Page 80 of Accidentally Falling
“I have plenty of room in the barn when you buy her a pony,” Ellison mock whispers, while Bea snickers and Deacon grins.
“I appreciate that,” he says before Ellison shoos him and Bea away.
“Are you doin’ all right?”
“Yes,” I manage as guilt floods my veins. “I’m sorry if I’ve ruined this for you. I know you wanted us to be happy and pregnant together and sometimes I am and sometimes…”
“I get it,” she murmurs, placing my hand on her belly while she places her hand on mine. “Pregnancy is hard, and nothing about what you’re doing is easy, but you know what? I love being able to do this with you because it’s hard, because despite everything we get to share and create so much more for our babies.”
“And we commandeered alpacas.”
“That too.” She smirks. “So many farm animal adventures in our future.” Her sigh is wistful as I take in the huge white tent with the silver and gold decorations and balloon arch.
“They did a good job.”
“They did. There’s food and drinks, music, and the rest we’ll take as it comes.”
“Is Dad coming?”
“I asked him not to for this, but he’ll be here after if you want to stay, or you can do it another time or not at all.”
“I’m not trying to hide from him, but just the thought of dealing with either of them feels exhausting.”
“That’s understandable,” she muses, leading me toward where the girls are standing, “but is it more or less exhausting than the look on my husband’s face when he had to come and pull the tractor out of the mud yesterday when Grandad and I went joyriding?”
“That poor man.”
“He likes it…keeps him on his toes.”
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s definitely like that.”
JUDE
I waiteduntil Deacon gave me theall clearbefore I headed to the shower. We’d had a backup plan in place that involved pizza, a stack of movies, and three different kinds of desserts that will probably be gone by tomorrow.
I’m just thankful we didn’t need it.
He relayed that Arden was intercepted by her sister not long after they arrived, and by all accounts, Deacon said she looks like she’s having a good time.
It’s silent in the cab of my truck as I make my way through Blackstone Falls, my mind a constant stream of relief and worry. I want her to be okay—better than okay.
I want her to have fun.
It’s something I never cared about for myself, but now I can see just how much I was missing out on.
Pulling into the grass, I park my truck and climb out, finding far more people than I expected milling about. I recognize most of them, Miss Thelma’s shock of white hair moving through the crowd before stopping to talk to Cal and his sister, Hannah, who owns the bookshop in Clementine Creek.
“So far so good,” my brother says, sidling up to me as I skirt along the outside of the tent. “Nessa made her a plate of food so she’s sitting over there.”
He points toward a table across the way, and I can’t help the way my mouth curves up on one side the moment our eyes meet.
I’m peppered with congratulations as I weave my way through the guests, taking my time to thank them all for coming, for being here for Arden and her sister.
Arden’s expression is full of amusement as I finally make it to the table and gingerly sit on the folding chair next to her.
“Is that okay?” she asks, nodding to the chair as I lean over and brush my lips against hers.
“It’s too soon to tell. I’ve broken my fair share of these things though so it’s not out of the question.”
