by Lee Wardlow
“Beau, can I impose on you?” He asked when Beau said hello.
“What is it?” He asked.
“I want to come to Goose Creek early. We can’t move into our house for a little less than two weeks.”
“I have enough room. Come whenever you want.”
“Nova has to see a specialist in a few days. She fractured her ankle jumping down from the trellis with Wyatt on her back to escape my mother. I don’t want her anywhere close to here in case my mother decides to come back.”
“Is she all right?”
“A hairline fracture in her ankle. She’s in an air cast now.”
“Wow, leave it to Nova to break an ankle while pregnant.” He chuckled. “Baby is okay?” He asked.
“My daughter is fine,” Jamie replied. He might as well get used to it. He was having a girl not a boy as he had convinced himself.
“I heard the twins are already here at Kales’ with Kaylee. So are you all coming or just you and Nova and the rest of the kids?”
“Well,” Jamie began. He had to think a moment. “I’ll definitely be coming with Nova, Bradley, Wyatt and Mikey. I’ll have to check with the twins and Kaylee.”
“The more the merrier. It’s been lonely,” he told Jamie.
“You may regret this Beau.”
His laughter was muffled. “I don’t think so.”
“I’ll call you and let you know when we’ll be there.”
“Talk to you soon.”
Jamie went into the house and found his uncle sitting in a chair holding Wyatt and reading a book. Street and George had gone home. He leaned over and kissed Nova’s forehead. He could tell she was irritated at him.
“You fibbed to me, Jamie Stone,” she said to him.
“I just needed to be sure she was gone.”
“I told you she was,” Mark informed him.
“You did.” He smiled at his uncle’s remark. Then he turned to Nova. “I spoke to Beau on my way here. He’s expecting us in a few days.”
“All of us?” She asked.
“Any that want to come,” Jamie replied.
Chapter 22
Roman helped Jamie pack up as much as they could; loaded into the back of a U-Haul, trailered to Jamie’s Jeep. He withdrew the kids from school. Nova was in a heavy boot that she hated and they were heading to Goose Creek.
She was wobbly on the crutches that she used when they were walking longer distances as she went to the Jeep to climb inside. Wyatt was in his car seat already. Mary and Mark were standing in the driveway. Nova stopped and hugged them both goodbye.
“Don’t worry about the rest of the house,” Mary told her. “We’ll pack it up and ship it off to you.”
Nova leaned in and kissed Mary. “Thank you. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be much good on crutches trying to pack anything.”
She hugged Mark next. “Thank you for everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
The trip to Goose Creek was exciting for the kids. They asked a ton of questions about Beau’s house. The twins were settled in so they were staying at Kale’s until the house was ready for them but Kaylee thought she wanted to come to Beau’s house with the rest of them.
When they turned into the driveway Beau met them coming out of the garage. He was happy to see them. Nova had seen that smile on his face before. Beau Daughtry enjoyed being surrounded by family. He was alone now so them moving in with him even temporarily was making him happy.
Beau hugged Nova awkwardly while she tried to maintain her balance on her crutches. “Going to the twins’ game tomorrow night?”
“I want to. I’m not the greatest on these crutches,” she told him.
“I happen to know the coach I think we can make arrangements for you if you want to go.”
“I do.”
“Good. They will be happy.”
“Have you seen them?”
“I have. I went to practice the last two nights to see how they were getting along. I sat inconspicuously in the bleachers with my son who is eager for football season to start. He’s salivating at their basketball practices.”
Nova chuckled. “How are they?” Nova asked. Beau smiled at her. Already she had bonded with the kids.
“They are doing great Nova. You have nothing to worry about. They are already making friends and doing well on the team.”
“They were concerned that there would be resentment with them coming in after try-outs.”
“Seth really needed them,” he told her. “He moved two Sophomores down to Junior Varsity and moved them into the Varsity team. Seth wanted them for sure. He’s probably made concessions he wouldn’t normally but the team wants to win so there are no hard feelings. Those boys are humble too even though they are that damn good.”
“They are,” Nova agreed. “I can’t wait to see them.”
“Kaylee wants to stay here,” Beau informed her.
Jamie joined them. “She finally made up her mind, huh.”
Beau looked over Nova’s head. “She did. Kaylee misses Nova.”
“Not me?” Jamie asked.
“You have to remember Jamie, she’s at the age now where she needs a mother. Things are changing. She needs Nova now more than you. Don’t take it personally.”
He chuckled. “I guess this is preparing me for our little girl, Nova.”
Nova laughed at him.
“A girl?” Beau said.
“That’s what Mark and Mary tell us.”
“Congratulations.” Beau gave her another little squeeze. “We need to get you in the house and off your feet. Kale is bringing Kaylee over shortly.”
“Great.”
They were getting situated. The boys helped Beau and Jamie carry their things inside. Most of Nova’s belongings were still here. Jamie put his stuff in Nova’s room. She was parked on the sofa with her leg propped in the air. The ride had made her boot feel tight. She really wanted to take it off but Jamie wouldn’t let her. Nova scowled at him as he walked away from her to do something else.
She heard Kaylee calling to her.
“In here Kaylee.”
She saw the dark haired girl running down the hall towards her. She went straight to the sofa where Nova sat and perched on the edge. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Nova promised.
Kaylee threw both arms around her neck and hugged her tight. “I’m so glad you guys decided to come here now.”
“Me too.”
She had to admit she had missed the other kids. She was happy they were all together now except for the twins. It wouldn’t be long before they were living with them too in their new house that Jamie had bought them. Everything was working out for Nova as she wanted. As it should have been all along.
On Friday night, Beau her cousin used a cart to drive her from the parking lot right to the back door of the gymnasium. “This is embarrassing.”
“So you would rather walk from the parking lot?” He asked her.
“No. I didn’t say that.”
She kissed his cheek and climbed out of the cart. Nova hobbled up the walkway towards the back door. She paid her way inside and was looking in the stands for Angel Bohannan and Jorga Daughtry. They already had a seat for her.
Their usual spot, mid-court, third row from the bottom like during football they were superstitious. They sat at the fifty-yard line, third row from the bottom. Angel hopped up and walked down to help her up the stairs.
“How you doin’ kiddo?” Angel asked Nova.
“Fat and grumpy. Sassy went out the window a long time ago.”
Angel just laughed at her.
Nova looked lovely in a pair of pregnancy jeans that were tucked inside the boot on her injured foot. An off-white cable knit sweater that cupped her growing belly. She sat between Angel and Jorga.
“I can sit on the other side so I don’t break you two up,” Nova told her.
“No, you sit between us,” Jorga said.
“What is it?”
“Oh hell no.”
“I’m sorry. We didn’t know you were pregnant until today.”
She brushed her hand across her face. “He was sending me text messages wanting to get back together,” Nova told Jorga.
Jorga looked down at Nova’s belly. She rested her hand on the obvious curve of her pregnant stomach. “Well. I think he’s in for a huge surprise,” Jorga told her.
She saw Jamie talking with Beau and Kale across the court. Lola was keeping all the kids tonight. Jack, Kody, Colton’s kids, Dash and Danner were staying with her as well while everyone else came to the game. Next week it was Harper’s turn to watch the kids. They had created a schedule that allowed them to take turns but still see a number of the basketball games.
Beau Senior had joined the men. Nova smiled watching them great him. He was searching for her. She raised her hand and waved. He walked across the court and then he stopped. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong with them.
Nova stood followed by Jorga. Both their heads turned at the same time. She looked between the men following Colton and a very unhappy Harper and Beau Daughtry who turned on his heel and walked out of the gym. Dallas Danner ran across the court hoping to catch his best friend.
“Oh no,” Nova said. “I have to go after Beau.”
She hobbled down the bleachers. Soon the teams would be on the court for warm-ups. Jorga followed Nova. “Save our seats Angel. We’ll be right back.”
Dallas had caught Beau right outside the door. Beau was stone faced staring at the shorter man listening to him plead with his friend for peace. She saw Kale, Beau and Jamie standing behind Beau Senior. Harper, Colton and Tyler followed them all outside.
“I did what I had to do to break Omega Beau. I didn’t know they were a bunch of kids. The intelligence we were gathering was dangerous shit was going down.”
Beau still wasn’t saying anything. Nova could feel Tyler’s eyes on her. She was focusing on Beau. Her arms were folded across her belly emphasizing the expanse of her stomach. She realized what she was doing and dropped her arms to her sides. It didn’t really matter. She was eighteen weeks pregnant, she had a belly. There was no hiding it now.
She stepped around the crowd gathering around the two men. Nova hooked her arm through Beau’s. “Maybe it’s time to let the anger go,” she told him.
Nova heard Jamie snort behind her. She glanced over her shoulder quickly.
“I’m not ready to forgive him,” he said gazing down on her.
“Not even for the grandkids?” She asked gently.
“Not even for the grandkids,” he replied.
They knew that it was bad. It would take some time for Beau to forgive Dallas if he couldn’t let it go for those kids that he adored. “I’ll leave,” Dallas told him. “I was hoping to make amends.”
“You should of thought of that before you tried to destroy two people I love, Dallas.”
He walked towards the parking lot. Beau glanced down at Nova. “I’m sorry sweetheart. You’re too kind though. He hurt you. If he had to he would have destroyed, you.”
“But he didn’t.”
He kissed her temple. “Can we go inside now? We need to get you off that foot,” Beau told her.
“Sure,” Nova replied. She kept her arm wrapped through his as they started to head inside.
“Nova, could I talk to you for a moment?” Tyler asked.
She and Beau stopped walking. She looked up at him seeking permission, acceptance. He just smiled at her. It was up to her. Then she glanced over at Jamie. She could see that he was not going to interfere either.
He had no reason to be concerned about Tyler Danner. Nova’s heart was. He never was concerned about Tyler after that day at the lunch following Halona’s funeral because he knew that she was going to be his.
“Sure,” she replied. She released Beau’s arm. He followed the men to the doors of the school leaving her behind.
Jorga leaned into her. “You just text me if you need me. I’ll come kick his ass.” Jorga adored her brother but she had equally strong feelings for the woman standing in front of her.
“I’ll be fine,” she reassured the pint-sized woman with the flaming red hair.
Then Jorga and Harper left them alone too. Maybe it was time to put the past behind them completely. To erase the dark cloud that Mary had seen hanging over her. There would be so many times when she would run into Tyler in the future because Jorga and Harper were his sisters and they were married to Nova’s cousins. They all spent a lot of time together.
She leaned against Beau’s car which happened to be close. She knew it well. If he caught her leaning on it, he wouldn’t be happy. For all she knew he was watching her right now. The thought brought a smile to her face.
“What do you want?” She asked.
He looked down at her belly then at the ring on her left hand. “Guess I don’t stand a chance now, do I?” He asked.
She crossed her arms over her belly and shook her head no. “I have to be honest with you Tyler, you never did.”
“We had something good Nova. I should have told you how I felt about you.”
She looked down at the ground. Nova was thinking about what they actually had and what she had with Jamie. God, she loved Jamie so much but she smiled at Tyler. “No. Tyler, we had great sex. With Jamie, I have something good.”
He couldn’t hide the unhappiness that covered his face. “When is the baby due?” He asked.
“June.”
“I came here tonight hoping to see you. Hoping I could convince you that we were good together as something more.”
“I’m sorry you wasted your time. I told you no so many times before.”
“I know you did but I knew how you felt before. I just waited too long.”
She thought about Jamie. Mary’s prediction that he was her destiny. “Tyler, before I found Jamie you might have convinced me we could have something because I didn’t know what real love could be but not now.
“You need to find your destiny and it’s not CeeCee Magnus either. I found mine. It’s Jamie Stone. She will be that person that you know you can’t possibly live without. You won’t go an hour without thinking of her. You can’t get up in the morning because she’s not there. She’s your reason for breathing, eating and loving. She will be your everything Tyler. You’ll know.”
“I thought I did.”
“Me?” Nova said.
He nodded. “When I saw you with Jamie it made me crazy.”
Nova stared down at the ground past Tyler’s shoes. She felt nothing for him now. She knew that. She sighed unhappily. “I’m sorry Tyler but if we had tried to be more than what we were to each other, we would never have been happy because we weren’t meant to be together and Jamie and I were.”
“You sound like Harper and Jorga.”
“They are pretty smart women and they are very happy.”
“I guess.”
“Is that all?” She asked. “My foot hurts if I stand too long.”
“Tell Harper and Colt I went back to the hotel with Dad.”
“I will.”
He surprised her by leaning in quickly and kissing her on the cheek. Nova appeared shocked. Then she chuckled. Same old Tyler. “I’ll see you Tyler.”
She moved away from Beau’s car and started walking towards the school.
“Nova,” Tyler said.
“What?” She glanced over her shoulder.
“He’s a lucky son-of-a-bitch.”
“I’ll tell him you said that,” she replied.
Then she walked into the gym where she found Jamie talking with Beau, his son Beau, Colton and Kale. They were waiting on her.
“Did you get everything accomplished?” Jamie asked. He wrapped an around her middle and kissed her cheek.
“I did. He said to tell you that you are a lucky son-of-a-bitch.”
<
br /> Jamie laughed. “He’s not telling me anything that I didn’t know.”
He placed his hand on her belly and he felt his child kick for the first time. His eyes widened in surprise. “I felt it,” he said to her.
She laughed. “It’s about time. Now we just have to let Kaylee feel it.”
He kept his hand there for the longest time. “My foot hurts,” she finally told him.
“All right,” he replied. “Let’s get you in the bleachers.”
She did what she did last Friday night. Embarrassing the boys, she and Jorga whistled between their fingers. Beau was a little embarrassed himself.
“Don’t you two do that during a football game,” he warned.
“Just ignore him,” Jorga told him with a wave of her hand at her uptight husband.
The Mighty Geese won the basketball game. They were all meeting at the cabin on Kale’s land for a bonfire and pizza. A few members of the team were coming home with the twins. Kale was picking up food on the way home.
Nova knew she would be happy living in Goose Creek where most of her family was now living. The rest of them, Mary and Mark living on the reservation, they would have to have regular visits.
She had everything that she needed. Jamie and the kids. Her baby when it came. Wyatt snuggled into her lap at the cabin near the fire. The two of them fell asleep. Jamie walked over to the lounge chair where they slept and crouched down beside them. He touched Nova’s cheek then Wyatt’s. He was one lucky son-of-a bitch.
Epilogue
Nova felt as big as a whale. Their baby was past due. She was beginning to think that the child was never going to come out.
This June in Georgia was unusually cooler than it had been. The kids were excited that school had gone well and was now out for the summer. They had all loved their new schools. Wyatt would be in Kindergarten next year with the others. Nova would miss the little guy.
Nova and Beau had just returned last week from a visit to Zachariah. It had taken her that long to convince him to go with her. The threat of going by herself had finally worn him down with her so close to her due date. Tears had been shed by both father and son. Eventually the healing would begin.