by Chloe Morgan
“What?” I asked.
“I can’t believe how lucky I am,” he said, grinning.
“Wait… lucky?”
“Yes, Jenny. Lucky. I mean, not only do I get you, but I get the child we created together.”
“So, you’re not upset?”
He furrowed his brow. “I love you, Jenny. Why would I be upset?”
His words were like the greatest punch to my chest.
“You—you do?” I asked.
He slid his hand up my stomach. Up my chest. Up my shoulder and my neck. He pulled the cover back over us before he cupped my cheek, his thumb sliding over my skin.
“I love you, Jenny. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I know it’s soon. I know we’re facing down the barrel of a lot. And I know I have a lot about my life I have to get together. But I’ve got a job. A job that enables me to get a better place, now that I have a reason to. You’re going to be okay, Jenny. We’re going to be okay, and you aren’t doing this alone. Not when I love you as much as I do,” he said.
My eyes welled with tears. They streamed down my face faster than I could catch them. I rolled Nathan over and crashed my lips against his, holding him close to me. He rolled me back over and held me close. Our noses nuzzled together as he pulled back from my lips.
“I love you, too, Nathan,” I said, giggling.
As I lay there, gazing into the eyes of the man I’d fallen hopelessly in love with, I saw reassurance. I saw strength. I saw a plan morphing behind his eyes that I knew would trump even the best of what I could conjure up. I guess my life plan wasn’t what was best for me. In the end, what was best for me was Nathan.
In the end, what was best for me was our plan.
And I no longer felt scared for my future.
Epilogue
Nathan
Six Months Later
“Nathan, where are we going?” Jenny asked.
“Just a few more turns. You hangin’ in there?” I asked.
“I’m getting a bit sick, to be honest.”
“Well, we’re coming up on the surprise now. So, just sit tight and it’ll be over in a bit. Okay?”
“Okay.”
I eased us up the mountain, taking in the beautiful view of the woman next to me. Jenny was seven months pregnant, and she looked more beautiful than the day I first laid eyes on her. Ripe with my child and glowing from head to toe, she was ready to burst. Every night, I’d come home from the lodge and massaged her ankles, trying to get the swelling to go away. Every day, I’d text or call her to check on her, to make sure things were going all right. Jenny had officially graduated and walked across the stage with the highest GPA of her graduating class. I couldn’t have been prouder of her, watching her receive her diploma with her hand nestled over the growing bulge where our child sat, warm and safe.
“Are we there yet?” Jenny asked.
“Almost,” I said softly.
After Jenny made a few trips out on the weekends to my shithole of a rented home, I knew it was time to make a change. I couldn’t bring the woman I loved and our child back to this place. The carpet was stained, the hardwood scuffed. The ceilings had water damage circles, and the walls had holes that were barely patched over. It wasn’t safe, it wasn’t secure, and it had this constant faint smell of dirty socks and cheesy underwear.
I knew I had to make a change, but I wasn’t sure how I’d pull it off.
I pulled off onto a side road and continued our journey. The cement road gave way to a gravel surface, where I slowed my car down even more. And when the home came into view, I came to a stop. I heard Jenny sigh with relief as she went to remove the blindfold, but I reached over. I grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
She groaned. “Nathan, please?”
“Just let me tell you a story first. Okay?” I asked.
“Can I at least get out of the car and stretch my legs?”
“Sure. Let me come around,” I said, grinning.
I got out of my car and wrapped around to open her door. I took her hands, helping her hoist her body from my car. That was the next thing I wanted to change out. I wanted to get a newer and safer vehicle before she delivered next month. But one step at a time.
“Why am I standing on gravel? And why does it smell like rain?” Jenny asked.
“I’ll make this quick, I promise,” I said.
I held her hands within mine as I gazed into her beautiful face.
“Jenny, when you told me you were pregnant, I was elated. And terrified,” I said.
“Me too,” she said, giggling.
“I knew I wanted this with you, but I had no idea how I’d pull it off. I mean, the only thing I had going for me was being the GM of a lodge that had just gotten up and running. I had no savings. I had debt of my own I needed to pay off. I was living in this shitty place with nowhere to bring you or our kid back to. My life was a mess when I first met you.”
“Wait, was?”
“When I talked with Luke about my concerns, he educated me a lot on what my job came with. You know, the benefits of it.”
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Mhm. I mean, I knew about the medical benefits. Which I added you to, of course. But I didn’t know about the 401(k) he had maxed out for me.”
“Aw, that’s sweet of him to do.”
“I also didn’t know that I was partial owner of the lodge.”
She paused. “Wait. You’re what?”
I smiled as I reached around her head, undoing the blindfold. I slipped it from her shocked eyes and gripped her shoulders. I turned her body toward the house standing in front of us, and she threw her hands to her mouth, gasping and sputtering her shock as I stood behind her.
Then, I reached into my back pocket and got down onto one knee.
“Nathan, where are we? What is this place? This house, it’s beautiful. Is it ou—?”
She whipped around to look at me before her eyes dropped. And as I knelt there on one knee, I brought the ring box into view. Tears rushed to her eyes. The mountain breeze kicked up, blowing her hair from her shoulders as the sun peeked through the treetops. And as a tear trickled down her cheek, I held the ring up for her to see.
“I drained what was in my 401(k) to put a down payment for us on this place. I took on some extra work from this new European development project for Mason so I could throw a chunk of it at your student loans. And I’ll end up selling a small part of my fifth of the lodge to Luke in exchange for just enough money to put a decent down payment on a safer vehicle for our family. I’m already talking with him about it,” I said.
“You—how are—just—this house is ours?” Jenny sputtered.
I smiled, taking her left hand within mine as I slipped the ring out of its box.
“I love you, Jenny. Without a shadow of a doubt. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. You, and our little boy,” I said.
I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her stomach, feeling our son kick against my lips. She giggled as tears streamed down her cheeks, and I kissed her stomach again, feeling him rocking and rolling within her.
“I love you both so much,” I whispered.
“Ask,” Jenny said softly.
I stood up and held the ring in front of her, smiling down into her beautiful face.
“Jenny, will you marry me?” I asked.
When she threw her arms around me and cried out, “Yes,” my life felt complete. My heart was full, and my soul felt settled. As I slipped that ring onto her finger, my world fell into place. All the things I figured I’d never want in life I had right in front of me—a home, a healthy child-to-be, a fiancée—and I wouldn’t have traded them for the world.
“I love you so much, Nathan,” she whispered.
“And I love you, Jenny.”
Then, I pulled the house keys out of my pocket.
“Ready to go explore?” I asked.
“Oh, hell yeah,” she said, smiling.
“Good, because
I can’t wait to show you the comfy furniture I filled this place with.”
The End
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About the Author
Chloe is a hometown girl from Tennessee who loves a great short romance, drinking coffee most of the day, and hanging out with family. When she's not writing, she can be found playing the piano or surfing Facebook!
Having been a reader all her life, she's hoping that you'll find yourself lost to time, laughing and falling in love all over again with her books.
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Mountain Man’s Baby
Copyright © 2019 by Chloe Morgan.
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and plot are all either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons – living or dead – is purely coincidental.
Editor: Sandra Depukat
Cover Designer: Ryn Katryn Digital Art