Faithful (28 page)

“I’m pregnant.”

Oh. My. God. We’re having a baby?

I grabbed the back of her neck, pulled her to my lips, and I kissed the shit out of her. I wasn’t sure how long we sat there, just kissing each other and whispering how much we loved each other, before I heard someone clear his throat. I pulled away from her lips and turned to see a police officer.

“Um, sir, is that your Ford truck?”

I let out a sigh. “As much as I want to say no, yes…yes that is my Ford truck.”

Heather started laughing. I stood, picked her up, and carried her back to my truck.

“I can walk, you know!”

I smiled and put her into the truck through the window.

I turned back to the officer. “Sorry.”

He just winked at me with a grin.

I ran around, opened the door, and got into the truck. I looked over at the love of my life. “Can I take you somewhere?”

She giggled and nodded.

I winked at her. “We’re going for a ride in the country, baby.”

I glanced over at Josh and smiled. He was humming along to the radio, and he looked so damn happy. The moment I heard “Kiss Me,” my whole world had stopped. Ari had called to tell me that Josh was looking for me. She’d told me everything that Josh had said about what happened with Victoria.
That bitch left out the fact that Josh had his memory back!

I thought we were heading back to my house, but it looked like we were heading to Mason. “Josh, you really want to go visit our friends? I thought maybe we could…you know, go back to the house,” I said as I peeked over at him.

Josh looked over and smiled at me.
Oh god, that smile of his just melts my heart.
My heart started pounding, and I just wanted to be with him.

“I have a surprise for you.”

I finally figured out that we were heading to Jeff and Ari’s place. Josh had stopped at a gas station, and I could see him talking on the phone, wearing the goofiest grin on his face.

When he got back into his truck, I asked, “Who were you talking to?”

“Jeff. He’s helping me out with a little something.”

When he grabbed my hand, the butterflies took off, and I giggled.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. It’s just…well, when you reach for my hand like that, I still get butterflies in my stomach.”

Josh glanced over and then quickly looked straight ahead again. The dimple on the side of his face was such a turn-on. I’d never seen him so happy. He asked a few questions about the baby, and I told him I’d just gone to the doctor for my first appointment last Friday. Then, we talked about changing the office into a baby room. He was so excited, and I was completely shocked at how he was not freaking out in the least bit. I was still freaked out, but he seemed…he seemed so happy.

I looked out the window, and then I closed my eyes as I pictured Josh as a dad, holding our child in his arms. My heart swelled as I felt tears building in my eyes.

“We’re here!”

I watched as Josh punched in Jeff and Ari’s gate code. The farther we drove, the weirder Josh acted. He seemed nervous as shit.
Is he nervous about telling Jeff and Ari about the baby? He has to know I already told them.

Josh took a left turn, and we started heading toward the barn.

“Are they down at the barn?”

“Um…Jeff is.”

Josh parked the truck, and I saw Jeff coming out of the barn with Rose and Tulip, their newest horse, saddled up. When I looked back at Josh, he was rubbing his hands on his pants.

Josh jumped out of the truck and looked back in at me. “Hold on a second, princess.”

He ran over to Jeff. Jeff glanced over at me sitting in the truck and smiled as I waved at him. Then, I saw Ari walking out of the barn with Luke.

What the hell is going on? Who’s going for a ride?

Josh went over to Ari, and she nodded and started laughing. He leaned down, hugged her, and kissed her on the cheek. Then, he ran back to the truck and opened my door. He held out his hand for me and helped me out. I noticed when he reached back into his truck and grabbed something out of the glove box before closing the door.

Then, Josh jogged up and took Tulip’s reins from Jeff.

Jeff walked over and handed me Rose’s reins. When I gave Ari a confused look, she just winked at me.

“Um…you want me to take Rose for a ride? We just got here!”

I watched as Josh hopped up onto Tulip, and then he looked at me with that panty-melting smile.

He’s up to something.
I shook my head and climbed up onto Rose.

“Y’all have fun!” Ari called out.

Josh rode up next to me and reached out for my hand. I turned to Jeff and Ari. They were just standing there with shit-eating grins on their faces.

Yep, something’s up, and I’m the only one left in the dark.
I smiled at Ari, shaking my head. I glanced back to Josh before we started to head off in the direction of the river.

“Are we going somewhere special?”

“Yes, ma’am, we are.”

“You gonna tell me what’s going on?”

Josh started laughing as he dropped my hand. He kicked Tulip and took off into a gallop. I shook my head and gave Rose a small kick to get her going.

After a short ride, I knew fairly quickly where we were heading—to our spot along the river where we had first made love. I smiled at the memory. Then, I thought about the night I was pretty sure we’d conceived the baby. I put my hand on my stomach.

When we started to round the corner, I looked ahead. I sucked in a breath of air when I saw a blanket lying on the ground with buckets of roses surrounding it.
Oh. My. God. I’ve never seen so many roses in different colors.
As we got closer, I glanced around at everything. There was a small table with two glasses next to a bucket with a bottle inside. Near the table was a picnic basket.

Tears began building in my eyes as we came to a stop. I jumped when I felt Josh put his hands on me. I looked at him and smiled as he was waiting to help me down. I swung my leg around, and as he grabbed me by the hips, he gave me a smile that drove me insane with lust.

He took my hand and walked me over to the blanket. Josh pulled the bottle out of the bucket of ice, and I laughed when I noticed it was grape juice.

Josh smiled. “Only the best for my two favorite girls.”

My heart dropped in my stomach. “Girls?”

“Yep!”

I laughed and shook my head. “What makes you think it’s a girl?”

“I just know it’s a girl. It’s really weird, but last night…which, by the way, was incredible…” He winked. “When I placed my hand on your stomach, I didn’t know at the time you were pregnant, but for some reason, I just knew when the time came, it would be a girl.”

I grinned and placed my hand on my stomach. “I think it’s a boy.”

“Nope. I’ve noticed that you’ve been sick. It all clicked on the drive up here. Considering how you keep throwing up…it’s a girl.”

I laughed and gave him a little shove. “I’m telling you…it’s a boy.”

He reached for me and pulled me up against him. “Maybe it’s both!” he said with a wink.

My heart started pounding. “Oh dear god…don’t say that, Josh!”

He shook his head and laughed. “Shit! Better not say that…I’ll jinx us.”

From the flowers to the picnic, everything was just perfect.
How did he do all of this? When did he do all of this?

When he placed his hand on my stomach, it just dropped. He looked into my eyes and gave me that panty-melting smile of his.

I giggled. “When did you do all of this?”

He laughed as he glanced around. “When I kicked Victoria out of my apartment, I called Ari. Once she told me where you might be, I asked her if she would do me a favor and call Jenny. I’d already talked to Jenny about this, so she knew what I wanted. I’m not as romantic as that bastard Gunner, but…” He started laughing.

I reached up and kissed him. When he let out a small moan, an ache grew between my legs. Then, I pulled back and gave him a confused look.

Wait. What does he mean he talked to Jenny about this? About what?

He smiled as he stood up. He walked over to where his iPod was connected to a speaker. He reached down and pushed play. Brad Paisley’s “She’s Everything” started to play, and I instantly felt tears building in my eyes.

“Dance with me, princess?”

I nodded as he helped me up and took me into his arms. We slowly started to dance, and he began singing the lyrics to me. I laughed when he changed the words from brown hair to blonde hair.

I couldn’t believe that just a few hours ago, he couldn’t even remember this spot, and now, we were dancing here, surrounded by beautiful flowers. I closed my eyes, and I just listened to him singing to me. I felt so happy that I could hardly breathe.

Breathe, princess.

I tried so hard to stop myself from sobbing. I could feel Josh’s breath on the side of my face as he sang to me.

Oh, Daddy…I think you would have loved him. I’d be lost without him in my life. Thank you for bringing him back to me.

The song came to an end, but we were still dancing. All I could hear was the sound of the river, and I thought back to the first time we’d made love. It was in this very spot. I smiled when I remembered how scared I had felt. I wasn’t sure how long we were in each other’s arms, dancing to the sound of the river, before Josh slowly pulled away.

As he stared at me, his eyes were filled with so much love that I had to suck in a breath of air. I’d never seen him look at me like that before.

“Heather…even when I couldn’t remember our love, I felt it in my heart. I knew that you were my only reason. I knew you were my every breath. I could never live this life without you. I wouldn’t want to live it without you. I want to wake up every morning to your beautiful face, and I want to fall asleep every night with you wrapped up in my arms. I want to watch your stomach grow with each child we have.”

Tears were rolling down my face, and I started crying harder the moment he mentioned having children together. My knees felt like they were about to give out on me.

“I want to make a porch swing and hang it up on the front porch of our house. I want us to sit in it every single night as we talk about how blessed we are to have each other’s love. I want to be with you every single moment of the day…and when I’m not with you…you will fill my every thought.”

I watched as he reached into his pocket. As he pulled out a ring box and slowly got down on one knee, my hand flew up to my mouth, and I started to cry even harder.

“Heather, if your daddy was still here, I would have asked him for your hand in marriage. I would have told him that I’d spend the rest of my life taking care of you and our children. I went to a church one day, and I sat down and had a talk with him. I’m pretty sure your dad somehow put the fear of God in me ’cause when I walked out of there, I went and asked Mark, Jeff, and Gunner for your hand in marriage, and each looked at me like I was nuts.”

I couldn’t help it, but I started to laugh. He flashed me that breathtaking smile of his. Dropping down onto my knees, I placed my hands on the sides of his face, and then I kissed him. I kissed him with so much passion that I was sure we would both melt on the spot. I leaned my forehead against his, like we always do, and I smiled.

“Um…baby, I wasn’t done yet,” he said.

“Oh…oh, I’m so sorry, Josh. I was just so moved that I had to kiss you!”

I went to stand up, but he grabbed me and kept me on my knees.

“Heather Lynn Lambert, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife and making me breakfast every morning for the rest of our lives?”

I let out a giggle. When he opened the box, I sucked in a breath of air as I saw the most beautiful diamond inside.
Holy hell. Oh. My. God.
My eyes snapped up to his face and then back down to the ring. When I looked back at him, he had a single tear rolling down his face.

I reached up and wiped it away. “Yes. Yes, I will make you breakfast every day for the rest of our lives.”

I’d never seen him smile so big. He pulled the ring out of the box and gently took my hand in his. Shaking my head, I looked down at the beautiful princess-cut diamond framed by sparkling round diamonds. It was stunning. The white gold band was covered in a ribbon of diamonds. As he placed it onto my finger, I noticed his hands were shaking.

Is he nervous?
“Josh…this is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. It’s…it’s just breathtaking,” I said, staring into his green eyes.

With a smile, he placed his hands on each side of my face and pulled me in for a kiss. Right before my lips touched his, he said, “You have just made me the happiest man on earth, and now, I’m going to make mad, passionate love to you.”

I smiled back and giggled. “Okay!”

As he slowly started to sit back, he brought me with him until I was lying on top of him. He rolled us over and just stared into my eyes. He got up on his knees and started to unbutton my pants. My heart was pounding while every memory of us making love flooded my mind—the first time we’d ever made love in this very same spot, in the back of his Dodge truck after we’d left his friend’s wedding in Abilene, on the kitchen island in my house, incredible wall sex in the shower, inside the tent when we had gone camping at Guadalupe River State Park during a terrible thunderstorm…and the day in the rain when we’d conceived the child growing in my stomach. I would never forget that day…or this day…ever.