Cherished (Wanted #4)(64)
Author: Kelly Elliott

Luke jumped up and went right up to my father. “Bandpa.”

My father smiled and reached out his arms, and Luke fell right into them.

“Bandpa, it is,” he whispered.

Alex giggled and yelled out, “Bandpa!”

He took them both in his arms, and before I knew it, they were all over both my mother and father. I sat there and watched the whole thing play out as tears slid down my face. I felt Jefferson reach over and wipe them off my face. I looked over at him, and we both smiled.

“I love you, Ells,” he said.

I threw myself into his arms. I tried so hard not to choke up on my words. I managed to whisper in his ear, “I love you, too, Jefferson. I love you, too.”

I stumbled out of my bedroom and followed the heavenly smells of coffee and breakfast. Azurdee must be cooking.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Azurdee at the stove, Jessie sitting at the table, and Lark sitting across from her. I glanced at Jessie, and her smile instantly made my head feel better. One look at Lark, and I felt like shit again. He gave me that smile and looked down at his coffee.

“Motherfucker,” I whispered.

Jessie and Azurdee giggled as I barely walked over to the coffee pot and poured a cup of coffee. I turned and sat down next to Jessie, but not before I leaned down and gave her a kiss.

“I swear I didn’t have that much to drink last night, but I feel like total shit.” I took a quick look at Lark.

He shrugged his shoulders. “Dude, you weren’t even drunk. You just took two shots, and I think if I remember right, you can’t handle shots—at all.”

I took a drink of my coffee and then nodded my head. The last time I’d felt this bad was the morning I’d woken up to find Jessie had left. I thought back to that party. Did I have any shots? Yep. Jeff and I did a few shots—a few as in, like, ten of them.

“I think I’m going to give up drinking for a while.” I winked at Jessie.

We had all gone out last night since Azurdee and Lark were both leaving today.

Between Gunner’s New Year’s Eve party and then last night…I am done with alcohol. Done.

“It’s not like college anymore, old man. Your impending fatherhood has made you a lightweight,” Lark said as he let out laugh.

“Fuck you, Lark,” I said.

Azurdee began setting plates in front of us. I looked down at the plate, and I almost didn’t want to touch it. There were two crepes filled with cinnamon apples on the plate. The top of the crepes had a scoop of vanilla yogurt with a strawberry and a mint leaf. Dulce de leche sauce was drizzled all over it. It looked heavenly.

Lark looked up at me as I peeked over at him. We both turned and watched as Azurdee sat down and started eating.

She glanced up and stopped. “What? What’s wrong? Do you not like crepes?” she asked.

I looked at Jessie, and she was digging in.

“Oh…oh my god! Oh, Azurdee. These are so good. My god, I’ve missed your cooking. How I didn’t gain a ton of weight in college is beyond me. Hmm…oh…yes…”

“My god, Jessie. Make love to the damn thing, why don’t you?” I said.

Jessie snapped her head up and looked at me. “I’ve been craving these so much. They. Are. Heaven.”

Lark laughed, and then he took a bite. “Holy shit. These are delicious.”

Azurdee smiled and started eating again.

The moment I took a bite, I wanted to say how good they were, but I held back. Instead, I simply said, “Azurdee, these are the best crepes I’ve ever had.”

“Thank you. I make them for the coffee shop all the time. If we run out, our regulars get so mad,” she said with a giggle.

I peeked over and saw Lark staring at Azurdee. He could deny it all he wanted, but he liked her. Last night, he’d done everything in his power not to dance with her until he’d broken down and finally asked her to dance. The moment Keith Urban’s “We Were Us” had come on, they had both taken off dancing. I hadn’t seen Lark smile and laugh like that in a long time. The song had ended, and then they’d danced to “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” by The Band Perry. Jessie had mentioned how sad Lark had looked. I’d been sure he had been thinking of Nikki.

“So, are you sure you need to leave today? You were planning on staying till the third,” I said before taking another bite.

Lark was snapped out of his trance and went back to eating.

Azurdee rolled her eyes. “Ugh, as much as I have loved being here, I have to get back. I left my mother in charge of the coffee shop, and if I didn’t lose any employees, it will be a miracle. I do wish I could stay longer though. I’ve really enjoyed myself,” she said with a smile as she looked over at Lark.

He was concentrating on clearing off his plate.

“Lark, you sure you have to leave?” I asked.

He looked up at me and smiled. “Dude, this was the longest Skip has let me off in a long time. I need to get back to work.” He stood up and looked around the table. “Speaking of, I probably need to get ready to leave soon.”

I quickly looked at Azurdee. Her whole body sagged in her seat, and she tried to smile, but it looked forced and weak. I stood up with my plate, grabbed Lark’s and Azurdee’s, and then I reached for Jessie’s. I practically had to pull the plate out of Jessie’s hands. I was ready for her to start licking it.

“Hey, I thought you were going to go look at that filly I bought. Didn’t you say you were interested in her?” I asked, knowing Lark really wanted that filly.

I also knew Azurdee loved going to the stable. She loved the horses.

“Shit. Yeah, I do want to take a look at her.” Lark ran his hand through his hair.

“Well, let’s go take a peek at her. Azurdee, would you like to go with us? I know how much you love the horses.”

She jumped up and clapped her hands. “Yes! I’d love to.”

Jessie laughed. “Y’all go ahead. I’m going to stay here and clean up.”

Azurdee’s smile faded. “No, Jessie, I cooked. I will stay and clean it up.”

“Nonsense, Azurdee. Go see the horses. You cook, I clean, remember?” Jessie said with a wink.

Azurdee smiled and nodded her head.

After we left the house and made our way to the ranch Jeep, Lark jumped in the back to let Azurdee sit up in the passenger seat. We were at the stable five minutes later. Azurdee jumped out of the Jeep before I even came to a stop. When she began skipping up to the stable, I smiled and looked over at Lark.