After getting a solid two hours of sleep, I’m up earlier than usual to muck stalls and get a head start on chores before meeting everyone at The Lodge. I was tempted to text Magnolia all night, but I didn’t want to suffocate her while she processed everything. She’s acting on emotion and what she thinks she should do for my sake, but I’m hoping she’ll come around. What we have is too special to walk away from.
Though I’m still trying to wrap my brain around her being pregnant with that fuckwad’s baby. Not that it matters. It changes nothing.
Actually, that’s a lie.
It has me feeling even more protective and possessive of her but not only her. The baby, too.
Even if she thinks I shouldn’t be involved, it’s too late. I’m not going anywhere, and she’d be better off accepting that sooner rather than later. But if I have to take the slow route to show her I’m in this for the long haul and keep her in my life, then I’ll do whatever it takes.
Hell, I’d birth the kid for her if it were physically possible.
Just as I’m moving the wheelbarrow out of the barn, I’m hit in the face with something hard and knocked over. The load of horseshit I was wheeling topples over with me and covers my bottom half.
What the actual fuck?
Before I can get up to murder this asshole, Wilder’s standing in front of me, doubled over, laughing.
“Good mornin’, dipshit. Look alive next time.”
I’m going to kill him.
Looking at the ground, I see what he threw at me. A fucking bucket. I’m about to use up all my pent-up frustrations and anger on him. “You better fuckin’ run.”
He cowers, holding up his arms and stepping back. “It’s not my fault you didn’t see that comin’ a million miles away. If you weren’t in lala land, you woulda had plenty of time to dodge it.”
Getting to my feet, I use my gloves to brush off my jeans. “I wasn’t lookin’ in your direction, asshole.”
“Goddamn. You’re in a shit mood. Figured you’d be nicer now that you’re gettin’ laid regularly.”
“My sex life is none of your concern. Go finish the stalls so I can start lungin’ the horses.”
With it being a holiday and a half-day of work, exercising times will be cut short, so I need to get as many done as I can before lunchtime.
Wilder comes over, gets the wheelbarrow upright, and then tells me he’ll take over. A flash of pity crosses his face, and I hate how easily he can read me.
Landen hasn’t stepped foot in the family barn since Sydney’s passing, so Wilder or Waylon have been helping me with morning barn chores. Usually, the twins focus on the retreat barn, but for now, they’ve swapped.
I take Rocky out first and work him for twenty minutes before I switch him out and grab Denver. He’s usually an easygoing quarter horse, but my mind’s so distracted and consumed with thoughts of Magnolia being pregnant that I don’t notice when a rabbit hops inside the corral until it’s too late.
Denver stops galloping, retreats backward toward me, and ignores my commands.
“What’re you doin’, buddy? Let’s go.”
I prompt him to get back into position, but the closer the rabbit comes, the more fidgety he gets.
Denver releases a loud whine, stomping his front foot.
I push his butt back to the center while rolling my eyes at Denver, a thousand-pound horse, being scared of a two-pound animal.
“It ain’t gonna hurt ya.”
When the rabbit inches closer again, Denver backs up into me until I’m forced into the fence.
“You’re gonna squish me, dude. C’mon, move.” When he doesn’t, I add, “You should be embarrassed.”
Wilder jumps up on the post behind me, cracking up with laughter. “How’s it goin’?”
I glare at him over my shoulder. “How do you think?”
Wilder whistles loudly, grabbing the rabbit’s attention and scaring it off. Denver watches it go and then releases a whine as if to tell the rabbit off for disrupting him.
“What a little shit,” I mutter.
“You’re welcome,” Wilder calls out as I get back into place.
Ignoring him, I resume working and continue rotating horses.
At eleven thirty, I head home to shower and get ready for the rest of the day. The only thing preventing me from blowing up Magnolia’s phone is knowing I’ll get to see her soon at The Lodge.
Once I arrive, I glance around the parking lot for her SUV, but she must not be here yet. Everyone else is inside the big conference room we use for parties, and you can tell Mom and Gramma Grace spent some time decorating it in fall decor.
I slap a smile on my face for my mom’s sake and greet her with a hug.
“Happy Thanksgiving, sweetie.”
“You too, Ma. Everything looks and smells great.”
“Wait till you see Gramma Grace’s new caramel apple bars she made.”
At that, my stomach growls. “I better get there first before the others steal ’em all.”
When Gramma Grace approaches, I greet her with a kiss on the cheek and then tell her how excited I am to try her new dessert.
“Where’s Magnolia?”
At first, I’m taken aback that she’s asking me. Normally, that’d be a question for Noah, which tells me she knows something.
“I’m not sure,” I say hesitantly.
“Oh, I just thought she’d be comin’ with you.”
“Why?” I ask, then glance at my mom, who’s grinning.
Crossing my arms, I blow out a breath. “What do y’all know?”
“Just that you finally put us out of our misery with your little will-they or won’t-they games.”
“Gramma Grace!” I laugh for the first time in two days.
She rolls her eyes as if me being shocked is ridiculous.
“So who’s the rat?” I ask. Someone had to have told them.
“Oh, you foolish boy. I don’t need snitches to find out what’s going on ’round here,” Gramma Grace says with a level of sass I usually get from Mallory.
“Alright.” I laugh. “Then how’d you know?”
“She was a sleuth in her other life,” Mom teases.
“Magnolia’s car being here when Noah was away was my first clue. You being on your phone durin’ family supper. The way you’ve been smiling like you had a hanger stuck in your mouth.”
“Oh, and we saw you dancin’ at Noah and Fisher’s wedding. Y’all weren’t as discreet as y’all thought,” Mom adds.
Goddamn.
Leave it to the gossip queens to figure it out before we even formally announce anything. Too bad now I’m practically on my hands and knees, begging Magnolia not to walk away.
“Well, there’s no use denyin’ it.” I shrug, though I wouldn’t anyway. “But I’m not sure where she is. I was just about to ask Noah.”
“Ask me what?” As if summoned from the ceiling, Noah appears between us.
“If you knew where Magnolia was,” I say. “She’s coming, right?”
“You don’t know?” Confusion flashes across her face. Her gaze shoots to Mom and Gramma Grace as if she’s not sure how much she should say around them.
I narrow my eyes at Noah, wondering how much she knows.
“Is someone gonna tell me?” Gramma Grace blurts when we stay silent.
Noah scratches her head as if she’s conflicted but speaks up anyway. “Her apartment was one of the break-ins last night. She called me from her parents and is stayin’ with them today.”
“What?” My chest caves in and my heart threatens to stop beating at the unexpected news. I’d heard there were some last night but never expected she wouldn’t call or text me if it happened to her.
I should’ve fucking texted her last night to make sure she got home safely.
“She didn’t call you?” Noah asks.
Hurt and frustrated, my jaw clenches. “No.”
“Oh, that’s horrible!” Mom says, but I’m too pissed to look away from Noah.
“They’ll catch him,” Gramma Grace reassures.
“Yeah, there has to be cameras,” Mom adds.
“Text me her parents’ address,” I tell Noah. If it wasn’t for it being a holiday and special to my parents, I’d leave right now.
“Can’t you just ask her yourself?” she asks.
“Yeah, but I have a feelin’ she wouldn’t tell me,” I deadpan.
Without arguing, Noah pulls out her phone and sends it to me. Then she sends me a second text.
NOAH
What’s going on with you two? Did she tell you…
Once we take our seats and say grace, I shoot her a reply.
TRIPP
Yes, and then tried to break up with me.
NOAH
What?! She didn’t tell me that part. What’d she say?
Dishes are being passed around, so I set my phone down next to my plate and respond in between adding food to my plate.
TRIPP
That we should return to being just friends. But I told her no.
NOAH
You told her no? LOL
I hear her snicker from across the table.
TRIPP
Yeah. I’m not letting her break up with me.
NOAH
Gee, I wonder why she didn’t call you with that caveman behavior.
TRIPP
She’s just scared and thinks that I wouldn’t still want her. But I’m not going anywhere.
NOAH
As chivalrous as that is, you gotta give her some space to process this. Don’t go banging down her door and demanding she move in with you or something.
TRIPP
Well, now that you gave me the idea…
NOAH
Don’t you dare.
TRIPP
She can’t stay with her parents. Do they even have room for her?
NOAH
Not really. She slept on their couch last night.
TRIPP
Absolutely the fuck not. I have a guest room she can use.
NOAH
TRIPP! Do. Not. Overstep.
TRIPP
You’re the one who gave me the idea, and it was a good one.
She sends me her infamous eye roll emoji.
NOAH
Fine, whatever. We’re meeting at her apartment tomorrow afternoon. I’m gonna help her clean it up once the sheriff releases it. She’s gotta report anything missing to her rental insurance company.
TRIPP
I’ll come, too. Then she can pack some bags and bring everything she needs to my place.
NOAH
She’s not gonna go for that.
TRIPP
Then help me convince her. You know she shouldn’t stay there by herself with this criminal on the loose. What if he returns and she’s home that time? If she’s with me, I can keep her safe and be there to help when she gets sick or bring her whatever she needs.
NOAH
You don’t think that’ll be too awkward for her?
TRIPP
Not if I don’t make it that way, which I won’t. You act like I just wanna jump her bones. I’ve been nothing but respectful and waited years to even tell her I liked her. I’ll wait as long as it takes for her to realize I’m not like her ex and not going anywhere.
Noah gives me a sappy, pitiful look, and I groan. Luckily, everyone else is chatting and not paying attention to our secret conversation.
NOAH
You’re a good guy, Tripp. I truly think she’s in love with you and is just doing what she thinks she should by letting you out of a complicated situation. It doesn’t help she’s hormonal and will be going through a lot of changes. Did she tell you about me?
Looking up from my phone, I furrow my brows at her.
TRIPP
No. Sorry to say your name didn’t come up while she was breaking my heart.
I glance up just in time to see her roll her eyes.
NOAH
We haven’t announced it yet, but I just found out I’m pregnant, too.
My eyes widen because that’s the last thing I expected. Then I look at Fisher next to her, staring at her like she’s his whole world.
TRIPP
Wow. Congrats?
NOAH
Yes, you dummy. We’re married and happy about it. I wasn’t planning to tell everyone until I had the first ultrasound, but I’ll probably tell Mom and Dad tonight.
TRIPP
Don’t be surprised if Gramma Grace already knows.
NOAH
Funny you say that because she does! After Magnolia and I talked, I went to Mom and Dad’s to make Fisher a scrapbook to tell him the news and Gramma Grace was like, “You’re gonna make a great Mom!” And I was like HOW? I just found out myself.
I smile at that because we’ve all been there with Gramma Grace knowing shit before anyone else.
TRIPP
I swear she’s a psychic.
NOAH
Or a mind reader!
TRIPP
Probably both. She knew about Magnolia and me before I even said anything.
NOAH
At this rate, I’m surprised she hasn’t revealed who’s been doing the break-ins.
TRIPP
Me too. Get the FBI on the phone and tell them to hire her for the job.
She giggles.
“What are y’all texting about?” Fisher asks, leaning over Noah’s phone and she holds it out for him to read.
After a few minutes of him scrolling through our messages, he arches a brow at me.
“Don’t give me that look. You slept in the bed of your truck outside of Noah’s place after she broke up with you, and she was injured at the time,” I remind him. “So you better be on my side about this.”
Fisher nods, then gives Noah a shrug when her jaw drops in disbelief that he’d agree with me.
“Well, she is pregnant…” he whispers, but leave it to my nosy-as-shit family to overhear.
“Who’s pregnant?” Mallory blurts from four seats over, and everyone goes silent.
Noah freezes, and I do, too. It’s not exactly our business to share with everyone that Magnolia’s pregnant, but considering most of them know we’re together, they’d assume it’s mine. Since she doesn’t want them to think that, it makes announcing it a bit tricky.
“Um…” Noah swallows, and I watch as her mind spins.
Then she glances at Fisher, and he gives her a smile of approval.
“Well…I am. We just found out.”
“Oh my goodness!” Mom nearly flies out of her chair, rushing over toward them.
Next, the rest of the family takes their turn giving hugs.
“Good thing I already called dibs on godfather, huh?” Landen smirks when everyone gets back in their chairs.
“Nice try,” Noah says.
“Oh, come on. I’ve been really sad lately, and this would bring happiness back into my life.” Landen sticks out his lower lip, laying it on thick.
“That’s pathetic!” Waylon shouts.
“You can’t use the dead horse card!” Wilder argues.
I wrap my arm behind Waylon to smack Wilder in the head. “Dude, shut up.”
Wilder’s brain-to-mouth filter is defective on a good day, but Jesus Christ, he really has no sense of aptness.
“Just for that, I should get to be.” Landen shoots a shit-eating smirk in Wilder’s direction.
Waylon and Wilder argue with him before Dad clears his throat.
“Boys,” he barks, grabbing our attention. “Back to your food.”
Noah chuckles at us getting scolded, and Waylon kicks her underneath the table before we get yelled at again.
If this is how they act with Noah’s pregnancy announcement, they’re going to lose it when they find out about Magnolia. But I don’t give a shit what they think or say. I’ll shut down each and every one of their inappropriate comments if I have to.
