Page 121 of Riding the High

“Enough about Brent and Gemma. I want to bring up the question no one has asked yet. Are you two just going to stay married?” Liv says abruptly, directing her gaze toward me and Ginger.

“Oh, we haven’t really worked that out yet,” Ginger trails off, the faint blush of her cheeks making my cock twitch. “We’ve known each other for so long, and it’s always been …”

“You against the world?” Ivy finishes, a soft smile on her face.

“Yeah … sorta,” Ginger answers with a sigh.

“Watching Ginger with Mabel has been amazing,” I chime in, looking at Ginger while I say it. “And the three of us together, it feels … like we’re already a family. There are times when I think I can breathe easier when Ginger is with me. I love her. With everything I have.”

“Holy fuck, break out the violins,” Nash chuckles.

“This from the guy who handpicked almost four hundred silver Hershey’s Kisses out of the damn bin at the Candy Shackso they would match the colors at his wedding reception,” I reply.

Nash mutters something about being a good husband as Mama reaches across the table to put her hand on mine.

“You two have always been like family to each other.” She wags a finger between us. “And if you all think I didn’t know about this secret friendship you’ve had going on all these years, you’re wrong,” she says, polishing off the rest of her lemonade.

“Same,” Wade says, raising his hand. “Knew it when I drove by one night after Gemma left and saw you two sitting on the porch eating takeout. Drove by a week later and you were there again.”

“I had my assumptions too,” Ivy adds with a giggle, “and I’ve only known you a year.”

“I knew something was up when Cole’s face went from zero to a hundred in one second flat when Chris asked you to dance in Vegas,” CeCe says, raising her glass toward Ginger and letting out a laugh.

“I knew it when you said ‘fate’ while you were talking about him at the Horse and Barrel,” Liv pipes up.

I smile. “Well, aren’t y’all so fucking smart then,” I say, squeezing Ginger’s thigh.

“Ah well. Eloping, weddings on a whim, happens to the best of us,” Pop says nonchalantly as he sits forward.

Every eye in the room turns to him in question.

“What? We all have our secrets.” He grins as he turns to Mama. “I was nineteen when I married your mother. Who has money for a wedding? So we eloped. Pissed your grandad right off. Even though everything turned out just fine. We were married for over fifty years when she passed.” He slaps both his thighs like he didn’t just drop a bomb on us. “So, who wants a drink?”

“Jesus, Pop,” I say, scrubbing my face with my hand.

“What? Back in those days you waited until your wedding night to … you know …” he says as he stands. “And your grandmother was a little devil.”

Ginger leans over to me. “I can’t unhear this.”

I shudder.

“I’ll take a drink,” Ivy says as she gets up to make her way to the bar.

As she does so, a gush of water hits the floor. We all look down and it takes us a second to realize what’s just happened.

Ivy turns to Wade, a horrified expression on her face.

“I think my water just broke,” she says, clutching her massive bump.

It’s at this declaration that several things happen at once. Mama and Ginger sprint for the linen closet in search of towels to clean up the mess off the wood floor. CeCe rushes to Ivy to offer reassurance. And Wade … Wade goes into dad mode instantly.

“What do you need, bro?” I ask him, clapping him on the shoulder.

“I’m not leaving her for a second,” he says, turning to Nash. “Go to my house. When you get there, open the front closet and grab the blue bags. They have everything we need. Get two waters from the fridge and bring my truck up here.”

“On it,” Nash calls out, already making his way over to the door. Ginger and Jo move about the kitchen while Wade and I help Ivy to the comfortable chair in the den.

“And get my mama!” Ivy adds. “She should be almost home now. She was at the local market with her blankets this afternoon.”

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