Walking into the room, I fisted my hands when I saw Kim sitting at the table. Mitchell shut the door and stood off to the side.
“You had me fucking arrested?” Kim shouted.
I grinned. “You broke the law. Of course you were going to get arrested.”
Her eyes flickered back and forth between Mitchell and me. “You did this on purpose.”
“No, you did this. You gave up any right you had to Chloe. I got a restraining order against your ass, and you ignored it.”
“You illegally got it.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Think whatever you want, Kim. I’m only going to tell you this once. If you ever set foot back in the state of Texas, I’ll make sure you rot in jail.”
Her brow lifted. “And how exactly would you do that?”
Placing my hands on the table, I leaned closer. “My parents are one of the richest families in Texas. My brother is a Texas Ranger. If you doubt for one moment that I couldn’t make your life a living hell, you’re crazy.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard.
“After you spend the evening here in this nice jail of ours, I expect your ass to be on the next plane out of the state. Don’t test me, Kim. I’ve put up with your shit for too long.”
Her eyes narrowed into two thin slits. “I cannot even begin to tell you how much I hate you.”
I moved closer, causing her to lean back. “Back at ya, Kim.”
After I poured a mug of coffee, I ran my fingers through my hair and stared out the kitchen window. A heaviness filled my chest, and I tried like hell to push it away. My mind had been racing all afternoon and evening. It had taken everything out of me not to lose my shit on Kim.
I couldn’t believe she had the fucking nerve to go to Chloe’s school. Did she really think they would just hand her over? Of course she did. She never once dropped off Chloe or picked her up from day care. Kim had no idea how any of it worked because she left it all up to me. The one time she took Chloe to a playdate she forgot to pick her up, and they had to call me to come get her.
I was glad Mitchell had her arrested. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when she was sitting in that cell tonight. Chuckling, I shook my head and rubbed the back of my neck. What an idiot.
“Hey, how’s Paxton?” Amelia asked while walking into my kitchen.
“I didn’t even hear you come in.”
She grinned. “Yeah, I kind of snuck in. I wasn’t sure if you would be sleeping or not.”
The tension in my neck increased, and I found myself rubbing it again.
“Paxton’s doing good. The doctor stopped by and assured us that everything was fine with the baby, but it was best if Paxton took the next few days to rest.”
“That’s good the baby is okay,” she replied.
“Yeah. It’s really good. Luckily, she’ll only miss half a day of school with it being Christmas break and all.”
Her arms wrapped around her body. “That’s true.”
Making her way over to me, she smiled and grabbed a mug. She poured herself a cup of coffee and asked, “Do you want to sit on the back porch?”
I shrugged. “Sure. Why not.”
After we made our way to the porch, we sat in silence for a few minutes. The sounds of nature always calmed me. Why didn’t I sit out here more often? I made a mental note to sit out here each evening with Paxton.
“Paxton move in yet?”
“She’s going to during the break, but she’s pretty much staying here all the time.”
“What does Chloe think about it?”
I smiled. “Paxton and I talked to her about it. Chloe doesn’t seem to be bothered by it at all.”
“Things will be easier when you’re married, I’m sure.”
Taking a sip of coffee, I nodded.
“Speaking of married, have y’all picked a date?”
“The sooner the better. Paxton’s worried about her job. Today her boss overheard her tell Kim she was pregnant. He told her they would talk after the break.”
Amelia’s brows lifted. “Really? For Christ’s sake, this isn’t the fifties. Lots of people have kids outside of marriage.”
“Not kindergarten teachers in small town Texas.”
“Then get married over the break. She’ll have the baby in July. Sure folks will gossip but who gives a flying shit what people think.”
“I don’t.”
“Good! Steed, when people started to find out I wrote romance books, tongues were wagging like crazy in this town. I thought Daddy was going to fly through the roof when the teller at the bank mentioned I wrote porn books. You just let them get it out of their system. They’ll gossip in their weekly bunko groups and Wednesday church meetings and then they move on to next week’s gossip. It’s a cycle.”
“You’re right.”
“Of course I am. But…besides stopping by to check on Paxton, I had an idea. Well, actually it was Waylynn’s idea. I just got off the phone with her.”
Oh hell. When my two sisters got their minds together it usually spelled trouble. Twice Amelia and Waylynn had been on the verge of being tossed in jail when Amelia went to New York to visit her. Waylynn’s jackass husband tried to ban Waylynn from seeing Amelia, and she pretty much told him to go fuck himself.
“Do I want to know?”
“Yes, I think you do. When Waylynn was in town over Thanksgiving and we all went to get our nails done, Paxton mentioned she always dreamed of a winter wedding around Christmas. The lights and holiday cheer made it the perfect time to get married.”
“Yes, she has mentioned that before.”
“Well then! Okay!”
I narrowed my eyes at my baby sister. “Well then, what?”
“You’ll get married. On Christmas Eve!”
Staring at her like she was insane, I let out a roar of laughter. “Because it would be so easy to plan a wedding in…” I looked at my watch. “Five days.”
A smile moved across her face that actually frightened me. “Do you trust me and Waylynn?”
“Of course I do. No, wait!” I held up my hand. “Trust you with what?”
“Planning your wedding. We can surprise Paxton. Think about it, Steed. You both want to be married, neither of you want the stress of that right now so how perfect will it be to have it all planned out for you? That way the two of you can concentrate on the baby, and Chloe, and your relationship!”
I leaned back in my chair and let the idea settle in some. “Where would we have it?”
“Here. On the ranch at Mom and Dad’s place. I already talked to April and David to make sure they would be okay with that. They were thrilled with the idea, and April is beyond thrilled to be helping.”
That made my heart soar. “Christmas Eve you say?” I asked with a grin.
“Yep. I already checked the weather, and it looks to be beautiful.”
“Is Waylynn gonna fly down for it?”
Her smile faltered. “Um, she was coming home for Christmas anyway. Jack had a business meeting in London he was going to and told her it would be best if she stayed home for this trip.”
“Fucker,” I mumbled.
“Yeah. He is. That’s a story for another day,” Amelia added.
Leaning forward, I rested my arms on my knees. The more I thought about it, the better it sounded. Paxton would be mine. My wife. Chloe’s mom. A no-stress wedding. She’d already brought up going to the justice of the peace and making it official, so I knew she wouldn’t be upset.
With a tilt of my head, I smiled at my sister. “Let’s do it.”
Amelia set her coffee cup down and started to jump around. “Oh my gosh, Steed! I promise you won’t regret it! I swear we’ll make it so special for the three of you!”
Standing, I pulled my sister into my arms. I loved that she had included Chloe in that statement. “I know you will, Meli. I’m just glad the whole family will be here for Christmas.”
“For your wedding too,” she whispered.
“Hey, Amelia.”
We both pulled away to see Paxton standing there.
“Why are you up? You should be resting,” I said.
She flashed me a sexy grin. “The doctor said everything was fine. I’m sure it was the stress of the situation that made me feel ill. I feel amazing and very rested.”
Amelia clapped. “Then, you wouldn’t mind playing dress up with me would you?”
Paxton narrowed her eyes at my sister. “Huh?”
“I’ve got this dinner I have to go to and a friend of Waylynn’s sent some dresses down to try on. What fun is it to try on designer gowns by yourself? I’ll even bring them over here so Steed doesn’t freak out.”
I watched as Paxton’s eyes lit up. “Oh! That would be fun. Especially since I won’t be able to do that in a few months.” Paxton rubbed her belly.
“Great! I’ll run up to the house and grab them and then be right back.”
Paxton nodded. “Okay, that gives me time to grab something to eat.”
That was my cue. Rushing to her, I asked, “What do you want to eat, pumpkin? I’ll fix it.”
Her blue eyes filled with tears, and I was surprised when she wrapped her arms around me. “I’m so sorry you and Chloe had to deal with that awful woman.”
“Hey, look at me.”
She did.
“What she dished out to you was bad. Yeah, she was curt with both of us, but she wasn’t that much of a monster. I shielded Chloe from a lot. She was trying to hurt you, and she succeeded. Don’t let her even cross your mind ever again.”
With a nod, she swallowed hard. “I hate that I let her affect me like she did. I was just so thrown off by her hate.”
Anger toward Kim pulsed through my body. I fucking hated her. Hated that she had gotten to Paxton. At the same time, I was so relieved Chloe hadn’t seen her.
Placing my hand on the side of her cheek, I leaned in and softly kissed her. “She’ll never bother you or Chloe again. I swear to God.”
She smiled while placing her hand over mine. “I know. Thank you for reassuring me though.”
With a wink, I replied, “Come on. Let’s get you some food.”