Micah's Mock Matrimony

by Liz Isaacson

  But he couldn’t cancel on Dwayne. There was no one else to do the work, and Micah didn’t know anyone down in Grape Seed Falls he could call for a last-minute build. Besides, Dwayne and Felicity had paid him for his custom cabinets. The custom dining room table. The custom fireplace mantel.

  He was Micah Walker, and they’d paid for and wanted his craftsmanship.

  He had to go.

  Please help Simone understand, he prayed. He hadn’t been able to make her understand, but he was only a man. Surely the Lord could soften her heart. Help her see that he hadn’t meant to get himself into such a tight spot, especially with her.

  He knew he didn’t need to work, but he sure did like it. Especially this new venture he’d started, because every job was different. He got to work with people and make their dreams come true, and he found joy and fulfillment in a way he hadn’t had before.

  So he finished packing, zipped his bag closed, and headed out to the kitchen. Part of him thought he’d find Simone waiting for him again, but she wasn’t there. The light he’d left on over the sink still shone into the darkness, and Micah decided to forgo making coffee and drive through somewhere.

  He pulled open a drawer and took out a notebook, quickly scrawling a note for Simone and leaving it on the counter next to the coffee maker, where she’d surely see it. He looked over to the hallway she’d disappeared down last night, half a mind to go wake her and make her understand.

  She’d said the Walker men had a stubborn streak that couldn’t be budged, but he could say the same for her. He couldn’t handle the confrontation this early in the morning, so he left the house and went into the garage. He felt like a rebellious teenager, trying to sneak out of the house. Skyler had done that numerous times growing up, but Micah had used the front door. His parents had probably given up on policing his schedule by the time he was old enough to want to sneak out to see the girl he liked.

  He started his truck, cringing at how loud it was in this early morning hour. As he backed onto the dirt road and looked at the house, he once again said, “Please help her understand.”

  Later that day, he’d arrived at Grape Seed Ranch. He’d met with Dwayne and Felicity, and he’d started on the accent wall, which was getting covered in barn wood from the oldest barn on the property. Dwayne had decided it was too unsafe to use, but he’d reclaimed the wood, and Micah was fitting it together on the short wall next to the back door. The room behind him was huge now, with the kitchen tucked into the corner, the bathroom behind that, and the stairs going up from there. But the pantry was gone, which left the view all the way to the front windows wide open.

  Micah had repurposed the space, and he had painters coming in the morning, with flooring a few days after that. He was building new pantry doors, new cabinets, and a new island for a more functional—and beautiful kitchen.

  He’d ordered new appliances as well, and the interior designer he’d found online would be here at the end of the week to go over colors for rugs, curtains, and furniture. Then Felicity and Dwayne would order what they wanted to complete the new house.

  He’d texted Simone twice, with no response. His thoughts weren’t completely dominated by the task at hand, and he found himself wandering toward her with every board he tried, cut, and nailed into place.

  Determined to call her later until she picked up, Micah kept up the pace around the house. He didn’t have a moment to spare if he wanted this job done in two weeks. And he did, because he couldn’t imagine telling Simone he had to come back here to finish the job. This was it. He got the two weeks, and all he could do was pray his wife would forgive him when he got back to Three Rivers.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “Look, Aunt Simone,” Denise said, pointing down the row of pumpkins and sunflowers in the field where they walked “There’s a rabbit.”

  Simone found the animal as it hopped. “There sure is,” she said, smiling at such a simple gesture from nature. She kept hold of the girls’ hand, because Simone needed an anchor right now.

  Micah had only been gone for four days, and she missed him with the force of gravity. Still, she had been strong, and she hadn’t answered any of his texts or calls. His last voicemail had been, “Is this it then? You’re just never going to talk to me again?”

  There had been plenty of frustration in his voice. Simone had actually felt bad when she listened to it. Even now, she could hear the words echoing in her ears.

  “Simone,” Callie called, and Simone turned toward her. She pushed the flatbed cart, and it was nearly full.

  “Looks like your mama has everything she needs,” Simone said, tugging on Denise’s hand. “Let’s go.” They left the field surrounding the nursery, joining Callie and Evelyn, who had come out to buy shrubs and trees and flower bulbs for the Shining Star with all four kids, by herself.

  She had a new stroller that allowed her to put the babies in forward-facing seats, and had a little seat for Conrad, facing her. He loved it, as he could ride standing up, and Evelyn could get out of the house without relying on anyone else.

  “Let’s go start loading up,” Simone said, taking Ginger from Callie so her sister could pay. “Stay right by me, Deni, okay?” They left the nursery with Evelyn, and Simone heard the distinct cry of a puppy to her right, and she looked that way.

  “Oh, look at them,” she said, detouring instantly. The white pups in the double-wide apple crate couldn’t have been bigger than the palm of her hand, and she smiled widely at them as she looked at the two girls standing by the crate. “What kind are they?”

  “Western terriers,” one of the girls said. She didn’t look older than twelve or thirteen. “They’ll get to be about fifteen pounds.”

  Ginger weighed more than that, and Simone could carry her. “How much?” she asked.

  “Five hundred,” the girl answered.

  “I want one,” she said at the same time Evelyn said, “Simone, don’t you dare.”

  The girls looked from Evelyn to Simone, who nodded at them. “Let me go grab my checkbook and get my sister’s kids buckled up. You’ll take a check?”

  “Simone,” Evelyn said again.

  Simone glared at her sister, because she wasn’t a child. She’d be forty in just a few months, and she’d wanted a dog for a long time. Life the past several months had been trying and difficult and busy, but her days had gone back to normal the last few weeks. She was ready for a dog, and she liked Western terriers as much as anything else.

  “Yes, ma’am,” one of the girls said, and Simone smiled at her.

  “I’ll be right back.”

  She continued out to Callie’s minivan and strapped Ginger into her seat while Denise climbed into the bucket seat. Evelyn had parked right next to her, and Simone turned and said, “Come on, Conrad. Time to get in the car. Evelyn had one baby in, and she was working on the second one.

  Conrad jumped down from the step and got in the van, climbing all the way to the back row seat. She put one knee on the floor and leaned back to help him, but he said, “I do it,” and she let him try to buckle his own seatbelt.

  He did it too, and Simone’s pride soared. “Nice job, Conrad,” she said, and the little boy rewarded her with a grin.

  She turned to get the last baby out of the stroller, and she got to put Easton in his car seat. He was the biggest of the babies, and he’d really chubbed out in the past month or so. They were five months old now, and no one would’ve ever guessed that they’d been born three weeks premature. Simone put his pacifier in his mouth while Evelyn wrestled with the stroller and got it in the back.

  “Okay,” she said. “Lunch?”

  “I’m going to buy a puppy,” Simone said. “I’ll have Callie drop me off at home.”

  “Simone,” Evelyn said. “Are you really going to buy a puppy? What about Micah?”

  “What about Micah?” she asked, her breath coming shortly at the mention of his name.

  “Aren’t you going to talk to him about it?”

/>   “We’ve talked about it,” she said. Briefly. Once or twice. But she wasn’t lying. As if bidden by the sisters saying his name, her phone lit up with his name on the screen. And Evelyn saw it while Simone swiped it to voicemail.

  “I don’t think you’ve talked to him about a puppy,” she said with a smile.

  “I’m not talking to him right now at all,” Simone said coolly.

  Evelyn’s joviality dried up. “What? Why not?”

  Simone’s chin started to tremble. “Because,” she said. “He chose a job over me and the baby.” She shrugged, though there was nothing blasé about what she’d said.

  She’d ridden with Callie, so her purse sat on the floor of the passenger side up front, and she grabbed it and then started the van so Denise and Ginger wouldn’t roast in the van. She pulled their side door closed and faced Evelyn again.

  Evelyn’s eyes had filled with tears. “You’re going to have a baby?” she whispered.

  Simone nodded, her own tears spilling down her cheeks. Evelyn shrieked and grabbed onto her, and Simone half-laughed and half-cried right there in the parking lot at the nursery.

  Callie said, “Hey. I thought you were going to pull the van up.”

  Simone looked at her, and she did not look happy. Evelyn released her so fast, Simone almost lost her balance. “She’s pregnant!” She danced over to Callie and grabbed her in a hug too.

  Callie’s mouth dropped open, and though Evelyn was hugging her like a maniac, Callie didn’t look away from Simone.

  “Oh.” Evelyn stepped back, going from hot to cold and back in under a second. “And she’s not talking to Micah.”

  “Pregnant and fighting with my husband,” Simone said. “What a loser, right?”

  “Of course not,” Callie said. “We’ve all been there, right, Evvy?”

  Simone had always felt third-best in her family. Callie always knew what to do, and Evelyn had a special way of questioning her about her choices that made her feel two inches tall. But right now, they both just wore identical expressions of compassion.

  “Of course,” Evelyn said. “You should’ve heard Rhett and I, um, discussing why he needed to take on another case. He seems to think he’s the only forensic veterinarian in the state. I practically threw the computer at him as I showed him the long list of others that could take this case.”

  Callie left the trees and shrubs and bulbs on the flatbed and came toward her. “I’m sorry, Simone. What did he say?”

  “He’s apologized a bunch of times,” Simone said, feeling guilty that she hadn’t forgiven him instantly. “But he still went, even when I asked him—twice—not to.” She pulled in a breath and pushed it back out again. “I just…he seems to pick everyone and everything over me, and I’m maybe wondering if that’s just how it’s going to be forever.”

  She looked at Callie, wanting her to say that of course not. That’s not how it will be forever. Desperate to hear it. She didn’t say it. Instead, she looked at Evelyn.

  “Simone,” Evelyn said, and she now wished they had gone to lunch so they didn’t have to stand in the September heat to have this conversation. “Here’s what I think. You’ve always known exactly who you like, and exactly how you want to be treated. You deserve to have a man who thinks you’re a queen. So I say, you stick to your guns. You tell him how you want him to treat you, and if he can’t….”

  “He can,” Simone said. “He has in the past. He’s just busy with his houses.” She realized as she finished speaking that she’d just made an excuse for him.

  “Yeah, and Liam is busy with his movies,” Callie said.

  “And Rhett is busy with his cases,” Evelyn said. “But when I need him, he’s there.”

  “Liam has already turned down the next job. He’s done in December. We’re going to take the girls and travel all over the country for a while.”

  “You are?” Evelyn’s eyebrows shot to her hairline.

  “Yeah.” Callie smiled. “Surprise. We need time together as a family, and I’ve barely left the state of Texas.”

  “So I just need to tell Micah what I need and see if he can do it.”

  “You can compromise,” Evelyn said. “Finally, I told Rhett he could take the case if he worked less than four hours a day on it. And he has.”

  Simone thought of Micah’s broken promises about being home for dinner. Maybe he just needed to be trained up a little bit. “I do love him,” she said. “I don’t want to be alone, and I don’t want to have a baby alone.”

  “When is he coming home?” Callie asked.

  “Not for another ten days,” Simone said.

  “Then you go down there,” Evelyn said. “Go down there and be with him where he is. What’s keeping you here?”

  That was a great question, and Simone couldn’t answer it. Well, she could. “Nothing,” she said. “Nothing is keeping me here.” An idea began to form in her mind, and it included seeing Micah tomorrow morning, stealing him away from his work for just a few minutes, and begging him to choose her.

  No, she told herself. She would not beg. She would wait and see what his reaction was to her showing up at Grape Seed Ranch.

  With a Western terrier puppy.

  Before she could move to get her checkbook out of her purse, all three of their phones went off, each making a different noise as they got simultaneous texts.

  “Mal,” Evelyn said, pulling hers from her back pocket. “I bet it’s Mal.”

  Simone looked at her phone, and sure enough, Penny had texted. “It’s Mal.” She tore right down the middle. She wanted to be here for Mal, as all of the women had grown closer over the past couple of months as they spent more time together with their kids—and with Penny.

  But she wanted to get to Micah as fast as possible too.

  Maybe she could call him. Tell him she was coming. But the dramatic side of her wanted to show up unannounced and see what he did.

  “What are you going to do?” Callie asked, reaching for the door handle. “Should we head to the hospital?”

  “Penny says she’s been there a couple of hours,” Evelyn said, reading from her phone. “We can come wait, or she’ll text when the baby is born.”

  “Let’s go wait,” Simone said. “I like being there when they bring the baby out, only hours old.” She smiled to herself and unconsciously put her hand on her stomach, imagining she could feel the life there. “Then I’ll go see Micah.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Mal opened her eyes and turned toward the door as it opened. Her handsome cowboy billionaire husband came through the door, his smile so wide it barely fit. He carried a tiny, wrapped baby in his arms, the girl wearing the purple hat she’d knitted for her.

  They were back, and all was right in the world.

  Mal shivered, because she still wasn’t quite warm enough. The nurse noticed, and she said, “I’m going to get you another blanket. You should be warm enough soon.” She ducked out of the room as Skyler arrived at the bedrail. “She’s so perfect, Mal,” he whispered, and Mal couldn’t imagine talking in louder than a whisper either. Being in the presence of one who had just been with God seemed to require some reverence.

  She reached up, and Skyler passed their little girl to her. Mal had only seen her for a few seconds before they’d whisked her off to have a bath and get checked. She’d made Skyler go with her so she wouldn’t have to be alone, but that had left Mal alone.

  She felt so tired, and like her brain wasn’t quite connected to her body the way it should be. “What are we going to name her?” she asked.

  “I liked Camila,” he said, pulling up a chair. “And do you want me to take her out to meet the family, or can they come in?” He reached over and brushed her hair off her forehead. Mal loved him so much, and she could hardly believe this life she had now. From the grandeur of the house she lived in, to the man she slept beside, to this tiny human who had carved out a place in her heart in only a moment. A breath. A wisp of time.

  She looked
down at the snoozing baby. “Camila Rose,” she said. “They can come in.”

  The nurse returned with two heated blankets, and she laid one across Mal’s legs and feet, and one across her torso. She checked the monitor that displayed Mal’s vitals. “If you’re not warmer in the next ten minutes, I’m calling the doctor.”

  Alarm crossed Skyler’s face. “Is she not warm enough?”

  “Not quite yet,” the nurse said. “She could be in shock, or she could have some internal bleeding.” She looked sternly at him. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

  “Have them come say hello to her now,” Mal said, watching the nurse leave. “Then they can all go home. They won’t have to wait.”

  He stood and bent down to kiss her and then Camila. He left, his boots making too much noise against the floor for Mal. “Just you wait until all the uncles come in,” she whispered to her daughter. “They are so loud.” She smiled fondly at the baby, who seemed to snuggle closer to her. Mal had read that babies knew their mother’s voices, and she hummed as she waited for Skyler to return.

  It felt like a long time had passed before the door opened again, and Penny entered first. She cried as she hugged Mal and took the baby from her. Mal smiled at everyone as they filed in. The noise level went up, but certainly not as much as it could have.

  Simone wept as she bent over Mal and hugged her. “Congratulations, my friend,” she whispered. Mal held a special place in her heart for all of the women in the room, as well as everyone with Walker DNA. They had all rescued her. Literally rescued her.

  She hadn’t even realized she’d started crying until Skyler took her hand and pressed a kiss to her wrist. “What’s wrong, baby?”

  “Nothing,” she said, her voice weak. She shook her head. “This is just amazing to watch.”

  The love hanging in the air could be felt, and Mal wanted to rake her fingers through it. Wyatt and Jeremiah stood next to one another, and there was absolutely no animosity between them.