The Wanted Short Stories(25)
Author: Kelly Elliott

What a lucky, lucky girl I am.

Then, I rolled over onto my stomach and let sleep take over.

Today was our last day in Kentucky, and I was taking Ari everywhere she wanted to go. We had toured Churchill Downs and a few other historical places, and we were now getting ready to head out on the Belle of Louisville for a dinner cruise.

Ari turned to me and smiled. “It’s our last night in Louisville, and this is such a wonderful way to spend it.”

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “It looks like the sunset is going to be beautiful. Are you cold?”

She shook her head as she turned and looked up at me. “You know, this trip was exactly what I needed. I feel so refreshed.”

I grinned and nodded. “So do I. I miss the kids so much, but damn, five whole days without fighting kids or getting up at the crack of dawn to work has been like a dream. Plus, we’ve had hot sex more than once a day. We should stay another few days.”

Ari hit me on the chest and winked. “As much as I would love to, I miss Luke and Grace something terrible.”

“I do, too, baby. I do, too.” I kissed the tip of her nose.

We stood in silence as the steamboat headed out.

During dinner, we sat next to a couple who were also from Texas. They would be moving from Texas to Kentucky, and they were visiting to buy land here. We had a blast with them.

The sun began to slowly fade away, and the colors dancing on the river were beautiful as Ari and I stood on the deck of the boat.

I was suddenly overcome with sadness. “I miss Luke and Grace.”

Ari looked at me, and her eyes were filled with sadness. “I do, too. I can’t stop thinking about them. Grace hasn’t texted me all day. Ellie took her and Alex shopping in Austin today. What if Grace wants to stay there when we get back?”

I threw my head back and laughed. “Ari, please. I’m sure she has just been so busy having fun, and that is the only reason she hasn’t sent us a text. Besides, it’s Ellie. She can’t stand shopping.”

Ari chewed on her bottom lip. “What about Luke? I haven’t heard from him today either.”

“He had a baseball game today. Gunner texted earlier and said they were winning.”

“See? If they’d won, Luke would have texted us by now. Our children have moved on without us!”

I laughed and pulled her into my arms. “No, they haven’t.”

She frowned. “Have you heard from Luke at all today?”

I had sent Luke a text earlier. I’d wished him good luck at his game, but I hadn’t received a reply. I hadn’t thought about it until just now. “Um…now that you mention it, no, I haven’t heard back from either one.”

“See? Oh my God. Your sister has stolen the love of our kids. That little bitch!”

I started thinking. “Come to think of it, I texted good night to both of them last evening, and I never heard from them.”

Ari let out a gasp and threw her hands up to her mouth. “Me either.” She dropped her hands as she began looking around frantically.

“What are you looking for?”

“A way off the boat. I need to get back to my kids!”

“What? We leave tomorrow morning, and there is no way off the boat. Are you insane?”

She spun around and poked me in the chest. “This is all your fault. I said to let your dad and Carol watch them. But did you listen to me? No. You said to let them stay with Ellie and Gunner. They’d have fun, you said. Well, look at what we’ve got now.”

I shook my head and tried not to laugh. “Ari, you seriously think our children wouldn’t want to come back home?”

She nodded her head quickly. “They’ve forgotten us.”

I had to admit it. My heart was beginning to hurt a little from just thinking about Luke not texting me to tell me about the game.

I grabbed Ari and pulled her back into my arms. We both stared out and watched the sunset.

When my cell phone dinged with a text message notification, I practically pushed Ari away from me. I pulled my phone out and saw a text from Luke.

“Aha! He texted me! He sent me a text. Pesh…see!” I shoved my phone in Ari’s face.

She frowned and pulled out her cell phone. “Nothing,” she whispered. She looked back at me and tried to smile. “What did he say?”

I opened up his message and read it aloud.

Luke: Hey, Dad! Hope you and Mom are having fun. Sorry I didn’t text last night or earlier today. Uncle Gunner took Colt and me hunting last night and this morning. It was fun, but it wasn’t as fun as when you and I go. We won our game! Kiss Mom for me, Dad. I miss you both. I’ll be glad when y’all come home tomorrow. Oh…by the way, I kind of hit Will. He said he liked Alex. Uncle Josh wasn’t too happy with either one of us. I kind of have a black eye from fighting with Will.

I looked up at Ari and smiled as I saw a tear rolling down her face. I quickly blinked my eyes to keep myself from tearing up.

Damn, I love that boy.

Ari began laughing. “He kind of has a black eye?”

I shook my head. “He is so protective over Alex. I think he will be more protective than Colt will be.”

Ari wiped away her tear. “I miss them.”

Then, her phone went off. She began jumping up and down. “It’s from Grace! It’s from Grace!”

“Read it to me!”

Ari smiled. “Hey, Mama, please tell me you are still coming home tomorrow. Oh my gosh, Aunt Ellie took us to the mall. Mom, it was awful. Did you know she hates shopping? Who hates shopping? I miss your good-night stories, Mama, and Daddy’s good-night hugs. I can’t wait to see y’all.”

Ari started crying as she dropped her arms to her sides and looked at me. “They still love us!”

I let out a chuckle and pulled her into a hug. “I told you, baby. I told you.”

Ari’s knee was bouncing a mile a minute as we drove to the airport. “He’s gonna make us miss our plane,” she hissed through her teeth.

“We have plenty of time, Ari. Stop worrying.”

She let out a sigh. “Um…are we close to the airport, sir?”

Right after she asked, the cab driver turned the corner, and right in front of us was the airport.

I grabbed her hand and kissed it. “We’ll be home in a few hours, baby.”

She smiled weakly. “I just want to see the kids.”

“I know. Me, too. Grace will be happy that we have three new horses heading our way.”