It Started with a Pregnancy

by Christy Jeffries

  “You don’t really expect me to hold you to that, do you, Grant? Obviously, you’re going to have to return to Florida eventually.”

  “Eventually,” he agreed. “But not until I put all your doubts about me to rest.”

  * * *

  Grant and Angus drove her to the airport and Rebekah was able to meet with the cell tower representatives, as well as the landowner agency, to work out the specifics for the deal that would give Whitaker Acres an added boost to their monthly income.

  She’d been a little surprised that both he and his aunts trusted her to make the best deal for them after they’d recently been burned by an actual family member. Grant’s confidence in her made her go into that negotiation with the desire to accept nothing less than top dollar for her bosses.

  Just like he had this past week when Rebekah was gone for the day at work, Grant sent her pictures of Angus carrying around whichever discarded item of her clothing he’d been able to find that day. And with the amount of time that she and Grant had spent getting out of their clothes lately, it was usually whatever had ended up closest to the bed.

  So that night, as she lay in the hotel room, the picture that came in was of the dog curled up on the white sofa with one of her favorite bras as his pillow. She made a mental note to get a laundry hamper with a lid.

  It was weird to think that a little over a month ago she’d been living on her own, perfectly happy and comfortable in the quiet, organized world she’d created for herself. Yet now a man and a dog were taking up residence in her townhome and it almost felt normal.

  The following day, after her plane landed, she missed the bottom step off the escalator because she was so surprised to see Grant standing in the baggage claim area, a bouquet of plumeria in one hand and Angus’s leash in the other.

  She immediately bent down and greeted Angus first. “What are you doing here, big guy? Did you miss me?”

  “Well, we both missed you,” Grant said, then shot Angus a playful look of chastisement. “But some of us know better than to yip and prance around and draw attention to ourselves in a public place.”

  “Nothing draws more attention than a bouquet of flowers and a cute dog,” a familiar voice said behind Rebekah.

  “What are you doing here, Aunt Birdie?” Grant asked the woman who had a bright pink carry-on case at her feet. Then he looked at the man behind his aunt. “And why did you ask Doc J to pick you up from the airport? I could’ve given you a ride.”

  Rebekah smiled at the appearance of the retired veterinarian, then bit back a giggle when she saw that he had his own small duffel clutched in one of his hands. The doctor knelt down to greet Angus. “I’ve heard all about you, my friend. Running all over town and causing quite the stir. But I see my daughter did a heck of a job sewing up that incision. We’ll need to get you a little pirate patch to complete the look.”

  While the two older people were distracted fussing over the dog, Rebekah used her elbow to nudge Grant. When she finally got his attention, she nodded toward the boarding passes in Doc J’s free hand.

  “You mean...you guys are here together?” Grant’s voice was loud enough to make Rebekah wince.

  Doc J grinned sheepishly at Birdie. “Guess the cat’s finally out of the bag.”

  “Oh, don’t look so shocked, Grant. Richard has always been sweet on me. Now that he’s retired and we no longer work together, I figure why not kick up my heels while I’m still young enough to kick ’em.”

  “So you two...” Grant pointed at his aunt’s suitcase. “Are you moving down to Florida, too?”

  “Not permanently. I just go down for the occasional weekend getaway with my man.”

  Her man, indeed! Rebekah wanted to give her boss a high five. There’d been rumors about Doc J having some sort of secret crush, but nobody had been able to figure out which Whitaker sister it was since he spent time with both of them.

  This time, Rebekah got to be the one smiling at Grant’s look of confusion instead of the other way around. He opened his mouth several times, only to close it again.

  “But what about Bunny?” Grant finally got the words out.

  “What about her?” Birdie put her hands on her hips.

  “It’s always been the two of you together,” Grant said, then looked to Rebekah for confirmation. Nope, he wasn’t getting any support from her. She remembered how he’d sat back in his chair at the barbecue restaurant, practically egging her parents on as they’d asked her all those embarrassing questions. “Isn’t Bunny worried that a man might come between you?”

  “Psh.” Birdie waved a hand at him. “Bunny has been talking to her own gentleman online for the past five years.”

  At this, Rebekah really did give the older woman a high five. She wished Bunny could’ve been there and gotten one, as well.

  “Did you know about this?” Grant tilted his head at Rebekah.

  “I had no idea.” Rebekah grinned. “And usually I know everything that’s going on at Furever Paws.”

  “Well, you’ve been so busy keeping your own secrets—” Birdie glanced down at Rebekah’s waistline “—you haven’t had time to notice mine.”

  Heat flooded Rebekah’s cheeks and her hands immediately shot to her stomach, which probably only confirmed his aunt’s suspicions. Well, that and the fact that Grant shifted the flowers to the hand holding the leash and protectively slipped his free arm around her waist.

  “Just for the record...” Grant cleared his throat. “We were planning to tell you guys about the pregnancy after the doctor’s appointment next week.”

  Birdie winked at her nephew. “Good. This means you’ll be in town more often and can help out with planning the Paws Under the Stars event.”

  “Paws Under the Stars?” Rebekah lifted her eyebrow.

  “That’s the name Grant came up with for our fund-raiser gala. We both thought Fur Ball sounded too stuffy.” Birdie’s hands were clasped together in excitement. “Now, Richard and I have a plane to catch, so you two rest up this weekend and let me know what time our doctor’s appointment is next week.”

  Rebekah’s eyes widened in concern. There weren’t enough chairs in the obstetrician’s office for all the Whitakers.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The Paws Under the Stars event wasn’t only a fund-raiser, it was also a huge celebration of the recent additions to the Furever Paws facility. Grant had never thought of himself as a party planner, but working with Rebekah handling the dinner, dance and silent auction, he’d never been more certain that he could easily work with her for the rest of their lives.

  It had been a month since they’d run into his Aunt Birdie and Doc J at the airport, and Grant had only been back to Jacksonville once, to hand in his resignation and to tell his mom and his sisters about his future plans. He hadn’t moved in officially with Rebekah, but she and Angus also hadn’t kicked him out of her place.

  Uncle Gator had reluctantly agreed to a plea deal earlier this week and yesterday’s ultrasound at the doctor’s revealed that he and Rebekah were having a boy and a girl. They had so much to celebrate, Grant was determined to make tonight’s gala the party of the year.

  He drove Angus to the animal shelter later that morning and, when he walked into Rebekah’s office, he handed her the chocolate croissant and decaf latte she’d sworn off yesterday after getting on the scale at Dr. Singh’s office. If you asked Grant, though, Rebekah’s new pregnancy curves made her look even sexier.

  “Looks like the white tents are being set up now,” he said after kissing her cheek. “Angus and I are going to take a walk and make sure they get those little twinkly lights up in all the trees.”

  “Grant, are you sure we needed to rent tents? I keep crunching the numbers and, at this rate, our only profit is going to be from the silent auction donations.”

  “Well, we sold way more tickets than even I ex
pected and the newly built party pavilion—which was a brilliant decision on my part, by the way—isn’t going to be big enough to hold everyone.”

  “Fine,” she sighed, then bit into her still-warm croissant, pleasure written all over her face. It was the same expression he’d left her with this morning in bed after he’d—

  “I trust you know what you’re doing,” she said around a mouthful of pastry.

  Grant’s lungs stopped working for a full fifteen seconds. While they’d been practically living together for the past month and she’d slowly been opening up to him more every day, having Rebekah finally say that she trusted him left him completely speechless.

  When they walked outside, he looked down at Angus. “Did you hear that, boy? Mommy trusts me.”

  Angus replied with a yip.

  “That’s right.” He scratched the dog’s ears. “Tonight is definitely going to be a time for celebrations.”

  * * *

  “Amanda, the food tastes fabulous,” Rebekah told her friend, who still made time to walk dogs at the shelter despite having a new relationship and a new catering business.

  “That’s because all the fresh produce came from Battle Lands Farms,” Amanda replied, having to raise her voice over the sound of the band that had just invited everyone out to the dance floor.

  “Is Ryan around?” Rebekah scanned the formally dressed partygoers as they began dancing to a rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog.” “I wanted to thank him for giving us that front page feature in The Spring Forest Chronicle.”

  “He’s over there with Dillon and Tucker.” Amanda pointed to where her boyfriend was standing with his son and their pet, a Chihuahua/dachshund mix. The boy and dog were wearing matching polka-dot bow ties.

  Rebekah noticed the woman’s hand immediately drop to her waist. It was the same motion Rebekah made whenever she felt one of the twins kicking. “Amanda, are you...?”

  She let her question hang in the air, but her friend smiled as she gave a slow nod. “Ryan and I eloped last month. Tonight, Dillon has been walking around telling everyone that he and Tucker are going to be big brothers.”

  “Rebekah, can I borrow you for a sec?” Grant said in her ear as his hand slid over her elbow. Then he smiled at Amanda and added, “The food looks amazing, by the way.”

  “So do you two,” Amanda said, giving Rebekah a subtle wink before waving goodbye. Amanda had been one of the women at happy hour with her the night she’d gone home with Grant. Rebekah slowly realized that Mollie and Claire, who’d also been there, probably had known about her and Grant the whole time.

  When they were alone, Grant kissed her temple before whispering in her ear. “Aunt Bunny and Aunt Birdie were hoping that one of us would make some sort of speech thanking everyone for coming out tonight and supporting the shelter.”

  “But I didn’t prepare a speech.”

  “Don’t worry.” Grant grinned. “I have us covered. Just come stand on the stage next to me.”

  Rebekah could feel the crowd’s eyes on them as Grant held her hand, leading her to the raised dais inside the party pavilion. She tried to stand behind him as he took the microphone from the bandleader, who’d just finished singing Blake Shelton’s “Ol’ Red,” another song about a dog. She was sensing a theme with the music selection.

  “Thank you all for coming to Paws Under the Stars tonight and for supporting my aunts and all these wonderful animals,” Grant started and the audience applauded.

  “Many of you know Rebekah Taylor, the director of Furever Paws,” he said, trying to urge her out from behind him. Embarrassment flooded her and she could only manage a small wave as the guests applauded again. “But what you might not know is that Rebekah had never had a pet before. And yet, just like many of you, she now has her own success story with fostering a dog.”

  It was then that Rebekah saw Lana Whitaker, Grant’s mom—who she’d met earlier that afternoon—standing next to Rebekah’s own parents at the side of the stage. Sheila held Angus’s leash and walked the dog to greet them. Her dad stayed a few feet behind and let out a hearty sneeze.

  “This is Angus,” Grant continued. “His owner died and he’d been left to wander the streets of Spring Forest, evading capture for quite a while. But Rebekah spent time talking to Angus and leaving little treats for him. She eventually got him trust her and, well, Angus has a little gift he’d like to give his new mom to thank her for being so patient with both him and his new dad.”

  Rebekah’s throat constricted and she forced herself to swallow her emotions.

  “What’s going on?” she whispered to Grant.

  “This would’ve worked better if he hadn’t refused to wear the kilt costume I got him for tonight,” Grant announced into the microphone. Then he whispered to Rebekah, “Check out his plaid collar.”

  Rebekah’s knees wobbled as she unsteadily knelt beside the dog. Hanging on a little silver loop near the buckle was a very large, very beautiful diamond ring. She gasped and jerked her face up to look at Grant, only to find him on one knee beside her.

  “I love you, Rebekah Taylor. I can’t wait to be a father to our twins,” he said, and a ripple of murmurs came from the dance floor. “But more than anything, I can’t wait to be your husband. If you’ll have me.”

  Rebekah’s heart threatened to beat out of her chest. “Of course I’ll have you, Grant Whitaker.”

  The crowd erupted in a cheer and Angus let out several yips and wiggled his tail as Grant tried to free the ring from the loop on his collar. When he finally slipped it onto Rebekah’s finger, she lowered her voice and asked, “But what about your job?”

  He handed the microphone back to the bandleader. “I gave them my resignation. I’ve already been hired for my first consulting job and I have it on good authority...” he jerked his chin toward Rebekah’s father “...that plenty of men are now working from home and raising their kids.”

  All the blood rushed to her head, or maybe to her heart, and she got a fuzzy feeling of excitement. “You mean, you’re going to move to Spring Forest?”

  He squeezed her hand in his. “Look down at Angus’s collar again.”

  There was a second loop that had been blocked by the leash clip. When Rebekah saw what was hanging there, her eyebrows slammed together. “Why are you giving me a key?”

  “It’s the key to that old brick house on Second Avenue,” he explained, and Angus put his front paws on Rebekah’s thighs, causing her to sink from a kneeling position straight onto her rear end.

  “You bought me that house?” If Rebekah hadn’t already melted into a puddle of happiness, she certainly would have at his thoughtful and surprising gift.

  “Well, I bought it mostly for Angus, but also for us. And the twins. I figure we’re going to need that big yard for them to run in while I’m working from those patio benches you already have picked out in your mind.”

  “But what about your surfing?” She couldn’t believe that he was giving up so much to be with her. How had she ever doubted him?

  “We’ll have to take lots of trips to the Outer Banks. In fact, my mom already brought Angus a custom life vest.”

  “Oh, Grant,” she said, awkwardly trying to stand up. He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. As soon as she was off the ground, she flung her arms around his neck. “I love you so much.”

  “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear that.” He squeezed her to him and Angus let out another yip. Holding Rebekah with one arm, Grant bent down to lift up the dog to join them.

  “Apparently, your aunt was right,” Rebekah said around Angus’s eager licks as the pup took turns kissing both of their faces.

  “Right about what?” Grant asked, dodging a little pink tongue.

  Rebekah’s gaze swept across the gala guests lining up their animals for the much-anticipated pet parade, taking in all t
he familiar faces she’d met since moving to Spring Forest.

  Her eyes returned to Grant’s and she couldn’t stop smiling. “It’s amazing how much love your heart can accommodate once you decide to open it up.”

  * * *

  Catch up with the previous stories in the

  Furever Yours series

  Look for

  The Nanny Clause

  by USA TODAY bestselling author

  Karen Rose Smith

  and The City Girl’s Homecoming

  by Kathy Douglass

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