She couldn’t get enough of him. That’s what four days of not talking did to her. She wasn’t sure she’d survive that again. She pulled his shorts down, smiling, because she knew she didn’t have to.
Yeah, he still had Boston to sort out, and that would take time. Plus they were going to have a baby, and everybody knew how much strain that could put on people. But he was hers, the same way she was his. She had been since the moment their eyes connected on the road, right as Hester flew toward him, feathers everywhere.
He slid against her, large and thick and oh so hard, making her hips roll until he was almost inside her. He kissed her throat, her chest, then brushed his lips against her nipple. “You ready, baby?” he asked, glancing up at her through his lashes.
Yeah, she was ready. For him, for their life, for everything they were going to face. Together.
And as he slid inside her, she knew it was the start of something wonderful.
Chapter Thirty-One
FOUR MONTHS LATER
May had always been one of Courtney’s favorite months. The weather was warm, the crops were growing, and the fields were full of baby animals following their mothers around like, well, sheep. It was hard work – farming always was – but it was rewarding to see all their plans coming to fruition.
Her work this year had been different than normal. For a start, they had an extra pair of hands in Ben, the local college student who came to work every other day, taking over the hard labor tasks that Courtney could no longer manage at thirty-four weeks pregnant. Technically, they had two extra pair of hands, if you counted Logan, who’d taken to helping Ellis out on the land whenever he had a chance.
She glanced across the lawn at where he was standing with his brothers, the four of them laughing and raising bottles to each other. She’d gotten close to them all. Gray and his soft strumming of the guitar whenever they all got together. Tanner and his grin and penchant for practical jokes. And especially Cam, who looked so much like Logan, yet was completely different in temperament. Though they both had a competitive streak that made her secretly smile.
“This place is beautiful,” Becca said as she walked over, holding a glass of champagne in her hand.
They’d decided to hold the baby shower in the gardens of The Secret Gourmet. It was the perfect location. The cherry trees were blossoming, and birds were chirping in the branches. It felt like the beginning of something new.
“Here,” Becca said, passing Courtney an orange juice as she kept hold of her champagne flute. “I thought you could do with a drink.”
Courtney smiled at Logan’s sister. She was growing fond of her, too. Becca was younger than the brothers, but somehow balanced them out. And she loved the way they all protected her like mother hens. She took the orange juice from Becca’s outstretched hand. “Thanks, I was about to grab one. The way the baby keeps kicking I’m going to need all the energy I can get.”
“He’s kicking again?” Becca asked, her eyes lit up. They’d found out the sex at her twenty-week appointment. Logan had been proud as hell, and his brothers had made jokes about more heartbreakers in the family. Becca had shaken her head, and pointed out that whenever one of them actually had a girl, she was going to make sure she gave them hell.
“Want to feel?” Courtney asked. Becca nodded eagerly, and Courtney took her hand, placing it against the side of her stomach where the baby loved to push his feet.
Becca’s eyes widened as she felt the movement. “Oh no, he’s gonna be another football player, isn’t he?”
“What’s wrong with that?” Logan asked, walking over to them and kissing Becca’s cheek. “It’s in the genes.” He slid his hand around Courtney’s ever-expanding stomach and brushed his lips against hers. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m good.”
“Shall we open some gifts?” He nodded at the table in the center of the lawn, overflowing with beautifully wrapped presents. She’d asked people not to spend too much, but of course all of their friends and family had gone overboard. And yeah, she secretly loved them for it.
It had been her idea to have a baby shower where all the men in their lives as well as the women were invited. She hated the idea of games and measuring her stomach and all the other horror stories she’d read about on pregnancy forums. So much nicer to be here on the lawn of Ellie and Dan’s home-based restaurant, with the food and drink they’d sat down and ordered a few weeks ago. Since Logan had moved back to Hartson’s Creek for good last month, they’d spent a lot of time with his friends. He’d helped out with their menus, and talked business plans with Dan. Their exclusive dining experience was in demand, and they were booked out every weekend for months to come. But neither Dan or Ellie wanted to expand – they liked their life and home exactly the way it was.
Which had, of course, set Logan’s mind thinking. And Courtney knew that was a beautiful and dangerous thing.
Within a week, he’d laid out a plan to her. If Ellis and Mary were still planning to sell the farm in the next couple of years, he wanted to buy it.
“Think about it,” he’d whispered, stroking her stomach as he sat next to her on their porch. “You could run the farm and we could redevelop the cottage into a restaurant. We’d have the food production covered from field to plate. We can grow the
