Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 105(@200wpm)___ 84(@250wpm)___ 70(@300wpm)
A thousand times I’ve thought of asking her to take some time off or even work fewer hours, but she loves her job, and I never want to stand in the way of something she wants to be doing.
It’s the middle of the day, and I look at my watch to count how many hours I have until she gets home. I smile immediately when my phone starts to ring. Nine times out of ten, it’s Lila. Not many other people call me.
My smile broadens when I see her picture light up my screen. “Hey, princess.”
Her voice is rushed. “We need to talk, Ace.”
I walk out of the barn because the reception isn’t the best in there. “What’s wrong?”
She doesn’t answer, and I hear something odd over the line. It sounds like wind or maybe air conditioning. “Where are you, Lila?”
Her voice is small. “I’m on my way home.”
I start walking to the house in a rush. Something’s happened. Lila never leaves work early, and she’s only been there a few hours. “Sure, honey. You know we can talk about anything.”
I barely get the words out and I hear her car before I see it. She’s driving fast on the gravel road, and I walk down the porch to meet her. As soon as she stops, I have her door open, and she barrels out of the car into my arms.
She’s holding me tightly, head against my chest, and I’m freaking out, but there’s some comfort in having her in my arms. Whatever else there could be bothering her, I know she’s safe and she’s here with me. Anything else we can figure out.
I run my hand through her hair and cradle her head. “Talk to me. You’re kind of freaking me out.”
Her eyes are wide with unshed tears. “I’m sorry, Ace. I don’t mean to be so dramatic.”
“It’s fine, honey... what is it?”
She points up to the porch. “Can we talk up there?”
I nod and grab her hand to walk back up the porch. We sit next to each other on the porch swing, and she takes a deep breath. It’s as if she’s trying to prepare herself for something and I’m so fuckin’ freaked out I don’t know what to think.
I squeeze her hand. “Are you okay?”
She nods, and in a rush, she says, “What would you think if I started working part-time?”
I let out a breath. “That would be fine with me. I want you to be happy, you know that.”
She looks out at the ranch. We discovered that we had to put a new roof on the barn and it’s halfway done. “I don’t want to put us in a bind or anything, but I think I’d like to slow down a little bit.”
I turn to her. “I know you hate to talk about money. You have to get over the fact that I paid for your tuition, Lila. I’ve tried to talk to you about it. I’ve added you to the bank account so you can see, and you refused to take the login information. We are not hurting. I can support us both.”
She blinks a few times, and I know she’s trying to hold back tears. “Can you support one more?”
I’m confused at first and then it hits me all at once. “Are we having a baby, Lila Tucker?”
She inhales a shaky breath. “Yes. I took the test today. I wasn’t feeling well, and Nikki insisted I do one. I guess when I had that cold and was on the antibiotics, the pill stopped working. I didn’t mean to get pregnant or anything.”
I pull her into my lap. “Princess, that was a lot of words all jumbled together. Are you happy?”
She seems unsure even though she’s nodding her head. “Yeah, I’m happy, but we never talked about it. I freaked out at work because we never talked about it. Heck, I don’t even know if you want kids or not.”
I wrap my hand around the side of her neck and tip her chin up to look at me. “Are you wondering if I’m happy?”
She shrugs, but I see the hopeful look on her face. “Do you know what I was doing before you called?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“I was thinking about you. I was thinking that I miss you when you’re gone and wish you didn’t work as much, but I couldn’t ask you to slow down because I want you to do what makes you happy.”
She puts her hand on my chest. “You make me happy.”
I cover her hand with my own. “I wasn’t done. I was thinking about how I am so happy and I couldn’t imagine my life getting any better.”
She smiles, and I continue. “But I was wrong, princess, because it’s about to get even better. I’m going to be a father. I’m having a baby with the love of my life. You’re giving me the family that I’ve always dreamed about.”