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Then she looked back at Josh.

“I had a dream. You left me…” She glared back
at me.

Oh.My.God. She
knows.
Somehow, she knew Josh and I had
been together.

“What?” Josh asked.

“I had a dream on the plane on our way back.
I woke up in a panic, so when we landed, I ran to my car to try to
get to you right away.” She started to cry or at least attempted to
cry and then she called out in pain because of her ribs.

Oh, she’s good.

“Lynda, please don’t be upset.”

“I was trying to get to you
when I had the accident. Please don’t ever leave, Josh.
P
lease don’t ever leave
me.
”

Josh put his head down on the hospital bed,
and Lynda looked up at me. The look she gave me showed me exactly
what type of person she was. She knew exactly what she was
doing.

Then, she gave me a smirk.

“Heather, can I talk to Josh alone,
please?”

“Oh, um… Yeah... sure.”

I left and sat in the waiting room. About
fifteen minutes later, Josh came walking out, looking white as a
ghost. He sat down next me and put his head in his hands.

“Motherfucker.”

“Josh, you have to know she’s trying to make
you feel guilty. She knows we’ve been together.”

“
I can’t leave her right
now, Heather.”

“What?”

“I just can’t walk away from her. You heard
how upset she is. She’ll be devastated.”

“Oh my god Josh, can you not see she just
came up with that stupid story because you walked into that room
holding my hand? She’s playing you and you’re falling for it. Can I
just call a Rebecca here?”

“Heather, stop. She’s in such bad shape. How
could she come up with a story that fast?”

Michelle clearly saw our conversation was not
one to interrupt because she turned away and walked the other
direction.

“I just need more time. I need to help her
heal and get in a good place mentally before I just leave her.”

I shook my head and stood up.

“I knew this was going to happen. I knew
there would be some reason why you wouldn’t leave her. I knew it
was stupid to be with you while you were still with her.” I tried
not to cry, but I felt a tear slowly slide down my face. I turned
away and started to walk to the elevator.

Josh called out for me, but I didn’t stop. I
hit the down button and thanked God the doors opened immediately. I
could hear Josh telling Michelle that he would be right back. I got
in the elevator and tried to hit the main floor button as fast as I
could. Then, I saw him as he started running toward the
elevator.

Shit! Close, you damn
doors.
They started to close, but Josh
stuck his arm between the doors and they opened back up.

He got in, reached over, and hit the button
to close the doors. As the elevator started to descend, I backed
away from him, but he came at me and kissed me. I pushed him off of
me.

“Stop. You can’t do this to me, Josh! You
can’t.”

“Just give me a couple of weeks. Please,
Heather, you’re the only person I want to be with, but I can’t
leave her right now. I’d be a dick if I walked out on her and left
her like this.”

I knew he was right, but I also knew that
Lynda was going to do everything in her power to keep Josh.

“She’s going to trick you into staying with
her, Josh. I don’t trust her.

I felt sick to my stomach.

“Please, princess, just give me some time. I
promise that we’ll be together. I promise.”

He pulled me to him and kissed me with so
much passion that it felt like he was trying to pour his love into
my body. Then, he pulled away and smiled at me.

“I love you, Heather. I love you more than
anything.”

“I love you, too, Josh. I probably need to
get back to Mason. What about your truck?”

“I’ll see what time Gunner and Ells are
leaving, and I’ll catch a ride back with them to get my truck. Can
we spend some time together before I come back to Austin?”

As much as I wanted to say yes, I shook my
head.

“I don’t think it would be right, not while
you’re still with Lynda.”

He looked down and stared at the ground. When
he looked back up, he had tears in his eyes, and my heart was
breaking all over again.

“Please wait for me,
Heather.
Please
.”

I smiled, leaned over, and kissed him softly
on the lips.

I turned and walked out of the elevator. I
left the hospital and headed toward my car.

I didn’t start crying until I pulled out and
drove away.

The worse feeling came over me. Lynda was not
going to give up on Josh without a fight.

I also knew she wasn’t going to fight
fair.

CHAPTER
FIFTY-NINE

JEFF

I walked into the Oasis with Luke in my arms
and Ari at my side. My baby boy, the love of my life, was two
months old.

Ari looked beautiful, and just by looking at
her, I would have never known she had a baby two months ago. She’d
been riding Star and Sweet Pea bareback for weeks, and she seemed
to be in heaven now that she could ride again.

I looked around for Gunner and Ellie.

“There they are!” Ari said, pointing to where
they were standing in the waiting area.

We walked up to Gunner and Ellie and saw
Jack, Grace, Emma, and Garrett with them.

“So, the gangs all here now,” Garrett said
with a wink.

“Let me hold that baby,” Emma said as I
handed Luke over to her.

Grace and Emma walked over to a bench and sat
down.

When I put my hand on Ellie’s growing belly,
I instantly felt the baby kick. Ellie and I both started to
laugh.

“Still not going to find out?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“Ells, have you talked to Heather? How is she
doing?” Ari asked.

Ellie’s smiled faded, and she looked at
Gunner.

“I don’t know. Lynda now seems to be having
some kind of mental breakdown, so Josh still hasn’t called it off
with her. Heather is trying to act like she’s okay, but I know
she’s dying inside. She went on a date the other day.”

“What? Why would she do that?” Ari asked in a
panicked voice.

I pulled Ari closer to me and held on to
her.

“I think she’s lonely, Ari. She’s so confused
on what she should do. She loves Josh, but clearly, Lynda is not
going to give up that easily.”

Ari said, “I think it’s time we kick some
ass. Stupid bitch. Why does she want a guy who she knows wants to
be with someone else? Douche-twat. Oh, sorry, Gunner. I know she’s
your cousin.”

Gunner laughed and held up his hands.

“Hey y’all!” Heather said as she walked up
and hugged everyone. “We’re a back room on the second floor.”

We all followed Heather into one of the
larger rooms. I knew a few of the people, but most were friends of
Heather’s aunt, uncles, and cousins or friends of Heather’s
parents.

***

We talked, we laughed, and celebrated
Heather’s graduation from UT. With the absence of her parents, I
could tell that this happy occasion was very emotional for her
family. Despite any sad thoughts, her grandfather seemed to be very
proud of Heather.

I leaned over to Gunner. “Josh isn’t coming,
I take it.”

“I talked to him earlier. Lynda had some kind
of breakdown, and he couldn’t leave her.”

“Dude, does he know she’s playing him for a
fucking fool?”

“Jeff!” Ari said as she punched me in the
arm. “Don’t swear in front of the baby.”

“He’s two months old, Ari. I’m pretty sure he
isn’t going to know what fuck means.”

Just then, Matthew who was sitting on the
other side of Ari, called out, “I wanna be a mudder.”

Ari quickly turned and started to tickle Matt
before she whispered something into his ear.

She turned back and glared at me. Gunner let
out a laugh, and I had to bite my cheek to keep myself from
laughing, too.

Heather’s uncle stood up to make a toast. As
he was talking, Heather let out a gasp. She was staring straight
ahead, and we all turned to see Josh standing in the doorway
smiling at Heather. She got up and walked over to him. He whispered
something in to her ear, and the next thing I knew Heather flew
into his arms.

I turned around to see everyone watching
them.

Then, louder than she meant to, Ari said,

“Shit, it’s about fucking time.”

Right on cue, Matt started singing,

“I wanna be a mudder fuckin’ cowboy!”

Ari, Sue, and Grace all said at once,
“Matthew!”

CHAPTER SIXTY

ARI

December

“Can you believe he’s six months old?”

Jeff let out a laugh as he crawled after Luke
on the floor.

“Nope. The little monster is fast as
shit.”

I tried to keep up with them as I videotaped
Jeff and Luke.

“So, should we go shopping for more toys for
Santa to bring?”

Jeff looked up at me with the biggest smile
on his face. I swore I’d never seen a man who loved to go shopping
for toys like Jeff did. I think he liked the stuff more than
Luke.

“Do you even need to ask that, Ari? Hells
yeah, my little buddy needs more stuff. Don’t forget. I want to
find something really cool for Matt.”

“As long as it doesn’t make too much noise.
The drum set you got him drove my mother and father insane.”

I saw the smile spread across Jeff’s face,
and I knew he bought that thing just to piss off my father.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and
Jeff jumped up to get it.

“Heather! What brings you here?”

“Hey! Just wanted to come for a visit.”

Heather walked into the living room and
immediately went down to the floor as Luke crawled up to her and
got in her lap.

“Oh my gosh, you’re getting so big, my little
man!” She looked up at me and smiled.

I knew something was wrong. Her beautiful
blue eyes were…dead. I hadn’t seen her sad in months. Josh had left
Lynda at the end of August after he’d had enough of her crazy
bullshit. Heather got a job teaching first grade at the elementary
school in Fredericksburg while Josh’s furniture business was
growing in Austin. I knew they tried to see each other as much as
possible and Josh was ready to move the business to Fredericksburg
just to be with Heather.

“Is everything okay?”

Just then, the phone rang.

Jeff ran into the kitchen and picked it
up.

“What? Right now? You have to take her to
Fredericksburg, Gunner! No, not Austin…don’t drive…meet me at the
main house. Dude, calm down. We’ll be right there.”

He hung up the phone, looked at me, and then
to Heather on the floor.

“Ellie’s water just broke.”

Heather and I both let out a
scream, and then Luke screamed and clapped his hands. I reached
down and grabbed Luke.
It’s about
time!
Ellie was overdue and ready to pop
any day.

“Let me change his diaper really quick,” I
said.

I grabbed a few things for Luke while Jeff
and Heather were getting baby food ready in the kitchen. We had a
plan. When Ellie went into labor, Jenny and Aaron were going to
watch Luke for us. I grabbed my cell and did a fist pump when I saw
I had a signal. I called Jen, told her about Ellie, and said we
would drop off Luke in a few minutes.

By the time we got to Emma and Garrett’s
place, Emma was sitting on the porch with Ellie.

Heather and I ran up, and I fell to my knees
next to my very best friend, who had a huge pregnant belly. I could
look at Ellie from behind and never known that she was pregnant,
but when she turned around, she was all baby in the front.

“Hey, baby, how are you feeling?” I
asked.

“Fine, Emma here is distracting me with a
story, so I’m okay.”

Emma who rolled her eyes, and I let out a
giggle.

“Ellie needs to take some deep breaths,
girls. Can you stay with her while I go in with Garrett? He’s about
to beat the hell out of my grandson.”

“Ah…okay.” Heather said.

I looked at Ellie as she shrugged her
shoulders.

“Ells, are you okay?” I asked.

“No, I want to have the baby in Austin, but I
don’t think I’m going to make it, so we have to go to
Fredericksburg.”

“Alright, babe. Why are we just sitting on
the porch? And why is Garrett about to beat the hell out of Gunner?
I think we should probably be on the way to the hospital, honey,
don’t you?”

Ellie let out a laugh. “Yeah, I think we
should...oh shit, here comes another one.”

I looked at Heather. “Can you go into the
house and see what the fuck is going on?”

Heather nodded and went inside.

“Ellie, baby, just take deep breaths. Come
on, let’s walk over to Gunner’s truck. Can you get into the truck?”
I pulled her up and held on to her as we made our way to Gunner’s
truck.

“Yep,” Ellie said between breaths.

“Is your bag in the truck, Ells?”

“Yeah, I put it in there the other day
because I was worried I’d forget it.”

Sounds like Ellie.

I helped her into the truck. “Do you need a
pillow or anything?”

“Nope, I just need Gunner. Please, Ari, can
you go get him? I can’t breathe.”

I smiled at the thought of how only Gunner
could calm Ellie down.

“Okay, baby, I’m going to go get his ass
right now. He’ll sit back here with you while Jeff drives. Heather
will follow us.”

“Sounds good, but I really think we need to
hurry.”

I jumped out of the truck and started to make
my way back to the house. Jeff came walking out with Gunner, and I
stopped dead in my tracks.

“What the hell happened?” I asked,
confused.