Open Life (Open Skies #5)

by Marysol James

  “Yeah.” He walked back and handed it to her. “For you, baby.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  She’d first seen Golden Smoke flowers right here at Open Skies, on one of the many walks in the mountains that she and Eric had taken together before things fell apart between them. Annabeth knew nothing about flowers, but Eric was a florist and landscaper and he knew more than enough for the both of them.

  She’d fallen in love with the brilliant yellow blossoms and Eric had managed to grow some in Houston – despite the fact that they were way out of their natural environment. And now here he was, giving her one of her own. It was hands-down the most perfect gift he could have shown up with.

  She set it on the table by the window and then she looked at Eric again. He was standing next to his bags and the time had come to take them to a bedroom – but which one? She had the master room, of course, and this was the room they’d shared last summer. But no matter how happy she was to see him, she wasn’t ready for that and she didn’t know what he expected. There was a moment of awkwardness now and she didn’t know where to look.

  “OK, so.” He lifted his bags. “I’ll go get settled in the guest room and unpack and then have a shower. Then maybe we can talk a bit?”

  She relaxed. Yeah, he was a gentleman and he wasn’t going to push. She should have known that.

  “Good,” she said softly. “You want a cup of fresh coffee waiting for you?”

  “Love one. I drove all night to get to you, angel.” He wandered down the hall to the office that doubled as a guest room and she watched him go. Yeah, the view from the back was as mouthwatering as ever, she saw, and she grinned a bit. The thought that this man was hers for the taking continued to astound her.

  Now if only she could be sure that she could be with him – and with Cam’s heart. Because right now? That was still a big question mark.

  **

  Julie turned over in bed and groaned. God, she felt nauseous this morning. This was the worst that it had been yet, and she just wanted to stay in bed and pretend that it was Saturday.

  “Babe?” Jake stood in the bedroom door, hovering anxiously. “You OK?”

  She tried to smile at him and she struggled to a sitting position. “Yeah. I –” She froze as her stomach lurched violently. “Oh, crap.”

  “What?” Jake asked, alarmed as he watched what little color she had in her face just drain away. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  She didn’t want to open her mouth to answer him, just in case. She untangled herself from the bed sheets, shot to her feet, bolted in to the bathroom. She managed to slam the door behind her – why, she had no idea, since she knew Jake would stand right outside and hear everything anyway – and she skidded on her knees over to the toilet. She got there just in time to vomit.

  Jake stood outside the door, listening to Julie throw up for a solid minute. He knew she wouldn’t want him to see her like this, so he waited until silence descended. Then he tapped at the door.

  “Julie? Can I come in now?”

  “Just a sec,” she called, her voice shaky.

  She got to her feet slowly, flushed the toilet. Holding on to the counter, she stared at herself in the mirror. Wow, she looked bad. Pregnancy kind of sucked in some ways, actually. She brushed her teeth, rinsed, brushed again, all while trying to ignore the continuing nausea rolling through her body.

  “It’s OK, Jake. Come in.”

  He opened the door and came over to her. He pushed her sweaty curls off her forehead and peered at her. “You need a hand?”

  “No.” She started to walk out of the bathroom, sagged a bit. “Um. Maybe.”

  Jake grabbed her and swung her off her feet. The sudden movement made her head spin and she shut her eyes. He set her on the bed again, gently, like he was afraid she might break.

  “You going to stay home today?” he asked, his voice gruff with concern. “I’m sure Rob can handle your meeting with the accountants until you feel up to it all.” He paused. “You want a doctor?”

  Julie opened her eyes and stared up at him. She’d planned to keep this news to herself for another five days and surprise him on their wedding day, but she just couldn’t. If she was going to be praying to the porcelain gods every morning now, Jake was sure to notice.

  “No, I’ve already been to a doctor.”

  He regarded her steadily. “Yeah? And?”

  “And… I’m pregnant.”

  He stared at her, his gray eyes warm. “I know.”

  “What?” she faltered. “But – how?”

  He smiled. “Baby, I know every inch of your luscious body – and lately you’ve grown a few inches around the middle, huh?” He knelt down, rested his hands carefully on her hips. “You’ve been sick and pale in the mornings, tired as hell in the afternoons. I may be a man, but I’m not a total idiot.”

  “Why didn’t you say something?”

  “I was waiting.” He brushed his fingers across her waist. “I wanted you to be the one to tell me, when you were ready.”

  “I wanted to tell you after we were married,” she confessed. “I’m still only ten weeks, but it seems that Little Weston has different ideas – gave the whole show away.” She glanced down at his large, tanned hands on her stomach. She realized that he was cupping and cradling their baby and tears sprang to her eyes. “Already as impatient as Daddy, I can tell.”

  “Or as stubborn as Mommy.” He gently wiped the tears away. “Mama’s a handful, I can assure you.”

  “I’m not stubborn,” she said with as much dignity as she could muster as she sat there in her pj’s with her hair sticking up. “I’m just… difficult.”

  “You aren’t kidding, sweetheart.” He stroked her stomach. “But I love you anyway.”

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  They kissed gently and Jake brushed her hair back again.

  “So – you OK to get to work?”

  “Yeah. I just need a few minutes.”

  “And some toast with scary amounts of butter and peanut butter?”

  “You noticed that, huh?”

  Jake laughed, the sound vibrating out of his broad chest. “Oh, hell, yeah. For the past three weeks, you’ve been downing that like you’re addicted to it.”

  “It’s the only thing that calms my stomach in the mornings,” she said. “Unfortunately for my wedding dress.”

  “Aw.” He ran his rough finger over her lips. “You’re going to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen on the day you agree to be my wife.”

  “Even if Tammy has to roll me down the aisle to you?”

  He laughed again. “Yeah. Even then.”

  She felt better now and took a deep breath. “I’ll go take a shower.”

  “You sure?” He got to his feet and pulled her up. “You don’t want to take it easy this morning?”

  “No, I’m good. The sickness has mostly passed.”

  “Then I’ll get your fat and sugar laden breakfast ready for you.” He cocked his dark head at her. “You drinking coffee?”

  “Yeah, just one a day. The doctor said it’s OK.”

  “I’ll make it.” Jake paused and looked down at her. “You’ve given me every single thing I’ve ever wanted, you know. A home and love and now a family.”

  “You’ve given me the same things back, in spades.”

  “I hope I have.”

  “Jake?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do I… do I deserve this?”

  “Deserve what?”

  “This.” She waved around the bedroom, gestured out the window at the ranch. “You. Open Skies. Happiness. A baby. Do I really deserve all this?”

  His handsome face was gentle, sweet. “You do.”

  “You sure? Because sometimes I still feel like it’s someone else’s life�
� that I’m back in New York and so closed off from everyone.” She looked down. “Like I’m unwanted and alone and unloved… and totally fucking unlovable.”

  “That’s not you anymore, Julie, and it never really was, no matter how you thought of yourself then. You’re here now and we all want you and love you.” He kissed her forehead. “You do deserve to be loved, I promise you.”

  “Thank you,” she said quietly.

  “For loving you?”

  “For everything you’ve ever done for me – and for all the amazing things you’re going to do for me in the future. Things that I don’t even have any idea about yet.”

  His eyes flared. “I know what I’d love to do for you right now… but I’m guessing you’re not up for it.” He rubbed her stomach, making small circles on her still-tense muscles.

  “I wish I could say yes, but no.”

  “I figured.” He sighed theatrically. “Rain check?”

  “You know it, Jake.” Her eyes were brilliant and clear again, shining with mischief. “Maybe even two rain checks.”

  “Sounds good and you know I’m holding you to that.”

  “You’d better.”

  Jake watched her walk in to the bathroom and he smiled. Then he headed downstairs to make his future wife and the future mother of his child her breakfast.

  **

  Dillon glanced up as a shadow fell across the table. A man stood there gazing at him. He looked to be pushing fifty but his body was as hard and strong as a man half that age. He was wearing jeans and a denim workshirt and boots, and Dillon had seen him around the stables, off and on. He had brown hair streaked with gray and there were deep lines around his dark green eyes.

  “Mornin’,” the man said. “Is it OK if I join you?”

  Dillon looked over at Maria again. She was still on the phone and she looked upset. Victor had come through with a supplier for the fish, much to Maria’s relief, but Bethany continued to make problems, so Dillon was sure he knew who Maria was talking to. He wondered what the flower shop bitch had done now.

  God, I’d love to get my hands around Bethany’s neck.

  “Sure,” he said to the man. “Be my guest.”

  The man sat, set his cup and plate on the table carefully. He caught Dillon’s eye and smiled.

  “Filled the coffee cup a bit too full this morning,” he said in a deep, slow voice. “Got a bit too enthusiastic for my caffeine fix, I guess.”

  “Yeah. It happens.”

  The man extended a work-roughened hand. “Phil Dobson.”

  “Dillon Saunders.”

  “Nice to meet you. How you finding your time with us?”

  “Really good, actually.” Dillon shot Maria another glance. “It’s nice up here.”

  “It is.” Phil spread jam on his toast. “You and Maria come to the stables sometimes, huh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sorry I haven’t introduced myself before now. I’ve had my hands full with getting things done for the wedding.”

  “It’s OK. I don’t need a welcoming committee.”

  Phil grinned at him and Dillon found himself grinning back.

  “So. You’re the protective detail, huh?”

  “Yep.” Dillon finished off his bacon, wishing he could get some more but he needed to keep his body in condition. “I’m it.”

  “Yeah, you look hardcore, man.”

  Dillon shrugged. “Only when events call for it.”

  “Right. Any chance events will call for it?”

  Dillon paused at the tone in Phil’s voice; it was one that he knew well. It was cool and detached and whenever he heard it, he knew the person he was dealing with meant business. He glanced down at Phil’s forearm now, saw that he’d rolled up the sleeves on his shirt. His sharp eyes registered the dragon tattoo there and he suddenly knew exactly the kind of man he was talking to.

  Dillon leaned back, settled his massive frame in to the chair a bit deeper. “You from Detroit, Phil?”

  Stunned, Phil’s eyebrows shot right up. “Yeah. How’d you –” He stopped and looked down at his forearm. “The tattoo. Right?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “You know the gang?”

  “Not personally – but I know a man with the exact same tattoo on his body. I never asked him about it, but I’m asking you now.”

  “Yeah, OK.” Phil sighed a bit. “From the time I was a kid, I ran with a gang back in the city. Bad time in my life and long, sordid story cut short, it landed me in jail. After I got out, I came out here and got a second chance. I never go back to Detroit and I’m not in touch with anybody from the old days.”

  “I see.”

  “So who do you know with this same tattoo?”

  “Guy named Jax Hamill.”

  “Hamill… yeah. He was after my time but I know the name.” Phil narrowed his eyes. “He’s the one you’re protecting Maria from?”

  The thought of Jax laying a finger on any woman in violence was so absurd that Dillon almost guffawed. “No. Jax is my boss. He’s the one who sent me out here to get her and he’s paying me to stay and keep her safe now.”

  “Huh. So it sounds like Jax has turned his life around, too.”

  “Oh, hell, yeah. I mean, he can still kick ass when the occasion calls for it, but he’s way out of the shit.” Dillon smiled. “Got a business, got a house. Got a woman he loves and who loves him back.”

  “Good to hear. Every man deserves a second chance.”

  Dillon nodded. “Damn straight.”

  **

  Eric stared at himself in the mirror and wiped away a bit of the steam from his lengthy shower. He’d been in the same cabin as Annabeth for an hour now and it felt like days, like years. It felt like he was with the right woman in the right place and right time. He was home.

  His eyes went to the scar running down his chest and he traced it slowly before setting his large palm flat over his heart. The day that he received Annabeth’s husband’s heart had been the end of her life in so many ways – and it was the beginning of his in just as many. Cam’s death had been his salvation; Annabeth’s loss had been his gain.

  Christ, can we get past all of that? Is loving her enough?

  Well. Only one way to find out.

  He got dressed and flattened his hair, feeling nervous again. He had no doubts about what he wanted – hell, I want her – but he knew Annabeth had reservations. And frankly, she should do. Every single time he held her close and she felt his heartbeat against her cheek, she had to think about Cam. Eric was walking and talking and fucking breathing because her husband had stopped doing all of those things… more than once, Eric wondered if just seeing his chest rising and falling caused her actual pain.

  He came out of the bathroom and was greeted by the smell of coffee and cinnamon buns. Annabeth stood in the kitchen, her back to him, arranging the buns on a plate. She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled.

  “Perfect timing,” she said. “You want to take the coffees to the living room?”

  “Sure.” He padded over in his bare feet. “You need a hand with anything else?”

  “Nope. All under control on the sweet stuff front.”

  Eric grinned and picked up the tray with coffee, milk and sugar. He drank his coffee strong and black, but she liked hers sweet and white. He carried everything in to the sunny, open sitting area and took a minute to look out the window. Open Skies was staggeringly beautiful and he was happy to be back in the mountains and among the wildflowers. When he’d left the year before, he was sure he’d never set foot on the ranch ever again.

  He heard her behind him now and he turned. She was so gorgeous – more gorgeous than he’d remembered. Her hair was silky, her lips full, her body slim and curved. That brief hug this morning had been the sweetest of torments on all his senses: the urge
to take her mouth, to taste her, to stroke her until she moaned, had been overwhelming.

  His body had never forgotten what it was like to make love to her and he longed to do it again. He’d make her come, watching her face as she shattered, before taking his own pleasure. Eric needed to hear her moans, hear her screams; he needed it like he needed food and water.

  “So.” She took her coffee and he saw her hand trembling. Right away, any thoughts of taking her to bed dissipated. He saw her fear and nerves, and he wanted to soothe both. “I – I don’t know where to start talking.”

  He sat down, watched her follow suit.

  “Well, angel… the truth is that this is all over in your court.” He kept his dark eyes locked on her. “You know what I want, what I’m offering.”

  “You want me to move to Houston,” she said. “To – to be with you.”

  “Yes.”

  She paused. “It’s that straightforward for you?”

  “It is. I love you.”

  Annabeth started. “You –”

  “I love you, yes. I want you to be with me. I’m afraid my part of this conversation is really short and sweet, baby.”

  “Oh.” She stared at him, bewildered. “No – no concerns?”

  “My only concern is for you. I want to make sure that you decide what’s best for you.”

  “I don’t know yet.” She spoke quietly. “That’s what this three weeks together is for.”

  “And I get that.” He smiled. “Listen… let’s just get this all clear and open between us, OK?”

  “OK.”

  “I want you to come home with me. I want us to drive to Texas and get out of the car and go in to our house. Sleep in our bed. Start our life together. I want you to be mine and I mean fucking forever. The end.”

  She was a bit taken aback at the passion in his voice. “You – really?”

  “Yes.” God, those eyes were intense as he focused on her, like there was nothing and nobody else in the whole world. “I’m done being apart from you, angel. I have no doubts, no reservations, no conditions. I’m ready and I’m all-in and I’m waiting to hear what you want to give me. You want to stay in Colorado and see each other once a month? I’ll fly to you, wherever the hell you are on the planet. You want to move to Houston and live in your own place? I’ll take you to dinner and meet you for coffee until you’re ready for more. You want to move in with me? I’ll make love to you every day and every night until you pass out in my arms. You want to marry me? I’ll be at the church with bells on, baby. I’m good with any and all of it.”