Page 43 of Tangled Up With You

I launched myself at the man who had cherished me as his own from the moment he met me as a four-year-old, dressed in a mud-covered tutu, a glittery skull shirt, and sparkly combat boots. “You’re my dad,” I whispered into his neck. “Always will be.”

He squeezed me tightly. “Love you with all my heart, Monster,” he whispered into my hair.

“And I love you with all of mine.” I pulled back and placed a kiss to his cheek, dashing at the tear that had spilled free with the back of my hand before placing it on my belly. “And I’m so happy this baby is going to have you as a grandpa.”

He sniffed and cleared his throat. “Well... okay then. Enough of this emotional stuff, yeah? I better get your mom home. We’ll talk soon.”

I shut the door and turned around to press my back against it, a smile taking over my face. When I looked in the direction of the dining room, I saw the table had been mostly cleared, and I could hear the sound of running water and the clink of dishes coming from the kitchen where Connor had taken it upon himself to clean up.

Bam. Another direct hit.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ivy

The air smelled like a combination of fried food, beer, and animals, which, to some people might have been a combination that would turn your stomach, but I liked it. I didn’t know if it was the pregnancy or what, but the smell actually made me kind of hungry.

The sounds of carnival rides and loud, rowdy kids caused me to smile as I made my way through the fairgrounds. I ripped off a big chunk of the sugary funnel cake I was carrying on a flimsy paper plate and popped it into my mouth, chewing with delight.

I’d lived in a small town most of my life, but this was my first time ever going to a rodeo. Until Connor, I’d never even watched any of the events on TV. But when he told me last week that there was a rodeo about an hour from Hope Valley he was competing in and asked if I would come to watch him ride, I quickly said yes.

The past few weeks had been going so well. It felt like Connor and I were rediscovering the friendship we’d first built so long ago. He was the best sort-of-roommate I’d ever had. He showedup at my back door regularly with strawberry cheese Danishes and caffeine free lattes from Muffin Top. He took it upon himself to mow the yard. And there was even one afternoon when I found him up in my old treehouse, prying boards loose. When I rushed out to ask him what he was doing, he said he was replacing the broken or rotted wood so the treehouse would be safe for our kid to use it when they were old enough.

At that point I’d given up trying to keep that protective wall standing.

We had dinner together more nights than not, unless he was out of town for a rodeo or stuck working late at Safe Haven Ranch, and the more time I spent with him, the more I was starting to like him all over again. I’d forgotten how easy his company was, but now with the pregnancy, he’d taken it to a whole new level. He was attentive and considerate and thoughtful. Twice he’d shown up with groceries, fully restocking my fridge and pantry without me having to ask, so if I could show him even an ounce of the support he’d been showing me the past few weeks, I wanted to do it.

When Rae and Lennix found out my plans for the weekend, they’d decided to tag along, dragging Raylan and Zach along with them.

A group of screaming kids ran past, kicking up dust in their hurry to get to wherever they were going. “Ooh, did you see that?” I swallowed the mouthful of fried dough and licked my lips, my craving turning on a dime. “That one kid had a giant turkey leg. Did anyone see where we can get the turkey legs?”

Lennix started cracking up and Rae just glared.

“Wha?” I muttered around another heaping bite of funnel cake.

Her eyes scanned me up and down before narrowing even farther. “Where do you even put all this food, you bitch?”

I snorted, nearly sending powdered sugar out of my nose. I was officially in my twelfth week of pregnancy, and with it came the weirdest food cravings. I’d been standing in the open door of my fridge the other day, crunching on a pickle like people so often did, when I had the thought,hey!I bet this would taste awesome with mustard on it.

Breaking news: it did.

Pregnant Ivy was a culinary genius.

“My boobs,” I mumbled around fried, sugar-coated bread. And wasn’t that the damn truth? You might not have been able to tell I was pregnant by looking at me, but my boobs had gotteninsane. And my nipples were so freaking sensitive.

“Jeez, don’t remind me.” Lennix looked longingly at my chest before staring down at hers. “I’m so freaking jealous right now.”

Zach let out an uncomfortable cough, twisting around so his eyes trailed after Turkey Leg Kid. “I think I saw a sign for them a few booths back.” He hiked a thumb over his shoulder. “Think I’ll go check it out.”

“For the love of all that’s holy, take me with you,” Raylan grumbled, following after him.

“Grab a turkey leg for me!” I shouted after them as they disappeared from sight, getting swallowed up by the large groups of people.

I checked the time on my phone. “The rodeo should be starting soon. We should probably head over.”

We made our way from the fairgrounds over to the arena where the events were held, and I was surprised to see just how big the whole setup was. The stands were already filling up quickly, so the three of us hustled to find seats. So far I’d had a lot of fun, and I was excited to get to watch Connor ride in person.

Things got underway and I was swept up in the energy of it all. I really liked the barrel racing, saddle bronc riding, andthe steer roping. I wasn’t huge on the steer wrestling, mainly because it looked like it hurt those poor animals’ necks, but Lennix assured me they were all fine.

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