Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
“So, what’s your deal?” Hawk watched as Jessie slipped the last piece of brownie into her mouth, turning to stare at Dakota.
“What do you mean, Blue Jay?”
“It’s a billion degrees outside, and you just roasted all day long in jeans and a long sleeve shirt. You didn’t even go in the springs.”
“It didn’t feel right without Lach.”
Hawk saw her face fall. Things between them hadn’t been better since Lachlan’s accident, but Hawk had been there when Dakota tried to apologize for everything.
Jessie agreed to try and put it behind them for the sake of her brother, but Hawk knew his girl.
She was struggling with it. And he wouldn’t hesitate to put Dakota in his place if he even stepped one toe out of line with her.
“Actually, Lach was the one who suggested doing all this to Jessie. He could see how bad everyone needed a little time to decompress.”
Her brownie-free hand squeezed his thigh.
“True. Everyone did need this.” Dakota sighed.
“Look. I know I said it before, and we agreed to move on, but I’m sorry for what happened at Davney’s.
I was out of line, and I fucking knew it then.
I want things to be good between us, Jess.
You are someone I feel protective over. I’m sorry I took it too far. ”
Jessie crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. “And what would you like to say to Hawk?”
“I am sorry, man. I was an asshole. Anyone with some sense in their head can see that you are good for Jess.”
Hawk nodded, holding his hand out. Dakota took it, and the two of them embraced for a moment.
“I’m still not over how much of an asshole you were or how mad I am at you, but everything with Lachlan… it feels yucky to hold on to a grudge,” Jessie sighed.
“Thank you.” Dakota smirked. “I was back at the shop yesterday, Blue Jay. The police cleared the scene.”
“God. I don’t know how I’m ever going to go back there again. If Lach can’t—”
“Hey. He will.” Dakota stood, placing his napkin on his paper plate and walking to the trash bag they’d set up next to the coolers. “He’s going to be fine. Looks a little more like a robot right now, but once he gets the rods out and loses the leg cage, he’ll be the old Lach.”
Hawk could feel the air around Jessie shifting. Changing. And he fucking didn’t want dip-shit Dakota ruining what he had planned for the rest of the day.
“Feel up to taking a walk with me, Pretty Girl?” he asked.
He’d checked his watch every ten seconds for the last hour, as one by one, his sister, Stone, Lily, Sloane, Gage, Lacy, and Emma all disappeared. They would do an amazing job, and Hawk was so thankful they were happy to help.
“Sure. I think that brownie from Emma put the baby right to sleep. But we probably only have a few minutes until the sugar kicks in and she’s bouncing around.”
Hawk smiled, his heart rate jumping as the small box in his pocket felt heavy against his thigh. “Let’s take advantage of it then.”
Jessie laughed, her voice dropping as she watched Dakota walk over to the table where her brothers were shooting the shit with Gunner and Seb. “I don’t think we’ll be able to do anything too naughty, Hawk. Everyone is still around.”
God, this woman. Suddenly, the box in his pocket wasn’t the only hard thing poking around. “I wish I was talking about that, Jessie. But this is just a walk. I’ve missed my girls today. I want some time just for us at the springs.”
“That does sound really nice. I should tell your sister thank you for organizing all this before we walk though.” Her head swiveled around.
“Have you seen her? I swear, she took off with Stone ages ago and I haven’t seen her since.
The same with Sloane and Gage. Did they all leave without saying bye? ”
“Maybe they had the same idea as you.”
“Oh good lord. I hope they know to look out for poison oak.”
Hawk just chuckled as he scooped her hand up and they walked up the path he knew led to a very special spot.
“Are you doing okay?” Hawk asked as he looked over Jessie’s flushed face a few minutes later, wincing as she started digging her hands into her back. Maybe it wasn’t the perfect plan after all. No amount of happiness was worth her being in a bunch of pain… or going into labor early.
“Yeah! Of course. There’s actually this special little spot at the end of this trail. I just need to catch my breath and then I want to show it to you.”
“I can’t wait to see it.” Hawk hid his smile as he stepped behind her, wrapping his hands low under her belly. Jessie leaned back against him, and his arms took over carrying the weight of Bee for a moment.
Jessie groaned. “God. I swear, that’s almost better than sex.”
Hawk chuckled. “I’d say let’s compare out here, but now I’m worried about all that poison oak you mentioned.”
“Don’t worry.” Jessie turned her face, pressing her lips against his neck. “I know all the places to avoid.”
“My needy baby mama. She’s going to have to wait, just a little while longer. I want to see this special spot of yours.”
“You’ve found my special spot before…” Jessie winked.
“What has gotten into you today? I love it, don’t get me wrong.”
“Everything feels… I don’t want to say okay, because Lachlan is still in the hospital and he has such a long road ahead of him, but things feel like they are going to be okay. And spending time with our friends and family was just what I needed.”
“I love hearing that.” Hawk kissed her cheek. “Are you up for the rest of the trek?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Jessie’s heart banged around wildly in her chest, not because of the insane workout it had been to get her hugely pregnant self back to her favorite hidden spring, but because she couldn’t believe what her eyes were seeing.
There, hanging in an old oak tree, off a low branch, was the dress she’d fallen in love with when she went shopping with Adrienne and Mae.
“What… I don’t understand? How did you…”
Hawk just chuckled beside her, the low vibrations seeping into her bones.
“Mae told me this caught your eye. I called the store and bought it that day. I wasn’t sure how this was all going to play out, but I knew after a day at the springs, and with what I have planned next, you’d want to be in something other than that incredible bathing suit.”
“I can’t change into it out here, though,” she sighed, her fingers running over the wispy blue fabric. God, the little bees were even more adorable than she remembered.
“You can. No one is out here with us. And we can be fast. I’ll slip the dress over your head, and you can slip your bikini top off once the fabric is covering you.”
Goodness, she really did want to put it on. And Hawk was right, there was no one around…
“Okay,” she laughed, plucking the strings loose from around her neck. “Let’s do it.”
Hawk’s eyes dropped to her exposed chest, heat blazing immediately in his gaze. “Pretty Girl, you can’t be doing that to me right now. We’ve got a schedule we have to adhere to.”
“We do, do we?”
“Yep.” Hawk shook his head, closed his eyes for a moment and then grabbed the dress off the branch, all while Jessie tried not to laugh. “Arms up, beautiful.”
The fabric slipped over her body, somehow still cool from sitting in the shade of the late afternoon sunlight. Her skin pebbled as his feather light touch dusted over her arms, her breasts, her waist, and her belly.
“Hey, baby girl. How about we go see this place Mama wants to show us?”
Jessie ran her hand over her belly, letting it rest at the bottom. All that walking must have kept their daughter asleep, even through the rising blood sugar aftermath of her sweet treat indulgence.
Her eyes lingered over Hawk, who was fidgeting with something in his pocket.
And in that instant, it all clicked into place. He already knew about her secret place. About the place she’d told her parents about all those years ago, when she would imagine what it was like to be proposed to. And he got her a pretty dress, and was walking with her up there now.
“She’s still asleep. But I’m finally ready.”
Hawk’s eyebrow raised so high she thought it might end up in his hairline, but as soon as she winked, his shoulders relaxed and he gave her such a genuine smile that his left dimple popped out. God, she hoped Bee had dimples just like him.
Jessie grabbed the bottom of the fabric and shakily put one foot in front of the other. They were only a minute or two away from the spot, and every step was filled with earth-shattering anticipation.
But not even the realization of what was about to happen could have prepared her for the reality of it.
Because right at her favorite hidden spring, with water so clear and blue it looked just like Hawk’s own eyes, there were hundreds—maybe thousands—of flower petals scattered about.
In her favorite tree, the one that had been bent and nearly blown over in a derecho years ago, flowers were weaved in and out of the branches to make the most beautiful arch she’d ever seen.
“I… Hawk?”
He took her hands, gently leading her until they were standing under that windblown tree.
“Jessie—”
“Yes,” she blurted. Oh god, her cheeks were burning.
“You’ve been wanting to ask all this time and never once have you held it against me that I wanted to wait.
But that’s just the thing, Hawk, I don’t want to wait any more.
So, before you even ask… before you say the words I know you have probably been practicing since the day we found out about the baby…
I want you to know that right now, today, and every day going forward, my answer will be yes. ”
He nodded and reached into his pocket, popping open the little black box to reveal the most beautiful engagement ring Jessie had ever seen before. The sunlight caught on a million different facets of the solitaire diamond and Jessie nearly went weak in the knees.
“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“Just like you. And just like our daughter will be.”
“Bee—”