Chapter 19
MADDISON
“ H ere, darlin’, let me get ‘em for ya.” Grayson reaches up to the cupboard and pulls down the stack of bowls.
“Thank you, Grayson.” I smile gratefully, even if I am a little shocked by his chivalry. Carefully, I take the huge pan of soup I’ve made for lunch from the stove and he quickly takes that from me too.
“Got it.” He focuses on not burning his hands as he places it in the center of the table.
“I’m liking this one, Mads,” Kyle pipes up as he scoops the bowl with his bread. It’s not homemade but it is oven-baked which is an improvement.
“Anyone for more coffee?” I call out, dreading going near the machine, it’s one of my instant triggers but I’m learning to deal with it. I’ve got the throwing up down to just twice a day now, usually by lunchtime I’m starting to feel human again but then comes the fatigue.
“If you boys want coffee, you can get it yourselves,” Grayson barks at them and then smiles at me.
I look at Jace in confusion and when he tries his best to hide his smile, I wonder what I’m missing.
The boys stack their bowls on the kitchen counter and once they're gone Grayson starts to roll up his sleeves.
“What are you doing?” I laugh as he turns on the faucet.
“I’m getting these here bowls washed for ya,” he explains simply.
“Okay, what's going on?” I look between him and Jace and wait for one of them to tell me.
“Nothing’s goin’ on, I’m just giving ya a hand.”
“I don’t need a hand, this is my job.”
“Right now, darlin’, your only job is to keep that–”
“Okay, okay. I got this.” Jace rushes to cut him off. “You’re far better use to me out on that yard.” He grips Grayson’s shoulders and ushers him through the back door, slamming it behind him and looking at me with a guilty smile.
“He knows, doesn’t he?” I sigh.
“He guessed.” Jace shrugs.
“ How did he guess?” I roll my eyes and get on with washing the dishes.
“Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. You’re pale most mornings, running off to throw up every time you get a waft of coffee but, despite all that, you got this kinda glow about ya.” He makes a cute-as-hell smile that almost gets him forgiven for sharing our secret. “Look, he ain’t gonna tell no one, our little secret is still safe.” He comes closer and touches his palm against my stomach.
“Jace, you have to stop touching me like that, people are going to notice.”
“They're sure as hell are gonna notice when you're showing that big ole belly, you're gonna get,” he laughs, as if the idea pleases him.
“Don’t remind me.” I automatically breathe in. I love the idea of our baby getting bigger and growing strong but at the same time, I like my figure just how it is.
“You’re gonna look incredible, I can’t wait.” He smacks a kiss on my cheek before nudging me out of the way so he can get to the dishes.
“You seem much happier this morning.” I can’t help feeling curious, last night after he told me what happened to the Gendry boy, I seemed to have lost him. He came back to bed and went straight to sleep, and didn’t even hold me the way he usually does.
“Well, I got a lot to be happy about. Did ya know that, right now, our baby is the size of a blueberry?” He holds up his wet hand and demonstrates with his thumb and finger.
“And how do you know that?” I pick up a drying cloth and start drying.
“The app told me.”
“I thought we were done with the app?” I stare at him.
“This is a different one.” He quickly dries off his hands and pulls his phone from the back pocket of his jeans. “You put in the due date the doc gave ya, and it gives ya all kindsa facts. Ya know he’s already forming his little eyes and ears, I sure hope he don’t get his lugs from the men on my mother’s side of the family.”
“He?” I laugh, though the thing about the ears is slightly concerning. I love how passionate Jace gets when he talks about the baby, and the fact he downloaded another app is adorable. He opens the app and hands over his phone and when I see a picture of how our baby should be looking right now, I screw up my face.
“It’s gonna be a boy,” he tells me confidently as he kisses my cheek again and takes the dry bowls to put away.
I look back at the image and see a notification pings at the top of the screen.
Uncle Jamie
MEET ME AT THE OFFICE
“Your uncle just texted,” I let him know, and when he immediately snatches the phone from my hand, I find it unnerving, especially when he goes quiet on me again.
“You should invite your uncle over for supper, I’m getting better at this cooking thing and it would be nice to get to know him better.” I decide to do a little digging.
“Uncle Jamie likes to keep himself to himself.” Jace clears his throat and focuses on clearing the sides.
“Surely he’s going to want to be part of our baby’s life. You're the only family he’s got left, right?”
“Jamie ain’t a people person.”
“Well, he might have to step up because the way things are looking with my family, little Jace Junior isn’t going to be having many?—”
“Can we just drop it?” Jace snaps, and when he looks back at me over his shoulder and sees that he’s shocked me, he looks up at the ceiling and blows out a long, deep breath.
“Come here. I shouldn't have snapped at ya.” He pulls me closer and rests his chin on the top of my head. “Uncle Jamie is…He’s just a funny one. I don’t want ya worrying about him. And I don’t want ya worrying about who our baby’s gonna have to love him, either. He’s got us.”
“You need to stop calling it a ‘he’.” I pull back so he can see that I’m smiling.
“And just so ya know, you suggested Jace Junior, first.” He flicks my nose.
“It was a joke, not a suggestion.”
“Well, I liked it. JJ Sullivan’s got a ring to it.” He flashes me that adorable smile again and although I can tell he’s hiding something from me, I can’t help smiling back.
“I was thinking, I’m gonna be busy over the next few days. We’re gonna be rounding the herd and bringing them in closer for the winter, maybe you should give Taylor a call, to keep you company. The two of you seemed to hit it off last night. Grayson knows about the baby now, maybe you should have a person to tell too.”
“Sounds good.” I give him every reason to believe that I’m happy to drop the subject but now that I’m curious, there’s not a chance of that happening.
“I need to head into town, ya need anythin’?”
“I’m all good.” I do my best to hide that curiosity as he kisses my forehead and heads out the door.
I wait until he’s gone before I pick up my own cell and dial home.
“The MacKenzie’s.” Stella’s voice is soft and warm, it reminds me of her apple cobbler and the hugs she used to give.
“Stella, it’s Maddison. Is my mother there?”
There’s a long pause that’s followed up by her latest excuse.
“I’m sorry, sweetie, she left to go shopping. I could take a message or take you through to your father. He’s working from home today.”
“It’s fine. I just…I wanted to tell her something.” I look down to where my hand is resting on my stomach and think about my child. I get that Mom is angry at me. I’ve embarrassed her, and the entire family, but I don’t deserve to be ignored. I would never do that to my own child.
“How are you? It’s strange without you here,” Stella tells me, and I take a seat at the kitchen table and tell her all about Clearwater Creek, and how beautiful the sunset is here. What I don’t tell her, is that I'm pregnant and head over heels in love with a cowboy who, I’m pretty sure, is hiding a very dark secret.