living room. Stay here with me, baby. ”
Ari turned to look at me, and I could see the tears building in her eyes. Motherfucker, this sucks. She gave me a weak smile and then turned and walked out of the bedroom.
I sat down on the bed and pushed my hands through my hair. Why couldn’t it be Ari who was pregnant and not Rebecca? Why do I keep hurting the one person I loved the most? Laying down, I stared the ceiling until around 4am. My heart was breaking a little more with each passing minute. I never once heard Ari get up and get sick.
My alarm went off around 7:30. I got up and walked out to the living room to find that Ari was already gone.
Heading back to the bedroom, I grabbed a pair of jeans and put on a t-shirt before I went to my truck.
This day is gonna suck.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
GUNNER
Jeff and Ari had left a while ago and I was exhausted mentally and physically. Not to mention, I was pissed that we had to cut our damn honeymoon in half.
Grams and Gramps had been talking about my dad for the last hour. I looked over at Ellie. She was struggling to keep her eyes open. I thought back to the day before yesterday when I’d watched her sleep on the beach. My heart hurt so much from just thinking about how much I loved this girl.
She must have sensed me looking at her; she looked up at me and smiled. Her smile stopped my whole world. I would do anything to see her smile like that. She winked at me and then turned back to Grams.
“Emma, please let me know what I can do to help out with the party. Or maybe you need help getting things ready for when Grace and Jack get here? Whatever I can do to help keep Jack comfortable, please just let me know. I’d love to help out in any way. ”
“Ellie, darlin’, you’re a sweetheart. I’m so sorry y’all had to cut your honeymoon in half. Your mother is sick over it, Drew. Drew?”
I couldn’t peel my eyes away from Ellie. I swore that this girl didn’t have a mean bone in her body. The minute I told her about my dad having a heart attack, she had started packing up our things. She had never once said a negative thing about giving up our honeymoon. Now, she was offering to help out a man who didn’t even bother to show up for our wedding.
“Gunner, maybe we should head to the cabin. You must be exhausted,” Ellie said with a sparkle in her eye. I smiled back at her and her smile grew bigger.
“I’m sorry Grams. I couldn’t pull my thoughts away from my beautiful bride sitting over there. What did you say?”
Grams let out a laugh, and Gramps stood up and hit my back.
He leaned down toward my ear.
“Go on home, son. We can talk tomorrow. I can see that you’re itching to have your bride in your arms. ”
I laughed as I stood up and shook Gramps hand. I swore that the bastard grew wiser by the minute.
Ellie stood up and hugged Grams. They talked about getting together tomorrow to cook up a storm. Then, I noticed Grams leaned in as she whispered something to Ellie. Ellie pulled back with a surprised look on her face as nodded her head. Grams pulled Ellie in for a longer hug as she said something to her. I couldn’t even listen to what Gramps was saying to me. The look on Ellie’s face was so sad. What the hell is going on?
***
The drive to the cabin seemed like it took forever. I held Ellie’s hand the entire time as she looked out the window into the darkness.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong? I can tell you’re bothered by something. ”
Ellie turned toward me and let a small smile play across her face.
“I guess I’m just nervous. I’m nervous about being home, helping you with the ranch, and meeting your dad. I’m also worried about, what’s going on with Ari. I don’t know. It’s all just so crazy. ”
I pulled her hand up to my mouth and pressed a soft kiss on it. “Don’t be nervous about the ranch Ells. Gramps and Grams will help us. As far as my dad is concerned. ” I let out a laugh as shook my head. “I’m not so sure that I can tell you not to be nervous about meeting him. He’s a hard ass, and to be honest, he’s made me nervous my whole damn life. Don’t worry though, sweetheart, he’s going to fall in love with you the moment he sees you, just like everyone else has. ”
I parked the truck as we pulled up to the cabin. It seemed like just yesterday when we had been here and I asked her to marry me. I sat there for a second, trying to get my heart-beat under control.
I jumped out and ran around to open the truck door for her. I reached in and took her hand as I helped her out of the truck.
“Such a gentleman,” Ellie said with a giggle.