Page 70 of Side Out

After a while in the car, Dawson turns down one gravel road, then another, and another. And once we reach the last gravel road, I realize it isn’t a road at all. It’s the driveway to their ranch. But when I look out the window, there’s nothing but endless pastures covered in what little snow remains, intermingled with flowers that are doing their best to bloom. But the mountains in the background, those are still capped in snow and seem like they reach the sun as far as the eye can see. A few minutes later, a large house comes into view. It looks like something you’d see off ofYellowstone.

And I’m not even over exaggerating.

But at the same time… I can tell, regardless of how grand the house seems, it’s the definition of a home. And the realization that this place belongs to people I now get to call family, hurts my cheeks I’m smiling so big.

Once Dawson puts the truck in park, he, Emerson, and Jax climb out, but I just sit there, staring at the beauty of it all out the open truck door. Finally, Jax bends over and sticks his head inside. “Come on, Babe.” My megawatt smile remains intact as I wrap my hand around his and climb out of the truck.

The sound of laughter that meets my ears as we walk through their front door quite literally warms my chest. And when we round the corner to the kitchen, I find my mom, and a woman who has the same eyes as Jackson, talking animatedly at the kitchen island. Despite the fact that the two of them have known one another less than eight hours, it looks as if they’re already thick as thieves.

Jax sets his bag on the floor and clears his throat, and the two of them finally notice our presence. “Oh, Jax, I’ve missed you!” She sets her glass of wine on the counter and hops out of her chair.

“Hey, Momma,” Jax says as he wraps her up in a deep hug.

“Let me see your ring!” she shouts. Jax pulls away and puts his left hand up, wiggling his fingers before her eyes. ”Oh, it’s even prettier in person, Jax.”

I look around the two of them and spot my mom, who’s smiling just as big as I am. I walk over to her with my arms out wide. She’s up from her seat before I reach her and is wrapping me up in her the same way she’s done since I was little. “I’ve missed you, Mom,” I whisper into her hair, closing my eyes and trying to hold back the sudden tears that want to escape.

“I’ve missed you too, sweet boy. ” My nose stings with unshed tears. My mom tilts her head looking somewhere behind me, and I don’t even realize my dad is sitting at the table behind us on the other side of the room.

Dad rises from the table and makes his way over to us. For a moment, I’m wildly nervous about how this interaction is going to go, but much to my surprise, he wraps me in his arms the same as my mom just did. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I got a hug from him.

Since I was a teenager our relationship has always felt… so… professional.

Then, Dad mutters something in my ear that I think I’ll remember until the day I die. “I’m so happy to see you happy.”

We hug for a moment longer before the two of us clear our throats and separate.

“Mom, Dad, this is Jax.” I smile while introducing my husband to my parents.

Before I can say anything else, Dad surprises me, yet again. “Anyone that has my son looking like this is truly a blessing. I can see the love between the two of you already, and you’ve been here all of five minutes. All we ever wanted was this for you, Theo.”

Yep, here are the tears.

I’ll never know how he knew I was waiting on him to reassure me and my decisions. But that’s exactly what he did. “Thanks, Dad.”

This is going to be a million times better than I could have ever even imagined.

Now I just have to get my plan to work out perfectly…

CHAPTER44

FOR REAL THIS TIME

JACKSON

“Okay!” Mom claps her hands together. “You two go up to the loft and get ready for the rehearsal dinner.”

Smirking, I side-eye Dad who simply smiles and shrugs before nodding back to Mom. Silently signaling me to pay attention. I balk at her but feel the need to clarify. “We’re having a rehearsal dinner? How much rehearsing could be needed for a small backyard wedding?”

Mom scrunches up her face. “Well…”

Dad, Emerson, Ronald, and Theo all chuckle softly. I sigh but can’t seem to wipe the smile off my face. “Mom…”

“I may have invited afewmore people than we originally talked about.” She pinches her finger and thumb together as she attempts to shuffle behind Dad.

“Mommmm….”I groan, because I know exactly what that means. She basically invited all of Billings.

“Don’t you try to hide behind me,” Dad says through a laugh. “I told you not to.”

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