by Jamie Begley
“Stay, Jewell, he doesn’t have to know, and I promise I’ll never mention it to him.”
“Ginny, I like you, which makes this hard to say, but if I could steal him away from you, I would in a heartbeat. With there being no chance of that, I also have to admit it’s going to kill a part of me when you have his child.”
“Well, there’s no need to rush off. I don’t plan to have any children for a while. I’ll tell Shade when he comes in for lunch that you’re taking back your notice.”
Jewell looked at her like she’d lost her mind. “If you’re not pregnant, what is that?”
Ginny stretched the material tighter around her. “I’ve gained a few pounds, I have to admit. I’ll lose it when the weather warms.”
“Yes, you will,” Jewell said sarcastically. “Ignore that. It doesn’t matter. I’m not staying.”
Ginny moved closer to Jewell’s desk. “Stay, Jewell. I promise you won’t regret it, but you will if you go. Give it another six months; feelings change, and you might find out your feelings for Gavin weren’t what you thought they were.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Stay and find out.” Ginny gave Jewell grin. “In another month our house will be done, so you won’t see me as often, and despite that, how can you steal my man if you’re not here? I’ll see you at dinner.”
Leaving Jewell’s door open as she left, Ginny went outside and headed back to the club house. Seeing Gavin standing on the front porch talking to Puck as Suki ran around the yard, Ginny decided to head that way. Gavin’s back was turned to the parking lot, so he didn’t see her coming up the steps.
Mischievously, she shoved her hand in the snow and made a snowball. Aiming, she hit Gavin in his upper arm. When Gavin and Puck turned, startled, she burst out laughing, which sent an exuberant Suki running toward her. Knowing the dog wouldn’t jump on her, she still unconsciously took a step to the side and felt herself falling. Keeping calm, Ginny threw her left shoulder back, sending her falling to the side rather than down the steep steps.
“Ginny … are you okay?”
Her clothes didn’t have time to get wet before Gavin was picking her up.
“What are you doing out here? You’re supposed to be in the kitchen.”
“I went to visit Winter,” Ginny explained, brushing her pants down.
“Dammit, I told you not to come up these steps when it’s snowing! Why did you come up the steps?” he roared at her.
Ginny kept her smile pasted on her face, despite several members of the club coming out onto the porch to see what was going on.
“Are you trying to lose my baby?” he continued to yell.
Ginny bunched her hand in a fist and punched him in the stomach. “I am not pregnant!”
Willa, Beth, and Lily slowly began backing away from the banister.
“Woman, I’m fed up with you telling me I’m not going to be a father.”
“I am not pregnant!” Ginny stubbornly closed her jacket over the mound of her belly. “I am not going to be pregnant until Pastor Dean tells me I have his permission for us to be married.” She left out the admission that she wanted to hear from him; there were too many eyes and ears around.
“I’ve told Lucky at least two dozen times, and he refuses to give it to you.”
Ginny pointed a finger at chest. “Then you better figure out why!” she screeched at him. “My dad would roll over in his grave if he knew I was pregnant and not married.”
“We talking about the same one who had nine children and never married any of their mothers?”
“Are you speaking ill of the dead?” Before Gavin could stop her, she pulled a hair from his head.
“Give that back.”
Ginny shoved her hand underneath her top, then brought it out. “You can’t have it. If you’ll excuse me, I have a cake to frost.” Ginny stomped her way up the rest of the stairs.
The people on the porch went to the side to keep their distance, and Ginny rolled her eyes at them. What did they think she was going to do? She was jinxing Gavin, not them.
Reaching the porch she turned to give Gavin another piece of her mind … and found him right behind her.
Poking him again, she gave him one last warning. “You better fix this, Gavin James. I will not be shamed in front of my family. You don’t want me calling Papa to come here and have a talk with you. He’ll be mad enough to kick your ass if he finds out I’m pregnant.”
“How’s he going to kick my ass when he’s six feet under?”
Ginny sucked in deep hiss of air. “I was talking about Papa Will. I’m calling him. Do you see what you’ve just done? Now I won’t be able to marry you until I have his permission, too.” Storming inside the house, Ginny slammed the door behind her.
Viper was the first to laugh, then Shade, then Rider.
Angrily, Reaper decided he was going inside to eat his spaghetti. Then, when he was finished, he was going to carry Ginny upstairs and fuck her brains out. He was going to show that nymph not to raise her voice at him and have the whole fucking house laughing at him.
He was brought up short when the door wouldn’t budge.
“Viper, you got the key with you?”
“No. Why would I need a key when one of the brothers is always watching the door?”
“Shade? Rider?”
Both shook their heads.
“Anyone?”
“I’ll go to the back door and come open the door for everyone,” Lily said, going down the steps.
“I’ll come with you. I don’t want you to fall.” Shade went down the steps after his wife.
Reaper went to the first step off the porch and sat down. Suki came running to him to plop down on his lap. Rider sat down on the porch next to him. “I thought she would have come back by now.”
“No, I insulted her father. She’s going to make me sit out here for a good thirty minutes. You all might as well go to the back door. As long as I’m out here, she won’t let anyone open the door.”
Everyone began leaving the porch, heading toward the back door.
“Might as well go, too, Puck. I’ll take over the rest of the shift.”
Puck didn’t argue, taking off before he could change his mind.
“Lucky really isn’t giving you and Ginny his permission?”
“Yes.”
“Fucker knows he has you by the balls.”
“Fuckwad.”
Rider rubbed the tip of his boot on the step below them. “Shade got his permission.”
“That’s what Ginny said. I don’t believe it.”
“I don’t either.”
“You should ask Shade just to make sure,” Reaper casually suggested, as if it wasn’t any skin off his back if he didn’t.
“I’m sure he didn’t, but I’m not the one getting married to Ginny.” Rider suggested just as casually. “But when you find out, let me know. Just out of curiosity, of course.”
Lucky wasn’t the only fuckwad in the club.
Rider’s blasé attitude confirmed Reaper’s sneaky suspicion why one of the reasons he hadn’t married Jo was Rider would rather put his balls through a cheese grater than ask Lucky to marry Jo and be told no. If it had been any other pastor in the world, there wouldn’t have been a hitch. Rider and him could have pretended to any good ol’ boy. The same couldn’t be said about Lucky; he was privy to the intimate details of their lives. Lucky would laugh his ass off unless they were ready to bare their soul in front of him. Shade must have come up around the problem, either Lily married Shade without Lucky’s permission or Shade had blackmailed him into giving permission. Shade didn’t have a soul, so third scenario wasn’t an option.
“I’m sure.”
“Me, too.”
Reaper’s shoulders slumped. “We’re fucked.”
Rider nodded in agreement. “Yes, we are.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
“Are you happy with the counters?”
Ginny smoothed her hand o
ver them. “I love them. Do you like them?” She anxiously waited for Gavin’s reaction.
“I like them. I’m happy with how everything came out.”
“I am, too. Now, if we can get the plumber to show, get the plumbing inspected, and get the battery installed in the garage, we can move. You think two weeks?”
Ginny was thrilled. The cabinets that had been on backorder just yesterday were now not only there but installed. As happy as she was with his surprise, she should have locked Stubborn Ass out of the club house before; they probably would have already moved into their new home.
“One thing I’ve learned building this house, I’d rather build five factories than one house.”
Ginny walked around her kitchen, touching everything. She still couldn’t believe her dream was actually coming true. The house she and Leah had spent hours on end talking about—that she worked endless hours for—was now a reality.
“I’m so happy.”
Gavin gave her a searching look. “You don’t sound happy.”
Ginny shook herself out of the sense of doom that suddenly assailed her. “I’m just being ridiculous.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Gavin gave her a wry smile that never failed to give her heart flip flops.
“My superstitious nature is coming out. Every time when my life is going good, something happens to screw it all up. Last week when I went to see Myles, the other girls were there, too. I can’t wait until I can invite them here.”
Ginny was already imagining Trudy, Sex Piston, Fat Louise, Killyama, and Crazy Bitch hanging around her kitchen tormenting Gavin like they did Dalton.
“Don’t remind me.”
Ginny couldn’t hold back the laughter when he shuddered at the memory.
“You have no one to blame but yourself. I told you to stay in the car.”
“They had me going back to the kitchen to get them shit just so they could check out my ass.”
Ginny had to smother down the laughter when he gave her an offended glance.
“It didn’t help that you didn’t try to make them behave. I thought women were supposed to be jealous-natured when other women act that way toward their husbands?”
“You aren’t my husband.”
“Legally, I am.”
“Anyway,” she went on, bypassing their bone of contention. Ginny wasn’t about to get in the same tired argument with him. “I don’t mind them looking; they just can’t touch. None of them would try to steal my man.”
“You’re not the least bit jealous?”
Ginny heard the hint of uncertainty in his voice from across the room.
Walking toward him seductively, she saw Gavin’s eyes lower to her baby bump as she sashayed to him. Reaching out, her hands went to his belt to jerk him to her.
“Why would I be jealous?” Going to her tiptoes, she licked the corner of his mouth before pulling away. “Why would you turn to another woman when I would do anything you want?”
His mouth curled in a devil-may-care smile. “Very true.”
Gavin curled his palm along her jaw. “Have you forgotten to tell me something today?”
“I love you, Gavin.”
No matter how many times she told him a day, she could see the uncertainty in his gaze.
He wrapped her in his arms, showing she had reassured him for the moment. “I’m pretty happy with the house myself.”
Ginny smiled against his shoulder. God, she loved this stubborn man.
“Don’t let your superstitions get to you. Everything is working out. The house is almost done, Allerton’s case is moving along, though his lawyer managed to get a court hearing for next week, seeking bail again. Agent Collins said it’ll be denied again, and he says, when he finally realizes he’s not getting out, he’ll come forth with the information on Clindale. Shade is still working on it, too, with the information we found out. So, hopefully, we’ll get that answer soon. Everything is going our way,” he reassured her.
“Shh … don’t jinx us. Trudy said the same thing when I went to see Myles. But I just can’t rid myself of this feeling. I even called Zoey and made a counseling session. She always helps me gain back a positive attitude.”
“She give you any suggestions you could use?”
“Zoey said my insecurities could be coming from my past lives, compounded by what I’ve gone through, that this may be the source of my problem. She suggested to get a good psychotherapist or there’s a trend where you can do it yourself with self-mediation. You can find it online and see your face and how you die in your last life. I ….”
Gavin took her by the forearms and pulled her back to stare down at her. His face was formidable in its intensity. “Don’t. I mean it, Ginny. Promise me?”
“I wasn’t. I was just telling you what she suggested. I don’t want to know how I died in a past life any more than I want to know how I’m going to die in this one.”
“You’re not going to die.”
“Sadly, everyone does, sooner or later. Unless you’re a Highlander, then you can live forever.”
Gavin’s expression didn’t lighten at her sense of humor.
“Did Freddy know how he was going to die?”
“I don’t know. Silas believes he did.”
“What do you believe?”
“I don’t believe Freddy knew.”
“Because, if he did, then your dad knew that when Leah got on the four-wheeler with him, she was going to die.”
“Yes, and he knew when I switched places with Leah, his real daughter was going to die instead of me.”
“You were a real daughter to him as much as Leah,” he assured her.
“Would you be able to make that distinction, Gavin, if the shoe was on the other foot? If he did, it had to be a heartbreaking decision to make.”
“I think your father had to make difficult decisions his whole life because of his gift. Your father was a good man. I regret I never got to meet him.”
“I do, too. He would have liked you.”
Gavin gave her an I’m-not-sure look before he glanced down at his watch. “You sure you don’t want to ride into town with me to fill the grocery order?”
Ginny made a face at him. “No, thanks. I’m the one who made the list. You’re going to have to go to two stores to get everything. Besides, Trudy would be mad if I blew her off to go grocery shopping when I promised to go shopping with her for an outfit for Myles’ baptism. We’ll probably get back to the club at the same time. If I knew you were the one whose turn it was to shop, I would have taken it easy on you.”
“Which is why they probably didn’t tell you.”
Ginny saw him glancing at his watch again.
“Go ahead and go. All my brothers are around and Trudy will be coming any minute.”
“You have your phone on you?”
Ginny patted her jean pocket.
Gavin still hesitated to leave, and it was only when Silas showed up to drop off a package that he left.
“What have you been up to today?” Ginny asked, closing the windows, preparing to leave.
“Dealing with Greer. His generator is broken. It’s like the one I used to have. I made the mistake of telling him that I’d broken mine down for the spare parts, and now he wants the parts to see if he can use them to fix his. The problem is I can’t find the parts.”
“Could the box be in the barn on the shelf where Freddy used to keep his junk?”
“Yes. Would you happen to know where it is now?”
“I threw it away.”
“Why’d you throw it away?”
“Put it this way; it involved me trying to help Fynn with his science project and a dead rat.”
“Enough said.” Silas smiled. “The boys want to get a bite at the diner, so I might as well make a stop at the depot store on the way home. That way, they can help me load Greer’s new generator in the truck for me.”
“You’re going to buy Greer a new generator?”
“I�
��d rather buy him a new generator than go to the landfill.”
Ginny laughed.
Double-checking the back door, Silas and Ginny walked through her house before going outside. It was situated at the side end of the property, which had a different driveway than Silas’s.
Ginny saw the gleaming metal of the car coming up the driveway. “There she is. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said, locking the door.
“See you tomorrow.” Silas said as he stepped off the porch and headed through the line of trees to reach his house.
Fear lanced through her when the car came to a stop and Ginny got a clear view of who was in the front seat. She slid her hand into her pocket to take out her phone to call Gavin, as she opened her mouth to yell for Silas before he was of earshot.
Soleil got out of the car. “Don’t, Evangeline, I just want to talk,” she said, seeing what she was doing.
“Go away. You have nothing to say that I want to hear.”
“Are you sure about that? Don’t you want to know what you took? Why so many people had to die because you were nothing but a little brat?” she spat.
Ginny hesitated. She wanted to hear what her mother had to say. Once she called out for Silas, and contacted Gavin, however, Soleil might refuse to tell her the information she wanted. Could she convince her to reveal what had happened to the islanders? Ginny wasn’t willing to take the chance she would never find out. Soleil was no threat to her; Allerton was in prison.
“Why are you here? You’re not here for my benefit—you just made that obvious.”
Soleil stepped away from her car to walk toward the porch. “You made a deal with the FBI to keep your fake husband out of prison; I want you to do the same for me.”
“In return, what do I get?”
“Answers, Evangeline. Isn’t that what you want?”
Ginny put her phone back in her pocket, and took out the key to the house. Unlocking the front door, Ginny opened it and gave mocking bow. “Welcome to my humble abode.”
“Quit acting like your bitch of a sister. It doesn’t suit you.”
Ginny tightened her lips at the way Soleil talked about Trudy. There was a big difference when Sex Piston and the others called each other a bitch and when Soleil used the term.