Chapter 33 Summer
Summer
“Twins, huh? I did not see that coming.” Owen sidles up to me as I watch Burke on the mechanical bull. He stares at my belly with awestruck eyes. “Guess it makes sense. Your Hollywood being a twin and all.”
“Triplet,” I say, still watching Burke.
The numbers on the digital timer run up toward the town record as he seesaws on the back of the bull. A record he set himself during training for the real thing a few years back. And he won’t let any of us forget it.
Almost flat on his back he waves his hat in the air over his head as he moves in sync with the erratic bucking. His gaze flicks to Kia, because of course this is all about showing off to Rogue’s gorgeous assistant.
And it looks like she’s into it. I catch her checking him out as she talks to the wait staff and then the bartenders.
“Triplet then. Are you sure you’re not—”
“I’m fat. Not carrying three babies.” I tug my coat more tightly around my waist, though it’s warm enough to go without it in the barn, before it clicks that I’m appeasing Owen.
Screw that. It’s my body, not his. He can be grumpy about it.
He’s been hell bent on being a grouch since we arrived anyway. I let the material fall open.
“You’re not fat.” He averts his gaze back to my belly. The tops of his ears glow. “Do you know what they’ll be yet?”
“Talented. Smart. Stubborn as an ox.” I rest a hand on my belly. “Unafraid. Capable of accepting themselves and others without judgement.”
“I meant the sex,” he says.
I blow out a breath. As if we all don’t believe they’ll be boys. Except Rebel, who is adamant we’re going to have girls. “I want it to be a surprise.”
“Sorry I took so long,” Rebel says as he appears by my side. He presses his lips to my temple. “I got waylaid by the—”
“FBI. I know. And Dizzy...”
“That was unexpected.” He chuckles and his brow wrinkles. “West didn’t react how I expected he would. I went to look for him, but I couldn’t find him.”
“He probably needs some time.” I settle a hand on his bicep.
“That’s if he doesn’t decide to have a chat with our new friend,” Rebel says but then lets it go. “Owen.”
“Hollywood.” Owen’s tone stays smooth. His body language relaxed.
What gives? Why the change? All day he’s been a complete bear.
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to steal Summer away for a bit.”
Owen nods. “Got some things to do anyway.”
“That was strange,” I say as Owen leaves us. “He’s acting weird, right?”
“No.” Rebel takes my hand and threads his fingers through mine. “He’s realized I won’t let him push me around. Or you.”
“M-maybe.” I watch Owen and Rebel exchange a look.
“Seriously. I told you I’d win your brothers over. This is headway.”
“You’re right.” They’re no longer trying to kill each other. That’s progress. I should accept it and be grateful. “I’m glad.”
“Good.” He squeezes my hand. “Will you come with me? I want to show you something while everyone is focused on Rogue and Ivy.”
“What is it?” As a bridesmaid shouldn’t I stay? But he piques my curiosity and Ivy and Rogue seem to have forgotten they’re surrounded by friends and family. She’s perched on his lap. He’s got his hand threaded in her hair and he tugs her head back to kiss her.
“It’s a surprise.” Rebel runs his thumb over my knuckles.
They’re busy with each other. Everyone else is enjoying the bar and music. Tomorrow bridesmaid’s duties will ramp up. Alone time with my man is exactly what I need. “Let’s go.”
He leads the way out of the barn and across the driveway onto the lawn beyond. The further from the barn we go, the darker it gets.
An ear-piercing shriek makes me jump and cling to Rebel tighter. It’s followed by running feet echoing in the quiet. A blur of pink comes out of the darkness and sprints across the path in front of us.
I clutch my throat, an awkward laugh spewing out. “Dizzy.”
She doesn’t stop, darting under the willow branches alongside the water. Another person materializes in the distance. West. He moves much slower, more determined. In his hands he carries something soft and black. The expression on his face is dark, and not because of the shadows from the trees.
He must be upset.
“This way.” Rebel draws me along as West vanishes beneath the willow branches too.
“Should we—”
“Stay out of their business? Yes.” He continues down the path that comes out beyond the trees into a private area with a garden bench and a great view of the sky.
“West obviously adores her and would never let anything happen to her. I doubt he could harm one pink strand on her head. She has him wound around her little finger.”
“Do you think they’re making up?” Dizzy did say something about masks earlier. Perhaps that’s what West had in his hand.
“They could be.” He stops. Someone has laid down a picnic blanket. “I wanted to get you alone. Away from our combined family.”
There are a couple of fuzzy woollen blankets, soft oversized pillows, and a woven basket filled with treats and a bottle of bubbles. Non-alcoholic of course.
A warm glow emits from a dozen candle lit lanterns. “You did this?”
“I did.” He presses his lips to the top of my head. “You are my entire world, Summer Heart.”
Is this... is this it? Is this when he asks me? I crane my neck like that will help me peer into the basket to see if there’s a ring box inside.
He drops to his knees.
My heart almost bursts out of my chest. “Rebel, what are you doing?”
“Join me?” His cashmere smile sets loose butterflies in my belly.
I lower myself onto the blanket. He’s probably worried that I might faint when he digs the ring out. With the way my knees wobbled it’s safer for me to be sitting. I lick my lips. “Rebel, what—”
His lips land on mine. His tongue seeks access.
I melt into the lingering kiss.
He rests his hand on the side of my neck. When he pulls away, his thumb brushes my jawline. A heavy breath deflates his chest. “I need to ask you something.”
“What is it?” I wrap my hand around his. “What do you want to ask me?”
Because I am dying to say yes. I want to spend the rest of my life with this man. I want to carry his name as well as his children. I want him to claim my future the way he claimed my body and my heart.
I want to know that his future is mine too. That we’re inextricably tangled in this life.
“Is there anything else that you haven’t told me? About coming home? About why you haven’t been yourself lately?”
“It’s hard.” I kiss the heel of his palm. This isn’t our moment. It makes sense. It’s Rogue and Ivy’s moment. Still, it stings. “I told you they hurt me and blamed me for their actions.”
“You did, but you didn’t make it sound like you could never come back,” he says. “You always say how much you miss it here. Miss the sky at night when it’s glittering with stars. Miss your brothers.”
I miss my mom and the world that she lived in before she died. The world in which our neighbors were friends. When I thought I could live here forever.
But things change. Childhood memories were soured by the way I was treated after the incident.
I lay down on the blanket and stare up at the stars. There isn’t as much light pollution here as there is in the city. The stars are multiple. Clear specks of gold dust dotting the navy heavens.
I take a deep breath and then exhale. “They hate me here. Hate that my brothers put their boys on blast. Hate that I tried to stand up for myself by telling the police what really happened.”
Rebel lays on his side beside me. He splays his hand over my belly. Quietly waiting for me to go on.
“The boy that I was dating was the mayor’s son. It’s a small town, but that office still means something to these people. Another was the captain of the football team. Oh, and yeah, another was the son of the sheriff.”
Rebel hisses. It’s not an unexpected reaction. Reporting the sheriff’s son was never going to go well.
“Looking back, I should have begged Owen not to make me tell. But it was either that or he was going to take his shotgun and put a bullet in one of them, and I couldn’t let my brother end up in jail because I was dumb enough to find myself in that position.
” I hate thinking about any of it, but when I’m here, it’s all I seem capable of doing.
“Or at least that’s what I believed at the time.
Somehow, I let them get into my head. I let them make me believe I was at least partly responsible. ”
“Kitten,” Rebel says with so much empathy, and a hint of anger.
“That’s the part you know.” It was what I told him when I was ready for our relationship to go from friendly to intimate.
“Duke’s parents convinced everyone I was a slut who wanted to make trouble for their son.
The parents of the other boys followed suit, and suddenly I was a pariah.
No one wanted their sons hanging out with the slut or their daughters being seen with me in case being a slut was catching.
The more convinced people became that I was the problem, the more comfortable they got coming up to me and telling me I should leave.
That I wasn’t wanted here. That it was a good thing my mom was dead because she would be ashamed. ”
Tears roll down my cheeks. After all this time, it shouldn’t hurt like it does. My mom would be proud of me. She would have been on my side. She would have told all these people to go to hell. But it still gets to me.
“So that’s why I hate coming home to the ranch or stepping foot in Devil’s Bend proper.
Running into Kurt and Travis today brought it all back.
” I wipe the rest of my tears away with the back of my hand.
“I wish I could prove they were the assholes. Duke doesn’t deserve to be mayor.
None of them should be living their lives like they didn’t do a damn thing wrong while I was vilified. It makes me mad. It’s not fair.”
“Come here.” He rolls me up in his arms.