Chapter 7
Joci entered the office upstairs at Rolling Thunder and smiled.
They'd taken a storage room next to Jeremiah's office and opened it into the office to expand the room for another desk, some storage, and a small room where the baby would sleep when both of them were working there.
She marveled at the progress that had been made. "This is looking great."
Jeremiah stood beside her. "It does. I'm glad we decided to do this."
She chuckled. "You aren't going to miss your messy bachelor’s office?"
His grin came easily. "No. I won't miss the posters of the hot women and bikes. I won't miss the piles of stuff I needed to file. And I won't miss the old wooden desk with the beverage rings marred into the finish. This is all so beautiful. I'm glad you talked me into the black desks."
She smiled at his praise. "I'm glad I did, too. What's left for the contractors to do?"
He turned to the wall behind his desk, "They still need to finish painting over there." Then he moved them to the small room for the baby. Flipping on the light, she saw the painting had been finished and the trim had been installed. "All we need in here is the crib and the baby."
She chuckled. "The crib we can take care of soon, the baby has another five months to go."
"Yeah."
She chuckled. "I'm sadder about that than you are, Mister."
He kissed her lips. "I don't think so."
She laughed. They left the baby's room, and she sat behind her desk. At first, she admired the sleek black lines of the desks. The matte finish top set off the high gloss sides beautifully. As soon as she saw the desks, she knew they'd be perfect in here.
Jeremiah chuckled as Gunnar stepped into the office. "Hey. It's nice to see you here, Mom."
She smiled at her handsome son. "Thank you." Her eyes darted to Jeremiah's, not sure what the boys knew or didn't know.
He nodded. "They know, honey."
"You mean about Mercer? Have you seen him again?"
Jeremiah took a deep breath. "Your mom found muddy footprints on the patio this morning.
Someone walked up to the glass doors and looked in, or tried to.
That's what it looked like, anyway. Today I have the security company over installing cameras all around the house.
And I've contacted the detective in charge of Mercer's case, Teddy Jones, and Tommy to let them know what happened. "
Gunnar took a deep breath and blew it out. "Is there anything we can do?"
Jeremiah shook his head. "No, except keep your eyes open for anything that seems out of place or anyone lurking."
"Okay." Gunnar turned to Jeremiah. "We need you down in the garage. There's a customer insisting on some radical changes to his bike, but doesn't want to pay."
Jeremiah shook his head, then his eyes met hers. "I'll be back soon. Enjoy the quiet."
She smiled at both of them as they left together, her pride-filled heart swelled.
Taking a deep breath, she looked around the office for the things she kept on her desk.
She'd packed them in a box before the workers came in a couple of weeks ago.
Moving to the closet, she opened the door to see boxes of office equipment and supplies stacked haphazardly. "Men!" she scoffed at the closet.
Pulling down a box, she pulled the top open to see that it was Jeremiah's desk supplies.
She carried it to his desk and set it down.
Determined to find her desk supplies and photos she'd so lovingly placed on the table where she had previously worked, she finally located the box on a high shelf to her left.
She wedged herself between the copy machine and the shelves, then reached her arms up and pulled the box down with some effort.
Scooting from her tight position, she slowly lowered the box below her shoulders and felt a sharp pain in her belly.
She cried out as the pain split through her, dropped to her knees, and let the box fall to the floor. Jeremiah rushed into the room. "Joci, what the hell happened?"
She blew quick, short breaths to stave off the pain before she could finally speak. "I just wanted my desk supplies. I had a sharp pain in my belly."
"Okay, let's go to the hospital."
"No." She took a deep, slow breath. "It's fine, Jeremiah. It was muscle pain. It just hit me fast and hard, and I wasn't expecting it."
"I'd feel better if we went."
She shook her head as the pain finally subsided. "Honestly, I'm good. If it will make you feel better, I'll call the doctor, and if she thinks we need to come in, we will. But I don't want to run for every little thing."
"This might not be a little thing."
She laid her hand on his arm and looked into his beautiful green eyes.
"Jeremiah, I don't want anything to happen to this baby either.
But, trust me, I know what a muscle cramp is.
I stretched and lifted something heavy at the same time.
It was my body reminding me not to do that anymore. Message received."
He helped her to her feet, then wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her in tight. "I love you, Joci."
She closed her eyes and absorbed his strength and love. "And we love you."
She felt the chuckle reverberate through his body, and she squeezed him tight.
After a moment, he stepped back and looked into her eyes. "You're sure you're alright?"
"I'm sure. But if you wouldn't mind picking up the box and setting it on the desk, I'd be grateful."
"You got it."
He easily picked up the box, and she moved to the desk with him.
After he set it down, he moved around to his desk and started unpacking the items inside.
Framed pictures of his boys, of Jeremiah and Joci on the Veteran's Ride, a family picture of all of them with Gunnar, and a picture of Gunnar were lovingly placed on the credenza behind his desk.
He arranged them with care as she watched. It made her eyes water.
Without turning toward her, he said, "Have you thought about names for the baby?"
She smiled. "Yes. Have you?"
"I have. What names have you come up with?"
"You first." She watched his eyes glitter when he turned toward her. He took a deep breath. "If it's a girl, I like Madison."
"Really? Why?"
"I had a dream. A little blonde girl ran to me, calling me Daddy. I called her Maddy. When I woke up, it felt so real, and I was sad when I realized it wasn't. And I love the name."
Joci thought for a moment. It was an adorable name, and oddly, she didn't have a girl’s name that stuck out to her. "I like that a lot."
Jeremiah's smile spread across his handsome face. "What about a boy's name?"
She chuckled. "I thought about Jeremiah, but that's JT. I thought about Robert, after my father, but that doesn't fit with the boys - JT, Ryder, and Gunnar. How about Hunter?"
His brows shot up, and his smile widened. "I love that. I wish we were having twins!"
"Oh my gawd. I don't." She placed her hands on her belly, just imagining the size she'd get with two babies in there gave her pains.
Jeremiah leaned forward. "We can always have another one."
"Oh my God, Jeremiah. Stop." But she laughed. Even though it was so different this time, she didn't want to be that old and pregnant again. And their boys were at the age where soon they'd have grandbabies. It was enough to wait for those little ones to join them.