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Shit.
I didn’t want to face Ari’s parents just yet.

Heather looked over and gave us a small smile
before she turned to Garrett and Emma.

“Well, I guess I better get ready to head
back to Austin. Thank you, Garrett and Emma, for allowing me to
stay here last night with you. I truly appreciate it.” Heather
said.

Just then Lynda, came walking up calling out
Josh’s name. I saw Heather’s body stiffen at the sight of Lynda
going up to Josh as she placed her hand on his arm.

“Josh, do you think I could get a ride back
to Austin with you? I thought Jeff and Ari would be heading back
sooner, but Ari said they weren’t heading back until this
afternoon. I really, really need to get back,” Lynda whined.

Josh looked so
confused.
Poor fucker.
Heather just stood there, waiting to see what was going to
happen.

“Um… yeah sure. I mean, I wasn’t really
planning on leaving anytime soon, but if you need a ride I
guess.”

Lynda let out a small yelp and jumped into
Josh’s arms. “Oh, thank you, Josh! You’re my hero. I’ll go get my
things.”

After Lynda let go of Josh, she thanked Emma
and Garrett for letting her stay the night, and then she headed
into the house. The smile she gave Heather was loud and clear. This
girl was digging her nails into Josh and holding on for dear
life.

Just then, my cell phone beeped with a text
message. I was surprised it came through because I usually didn’t
have a cell signal at the ranch. I pulled out my phone and saw the
message was from Ellie.

Ells:
Hey, big bro. I am dying here. How did it go last night?
Can’t get a hold of Ari

Gunner just told me that we’re going to Belize!
Eeeeppp! Love you, Jeff. Give Ari a hug and kiss for me.

I smiled as I read her text.
I still couldn’t believe it. My little sister and
Gunner…married.
Fucking bastard with his
carriages! Damn that romantic bastard!

“That must have been from Ellie,” Emma said
with a smile.

I swore that this woman could read minds.

“Yeah, she wanted to talk to Ari. I guess
Gunner let her know that Belize was their destination. To be
honest, I’m surprised that Ari didn’t give it away.”

Just then we heard Ari and
Matt riding up on Rose. I turned to look at them as they headed our
way.
God she’s beautiful.
She was leaning down, saying something in Matt’s
ear. He started to laugh, and she looked up at me and smiled. My
knees about buckled.

Shit! Will she always have this effect on
me?

Emma, Sue, and Mark walked past me.

Emma stopped and smiled at me. “Yes, Jeff,
she will always make you feel weak in the knees.” She gave me a
wink and then made her way over to Rose, taking the lead from
Ari.

Jesus H. Christ, she does read minds!

CHAPTER FIVE

Ari

I was feeling so much better from just being
alone with Matt and not thinking about Rebecca or Jeff. The moment
I saw Jeff standing there though, my heart started to beat
faster.

“Ari! There’s Jeff!” Matt said as we got
closer to the ranch house.

“Yep, buddy, there he is. I bet the next time
you visit, Jeff will take you for a ride on his horse. Would you
like that, bud?”

“Yes. He’s an assmole, so is Josh. They are
assmoles.” Matt said, laughing.

Oh, fuck a duck!
I tried so hard not to laugh. I leaned down and
told Matt not to say that word in front of Mommy and Daddy because
that was a special word only for Jeff, Josh, and me. Matt nodded
his head, then his smile grew bigger the second he saw
Jeff.

Our mom walked up to greet us. “Did you have
a good ride my little man? You like spending time with Jeff, Ari
and the horses?”

“Yes! Jeff is an assmole, Mommy!”

Oh shit.
My mother and father turned away from Matt and
me.
Bastards!
I
saw their shoulders moving up and down from laughing.

Then my dad turned to look at Jeff. “The jury
is still out on that, buddy.”

Jeff looked shocked, and I really started to
laugh. Dad helped Matt down. He told him that they had to get ready
to drive back home and that Matt’s iPad was all charged and ready
to go.

I jumped off of Rose, and Emma started to
take her back to the barn. Just then, Dewy walked up and told Emma
he would tend to Rose.

“Thank you, Dew. She deserves some extra
oats. She’s so gentle when Matt is on her,” I said.

“You got it, Ari,” Dewy said with a wink.

I looked over at Jeff. He looked like he was
going to be sick. I started to walk over to him.

We hadn’t talked since we’d woken up. I knew
that I’d been in a mood this morning. I had tried to sneak out of
the cabin, but failed big time. Jeff had woken up the minute I’d
tried to get out of the bed.

I stopped right in front of
him and attempted to put on my best smile. I stood on my tippy toes
and leaned in to give him a kiss. He bent down and pulled me to
him.
Holy hell!
He
kissed the shit out of me right in front of everyone.

He pulled away from my lips slightly and
smiled. “I missed you.”

“I just went for a short ride. What are you
going to do when I’m in school this fall, and you’re here?”

Jeff pulled away from me and
looked shocked.
Yep.
This was another thing that we hadn’t talked about.

“Have you called her yet?” I asked.

“Ari, do we have to talk about this
here?”

I looked around and noticed the only person
sitting on the porch now was Garrett. Josh had walked with Dewy
down to the barn to take care of Rose. Heather must have gone
inside to pack up to leave, and Emma had walked off with my
parents.

“No, Jeff, let’s not talk about it and just
keep putting shit off. Let’s just pretend that none of it matters.”
I replied sarcastically.

I turned to walk over to the Jeep. I was
ready to leave. I jumped in and started it up. Jeff had driven his
truck back down to the ranch house this morning.

I looked back at Jeff. “I’m going to get my
things. I’ll meet you back here in a little bit. I’m ready to head
home.”

Jeff started to walk toward
the Jeep, but I took off. I let myself look in the mirror, and I
saw Jeff running his hands through his hair.
Shit!
I did it again. I ran away from
him before we could talk. I hit the steering wheel so hard that my
hand felt like it was broken.

***

When I got back to the
hunters cabin, I walked in and the first things I noticed was the
smell of lilies, It was amazing. I leaned against the door, and I
finally allowed myself to cry as I slide to the floor.
Oh god. What if this turns out to be his baby?
Mother-fucking son of a bitch.

After ten minutes of endless
crying, I finally got up and started to pack my stuff. I needed to
suck it up and deal with this. I had to be strong and fight for
what was mine. Even if this was his baby, Lord I prayed it wasn’t,
I would not let her take Jeff away from me.
Never.

Just then, a damn Katharine Hepburn quote
popped into my head.

As one goes through life, one learns that if
you don't paddle your own canoe, you don't move.

Damn my mother!

I packed up my stuff and
loaded it into the Jeep. Then, I went back into the cabin and
cleaned up a bit.
Shit, who’s going to
clean all of these flowers out?
I wanted to
bring them all home with me. Knowing Jeff, probably paid Jenny to
clean it up.

I walked over to the kitchen table and pulled
out my phone. Good I had a strong signal. Looking through my
calendar, I went back to last November, thinking of the day Jeff
and Rebecca would have been together. By my calculations, she would
be about thirty weeks. I searched the Internet for a pregnancy
calculator and found that mid- August would be her due date.

Just then, I heard Jeff’s
truck. I jumped up and started to make my way to the door to leave.
Before I could get out the door, I knocked over a bucket with
Stargazer lilies and bluebonnets.
Shit!
I ran and grabbed some paper
towels to clean up the water. I worked as fast as I could before
Jeff could walk in.

I hurried and threw away the
paper towels. As I turned to leave he walked into the door. He gave
me that damn smile of his, and I stopped dead in my tracks.
Okay, Ari, time to grow some fucking balls and
just face this shit.

I smiled back at him. He
walked up to me and hugged me. I almost started to cry.
No! I will not shed anymore tears over that
bitch.

“Ari. I love you, baby, so much. Please tell
me what’s bothering you.”

Really?
I wanted to laugh out loud.
What a
stupid fuck.

“If you have to ask me that, Jeff, then I
certainly don’t feel the need to tell you the answer.”

He closed his eyes, and leaned his forehead
against mine.

“Ari, I’m sorry. I didn’t want this weekend
to be like this, baby. I wanted it to be special for you. I’m so
sorry.”

“Me, too, Jeff, I just can’t seem to forget
the fact that you might be a father in two months. That one little
problem just seems to be a fucking thorn in my side.”

“How do you think I feel? I don’t want to
have anything to do with Rebecca. She’s nuts. You should’ve heard
her just now…”

Oh my god.
He called her. My whole body started to
shake.
He talked to her on the phone. What
did they talk about?
I couldn’t
breathe.

“Ari, are you okay, honey? Ari?”

I shook my head and held up my hand. I needed
a minute to process this.

“You talked to her?”

“Well, yeah. You were the one who told me to
fucking call her!”

I know that! Dickwad!

“I know. What did you talk about?”

Jeff stepped away from me and ran his hand
through his hair. “I, um, I talked about meeting her for lunch
tomorrow. I asked if you could come, and she said no. I couldn’t
talk her out of the restraining order. I’m sorry, baby.”

Oh, gag me.
I wanted to throw up at the thought of him having
lunch with her.

“S’okay. Where are you having lunch?” I
asked, trying to act like none of this was bothering me in the
least bit.

“Um, we’re meeting at Hula Hut. I guess she’s
been craving for their Hawaiian fajitas. I’m meeting her there
around 11:30.”

I had work to do. I needed
to get back to Austin.
Now.

“Okay. Well I have a few errands that I need
to run tomorrow, so I’m really ready to go home now. Can we leave,
please?”

Jeff tilted up my chin so that his eyes
captured mine. I wanted nothing more than to just strip down and
spend the rest of the day in bed with him. I tried so hard to give
him a normal smile.

His eyes lit up when I smiled. “I love you,
Arianna, more than anything. It’s all going to be okay. I know this
baby isn’t mine.”

“I love you, too, Jeff, and I pray to God
you’re right.”

***

After Jeff took out my stuff from the Jeep to
put into his truck, he headed back to the main house. I took the
Jeep back to the barn and started to walk up to the house. I
noticed Jeff and Josh were standing at Heather’s car with the hood
up.

Heather looked like she was going to be
sick.

“Hey, what’s going on?” I asked noticing
Heather trying to hold back tears in her eyes.

“This stupid dumb-ass new car of mine won’t
start. I bought a new car, thinking it was reliable, and then it
fucking breaks down on me!” Heather yelled.

Wow!
We all snapped our heads over to Heather. She never swore
unless she’d had a few drinks in her.

“What? I’m mad! How am I going to get back to
Austin? I have to go to work tomorrow.”

I noticed Lynda was sitting on the front
porch, looking pissed-off beyond all get out. “What’s up with
Lynda? She looks pissed,” I whispered to Heather.

Heather glanced over at her and then shrugged
her shoulders.

“Don’t know. I guess she’s ready to leave as
well, and Josh is her ride. She needs to get back to Austin
too.”

Jeff shut the hood to Heather’s Toyota Camry.
“Heather, I think you need to take it to the dealership.”

“What?
That means having it towed to Austin!”

Josh walked up to Heather and took her into
his arms. “Don’t worry princess. The dealership will pay for it
since the car is still under warranty.” Josh said.

Heather was now in full-on crying mode. Lynda
jumped up and started to walk toward us. Just then an idea popped
into my head.

I blocked her route to Josh. “Lynda, Jeff and
I are heading to Austin right now. Why don’t you ride back with
us?” I smiled sweetly at her.

At the same time, Jeff, Heather, and Lynda
all said “What?”

The only one who didn’t say anything was
Josh. He was too busy being in heaven from holding Heather.

Jeff tugged me off to the side. “Ari, we
really need to talk, and we can’t do that if Lynda in the car!”

I just glared at him. Then a black BMW pulled
up the drive. Gunner’s Uncle Jim got out and started to walk over
towards us.

“Daddy? What are you doing here?” Lynda
asked.

Jim smiled at each of us, but he gave Heather
a small frown. I guessed it was because he could tell she’d been
crying.