Chapter 19
Nineteen
Baylor
I bury my face in Macklin’s neck, where I’m sitting on his lap in the recliner of our living room. Meanwhile, Ellison is fussing over every little detail, reminding my grandparents of things they already know. It’s taking extreme effort not to crack up laughing.
Macklin wraps his arm around me, and his body shakes with silent laughter. Lifting my head, I smile at him, and he winks before kissing me. Suddenly, I no longer care what my sister is doing, and all I see is him.
I see the man who allows me to be unapologetically me. He includes me, he thinks about me, and most of all, he shows up. That’s what’s important. I know that Macklin, no matter what, will always be there. I feel solid in that belief about the man I asked to marry me.
“Ellison James,” Grandma Ruby scolds her. “This is not my first rodeo.” She glances over at Macklin and winks. “I’ve taken care of a baby. I raised your mother, and I did just fine when your parents left you and your sisters with me. I can manage my great-granddaughter.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” Ellison sighs. “I just hate leaving her. Are you sure you don’t mind watching her?”
“Ells, baby, we’re just going to be up town. A few miles away. If anything happens, they’ll call us, but look at her.” We all turn to see Grandpa Dean blowing raspberries on Lainey’s belly. The giggle she rewards him with is infectious. “She’s perfectly content.”
“I just feel guilty since being back to work and leaving her during the day.”
“Go… Shoo. All of you. Get your hind ends out of here. We have a great-granddaughter to spoil.”
“Her favorite blanket—” Ellison starts, but Copeland kisses her to stop her.
“Baby, let’s go. She’ll be just fine. She won’t even know that we’re gone.”
Ellison’s face crumbles. “Copeland!” She smacks his chest.
“You know what I mean. I love our girl, and I hate leaving her, too. But I really want to spend time with my wife on the dance floor on a date night. We won’t stay long, promise.”
“I know, I’m being ridiculous.” Ellison pulls away from Copeland and moves toward the couch, where Grandpa Dean is making faces at Lainey, who’s eating up the attention.
“Bye, sweetie. Mommy and Daddy will be home soon.”
Lainey coos, then her attention is pulled right back to Grandpa Dean.
“Let’s go,” Copeland says. He leans over and places a kiss on Lainey’s head, making her squeal with delight. She’s a daddy’s girl, but still, Grandpa gets her attention back.
“That will be us soon,” Macklin whispers just for me, his hand resting over my belly.
Tears well in my eyes, but I quickly blink them away.
We found out this morning that I’m pregnant.
I’d been feeling off, and I was a few days late.
Not late enough that I should have taken a test yet, but when I told Macklin, he ran out and bought one of every kind, and he stood with me the entire three minutes we waited.
When the results of all five tests read positive, he held me while I cried.
I always wanted kids of my own, and for some reason, after Todd’s decision, I felt like it would never happen for me.
But Macklin was right. My body knew that my head and my heart were on different pages, and once they aligned, once I admitted that I’d fallen in love with him, well, here we are. Starting our family.
“I love you.”
His eyes soften. “I love you, too, my beautiful Baylor. So much.” He kisses me again, and everything fades away.
“Okay, love birds, let’s go,” Courtlynn calls out.
We’re both laughing as we ease out of the kiss. I stand, offering Macklin my hand to pull him out of the chair. We wave goodbye to my grandparents and follow everyone out the door.
Tonight is friends’ night at the Hideaway.
Oddly enough, it was Ellison who decided it was happening, even with her reluctance to leave her daughter behind for a few hours.
She claims that we don’t spend enough time together, and we all agreed.
So, she called Bowen, and he reserved the back room of his bar for our group, and that’s where we’ll be the rest of the night.
“Leighton, we’re driving separately,” Courtlynn calls out as Macklin and I make our way down the front steps. “We have to separate ourselves from the love fest,” she says, looking over her shoulder and winking at me.
“You don’t know what you’re missing!” I call back to her. Macklin chuckles, squeezing my hand and leading me to his truck. I wait for a snarky comment about me proposing to him, but it never comes.
The drive to the Hideaway is short, and Macklin’s driving like he’s ninety. “What’s wrong?” I ask him.
He glances over, and the smile he gives me almost stops my heart. “Nothing. Just dreading sharing you with everyone.”
“It’s a few hours.”
“I know,” he says, pulling into an empty parking space. “It’s a few hours too long.”
“Do you want to tell them?” I ask him.
“Baby, that’s up to you. I know some don’t until they reach the end of the first trimester, right? Like thirteen weeks,” he says, his brow furrowing as if he’s trying to remember.
“You’ve been reading.” I smile at him.
“I have. I want to know what you’re going through and how I can help.
You’re going to be doing all the heavy lifting until this little one gets here.
” He reaches over the console and places his hand flat on my belly.
“I’m going to be there for every moment, Bay. I don’t want to miss a single second.”
My eyes tear up again. “Stop.” I smile, wiping at my tears. “Hormones,” I mutter.
“You decide, baby. Whatever you want to do.”
“I think I’ll have to tell them if they don’t guess. I won’t be drinking.” And I know my sisters, especially Courtlynn, she’ll pick up on it, and my little sister won’t hold any punches.
“We won’t be drinking.”
“What? Macklin, that’s not necessary.”
“Told you, I’m there, every minute. You can’t drink, neither can I.”
“I think Copeland has rubbed off on you.”
“Nah, he’s a good husband. A good dad. That’s what I’m going to be for you and our kids.”
“How about, if they bring it up, we confess. Otherwise, we keep it between us. Just a little while longer. We’ve only known for a few hours.”
He grins. “Sure, baby. Pretend that you’re going to be able to keep this news from your sisters for several more weeks.” He smirks, grabs his phone and keys, and climbs out of the truck.
I don’t wait for him to open my door, and instead, push mine open and hop out, meeting him. He opens his mouth, I’m sure to tell me I should have waited for him, but I beat him to it. “There will be plenty of times in the coming months where I’ll need your help, cowboy,” I assure him.
“And I’ll be there,” he says, kissing my temple, sliding his arm around my waist, and leading me into the bar.
We make our way to the back room, waving to everyone, because let’s face it, in this small town, you’d be hard pressed to find someone in this bar that we don’t know in some way.
Pushing open the door, Macklin leads me inside with his hand on the small of my back, and I gasp when I see the fairy lights hanging all around. “Bowen, did you let Courtlynn have free rein of this room?” I ask our friend and owner of this fine establishment.
“As if,” Bowen scoffs.
“It wasn’t just Court,” my best friend Sophia says. “We all helped.” She motions around the room to my sisters, our best friends, and the guys.
“What?” I turn to Ellison. “I could have helped you,” I tell her, feeling left out, just as I used to be when I’d have to watch my friends and family through a tiny phone screen.
“That would have spoiled the surprise,” Macklin says, and when I turn to look at him, he’s dropping to one knee.
“What are you doing? We did this already,” I remind him.
He grins up at me. “You got your turn, and now, I get mine.”
“You didn’t really think he was going to let that go, did you, Baylor?” Dixon asks.
I ignore him, keeping my eyes on Macklin. “You already agreed to marry me.”
He nods. “I did, and I can’t wait to be your husband, but you stole my thunder before I could give you this.
” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a shiny white-gold ring.
My eyes are watering, so I can’t make it out exactly, but I already know it’s the most gorgeous ring ever, because he picked it—this man who knows me.
All of me. “Baylor Moran, love of my life, will you do me the incredible honor of accepting this ring and making me your husband? Will you marry me?”
I fall to my knees in front of him and wrap my arms around him in a fierce hug.
“I love you,” I mutter into his neck. “I love you so much.” My heart feels full, so full it might burst. Who would have thought that coming home would give me everything I ever wanted?
We lost our parents, and I was convinced I needed to leave, to seek something more, when all along, everything I needed was here in Magnolia Ridge.
“Now, we drink!” Sophia cheers as Macklin and I stand, and she pulls me into a hug.
“I’m so happy for you, bestie.”
“Thank you.”
“Here you go, love birds.” Leighton hands us each a bottle of beer.
“Uh, thanks, but I’m not drinking.”
“Nope. We’re not drinking,” Macklin says.
“No way!” Courtlynn says. My little sister misses nothing. “You’re pregnant.” It’s not a question, but I nod anyway.
If I thought the cheers of our engagement were loud, this chaos around us, the happiness, the tears, the love, it’s overwhelming in the best way. Somehow, I end up in a circle of just me and my sisters. Our heads are pressed together, and our arms are wrapped around each other.
“I wish they were here,” Ellison says softly.
“Even after everything?” I ask, because I’m still uncertain about how our mother handled the letters from Copeland.
“Yeah,” she says. “I think—now that I’m a mom—I kind of understand her a little better.
At least I’d like to think that I do. I would never do that to Lainey.
I’ve been on the receiving end. But I understand wanting to keep your kids close.
” She pauses, then adds, “I want to forgive her. I don’t want to carry hate with me.
They were good parents, and they loved us. Just maybe a little too hard at times.”
“I wish they were here, too,” I confess. “I miss them so much, and they’re about to have two grandbabies.” I smile through my tears.
“Thanks for taking one for the team, Bay,” Courtlynn says, trying to break up the heaviness of the moment. “Now, if you could just have multiples, since we need at least four, so triplets if you don’t mind.” She grins. “Then, on sisters’ night, we’ll have one for each of us to cuddle.”
“Easy there.” I laugh. “Let’s start with one. You and Leighton are just going to have to get busy if you need more than that, or maybe Ellie and Cope might try again soon.” I smile at my oldest sister.
“Not yet, but yeah, we want more.”
“Can I have my wife back?” Macklin says.
“Hold up, cowboy, she’s still ours, and always will be, even when she changes her last name,” Courtlynn tells him when we all stand and break out of our sister huddle.
“Fine, pick a date, Bay.”
“Oh, we can help.” Leighton takes her phone out of her back pocket, I assume to pull up her calendar.
“When are you thinking?” Ellison asks me.
I hold my hand out for Macklin. He takes it and pulls me into his chest. “Soon,” I answer. “I want to be his wife soon. I don’t care when. If you all want to pick the date, fine. Just let me know, and I’ll be there. I do have one request.” I glance up at Macklin. “If it’s okay with you.”
“Anything, baby, you know that.”
“Bro, you don’t know what you’re agreeing to,” Bowen chimes in.
“Hush it, Nichols.” Courtlynn glares at him.
“He’s not wrong.” Dixon laughs.
“Doesn’t matter. If my wife wants it, she gets it.”
Copeland laughs and slaps a hand down on Macklin’s shoulder. “Welcome to the other side, my man. It’s happier here,” he tells him.
“Yeah,” Macklin says, smiling down at me. “It’s a good place to be.”
Those damn tears well again, but I push them back. “I want to get married at the inn. It will feel like our parents are there with us, and while I’m still mad at Mom for what she did, I want to feel them when we pledge our love for one another.”
“Done.”
“Okay, so I’m looking at the reservations now.” Leighton holds up her phone. “I’m assuming that we want as few inn guests as possible that weekend?”
“It’s a small guest list. Everyone in this room, Gram and Gramps, Mac’s parents, and whoever else he wants to invite.”
“Maybe a few of the guys from the circuit. Hank and Brad. They heard me whine about loving you and not being able to have you for years. I think it’d be nice for them to see us get married.”
“Done, so super small. We don’t need to close off the inn. We need a room for Hank, and one for Brad. Everyone else is local.”
Leighton’s fingers fly across the screen of her phone. “Done. I reserved four rooms, just in case.”
“For when?” I laugh.
“Oh, right.” She grins. “Memorial Day weekend. That’s a month from now. You think you can find a dress by then?”
“Yeah, I know I can.”
“And Alice can do the food. We’ll pay her extra, even though we know she’ll complain.”
“I got the cake covered,” Courtlynn says. “This one”—she points to Ellison—“didn’t give me the chance. I’m not missing this opportunity.”
“It was spontaneous,” Ellison defends.
“You’re forgiven.” Courtlynn grins.
“One month?” Macklin says, and I tilt my head back to look at him. “One month, and you’re my wife?”
“Sounds like it, cowboy. Are you good with that?”
His answer is to kiss me. Everyone claps and cheers, but it all fades away, and all I can see is him. The man who loved me patiently and unapologetically. The man who stole my heart. The one who never plans to give it back, and I’m thrilled to live every day of forever with him.
My cowboy.