Southern Secrets (Southern 7)

She gasps when she sees it. "Is this …?"

"Billy gave it to me tonight," I say. "Said he’s been waiting for me to say something." She looks at the ring. "I asked him for your hand." Her mouth opens. "I mean, after your father and your mother. And your brother."

"You, Asher Normand, are my everything." I bend and finally kiss my future wife.

Epilogue Two

Amelia

Six years later

"Sit right here,” I tell our two-year-old son as I sit beside him on the stoop of the porch.

“I sit right here, Mommy," he says, looking up at me with his father’s face but my eyes. I push the black hair away from his forehead and smile at him. “Right here, Mommy.” He swings his little legs. I put my arm around him and bring him to me, kissing his head and smelling the lavender shampoo I used. “Look.” He points his finger. “Bird.” I look over and then see the white truck coming down the driveway. My son gasps out and looks at me. “Daddy.” He claps his hands. He loves me something fierce, but his father … well, he hangs the moon and all the stars.

Asher stops the truck and looks over at us, and just like it did all those years ago, my heart skips a beat. My husband, yeah, being engaged for a week was too much for him and well, he dared my grandfather and father that they couldn’t pull off a wedding in a week. News flash: they were done in three, so instead of a barbecue on a Sunday afternoon, we got married. I wore my grandmother’s wedding dress and my mother’s veil. I slid a gold band on his finger and officially made him mine. He opens the truck door and steps out, wearing his black work boots, cargo pants, and a black deputy’s polo. He spent the last six years working his ass off to earn his place in the department.

His aviators hide his brown eyes, but I know they are a light amber when he looks at us. “There they are,” he says, putting his glasses on the top of his head and smiling.

"There’s my boy," he says, walking to the steps. Our son, JB, gets up, clapping his hands together with glee. The minute he gets to the bottom step, he holds out his hands, and JB jumps into them. Asher’s arms catch him, and he buries his face in our son's neck. Our son came screaming into the world at a whopping ten pounds. He was fit to be tied until I fed him, and then he was fine. Asher was adamant about naming our son Jacob Billy, which was a mouthful. And to be honest, I only call him that when I’m really, really mad at him. Otherwise, he is JB to all of us. It wasn’t all flowers and roses. Asher doubted he could do it even though I knew he could. He was just unsure of everything until I left him alone with JB for a couple of hours. "You smell nice," he says, looking over at me. "It’s a little early for a bath."

"It was, but he was with Grandpa Billy today for a bit, and well …" I shrug. "They got into trouble, didn’t they?"

He looks at our son, trying to hide his smile. "Did you get in trouble?"

"I jumped in the mud," he says without an ounce of remorse. "Grandpa Billy, too."

He shakes his head and looks at me. "You look beautiful," he says, and I glare at him as he leans in and kisses my lips. "Doesn’t Mommy look beautiful?"

“Yes,” JB says, smiling at me.

He sits next to me, and he puts his arm around me while holding our son on his lap. "Did you have a good day?" I ask and look up when the sound of someone coming down the driveway makes me look up.

I don’t have to guess who it is when JB squeals out. My parents stop their truck right next to Asher’s. "There he is," my father says, getting out of the truck and coming over. He walks up the two steps, and then JB holds his hands up. "I heard that someone jumped in the mud today."

He nods his head as my father kisses his neck. "Okay, my turn," my mother says and holds out her hands. JB looks at my father and then my mother, not sure who to choose.

"I made cookies," my mother says, and that is all it takes for him to fly into her arms, making us all laugh.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, leaning back on one arm as my hand rubs my big swollen belly.

"You said you didn’t sleep last night." My mother looks at me. "So we thought we could take JB home with us."