us at the hospital.”
“Hold up.” Another contraction started and I grabbed Silas’s hand as my uterus squeezed. When it stopped, I looked to Gigi and said, “Time to go,” before turning to my husband. “Silas, shower. Don’t forget the car seat.”
“Lis—”
“Now is not the time to argue with me, baby.” Water ran down my legs and pooled at my feet. Okay, that was kind of gross. “Silas!” He was staring at the puddle with wide eyes but at my shout they snapped to mine. “Get a move on.”
He turned on his heel and leapt down the steps, sprinting for the barn.
Maisy returned with my bag before Gigi and Mom helped me into her car and off we went, speeding down the road toward the hospital. Gigi made short work of the trip, but by the time I arrived, my contractions were less than a minute apart.
“He’d better hurry.” Bad smell and all, I needed Silas with me now.
I waited for a contraction to pass before pushing open my car door, but before I could step out, Silas’s hand was there to help me down.
“How did you get here so fast?” I asked. “And you showered?”
“There was no way I was missing my girl’s arrival just to obey the speed limit. Come on, babe.”
Four hours later, Silas and I were staring at our beautiful baby girl.
Victoria Noelle Grant.
I was exhausted and in desperate need of a nap, my entire body ached, and things between my legs would never be the same.
But I’d never been happier in my life.
Silas
“Let’s take a walk, cricket. Give Mommy a chance to rest.”
I wrapped up my girl in the black band that Felicity had shown me how to use. I looked like a total putz wearing this baby carrier, but I didn’t care. At least it wasn’t pink.
And Vic loved it. The only way to get her to sleep was by walking her around. The minute you’d sit, she’d start screaming her head off. At one month old, she already resembled her mother in more ways than just looks. She’d inherited Felicity’s feisty spirit.
“Lis?” I stroked Felicity’s hair. She’d fallen asleep on the couch about twenty minutes ago.
“Hmm? Is she hungry?” Her head barely lifted off the pillow.
“I’ve got her. We’re going to take a walk. Get some sleep.”
She nodded and drifted off to sleep before I stepped away.
Fuck, she was beautiful. That woman, my daughter. They both took my breath away.
I grabbed my phone and a spare bottle from the fridge, then headed outside. We strolled along the gravel drive that wound up to my parents’ house, enjoying the early afternoon sunshine. In the distance, Mom was working in her garden and Dad was on the riding lawn mower.
“See all this, Victoria?” I bent down to kiss her soft hair as she slept. Her little nose rested against my chest. “It’s a special place. With you and Mommy, it’s where my dreams came true. Proof that miracles do happen on the Lucky Heart.”