by Julia London
Macy smiled.
“But hey, she’ll come around to your decision.”
“I don’t know,” Macy said. “She never liked Finn.”
“That’s not true! She liked Finn, but apparently she liked Wyatt a whole lot more.” She grinned. “So what are you guys going to do next?”
Macy sighed and looked at her book again. “I don’t know. The first thing we have to do is pay for the legal proceeding. My lawyer says it is best that Finn and I stay apart until she can get it in front of a judge. Then there is the matter of the property. Wyatt will definitely have to pay the value of it, but Lucy doesn’t think we can get the land back without a lawsuit. We would need money for that, which I thought I had, but then I got this,” she said, and reached across her book and a stack of magazines for an envelope that she tossed to Emma.
Emma picked it up. “The army?”
“They want back the life insurance they paid for Finn when they thought he’d been killed. Now that he’s not dead, their bean counters couldn’t wait to ask for it.”
“You’re kidding!”
“I’m not,” Macy sighed. “I haven’t told Finn yet.”
What Macy didn’t tell Emma was that things had been a bit strained between her and Finn the last few days. She couldn’t put her finger on it, exactly, but guessed it was a combination of things. After all, he’d been home a month now, and he was still living with his parents. Really, who could live with Karen Lockhart without losing their mind? The money situation wasn’t good, either. Macy hadn’t worked in a while and was having trouble finding a job that matched her skills. Emma wasn’t exaggerating—it was tough finding employment out there. The two times Macy had found a promising lead, someone with more experience had gotten the job. She had another lead for a position as a social worker—but it meant working in South Austin, which would require an hour commute each way.
Finn wanted to work, but he was struggling with some of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress. When she tried to talk to him about it, he clammed up, refused to acknowledge the difficulties she knew he was facing. He continued to do what work he could around his parents’ ranch. Brodie was trying to get him on at the lumberyard with him.
The news about the life insurance money could not have come at a worse time. Macy didn’t want to add to the burdens Finn already carried. She just wanted him to relax and learn to enjoy life again. She still had abundant hope that things would fall into place for them. Everything will be all right.
With that hope, she’d planned a little surprise for Finn. Late that afternoon, she packed up her Jeep and drove out to the Lockhart place.
When she knocked on the door, Karen Lockhart opened it. “Hello, Macy,” she said tightly.
“Hello, Karen.”
“Is that Macy?” Rick called from somewhere inside the house. A moment later he appeared at the door. “Hi, Macy. Come on in,” he said, pushing the door open and nudging Karen out of the way.
“Thanks,” Macy said, and stepped inside. “Is Finn here?”
“He’s out back with my crusty old horse,” Rick said. “That boy could never stay away from a horse.”
“I was just fixin’ to call him in,” Karen said. “I’ll go get him.” She walked away.
Macy looked at Rick, who smiled warmly. “Don’t mind that old girl,” he whispered, and put his arm around Macy’s shoulders, pulling her into the house. “She’s just a mother looking out for her boy.”
“I’m not going to hurt Finn.”
“I know that, Macy. But Karen worries when the baby comes, you’ll feel guilty and will want to go back to Wyatt.”
God help her, sometimes Macy worried the same thing.
Rick showed her to the living room, where a row of windows overlooked the back. She could see Finn striding up the back path ahead of Karen in boots and jeans and a T-shirt. He was wearing the straw hat again and there were spurs on his boots. He’d been riding.
When he entered through the screen door, he didn’t speak, but strode to where she stood, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her.
“Hello to you, too,” she said with a smile.
“I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I know. I was hoping you could tear yourself away—I’ve got a surprise for you.”
Finn quirked one brow. “Now that’s an invitation no man could refuse,” he said with a wink. “Where is this surprise?”
“You have to come with me,” she said.
“And it just gets better and better. Let me grab a shower,” he said, and kissed her cheek. “Mom, don’t devour Macy or her young while I clean up,” he said as he strode out of the living room. Rick chuckled. Karen frowned.
“Sit down, Macy. You like baseball?” Rick asked, his attention on the enormous flat panel television that took up the west wall.
Macy sat.
Karen did, too. She picked up some knitting and made a halfhearted attempt to knit for about ten minutes while Macy sat stiffly next to her. But she finally put it down and looked at Macy. “So…when’s your baby due?”
“Late February,” Macy said.
“I can’t help but feel bad for Wyatt Clark. That must have been a real blow to find out you were having his baby but with another man.”
The image of a devastated Wyatt flashed in Macy’s mind. She swallowed and looked at the television screen.
“I was down at the Envy, the hair salon on the square, and Carol Richardson told me that your mother thought you ought to be with Wyatt,” Karen continued. “That true?”
Macy looked at Karen. “My mother has always had her own opinions. But I’m not my mother.”
“Well, I know you’re not Jillian,” Karen said. “I’m just wondering how much influence she’s going to have with you, because I guarantee you, Macy, when this baby comes, you’re going to want it to be with its natural father. And where will that leave Finn?”
“Karen, leave it alone,” Rick said.
But Karen looked at Macy, expecting an answer. Macy knew there was no answer she could give Karen that would change her opinion. “You’re too hard on me, Karen,” she said.
“Amen to that,” Rick muttered.
“What do you mean?” Karen demanded. “I’m only thinking of my son.”
“You’re too hard on me,” Macy said again. “I am doing the best I know how to do. I have made a very difficult decision and I don’t intend to walk away from it. You can fear the future all you like, but I won’t. I cannot begin to describe how ecstatically happy I am that I can share my life with Finn. This is what I have wanted from almost the moment I met him, and I am so blessed to have a second chance. I am not going to ruin it—I’m making my life with Finn.”
“Well said, baby.” She turned around to see Finn standing at the door from the hallway. His hair was still wet, but he’d put on a clean pair of tight-fitting jeans, some decent boots, and a clean T-shirt that hugged his arms and torso. “You ready?”
“I am,” she said, and stood up. She glanced down at Karen, who was staring hard at her cross-stitch. “There’s one other thing,” she said softly. “Wyatt’s mother isn’t around much, and this baby is going to need two grandmas.”
Karen’s hand froze. She glanced up at Macy wordlessly.
Finn put his hand out for Macy. She slipped her hand into his. “See you,” Finn said to his folks, and led Macy out of there.
As they walked to her Jeep, he pulled her into his side and gave her a reassuring hug. “The sooner we get out from underfoot, the easier it will get.”
Macy could not agree more.
Finn paused to peer in the back window of her Jeep. “What’s my surprise?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Don’t look!” she cried, and playfully pushed him to the passenger door. “Just get in.”
In the Jeep, she turned the radio to country music, which Finn preferred, and ignored his guesses about where they were going; when she turned on the road that led to his ranch, his smile faded.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“It’s not home anymore.”
“It’s not his; I don’t care what he says.” She pulled up at the gate and opened the driver’s door.
“Macy—this is trespassing now.”
Macy laughed at Finn. “What’s he going to do, sue me? Wait. Don’t answer that—he just might.” She winked at him and hopped out.
She unlocked the gate, but Finn was out before she could push it back. “You’re pregnant. Will you try to remember that?”
“I’m pregnant, not bedridden,” she said with a laugh, and hopped back into the Jeep and drove through. Finn closed the gate and climbed back into the passenger seat.
Macy drove down the road, but instead of turning to the right to go to the house, she turned left and followed a very bumpy road until she got within walking distance of their favorite part of the creek. “This is it; here’s your big surprise,” she said, and got out of the Jeep.
Finn did, too. “What are you doing?” he asked as she opened the back hatch.
Macy’s answer was to shove a pair of fishing poles at him, salvaged from Brodie’s garage.
Finn looked at the poles. “Fishing?”
“Our favorite spot,” she said, and tried to heave the picnic basket over the tailgate.
Finn stared at her. Macy laughed. “What’s the matter? Are you scared?”
He gave her a stern look and shoved the poles at her. “You carry those. I’ll carry this.” He grabbed the blanket she had and stacked it on top of the basket. “You know, if the sheriff comes, I’ll have to do my duty as a law-abiding citizen and turn you in,” he warned her with a wink.
“Oh, yeah? I have brownies in there, the kind you like.”
“On second thought, I’ll take the fall.”
Together, they walked down the path that led to the creek, Finn teasing her by telling her to watch out for snakes. He led her through a thicket—it amazed her that he still knew this land like the back of his hand—and on the other side, they emerged into the little green clearing where the creek turned deep enough for fishing.
He helped her lay the blanket down on the banks of the creek, then set the poles with the bit of bacon she’d brought while Macy laid out supper: cold chicken, grapes, and cheese. She’d brought beer, too, and opened one, passing it to Finn.
Finn stretched out on the blanket and propped himself on his elbow. Macy sat cross-legged, watching the tops of the trees as they brushed against the sky.
Finn took a swig of beer, then pointed the bottle neck at Macy. “You look like you’ve got something on your mind, baby.”
She laughed. “Do I?”
“Man,” he said with a shake of his head. “That laugh of yours has always made me want to do something insanely foolish, like ride a wild bronc.”
“Please don’t. I want you in one piece.”
“So what’s on your mind?” he asked.
“Anh,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Nothing that can’t wait. Next question.”
Finn suddenly sat up and leaned forward. “Do you know how much I love you?” he asked, and kissed her.
Macy laughed against his mouth, put her hand on his chest, and pushed him back a little. “Do you know how much I love you?”
“I never doubted it.” Finn said and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Even when you came home and found out I’d married Wyatt?” she asked dubiously.
“Even then.”
Her smile faded. “Even when I told you I was pregnant?”
With a soft smile, Finn caressed her cheek. “Especially then. Anyway, the past doesn’t matter. What matters is that we are here, right now—all three of us. That’s all we need to think about.”
She knew he was right, and that’s what she wanted to think about…but she couldn’t stop thinking about Wyatt and how she’d ruined the happiness of a wonderful man. She looked down at the blanket. “Who would have guessed your homecoming would have so many…issues?”
“It couldn’t have been any other way except if time had stood still, Macy. Nothing remains the same,” he said, and fingered a bit of her hair.
“I got a letter from the army,” she said. “They want the money from the life insurance back.”
Finn’s hand stilled as that sank in. He sighed, let go her hair, and fell onto his back. “Figures,” he said. “But I guess it makes sense. I’m not dead.”
“Still…you’d think for all the pain you suffered, they’d let it go.”
He laughed a little. “I damn sure don’t want money for that.” He glanced at her. “Macy, don’t worry. That’s nothing we can’t overcome.”
“But how are we going to buy another ranch so we can set up the animal rescue operation?”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I did that interview for the Austin American-Statesman about the idea. We’ll start by getting donations. And I’ve got one last trick up my sleeve.”
“What?”
“A book deal.”
“No, Finn,” Macy said. He’d told her more than once he didn’t want to talk about what had happened. But this evening he grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers. “I talked to Dr. Rock about it. He said he thought it was a great idea, said it might even be cathartic. You know, I can get it out of my system. And it’s hard to turn down that kind of money, Macy. The guy from New York is talking seven figures.”
“Seven figures?” Macy said, sliding down beside him. “Dude!”
Finn laughed as she propped her head on her hand. She traced a line down his chest. “Still—are you certain?”
“For us, I’d do anything. Including accepting seven figures to talk about my time in captivity.”
“All of us?”
Finn touched his fingers to her lips. “What is the matter with you tonight? Yes, all of us. Never doubt it, Macy. It’s not exactly the way I wanted to start our family, but it’s our family nonetheless. The way I see it, we’re all made up of pieces of the people who love us. That baby will have pieces of us both…and of Wyatt, and whomever he ends up with. I don’t know how that is going to work, and I’m not crazy about it, but it’s unavoidable.”
Macy thought about Wyatt’s angry letter regarding custody. She could feel his pain in that letter and understood he was lashing out at her in his grief. “I hope he does find someone. I hope he finds what we have with each other.”
“Well, whatever happens, whatever our life looks like, I want our family. Never, ever doubt that is true.”
“Okay, you are making me insane with wanting you,” she said, and leaned over to kiss him.
Finn shoved his hand into her hair and hungrily kissed her back. The way he touched her, looked at her, made Macy feel like she was the most desirable woman on earth. She kissed him again, this time climbing on top of him to straddle him.
“Hey, wait a minute,” Finn said. “What if we get a nibble?”
“Oh, you’re going to get a nibble,” she said, and grabbed the hem of her peasant blouse and lifted it up over her head.
“Lord, Macy,” he said, looking at the skimpy bra she wore. “You’re going to give me a damn heart attack.” He cupped her breasts; something flowed between them, something that only two people who loved each other as much as they did could feel, and Macy was hopelessly, utterly lost.
Finn wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down to him. He pressed his mouth against her cheek, her eyes, and then her lips. “I can’t ever seem to stop wanting you,” he said.
The heat of the early evening, the wind rustling the trees, the water running all seemed to fade away as Finn kissed Macy and stroked her body. His rough hand on her smooth skin excited her beyond reason; she quickly removed her bra so that he could put his hands on her breasts. She gasped softly in his ear as he squeezed her nipple between his fingers and pressed herself against him, her body stretched the length of his.
> He moaned, lifted her up, and took one breast in his mouth. The sensation of it was excruciatingly arousing—Macy slid her hand down his leg and cupped his erection.
“You’re beautiful,” Finn said, panting a little. His fingers splayed across her breast and nipple and squeezed gently.
Macy sighed with pleasure. “So are you. Now please take your pants off.”
Finn grinned and caught her mouth with his at the same moment his hands went to his belt, fumbling with it. She rose from him, helped him shove his pants down, and, as he kicked them off his legs, took off her shorts.
He gazed at her naked body with such obvious longing that Macy felt beautiful, especially with the slight swell of her pregnancy. She straddled him again, rubbing against him, pressing her breasts against him. A giggle of pure pleasure escaped her, but Finn didn’t seem to hear her. His hands were running over her body, making her pulse beat too fast, making her heart pound in her chest. One hand floated down her abdomen, slipping in between her legs. Macy closed her eyes and submerged herself in the sensation of his fingers stroking her. Then Finn muttered something incomprehensible against her breast and slipped his fingers deep inside her, and Macy was intensely, deeply aroused.
A moment later, she was sliding down on him, her body taking him in. Her fingers dug into his shoulder as she began to move on him, sliding up, then down, as deliberately as she might. But she was fast losing control, and Finn, who knew her body almost as well as she did, laughed breathlessly against her neck. “No, no, not yet, not that easy,” he said.
He suddenly twisted her onto her back and came over her. He looked down at her, roughly caressed her hair. “You lay right there and let me show you how crazy you make me. Can you handle it?”
“No,” she said honestly, but Finn just grinned and moved his thigh in between her legs, pushing them apart. He pressed himself against her, laced his fingers with hers above her head, and entered her.