“What did you do to her? I’ll fucking kill you if you hurt her. Wait…how do you remember me telling you that?”
I shook my head, not wanting to waste any more time. “I remember everything, Ari. Victoria said something that triggered a memory from the night of my accident, and then it all came back to me.”
“Oh my god, Josh! That’s great! But why is Heather upset? Victoria…what did the douche twat do?”
I quickly told Ari everything that had happened. “Then, Victoria started talking shit about how we belonged together and how I needed her. That sparked the memory of Lynda.”
“Oh holy hell. Have you tried calling Heather?”
“No! I called you ’cause I figured that spot might be where she’s going. She doesn’t know I remember everything, so she won’t think of me asking you. Please, Ari…please tell me where she could have gone.”
“Um…okay, you know the gazebo down at Zilker Park? The one that looks out to the river?”
“Yep, I know it.”
“That’s probably where she went.”
Yes! “I knew I could count on you, Ari.”
“What happened with the bitch?”
I ran and grabbed my wallet and truck keys. “I threw her ass out, dressed in nothing but my white shirt.”
“Ah shit. I always did like you, Josh.”
I laughed as I ran out to my truck. “Ari, can you do me another favor?”
“Will it make my girl happy?”
“I’m praying to God it will.” I took a deep breath and told her my plan.
I pulled up and parked right in front of the gazebo. I looked around the parking lot and saw Heather’s dad’s Lexus. I rolled down all the windows in my truck, hit play on my stereo, and turned up the volume before I jumped out of the truck and made my way over to the gazebo. I saw her standing there, staring out over the water.
When Ed Sheeran’s “Kiss Me” started playing, she spun around. She just stared at me as she started to slowly shake her head.
“Nothing happened between us. I swear to God. She stopped by and spilled water on her shirt. She asked me if she could dry it ’cause she was meeting her mom. She must have heard you at the door, so she put on that shirt with nothing else. I swear, I didn’t ask her to come over. She said she’d been waiting for me all morning. I promise you, princess, I would never hurt you. I love you and only you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Heather. I need you more than the air I breathe.”
Tears were rolling down her face as she walked up to me. “Why are you playing this song?”
I smiled as I wiped away her tears. “Because it’s your favorite song, princess…and it reminds me of one of the most amazing moments of my life…making love to you in the rain.”
She began crying even harder. “Do you remember?” she asked in between sobs.
I placed my hands on the sides of her face and leaned down to kiss her tear-soaked lips. “I could never forget a love as strong as ours.”
She looked so confused. “How much do you remember?”
I kissed her again and poured every ounce of my love into the kiss. I slowly pulled away and rested my forehead on hers. “Everything.”
She reached her arms around my neck, and I lifted her up as she cried. She wrapped her legs around me and held on to me so tightly I could hardly breathe. It was as if she were afraid I would leave her again.
Never. I will never leave this girl.
“Oh my god, Josh! I’ve missed you so much. I’ve needed you so badly!”
I walked over to the bench, and she slowly started to slide her body down against mine. I sat down and pulled her onto my lap. She buried her face into my chest and cried.
“Shh, baby. I’m here. I’ll always be here for you.”
“I was so scared, Josh. You have no idea how scared I was.”
Why the hell was she scared? Scared I would never remember her? Scared I wouldn’t want to be with her?
“Shh…breathe, princess…just breathe.”
She pulled away and looked at me. I wiped away her tears and pushed her blonde hair behind her ears.
“I was coming to your apartment to tell you something. I, um…I was so afraid to tell you. I wanted to wait until you got your memory back, but no one was sure when that would happen. I was going to tell you this morning, but then Amanda called. So, I rushed after you—”
“Heather, baby, slow down. You’re talking too fast. You can tell me anything.” My heart was pounding. Now, I’m scared. Is something wrong with her? Is she sick?
“Well…um…”
She gave me the most beautiful smile. I smiled back just because she looked so damn happy.
“I’m pregnant.”
Oh. My. God. We’re having a baby?
I grabbed the back of her neck, pulled her to my lips, and I kissed the shit out of her. I wasn’t sure how long we sat there, just kissing each other and whispering how much we loved each other, before I heard someone clear his throat. I pulled away from her lips and turned to see a police officer.
“Um, sir, is that your Ford truck?”
I let out a sigh. “As much as I want to say no, yes…yes that is my Ford truck.”
Heather started laughing. I stood, picked her up, and carried her back to my truck.
“I can walk, you know!”
I smiled and put her into the truck through the window.
I turned back to the officer. “Sorry.”
He just winked at me with a grin.
I ran around, opened the door, and got into the truck. I looked over at the love of my life. “Can I take you somewhere?”
She giggled and nodded.
I winked at her. “We’re going for a ride in the country, baby.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I glanced over at Josh and smiled. He was humming along to the radio, and he looked so damn happy. The moment I heard “Kiss Me,” my whole world had stopped. Ari had called to tell me that Josh was looking for me. She’d told me everything that Josh had said about what happened with Victoria. That bitch left out the fact that Josh had his memory back!
I thought we were heading back to my house, but it looked like we were heading to Mason. “Josh, you really want to go visit our friends? I thought maybe we could…you know, go back to the house,” I said as I peeked over at him.
Josh looked over and smiled at me. Oh god, that smile of his just melts my heart. My heart started pounding, and I just wanted to be with him.
“I have a surprise for you.”
I finally figured out that we were heading to Jeff and Ari’s place. Josh had stopped at a gas station, and I could see him talking on the phone, wearing the goofiest grin on his face.
When he got back into his truck, I asked, “Who were you talking to?”
“Jeff. He’s helping me out with a little something.”
When he grabbed my hand, the butterflies took off, and I giggled.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. It’s just…well, when you reach for my hand like that, I still get butterflies in my stomach.”
Josh glanced over and then quickly looked straight ahead again. The dimple on the side of his face was such a turn-on. I’d never seen him so happy. He asked a few questions about the baby, and I told him I’d just gone to the doctor for my first appointment last Friday. Then, we talked about changing the office into a baby room. He was so excited, and I was completely shocked at how he was not freaking out in the least bit. I was still freaked out, but he seemed…he seemed so happy.
I looked out the window, and then I closed my eyes as I pictured Josh as a dad, holding our child in his arms. My heart swelled as I felt tears building in my eyes.
“We’re here!”
I watched as Josh punched in Jeff and Ari’s gate code. The farther we drove, the weirder Josh acted. He seemed nervous as shit. Is he nervous about telling Jeff and Ari about the baby? He has to know I already told them.
Josh took a left turn, and we started heading toward the barn.
“Are they down at the barn?”
“Um…Jeff is.”
Josh parked the truck, and I saw Jeff coming out of the barn with Rose and Tulip, their newest horse, saddled up. When I looked back at Josh, he was rubbing his hands on his pants.
Josh jumped out of the truck and looked back in at me. “Hold on a second, princess.”
He ran over to Jeff. Jeff glanced over at me sitting in the truck and smiled as I waved at him. Then, I saw Ari walking out of the barn with Luke.
What the hell is going on? Who’s going for a ride?
Josh went over to Ari, and she nodded and started laughing. He leaned down, hugged her, and kissed her on the cheek. Then, he ran back to the truck and opened my door. He held out his hand for me and helped me out. I noticed when he reached back into his truck and grabbed something out of the glove box before closing the door.
Then, Josh jogged up and took Tulip’s reins from Jeff.
Jeff walked over and handed me Rose’s reins. When I gave Ari a confused look, she just winked at me.
“Um…you want me to take Rose for a ride? We just got here!”
I watched as Josh hopped up onto Tulip, and then he looked at me with that panty-melting smile.
He’s up to something. I shook my head and climbed up onto Rose.
“Y’all have fun!” Ari called out.
Josh rode up next to me and reached out for my hand. I turned to Jeff and Ari. They were just standing there with shit-eating grins on their faces.
Yep, something’s up, and I’m the only one left in the dark. I smiled at Ari, shaking my head. I glanced back to Josh before we started to head off in the direction of the river.
“Are we going somewhere special?”
“Yes, ma’am, we are.”
“You gonna tell me what’s going on?”
Josh started laughing as he dropped my hand. He kicked Tulip and took off into a gallop. I shook my head and gave Rose a small kick to get her going.
After a short ride, I knew fairly quickly where we were heading—to our spot along the river where we had first made love. I smiled at the memory. Then, I thought about the night I was pretty sure we’d conceived the baby. I put my hand on my stomach.
When we started to round the corner, I looked ahead. I sucked in a breath of air when I saw a blanket lying on the ground with buckets of roses surrounding it. Oh. My. God. I’ve never seen so many roses in different colors. As we got closer, I glanced around at everything. There was a small table with two glasses next to a bucket with a bottle inside. Near the table was a picnic basket.
Tears began building in my eyes as we came to a stop. I jumped when I felt Josh put his hands on me. I looked at him and smiled as he was waiting to help me down. I swung my leg around, and as he grabbed me by the hips, he gave me a smile that drove me insane with lust.
He took my hand and walked me over to the blanket. Josh pulled the bottle out of the bucket of ice, and I laughed when I noticed it was grape juice.
Josh smiled. “Only the best for my two favorite girls.”
My heart dropped in my stomach. “Girls?”
“Yep!”