Full Circle (Rockin' Country #3) (10 page)

As the hostess left, the two of them looked at one another and giggled. “It’s funny in some circles how I’m Reaper’s wife, and then in other’s I’m Harmony and he’s my husband.”

“The joys of marrying someone just as famous and hot as you are,” Shell mused. “You mind if we get an appetizer? I didn’t get to eat breakfast this morning after my run with Jared.”

The two of them had taken to doing runs each morning, no matter where they were. When the bus stopped, they quickly got on Google, mapped out a two mile run, and took off together. It was their alone time throughout the day, and by all appearances, they both loved it.

“Absolutely. How are things going between the two of you?” Hannah hadn’t wanted to be nosy and was trying to give Shell plenty of time to settle in before she started questioning her about how their relationship was going.

Shell beamed. “It’s going way better than I ever thought it would or even could. I always assumed that if I came out here with him, he would feel like I was smothering him, but instead, I feel like maybe I’m anchoring him.”

“I think so too,” Hannah agreed as she took a drink of her water. “He seems much more at peace now that you’re here. Not that he wasn’t at peace before, but there’s something about you that calms him down.”

A waitress came to their table then, allowing them to order their appetizer and their meals.

“So how are things going with you?” Shell asked, taking a sip of the wine she’d ordered with the appetizer.

“I’m glad you asked that, because I have something I want to talk to you about.”

Shell tried not to let panic set in, but usually when Hannah started a conversation with those words, said conversation could go either way. “I’m listening.”

“Next week, I have to fly back to Nashville for my annual. I’m thinking about not putting my IUD back in. Garrett and I want to try to have a baby.” She tried to keep the excitement out of her voice in case Shell wasn’t thrilled about this.

“Really?” she asked.

“Really, but we want everyone’s blessing. We don’t want to make it difficult on any of the people sharing our lives, so I need to know…what do you think?”

Hannah held her breath, waiting to hear what her best friend in the whole world had to say about her possibly becoming a mother.

“I’m so excited for you! I think the two of you will make great parents, and this is the perfect time for you to do this.”

“Oh, I’m glad you think so.” Hannah laughed. “I was sweatin’ bullets wondering what you would say. I know it feels like Garrett and I have moved fast, but I know that everything is right with him. I feel more like myself with him than I ever have with anyone else.”

Shell knew that feeling all too well. “I know you do, and I will support you in any way I can. You know the record company won’t be pleased, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. There’s no sense in telling them you’re planning on getting pregnant. Let’s just wait until you are.”

“Right. I mean, it could take months. I’ve been reading up on it on the internet, and it seems it can either take months, or you get pregnant right away. Either way, Garrett and I are ready for it. He’s going to talk to the guys about it this afternoon too. He’s taking them to a really nice steakhouse. I’m kind of worried about it,” she confessed.

“Why?”

“Well, I mean this is their life and I just invaded it. Now a baby might invade it too. It seems like I’m taking over.” She shrugged.

“No, I don’t think they will feel that way at all. Garrett’s the happiest he’s ever been, and that’s thanks to you and the life that the two of you have made together. They aren’t going to begrudge him that. I can promise you they would never be that petty. His friends aren’t like Ashton’s. I know that’s your point of reference for everything, but I’m pretty sure you’ve got a good group of guys here who would walk through fire for you.”

Hannah breathed a little easier. “I hope you’re right. We’re not telling our parents yet, just in case. You know Marie can smell a conspiracy a mile away.”

“I’m telling you, you have nothing to worry about.”

*     *     *

“It’s been forever since we’ve been out,” Chris commented as the group was seated in the back, away from other customers just like they had requested.

“Yeah, I realized how long it had been,” Garrett mentioned as he leaned back, letting the waitress place a menu in front of him.

“Our priorities kinda shift sometimes.” Jared shrugged. “But it’s okay, that means we’re growing up. We all have different things going on in our lives. Now we’re old enough that we don’t have to be stuck up each other’s asses every single minute of every single day.”

Garrett was glad the conversation had taken this turn, but he was still worried. Worried that his friends wouldn’t understand that he wanted to grow up even more. That his life would take on an even bigger role outside of the group if he and Hannah were so blessed. His hand actually shook as he took a drink from the beer that had been placed in front of him. He couldn’t remember ever being this nervous.

The waitress came back around and they quickly ordered, knowing that it would be a while before they would get their food. A great steak took time to prepare.

“You’re quiet.” Jared pointed at his friend. “Is everything going okay with you?”

He cleared his throat. “I have something I want to talk to you guys about. It’s serious.”

They were immediately all ears. “Nothing’s wrong with Hannah is it?” Brad asked, concern evident in his voice.

“It does concern her, but it really concerns all of us, which is why I’m talking to you about it.”

He took a deep breath to steady himself.

“Next week, Hannah makes the decision if she wants to go off birth control or not. She and I have talked about it, and we think it’s time for us to think about starting our family. We’d like to try and get pregnant.”

The three sets of eyes looking back at him were surprised, but then huge grins spread across all their faces. “For real?” Jared asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

“For real, but we both want to make sure you three are okay with that. It won’t only affect me and her, but it will affect the three of you as well. We don’t want there to be any hard feelings, or thoughts that we’re pushing our lifestyle on you three.”

“I think I speak for all of us,” Brad motioned to himself, Chris and Jared, “when I say that we love Hannah, and there is no reason in the world the two of you shoudn’t be parents. Like we said. We’re growing up. If it’s time, brother, then it’s time.”

Garrett knew it most certainly was time.

*  *  *

“H
annah Thompson,” the nurse called, smiling when she caught sight of her. “C’mon back, Doctor Simpson is ready for you.”

Hannah took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She wasn’t sure why she was so nervous about this, but she was. Before every appointment she had with the doctor, he always wanted to discuss what was going on in her life. Instead of being lead to an examination room, she was lead to his office.

“Hannah, great to see you again.” He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

He was older, and she figured this was how doctors had been when he’d started practicing. “Good to see you again too.” She smiled at him as she had a seat.

“How are you doing? Any problems with anything?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m doing great actually.”

He pulled out her chart and went over a few things. “I saw in the papers were you got married. Congratulations.”

“Thank you so much.” She beamed at him.

He read through her chart a little closer. “So what are we doing today besides your annual? I see that it’s time for you to take your IUD out.”

“That’s right.” She nodded.

“Are you wanting to replace it?”

This was it, the moment she’d been waiting for. She shook her head. “No, Garrett and I have decided we want to try for a baby.”

The doctor wasn’t surprised as he glanced over at her. “That’s great news. Have you been doing your research? You do know you could conceive the first time you try, or it could take a few months after we take this out?”

“Yes, I’m aware of that. We aren’t in a huge hurry.”

“Okay then.” He stood up. “Let’s go give you a thorough check up and take that out.”

An hour later, she was leaving the doctor’s office with pre-natal vitamins he encouraged her to go ahead and start taking, along with folic acid. He’d given her an ovulation kit to make sure that things were normal after the birth control had been taken out and assured her she was in perfect shape to have a child. He had even looked at her, a stern expression on his face, and told her it would be fine for her to gain the healthy amount of weight while pregnant. She appreciated that, more than he knew.

She texted Garrett to let him know her appointment had gone well and she would be catching her plane back to him, hoping he would have time to meet her at the airport after the show. If not, she knew there would be a car waiting for her so that they could catch up with the tour bus.

They had decided not to tell any of their family that they were going to try and conceive. If there was an issue and it took them longer than they imagined, she didn’t want to face questions from anxious family members, or have it get leaked to the press. This secret was for the two of them and the two of them alone. She already had notifications on her social media accounts that said the paparazzi knew she was back in Nashville, and they knew she was without Garrett. He had posted a cute picture of the two of them, hoping to dissuade anyone from trying to follow her.

As she made her way towards her gate, her phone rang, and she looked down, seeing Garrett’s smiling face. “Hello?” she answered.

“Hey, I was checking to make sure everything went okay. He gave us the go ahead to start trying?”

“He did. He said I’m perfectly healthy, and he gave me some things to go ahead and start taking. I think we’re gonna be fine.”

He knew they would be, but he still had to call and check on her. “Okay, I’ll see you tonight, I gotta go and do sound check. If I can, I’ll come pick you up,” he promised.

“Sounds good, love you,” she told him, before they ended the conversation.

Hannah walked to her gate and realized she still had twenty minutes before they would start boarding. Looking around, she had a seat and stowed her purse and carry on beside her before pulling her iPad out to play some game that Brad had gotten her addicted to. She was so involved, she didn’t see the person approach her.

“Do you mind if I have a seat?”

She glanced up, seeing Bryson Grant for the first time since he’d been such a jerk to her. Trying to sabotage her song and relationship with her husband had not made her a happy camper and she’d probably never forgive him. “I’d really rather you not, because if my husband sees pictures of us again, he might not stop at just punching you in the nose.”

He laughed, but it was forced. “I deserve that. I wasn’t nice to you.”

“No you weren’t.” She shook her head. “And I thought we were friends. I thought you cared more about our friendship than a number one song. I’m so disappointed in you. We went to high school together, we grew up together. What in the world turned you into that selfish of a human being?” she asked, letting all the questions to which she’d wanted to know the answers fly.

“They were threatening my deal, Hannah. Not everyone is as blessed as you.” He had the seat she hadn’t offered him before. “Not everyone gets a number one hit their first time out. Every song I write doesn’t turn to gold.”

“Every song I write does not turn to gold either, Bryson. But I’ll tell you this, I would never, in a million years, treat a friend the way you treated me.”

“I know.” He shifted, uncomfortable under her gaze.

“That’s the difference here. It’s not that everything I touch turns to gold, it’s not that I got the good record deal and you got the bad one. It’s the fact that I am a good, genuine person who, when she makes mistakes, owns up to them. You aren’t a good person, and I think maybe I was blinded by the fact we’d known each other for so long. You also can’t seem to apologize when you do something wrong. You need to own the fact that you were a bad friend to me and that you were going to use me. That’s on you, that’s not on me, and it’s not on my husband.” She stood as her gate was called.