Page 36 of Rancher's Pride
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
FALLON
“If you bring out another toy we have to assemble, I am going to scream,” I said, sitting on the floor beside the Christmas tree. I wanted to pout like a kid who had to go to bed instead of seeing Santa. There were presents everywhere: dolls, a dollhouse, a rocking horse, two saddles. What the hell were Josie and Lottie supposed to do with saddles? This man had officially lost his mind.
I’d never imagined a Christmas like this for my kids. It had been one of the things that ate at me when I thought of their future. Andrew had money, and I had never doubted that there would be an absurd amount of gifts, but those wouldn’t make up for him being an absentee father. All the gifts surrounding us right now complimented how much Nash was present and truly loved Josie and Lottie.
When he returned to the livingroom, his arms were loaded down with bridals, horse blankets, curry combs and feed pails. “Nash, did you get her a horse, too?” I threw my hands up, not knowing what to do anymore.
“Yeah, I have one for both of them. I moved them to the barn this afternoon. We can go out there in the morning after they open all this.” He beamed as he set down the last of his gifts.
“Two and a month old. You do remember that, right?” I said flatly. This wasn’t the attitude I should have. I needed to change it, but suddenly I was more overwhelmed than I had been in a week. Take a deep breath Fallon, that’s what the therapist I’d talked to last week had said for me to do.
“Fallon, it’s Christmas. Lighten up.” He said as he sat down beside me, the tree rustling and the ornaments clashing together. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. If anyone else saw me do it, they wouldn’t have a clue I was doing anything. Nash knew though. He placed his hand on my leg and kept talking. “Don’t you remember the fun we used to have? I just want our girls to have that same experience.” He grinned like a fool. Our girls, he didn’t say my girl, he said our girls. Did he think of Lottie as his also? “Remember when we’d all go for a ride in the sleigh your dad fixed up? We’d sing carols and drive up and down the road visiting neighbors.” He kicked his feet out in front of him and crossed them at the ankles. Nash was the most relaxed I’d ever seen him, and it was nice.
“Now there’s not many neighbors left. It would befun to do that again. I wonder where that old thing is?” I mumbled. I hadn’t expected an answer and my brain was preoccupied with Nash, the dad and makeshift husband I never dreamed he’d be.
“It’s in the shed. Kipp and I pulled it out two weeks ago. It’s ready for tomorrow.”
“Are you serious?” I said as I shifted on to my knees, not even trying to hide the smile on my face.
“Yeah, we want to do this Christmas right. There're kids again, the houses are filled with laughter. Nora’s made it her personal mission that everyone has Christmas spirit, so we decided it was time to dust off old traditions.” He put his arm around me. Moving off my knees, I snuggled into the crook of his arm and I let my gaze fall from him to look at the fire. It was our first Christmas as whatever we were. But it felt right, being here in this house, making happy memories. Both of us had some hard years, and we deserved happiness.
“So, I did something.” I turned to look at Nash and followed his eyes up above us. He was holding a sprig of mistletoe between us. “Do you wanna?” He shrugged, and I was immediately taken back to another time, when we were young and carefree. He’d stolen mistletoe and hung it in the barn, so when I met him there in the middle of the night, it was hanging and he was waiting.
“Where did you get that?” I giggled. Nash shrugged and his grin grew. Nora had put mistletoe in herbouquet, and somehow Nash snagged some. “I wanna.” I nodded, trying to hide my nervous smile. He lowered his head and our lips tentatively brushed across one another. Nash brought his hand to the back of my neck and pulled me closer to him. The stubble of his five o’clock shadow scratched against my face. It was familiar, comforting, and I sighed as I moved my hand to rest on his chest.
His lips were soft, and I felt the sparks passing between us. After we’d explored one another in the barn, we made sure it didn’t happen again, because I was tired of pretending I didn’t want him. Shifting, I straddled him and sat on his lap. It was pushing the boundaries we didn’t really set, but I still didn’t have my divorce finalized.
His arousal grew under me, and I ground against him. “Fallon, stop or I will send you to bed,” He whispered before pressing kisses to my neck. I shifted further back on his legs, putting a little space between us.
“Not to mention your dad and Wanda are sleeping upstairs. That would be really awkward if one of them caught us,” I said, running my hands through his hair, wondering if he was still as good in bed as he had been years ago.Fallon knock it off, you can’t think of him like that.My head kept saying no, and I was so tired of listening to it.
He stopped kissing me, and I glared at him. “Are you trying to ruin the mood on purpose?” He archedhis brow and looked at me like I’d lost my mind. I burst out laughing and I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Well, it seems to have worked.” I shrugged before I gave his ear a light nibble.
“Go to bed, Fallon. I’m sure we’ll be up early.” He whispered against my mouth. I knew he was right, and I hated it.
“Good night.” I whispered before pressing my mouth to his again. My head knew going to bed was right, but my heart ached to hold him again.
Standing, I reached for his hand, helped him up, and wrapped my arms around him quickly before I walked down the hallway.Please follow me. Nash, please follow me to bed.I wanted to will him to do it, to be hot on my heels, ready to ravage me, but I closed the bedroom door and stood in the room alone.
My cell phone buzzed on the nightstand. I hadn’t even thought about it today. Everyone who could want to talk to me had been in the same room. Crawling across the bed, I reached for it and saw there were ten messages and three missed calls.
All the calls were from an unknown number. Opening the Lock Screen I opened the first text. It was a picture of Nash and me dancing with Josie at the Christmas fundraiser. I smiled and wondered who sent it. Maybe a friend of mom’s. Setting it as my Lock Screen I wished Lottie was in it, but it was the most perfect picture otherwise. The rest of the texts were more pictures from that night.
The last message made my blood run cold.
Unknown: Why does that man have his hands on you? You’re mine and always will be.
Tossing the phone to the end of my bed, I crawled backward until I was curled up on top of the pillows, staring at it.
You didn’t change your number. That’s how stupid you are. Of course he found you.My brain wouldn’t shut off, and it was right. Why hadn’t I gotten a new phone? I should have known he would try something. I can’t believe how reckless I was.Breathe, Fallon.I couldn’t do it. My head was screaming at me, my lungs were on fire because I was holding my breath. Oh god.
Gasping, I finally took a breath. Panting, I looked around and wondered how long it would take to pack my stuff. The girls could stay. They’d be better off without me, anyway.No, they wouldn’t. You’re their mom. They need you.My heart was telling the truth, and I threw my legs over the side of the bed and rested my elbows on my knees, taking slow breaths. As my heart rate slowed, I was breathing more normal and the racing thoughts in my head stopped.
Crawling under the covers still in my clothes, I pulled them up to my chin. The phone teetered on the edge of the bed and I wanted to kick it off, but it would cause too much noise. Flinging the blankets off, I grabbed the phone and deleted all the texts. I didn’teven listen to the voice mails, I just deleted them. He’d give up and remember that he was in love with Chrissy.
