Chapter Ten
Tyler
Winter sunlight poured through the tall windows overlooking the manicured knot garden hidden behind the house.
The wood floors gleamed with both the sunlight and the glow of the fireplace.
I loved this room, ever since the first time I’d set foot inside it, the day the social worker brought me to meet Mama Nancy.
Cradling a warm mug of Mama Nancy’s spiced tea, I snuggled into the plush floral sofa and sighed. “I need to talk with you about something with me and Jase.”
Brows arched, Mama Nancy settled into her chair, the leather worn and comfortable. She had on her Saturday lounge suit, the pink one because the gray one was for Sunday afternoons. “Am I listening, giving advice or taking action?”
That taking action sounded like a threat of bodily harm.
“I don’t know yet.” She had me, would always have me in a way that warmed me throughout. I could rest in knowing I could trust her to always be with me. Jase made me feel like that, too. “I’m pregnant.”
Her eyes lit up. I could already see her fantasies of being Grandma Nancy rolling through her imagination before her gaze took on an incisive gleam. “Do you want to have it?”
“Yes.” Throat tight, I sipped my tea, peppermint tickling my nose, the china warm against my hands. Fighting down the panic ballooning in my chest, I focused on the sensations instead of the overwhelming fear. I was having a baby, but it terrified me. “But I’m scared. What if I’m not good at it?”
“What if you stop talking absolute nonsense? I know you better.”
“I don’t know anything about babies–”
“I didn’t know anything about teenagers, but I let people help me and I learned. If this is what you want, I’ll be with you every step of the way.”
Silence lingered while she watched me take that in, her certainty settling me like always. Then she pursed her lips. “You said something with you and Jase. Did he act sideways about this?”
Oh, that was definitely a bodily harm threat.
“No.” I tapped the side of my mug, eyeing the gleam of Topless & Barefoot on my nails, the restless rhythm grounding me. “He wants us to get married.”
Her brows rose again, but otherwise, her expression gave nothing away. “What do you want?”
I shrank into the couch. “Him.”
“And why do you act like that’s something to be ashamed of?”
“Because we’ve been together like . . . weeks. And I’m pregnant. And I didn’t do things the way you said–”
“Tyler.” Her tone brooked no argument, the way it had when I’d first come to live with her and she’d been setting boundaries around my behavior.
“A person can do all the right things and still end up with a life different from what they planned. And that unexpected life can be unexpectedly beautiful.”
I knew she was talking about the end of her marriage – and about me.
“If he were talking about marriage and there was no baby, what would you think?” She lifted her own mug. “Would you want him?”
Want a man who listened to me, who saw me? Who treated me with respect and made me laugh? Who touched me like I was valuable?
“Yes.” The admission emerged as a small whisper.
“Honey, do not be ashamed to claim what you want.” She shook her head. “I didn’t raise you that way.”
“What if I turn out to be her? You know, make the same mistakes?” The idea haunted me. What if I damaged my baby the way she’d damaged me? I wouldn’t be able to live with that.
“Sweetheart, you would never.” Mama Nancy’s face softened. “You’re not her.”
“He says it would make all the baby stuff easier.” I rattled my nails on the side of my mug again. “If we were married.”
“Tyler, you do not need an excuse to make the decision you want to make, to do what is best for your life. You also don’t have to marry him.”
“No.” Again, there was my small voice when I didn’t want to be small. When what we were becoming wasn’t small in the slightest. I swallowed, my throat aching. “But I want to.”
The admission was huge. We were awful early in our relationship, but he was what I wanted – a good man. A steady one. I’d tried to push Colt into being what I needed.
Jase simply was.
“Sometimes we just know. My grandma met my grandfather at a Georgia Tech game, and they eloped to the Atlanta courthouse less than a month later. They were married sixty years.” She fixed me with a steady look over the rim of her mug. “And if it doesn’t work out, you get a good divorce attorney.”
I snorted on a swallow of tea.
“And you don’t have to decide today.”
I nodded, a slow, pensive dip of my chin.
Although we both knew I already had.
I voice-texted him once I was a few miles outside of Coney. His reply bounced back almost instantly.
Come over. Waiting for you
When I pulled in the driveway, I found him under the carport, vacuuming his freshly washed truck. Shirt damp, he straightened as I climbed out of my Explorer. He leaned down to kiss me then gestured at my car. “I’ll get yours, too.”
“You don’t have to.” I ran it through the wash whenever I filled up, but I couldn’t remember the last time I vacuumed.
With a slight grin, he touched the center of his chest. “Hey, let me have the small stuff. I’m supposed to do things for you.”
I did feel like I could let him do those things without giving up too much of myself.
Colt had offered – the two of them obviously had similar upbringings – but something held me back with him.
I couldn’t relax into him, so I needed to maintain my independence.
With Jase, I could allow him to perform small acts of service and still stand on my own.
“I wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee if you wanted to make me one.” Picking up the vacuum hose, he slanted a charming smile in my direction. “There’s that orange tea you like, too.”
Warmed that he’d remembered, I went inside to prep us each a hot drink.
I already knew he liked his coffee black and strong, and the simple moment offered a glimpse into what our life might be like.
Laundry tumbled in the dryer, the clean warmth of fabric softener hanging in the air, the hum and thump adding a normality to the quiet house.
I pulled down two of his vintage Corelle mugs, the white and green pattern.
People were going crazy over this stuff online, and he had two different sets of it, the white and green plus another white and yellow, thanks to Mrs. Hatcher.
I hadn’t seen her since that evening at Country Crossings.
She’d seemed to like me, seemed happy to see me, but that was as his date.
Wonder what she’d think about me being pregnant with his baby so soon after meeting him?
Wonder what his parents would think? I hadn’t even met them yet, so what if they didn’t even know about me?
Fighting off a cringe, I opened a tea bag and dropped it into my cup.
A package of shortbread cookies from the downtown bakery sat on the counter next to the electric kettle.
He didn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I’d mentioned loving those.
So here they were, waiting for me. And in a small glass container, I discovered the raw brown sugar I used in my tea.
He paid attention to everything I said.
He saw me.
Maybe it didn’t really matter what anybody else thought. Maybe all that mattered was him and me and our baby.
The storm door creaked when I carried out drinks outside. He straightened from vacuuming my car, long form flexing with his easy economy of movement.
“Thank you.” He punctuated the gratitude with a swift kiss.
I laid my hand at his waist, the damp cotton of his t-shirt cool against my palm. “You’re going to be cold.”
He made an amused noise deep in his throat before taking a cautious sip. “I work all day outside and get wet in colder weather than this.”
“Still.” I folded my hands around my warm cup and watched him take another swallow, the muscles in his throat flexing. “I want to marry you, Jase.”
He sputtered, then coughed, his eyes watering but lit with joy and excitement – the same way he’d looked when I told him about the pregnancy. “Yeah?”
I nodded.
He stepped forward, paused, and reached for my cup. Setting both on the concrete, he engulfed me in a tight hug.
“You might’ve let me finish my coffee before springing it on me like that,” he muttered near my ear. His laugh vibrated through me.
I pressed my nose to his collar, inhaling the clean smell of soap mingled with the unique warmth of his skin. A hint of acidic carwash detergent tickled my next inhale. “Have to keep you on your toes.”
That gorgeous laugh rumbled through me again, and I caught a glimpse of affection in his blue eyes before he kissed me, hard. “Finish your tea. I have something for you.”
“That’s why we’re in this situation.”
“Not that.” With an indulgent chuckle, he popped my ass. “And I’d want this even if you weren’t pregnant.”
I called bullshit on that, but kept it to myself. He’d just want to argue and then make up, not that I minded making up with him.
“You want a big wedding?” He wrapped the shopvac cord in a neat coil atop the appliance.
“No.” Orange spice burst on my tongue with a sip. Even cooling, the tea was amazing. “That was Marilyn’s thing.”
“What do you want?” He stowed the vacuum in the small storage closet at the rear of the carport. Over his shoulder, he shot a quick glance at me, one brow lifted.
“Something small, but nice.” I shrugged. Mama Nancy would have ideas, but I didn’t need all the frills. Small, easy frills would be nice. Something simple and pretty.
“Come on.” He hustled me up the steps and through the side door.
In the laundry room, he stripped off his shirt, giving me a glimpse of the lean muscles in his back.
I watched his belly flex, too, as he grabbed a clean, dry t-shirt and shrugged it on.
Little licks of desire unfurled low in my stomach.
Maybe I’d let him give me something after all.
Hair ruffled, he tugged the shirt down over his abs, a hint of amusement glinting in his eyes when he caught me eying him.
“Be right back.” Brushing his lips over my cheek, he disappeared through the family room, whistling.
Finishing my last bit of tea, I curled onto one of the kitchen chairs, a foot tucked under me.
He returned moments later, a blue velvet ring box in hand.
He hunkered down before me and flipped it open.
“What do you think? If you don’t like it, we’ll go to Hodges and you can pick something else. I want you to be satisfied.”
A pretty, old-fashioned solitaire on a hefty gold band, the ring glittered in the afternoon sunlight. I gave it a suspicious scowl, trying to remember his ex’s ring from her social media posts.
“Quit looking like that. It’s not her ring.” His voice hardened. “She picked that one out. I broke the engagement, so she kept it. This is my great-grandma’s on the Hatcher side. I called her Noonie.”
I smiled, relief crashing through me. I didn’t want anything of hers. Well, him, but he wasn’t hers any longer.
He was mine.
I lifted my gaze to his. “It’s pretty.”
Jaw relaxing, he picked up my left hand and slid the ring into place, a perfect fit. He fiddled with it, moving the diamond side-to-side with his thumb.
He slanted a fierce glance up at me, brows drawn together, earnestness blazing in his gaze. “Everything I’m giving you? I never gave her.”
I stilled. The words sounded great, with his family heirloom ring sparkling on my finger and his baby growing inside me. But he said he cared for me a lot when I was sure he’d told her he’d loved her. And he’d given her years, when I’d had what amounted to weeks.
I wasn’t calling bullshit, and I planned to marry him, see what we could build.
But I wasn’t forgetting to protect myself either.