Chapter 39
Chapter thirty-nine
Giving Up On That
Cheyenne
The front door opened and shut, the scent of magnolias filling the air. Aunt Violet.
I turned to meet her gaze as she came to my left side. I wouldn’t say it was as hot as coals, like it had been earlier, but it definitely lacked the usual warmth I’d grown accustomed to. She sucked in a breath, no doubt readying herself for the tirade I knew was coming, so I spoke before she could.
“Look, with all due respect, Mrs. Mooney, if you’ve come out here to scold me, you can save your breath. I already know what you’re gonna say,” I said on a sigh.
I just wanted to get this over with. I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally.
Hopefully everyone would leave soon so that I could soak in the tub—preferably with Maverick—and then snuggle in bed while he ran his fingers through my hair until I fell asleep.
It had become almost a nightly ritual, and the thought of it now brought a sense of longing to my chest.
Aunt Violet scowled, one of her brows rising in challenge. “Oh, and what exactly do think that is?”
I blew out a breath, letting my eyes flutter closed for a moment before replying, “You think I’m using Maverick. Taking advantage of his kindness for my own personal gain. You think I’m no better than Ashleigh.” I finally leveled her with my gaze—far calmer than I actually felt.
She pursed her lips, her head tilting to the side ever so slightly.
I nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought… Look, I don’t blame you for thinkin’ that. I would think the exact same thing if I were in your shoes. But believe me when I tell you, I have no plans on hurtin’ your nephew.”
She let out a sigh. “I know you have no plans to, but that don’t mean he ain’t gonna get hurt.”
I didn’t know what to say. We were at an impasse. A crossroads with a dead-end on either side. Nothing I said would change her mind. Only actions. So, I just lifted my shoulders in a shrug and said, “I’m gonna make this work with him, whether you believe it or not.”
“I hope so,” she replied softly, coming to lean against the railing beside me. Crossing her arms over her chest she continued, “I like you, Cheyenne. I really do. But I know your kind.”
“My kind?” I scoffed.
She didn’t know me. She hardly knew anything about me.
“You gotta gypsy soul, and it takes you wherever the winds may roam. Tryin' to tie you down and keep you in one place is like ropin’ in the wind. Damn near impossible.”
I opened my mouth…to say what actually? She wasn’t entirely wrong. My whole life had been on the go, Texas had been the first state I’d stayed in more than a couple months. But even still, in the past couple years, I’d lived all over the state.
“I’m not gonna leave him,” I finally settled on saying.
Her disbelieving look spoke volumes.
“I mean it,” I continued. “I’m stayin’.”
“Even in a few months from now? Or a year? Maybe five years? Are you gonna stay with him for the long haul?”
I thought of Maverick. Of our blossoming relationship. We worked well together, and living with him was far easier than I’d ever expected. And he meant the world to me.
“Yes.”
A flicker of surprise flashed in her gaze, some of the anger melting away. “Do you love him?”
I thought of his admission to me six weeks ago now. He proved each and every day how much he loved me and this baby. And I loved him. Though, I’d been too scared to admit it.
I’d never told a boyfriend I loved them. Never. Honestly, I hardly ever stayed in a relationship long enough to get to that point. I think deep down, some part of me was scared to be that vulnerable, to open myself up that much to another person.
Keeping my chin up, my head held high, I said with certainty, “I do.”
Some of the harsh lines in the corners of her eyes softened. “Then tell him. Tell him every day. As much as you can. Maverick’s the strongest man I’ve ever known, but it’s the strong ones who need the most remindin’.”
“I will,” I said with a nod.
I don't know what she saw or heard in my eyes or voice, but it seemed enough to satisfy her. With a nod of her own, she turned and left me alone on the front porch.
Well, that was fun.
My heart fluttered anxiously against my ribcage still, trying and failing to calm after that stressful conversation. I tried to focus on my breathing, taking slow, deep inhales in before blowing them out.
Why was this harder than it had been telling my own dad? He’d congratulated me, told me he’d be making a trip out from Mexico or Hawaii or wherever the hell warm tropical place he’d decided to vacation at, and that was that. No judgment. No questioning. It’d been so much easier.
The door creaked open once more and my hopes rose like the swell of an ocean wave thinking it was Maverick, only for my dismay to plummet down once more as Bad came out instead.
His hazel gaze landed on me, his lips pulling up into a hint of a smirk. “Easy girl. I ain’t comin’ out here to scold ya.”
“Your wife already did that,” I huffed, the words falling from my lips before I could stop them. I clamped a hand over my mouth at the admission.
Bad chuckled and waved me off before making his way off the front porch and onto the gravel driveway.
He gestured with a nod for me to follow.
I did. Not only was I probably one of his biggest fans and just the thought of being in his presence was the coolest thing ever, but also, when Bad said something, you listened.
He didn’t talk for a few moments, the only sounds that of the gravel crunching beneath our feet and the cicadas screeching in the trees. “You know what the baby is?”
I shook my head, examining my cow print slip-ons as I walked. “No. Maverick and I went to this place to have an ultrasound that tells you the gender, but we’ve been waitin’ to open the envelope.”
“How come you haven’t opened it yet?” No accusation, no confusion, just pure curiosity.
I glanced over at him. “I don’t know, honestly. I think I’m scared.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because then it just makes it even more real.”
He huffed a laugh, jerking his chin toward my stomach. “That’s as real as it gets there, girl. It don’t make no difference what that baby comes out as.”
“So, you weren’t scared of havin’ one over the other?
” I’d been stressing about what the baby was.
A girl hopefully meant cute outfits and hairstyles and adorable sassiness, but it also meant boy drama and girl problems, and periods, and catty friends and sassiness aimed at me.
Boys had their whole slew of issues as well, though.
“Oh, I was scared as hell at the idea of both, but in the end, it don’t matter. You got no control, so why bother worryin’ about it? You get what you get, and you raise ‘em up with the same morals, respect, and kindness you would if it was a boy of girl.”
A soft smile toyed on my lips. “Wise words.”
Another huff from him. Silence fell over us for another moment or so before he spoke again. “I ain’t the type to put my two cents in to places where it ain’t asked for, but I’m gonna offer you some now. Take it, leave it. I don’t care.”
I watched him as we walked, a silent request for him to continue.
“A lot of people are gonna have a lotta shit to say about you, Maverick, and that baby. They’re gonna tell you all sorts of things, and try to make you do what they say…
” He met my gaze. “You don’t listen to a damn word of it unless you and Maverick feel it’s right.
Ain’t nobody gonna be an expert on that baby the way you are.
Not me. Not Charlie or Ryder. Not even Violet.
And for the love of God, not Cash.” I chuckled at that.
“That’s your baby and you do what’s best for it. ”
I nodded. There was something so oddly soothing about his gruff, gravelly voice. In the last few moments, all the tension I’d been carrying around melted like snow in the spring sun.
“Your parents know?” he asked.
“I told my daddy. He’s happy. I haven’t talked to my mama since she left when I was four.”
He nodded, but didn’t press. For which I was grateful. Talking to him reminded me a lot of talking to Maverick. Neither man pressed and prodded for information, but they had a way of making you want to talk to them.
“Give Violet a few days and she’ll cool down. She might blaze bright and hot at the beginning, but the good thing about her is she simmers down real quick.”
“You sure about that?” I asked in disbelief.
He chuckled as we came to a stop by the pond’s edge.
I hadn’t even noticed we’d moved from the gravel to the grass.
The last rays of the dying sunlight cast a weak reflection on the pond's relatively smooth surface. Bending over, he grabbed a stray rock and bounced it off the water, causing it to skip three times before making a splash. “I’ve been with that woman for damn near forty years. Trust me. Give it a few days and you’ll be wishin’ she was still mad at you.
She’ll be talkin’ baby names and plannin’ your shower by the end of the week, I guarantee it. ”
I watched as he picked up another rock and wound his arm back before letting it fly. This was my hero, my idol growing up. I’d spent so many years as a child imagining what I’d ever do if I ever met him, and here I was not only talking to him, but talking about me and my baby, no less.
He’d managed to somehow replace all of the anxious energy within me and turn it to calm just by his presence. Picking up a rock as well, I mirrored his actions. For a while, him and I just stood there, neither of us talking, just throwing rocks.
It was dark by the time I finally said, “Thank you.”
He paused mid-throw, meeting my stare. “For what?”
I didn’t even have the words really. For calming me down, for taking me away from the party to have a moment, for being as awesome of a person as I’d always imagined him to be. “For everythin’, I guess.”
His brow rose.