Saving Us (Mitchell Family #6)(33)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“No. Am I going to like this story?”

“Probably not, but I’m goin’ to tell you anyway.” I cleared my throat and grabbed Amy’s hand. I found that when I talked about other girls, she felt more confident when I was reminding her that she ended up with the grand prize. “So, the day I turned sixteen, my uncle Mitch took me out to get my license. We took this old ass beat up Chevy that barely ran. I managed to pass, so after we got my picture taken and waited for my license, my uncle let me drive back to the ranch. When we got back he decided he was going to send me out to pick up a load of hay. I jumped in the truck all excited about havin’ a real license. I’d been drivin’ around illegally since I was fourteen, so it was a big deal. While on the way to pick up the hay, I decided to stop by this girl’s house. She lived like ten miles down the road and her Daddy raised pigs. I remember how bad it always smelled when you pulled up to her farm. Anyway, so I pull up in this big ass truck and she comes out. For the first time neither of her parents were home. We snuck up to her room and started getting’ it on.”

“Conner, I don’t want to know.”

I laughed. “Just listen. So anyway, we’re messin’ around and we hear this truck startin’ up. I look outside and saw her Daddy walking toward the house. I got my pants pulled up and heard him comin’ inside. He yelled up to me to warn me that I was as dead as the animals mounted on his walls. I climbed out the window and made a runnin’ jump to the back of the truck. I woke up in the ambulance as they were drivin’ me to the hospital. You see, her Daddy knew I would run from him, so he climbed in my truck and moved it. When I jumped, I just assumed I would land in the bed of the truck. Instead, I landed on the hard ground. I broke my leg, knocked myself out and busted both of my elbows wide open. Needless to say, I got my ass punished, my license taken away and I was never allowed to see that girl again.”

Amy started laughing. “That is hilarious!”

“So, I am just sayin’, I think our kid will learn to like car rides.”

“That story had nothing to do with driving a vehicle, Conner.”

I squeezed her hand and made her look at me. “Maybe not, but it sure as hell was funny.”

I kept telling Amy stories until we arrived at the little restaurant where Heather told us to meet her. When I turned off the truck, Amy and I just sat there for a minute. “Let me go in and make sure she’s alone. You hang onto that phone. If I don’t come out in ten minutes, you call the cops and keep the doors locked. If it seems okay, I will come out and get you.”

She nodded and leaned over to kiss me. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Stop worryin’, Blaze. I ain’t goin’ to let anything happen to you.”

When I got out of the truck I waited for her to lock the door before I proceeded into the place to locate Heather. I had no idea what to expect, but I feared the worst, just in case.

Chapter 21

Amy

Driving all this way to meet someone that we didn’t even know if we could trust, wasn’t exactly how I had planned my evening. Things were going so good for us. We had settled into living in Kentucky. Each day of my pregnancy was spent preparing for the baby’s arrival. I thought it was going to be a girl and Conner insisted that it was going to be a boy. I was certain that, as long as it was healthy, it just didn’t matter.

I actually enjoyed living in Kentucky. It was so beautiful and aside from girls Conner’s age, everyone in town was very welcoming. Colt’s mother and Van took me to a salon one day and introduced me to a couple of the stylists. They were very kind and said that if I decided to go back to work they would rent me out a chair.

I think just knowing that if I wanted to work I had a job set my mind at ease. We didn’t have a house payment, since the house had long been paid for. Conner was able to save almost everything and I never worried that he wouldn’t be able to provide for our family.

We’d bought all sorts of things for the nursery, but couldn’t agree on a theme. Conner wanted all John Deere stuff, but without knowing the sex, I couldn’t decorate in the boys green and yellow, or the girls pink version.

There wasn’t one single day that past that I didn’t wonder when Rick was going to come along and spoil my happiness. Each moment I would feel overwhelmed in bliss, I always had to stop and wonder just how long it would last.

One thing that I really enjoyed was how close the family was. I’d seen Ty and Miranda interacting with his parents, but this part of the family was exactly the same way. We still had dinners together and before each meal we prayed. For some reason, every single time I saw Conner fold his hand and close his eyes, my heart fell in love with him even more. My rough cowboy had a passionate side. He knew what his life stood for and he appreciated what he had.

Conner seldom complained. He worked long, hard hours and then came home and spent time with me. Our routine was repetitive, but we liked things that way. I never thought I would get used to being with a farmer. Now I thought it was the perfect job. Conner was always somewhere close. He never had to ask permission to do things. I knew that when our baby came, he was going to be by my side the whole time.

I was starting to get scared about the delivery part. It didn’t help that Miranda reminded daily of how bad it hurt. Knowing that she had survived such a terrible labor didn’t exactly make it easier not to worry. I had faith that everything was going to be okay.

As I sat outside waiting for Conner, I was more nervous than ever.

Conner came walking out a few minutes later with Heather walking behind him. She had cut her hair even shorter and kept it a dark brown. When they got up to the window, I rolled it down. Conner leaned inside of it. “Here’s the plan. Heather is goin’ to ride with us to another place. She wants us to believe that she is here alone.”

I nodded.

After unlocking the door, Heather climbed in the back. Once Conner was back into the driver’s seat, we pulled out of the parking lot. I turned around to face Heather. “What happened to you that night? We waited for hours.”

She put her head down. “I couldn’t ask you to help me, Amy. I’ve done too much to Conner’s family to be able to do that. I drove all night long and finally came to a town in Maryland the next morning. Once I was there, I went into the library and used their computers to search Rick’s ex-wife. Her family was from Virginia and she still had some living there. With nothing to lose, I used the last of my gas money and drove there.”