VALENTINE’S DAY

“Do you and Wes have plans tonight?” Maddie’s question causes me to look up from my work.

“Yes and no. I’m going there after I leave, but we’re not doing anything special. His mom is making dinner.”

“Why don’t you two go out?” She asks.

I give her a small shrug, “I don’t know, we talked about it, but we’d rather just do something as a family. I did make a heart-shaped cake yesterday though.”

“I swear you bake as much off the clock as you do on.”

“Am I ever off the clock?” I laugh.

“Good point.”

I finish packing the last gift box and wash up, “What about you and Mike? Mark? Sorry I know it starts with an M.”

She chuckles, “Mike, you got it right the first time. We’re going to Waldorf to go to the Chuck Wagon. Typical, right?”

“I hope you at least have reservations!”

“Oh yes! He made them last month.”

Maddie and I have been working nonstop today. Kathy and Gio will be closing up tonight, but so many people have come in throughout the day to either pick up their special orders or see what we have in stock for last-minute gifts. I offered a really great pre-sale for cookies and cakes this year in an attempt to avoid running out of treats like I did last year. So far it was a great business plan!

After work, I stop by my place and grab my already packed bag, and get started on my drive to the ranch. We may not be spending the night doing something super special, but it IS Valentine’s Day and I have a special surprise just for Wes and I’m pretty sure he isn’t expecting at all.

I pull up the ranch at about 3 o’clock and I see him and some of the other ranchers doing their normal daily work. I wave as I drive down the long road. He’s on his horse Jedi, a black horse with one stripe of white on his chest. He’s such a handsome beauty that I’ve only met a few times, but Wes promised this summer we could spend time outside with him. Even Annabelle likes to ride him!

Since Wes is still busy working, I head into the house myself. I knock before entering even though she doesn’t care if I knock anymore. “Hey Betsy! It’s me!”

“Hi dear, we’re in the kitchen!” I peek into the kitchen and see Betsy and Annabelle at the small table with red and pink hearts everywhere.

“Oh my, what is going on in here?”

“Don’t tell daddy, it is a surprise!”

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” I pretend to lock my lips and throw away the key. I give Annabelle a kiss on the head and Betsy a hug before taking my bag upstairs to Wes’s room and head back down to the kitchen where they have started to clean up their craft.

“What you are making for dinner, Betsy? It smells amazing!”

“Just a beef roast and vegetables. When Wes said you two were staying in I tossed it in the crockpot.”

“I can’t wait. I brought a cake for dessert if you didn’t see it already.”

“Yay cake!” Annabelle squeals and claps her hands together

“Of course, you’d love the cake.”

“Duh, you know me, Holly!” She jokingly gives me a bit of sass.

“It’s true, I do know you very well.”

I chit-chat with the girls while we wait for the guys to come back to the house from work. Wes stops by and gives Annabelle and me a quick kiss before getting in the shower. Raymond gives Betsy a quick kiss as well.

“When can I give daddy his surprise?” Annabelle asks Betsy.

“How about after dinner?”

“Aww, that’s too late in the day!” She whines.

“What’s too late?” We turn around and see Wes, his hair still wet from the shower.

“Nothing!” Annabelle scurries away into the playroom as the three of us laugh.

“What was that all about?” Wes asks as he slides his hand around my waist.

“Oh, who knows,” Betsy shrugs her shoulders. Wes looks at me and I give him the same look.

“Mmhmm, y’all are hiding something.” He presses a kiss against my temple and swings me around so I’m facing him. “Come with me.”

“I thought we were staying in?”

“We are, I just want to go show you something real quick.”

“Okay.” We grab our coats and get into We’s truck. He starts driving down a road that leads to one of the ranch houses, but rather than stopping he takes a turn and goes down a very bumpy grassy area until we pull up to an old cabin. He runs around and opens the truck for me and helps me out. I take Wes’s hand and he leads me up to the house.

“I’m not having sex with you here.”

He starts to laugh and hooks his arm around my waist and pulls me close. “No, no that isn’t what this is about. Although…..”

He nips at my earlobe and I try to shove him away but he pulls me in closer. “So what is this?”

“I told you my great grandfather bought this land right?”

I nod, “Yes and it has been passed down to your dad.”

“Right. Well when my grandpa was still alive, but my uncle and dad were young and married, they each built a house on the property so they could live with their wives. My grandpa passed away before I was born and we moved into the ranch house, but my uncle lived here until I was about ten.”

He takes my hand and we walk closer and step up onto the porch. “Okay…..”

“My dad and I were talking about me fixing up this cabin so Annabelle and I could live here instead of at home.”

“Wow! That would be so great for her. She’s still close to your parents, but you get some privacy.”

“Exactly, I especially like the idea of us having some privacy.“ He leans down and kisses my lips and I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer and deepening the kiss. He finally pulls away slowly, but we’re both a bit breathless. “I want you to move in with us, Holly.”

My mouth gapes open, “Are you serious?”

“Yes! I know that the drive to the bakery every morning would suck ass and the drive home would also, but I’m tired of having to go nights without you. We’re busy as hell, if you lived here with me we could at least spend our nights together in the same bed.”

He spins me around so I face him and he slides both his hands behind my neck and tilts my head up to face him, “I know it is crazy and you may have to take some time to think about it, but take all the time you need. I’ll be here anyway, I just would really like it if you were here too.”

I smile big lift up on my tippy toes to press a kiss on his lips. “Is that a yes?”

“I just have one question.”

“What is that?”

“Is it going to be too much to ask that it is ready to be moved into in about 7 months, give or take?”

“I guess it all depends on how much time the guys can put into it. I know Jimmy owes me a shit ton of hours from the work I did on his place and the ranchers always help if dad asks. Why 7 months?”

I take Wes’s hand from my waist and place it on my stomach. He looks down and it takes him a moment, but then he looks up at me with the biggest grin on his face and tears in his eyes. “Seriously?”

“Yes!” Tears begin to fill my eyes as well.

“Oh my god, holy shit...oh my god!” He picks me up and twirls me around before putting me back down on my feet. “We’re having a baby!”

“I was going to tell you tonight, I had a plan and everything, but the best-laid plans, right?”

“I’m so excited babe! Oh man, Annabelle is going to be so excited. “

He can’t hold in his excitement and he kisses me again. “I just want to wait until after my first-trimester visit to tell people.”

“When is that?”

“Three weeks.”

He taps his chin with his finger. “So we have a secret for a few weeks?”

“Can you keep it?” I tilt my eyebrow up at him.

“We’ll see,” he says with a huge smile on his face.

“I love you,” I say as I run my hands up to his chest and around his broad shoulders

“I love you too, darling. We’re going to have a family!”

“Wes. We already have a family. That little girl, she’s mine babe, just like this one is.”

He kisses me again and then drops to his knees and kisses my stomach. “I love you Baby Brown. Please be a boy.”

I shake my head and pull him back up to kiss him again. “The last thing this world needs is another you.”

He laughs, standing up and sweeping me off my feet. He makes his way into the house and we spend the next hour or so going through the house and sharing our plans and our dreams with each other.