Saving Us (Mitchell Family #6)(16)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I hadn’t exactly talked to her about my plans to build a house in North Carolina. Sure, I’d mentioned it, but she didn’t know that Ty’s dad had deeded me five acres to do it. Plus I had taken my lunch break one day last week to apply for the building permit.

"We were talking about this summer. Why?"

"I was hopin’ John could come give a hand once we break ground on the new house. Amy’s goin’ to be popping that baby out sooner than we know it. I need my family to have a place of our own. The permits will be in as early as next week. This shit is happenin’."

The room filled with celebration. Since I’d kept it from Amy, she looked shocked. I had this dream of blindfolding her and carrying her up to our wrap around porch. Things didn’t always go as we planned them though.

She started to tear up and I wiped the first ones as they fell down her pretty cheeks. "Don’t cry. Ain’t this what you want?"

She nodded. "It’s all I want Conner. I can’t believe you went and did this on your own."

I chuckled. Ty leaned over. "I was with him. Does that count?"

My sister smacked him and smiled. "You little sneak. You didn’t even tell me."

Ty looked at my sister. He put his arm around her. "It’s a guy code thing. You wouldn’t understand, baby."

"Guy code is when you don’t sleep with someone your buddy dated. You punk." She shook her head and chewed on a piece of bacon.

"Yeah, I asked him to be quiet about it. I’ve been savin’ all of my money and the bank is goin’ to lend me the rest. I got a first time buyers loan and my rate is low. With all of your help, I reckon we can get it done fairly quick."

Amy’s arms wrapped tightly around my waist. We were sitting at the table, in front of my whole family, but I hugged her back and appreciated her happiness. "I’m sorry about yesterday."

I kissed her on the head. "Only you, Blaze. This is all for you."

"You can count on me bein’ there cuz. John and I can ride out together," Colt interrupted my private little moment with Amy.

"I can go with Amy and Miranda to pick out inside stuff," Van offered.

"Damn, I guess I will babysit," Ty joked.

"I can babysit, daddy." Bella was so cute. I think she was serious, even though she was way too young for three babies.

"I think we will need an adult helper. Maybe Mimi can babysit with you," Ty suggested.

Bella nodded. "Yeah, Mimi can help me."

We all laughed.

We spent the rest of the morning sitting around talking. Colt and John agreed to come the weekend after we laid the foundation. I would have to contract that part out, so it made sense that we start framing a week later, after the inspections were done. Originally, I had planned on building a pole building first, to store everything in, but we were running out of time. It wasn’t that I minded having our baby while we lived with my sister. I just wanted to take our baby to our own home.

While the rest of my family went to my father’s grave, Amy and I stayed behind. I took her on a golf cart cruise of the ranch. I think she was shocked at how big the place was. Her favorite part was my aunt’s house. She stared at the pool and couldn’t believe how beautiful everything was. I showed her the barn that we fixed up for Colt and Van’s wedding. She also enjoyed seeing the horses and other livestock on the farm itself.

Later in the afternoon, we went out to the old tire swing. It was far back in the woods in this clearing. The swing hung from an old willow tree that had doubled in size since I was kid. My uncle hung the swing when we were about eleven, but Colt replaced it for Noah a couple years back.

Amy sat inside the tire and I swung her on it. "This place is unbelievable, Conner. I dreamed of this when I was a child. It’s perfect."

"Yeah, it’s beautiful, but it doesn’t feel like home to me anymore."

"Are you sure you don’t regret leaving everything here? It’s just so much."

"I know where I need to be. I will live wherever you are." I stopped the swing and stood in front of her. She wrapped her legs around me. "Ever made love under a willow tree?"

She giggled and then realized that I was serious. "Someone might see us?"

I could have told her that nobody had caught me doing it before, but that was my past. "I don’t care who sees us. I want you."

"I don’t know. I feel silly. You’ve probably done this before." She giggled.

She knew me too well. "Amy, since you’re the only woman that I have ever made love to, I reckon everything is new to me. Are you goin’ to take off your pants, or do I need to do it?"

I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I wanted her naked and it was going to happen, right here, under this tree.

Chapter 11

Amy

Maybe I had overreacted regarding the whole Amber thing. That girl pressed the wrong buttons with me. I didn’t want to doubt Conner, especially after all of the things he did for me in the past year. Making love under the willow tree was almost whimsical. Being outside, out in the open, and sharing our emotions was so intense. I think after feeling the baby moving, our feelings went into overdrive. Conner’s excitement sent me into a frenzy of happiness. I loved sharing it with him.

As we lay there under that beautiful tree, I felt Conner playing with my hair. We were both looking up at the long branches, feeling the cool evening whisking in. I’d managed to put on my bra and panties before getting comfortable in Conner’s arms again. I had no clue if someone had seen us, but I would rather have been safe than sorry.

“Have you given any thought to names?” Conner’s question caught me off guard. I turned to look at him.

“Why? Have you?”

He smiled and lifted our hands up to the sky. The beams of setting sun shone through our fingertips. “I have a few I like.”

I smiled just thinking about my big, strong man who already cared so much about our tiny baby. “Are you going to share?”

He let out an air filled laugh. “I don’t know. I think I might just keep it a secret for a while.”

I rolled over on half of his chest and put my head up to face him. “You can’t talk about it and then not tell me. Come on with it. I want to know what names you like.”

He laughed even more. “Blaze, you know how much I like it when you get all roused up? I think I am goin’ to hold out until you can’t stand it anymore.”

“That’s not fair. We need to agree on it. I’m not going to let you name our child Amos or Betsy.”

“Damn, how did you know they were my favorites?” He teased.