Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

JAKE

Did I just sleep with my ex? Yes, yes, I did. Do I have any regrets? No, I do not.

As we lie together on the mattress of her queen bed, I look over at her. “What do we do now?”

She smiles at me, her cheeks flushed, and dare I say she’s absolutely glowing. “I don’t know.”

“I guess I should have asked if you were on birth control,” I admit sheepishly.

She laughs, throwing an arm over her face. “I am.”

“Good.” I gather her in my arms. “I don’t want this to be a one-time thing, Layla. I’ve missed you and want to be with you.”

Her green eyes widen. “I thought you hated me.”

I shake my head and squeeze her closer to me, her bare breasts pressing against my chest. “I could never hate you. You’re…” I pause wondering if I should say what I want to. Fuck it. “You’re the love of my life.”

Her plump lips part to an O. “Really?”

“Yes, really, Layla. Please don’t leave again. Don’t leave town. If I have to beg, I will.”

She grins and then reaches up and licks my lips, then my nose. “That, I would like to see.”

Just then, we hear the crunch of tires on gravel and look at each other, eyes wide. “Your mom!”

We both laugh at our teenage-esque silliness. I push my pants up and slide into my shoes. “We’re whole-ass adults.”

“We are,” she replies, dressing quickly.

I run to the living room to get my shirt, and am thankful Melanie is still outside gathering groceries. I immediately head out to help her, trying to catch my breath.

“Oh, thank you, Jake. So nice to have extra helping hands with this,” she says.

Hands that had been all over her daughter five minutes ago.

“Anytime,” I say.

I bring the bags in and then gather my tool bag. Then, I look at Layla. “Help me wrangle Belinda and I’ll be on my way.”

“Sure,” she says.

She meets me out in the paddock and we tether a leash on Belinda, leading her to the gate where I’d backed up the trailer. She goes in without a fuss and I lock the gate.

Before getting into the driver’s seat, Layla and I kiss.

“I’m glad you came over,” she says against my lips.

“I am, too. Just please don’t leave again,” I say, sounding vulnerable and hating the desperation in my voice.

“After that, I doubt I’ll want to,” she whispers.

Fuck, I’m getting hard again. I slide into the driver’s seat and drive off with Belinda, knowing Billy the bull will be as happy to see her as I am every time I lay eyes on Layla.

The love of my life.

I’m optimistically happy as I drive the twenty miles back to the ranch. But what if she leaves again? Decides she misses the city life?

I can’t think about that right now, I can only try to stay positive and hope she stays. We’d fallen into bed together, unable to fight the attraction that had flared the second I’d spotted her on the side of the highway. And now, that attraction roared to life and neither one of us are able to tamp it down. It’s time to face the fact that we are meant for each other. That in the seven years apart, she only blossomed even more beautiful and there’s a reason neither of us found anyone else.

Because she’s it. She is the one for me, and I’ll be damned if I let her think that I’m not the one for her.

Six months later

Layla’s stubborn mom refuses to leave her farm, but a part of me gets it. I wouldn’t want to either. She made a life there with her late husband and daughter and it’s all she has left. That doesn’t mean she has to maintain it alone.

Every weekend, I’m over there helping her. She still has the teen boys coming over, but between Layla and me, we help her maintain it.

In a not-so-shocking twist, Melanie has been spending a lot of time with Don Mason, and they seemed to be hitting it off.

As for Layla and me… she mostly spends her time at the ranch, fighting for baby Lilyann’s attention with my mom while Ma teaches her secret recipes.

It’s an easy life and one she fits into well. After selling her fancy electric car to an online dealer, I’d helped her pick out a nice, gas-powered one she shouldn’t have any problems with. She also found an online job where she can work remote doing marketing for a big company in Charlotte. I’m pretty sure it’s the one she had already worked for, but she seems happy enough doing it from here—when the Wi-Fi isn’t spotty, that is.

There aren’t many places to do celebrating around here, so I decided that our special day could be just as special here on the ranch.

As she’s out petting a very pregnant Belinda, who we decided was better left with us until she gives birth, I approach her nervously, my hands in my pockets.

Layla turns around and smiles up at me. “Hi.”

“Hey, Clapton.” Then, I get down on one knee in the dirt of the ranch and pull out a black box from my pocket. “Layla Lee Davis. I’m not sad you were brought back to Chestnut Grove. I’m not sad you left our small town to go live the big city life. I’m not sad you came back here begrudgingly. The only thing that would make me sad is if you said you wouldn’t marry me.” I slip the ring onto her finger. “Be my wife. The mother of my children, Layla. I love you.”

Her eyes glisten with tears as the late-day sunset catches her hair, oranges and yellows making a halo around her head as she nods slightly.

“Yes, Jake. Of course I’ll marry you.” Her eyes mist with unshed tears.

I stand and pick her up, twirling her around as cows moo and chickens cluck, seeming to celebrate with us.

Layla

I honestly had no idea he was going to propose. None. Admittedly, I’ve been spending more time at his ranch than with my own mom, and that makes me feel a little guilty. But Don has been coming around, and honestly, when he spends the night, I don’t want to be there.

But a marriage proposal?

“This is so… unexpected,” I admit.

“I know,” Jake admits, looking down at me with those breathtaking eyes of his. I run my hand over his gray tee. He’s been working all day out here, but he still looks and smells so incredibly sexy.

He takes my hand and leads me into the house, where there’s a full spread of food. His mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and baby niece are seated, waiting for us.

After I sold my Tesla, I sort of had this peace settle over my heart. Sure, I still missed the big city, but in true Jake fashion, he would take me on weekend trips to Charlotte, Raleigh, even Virginia Beach for the weekend so I could get a break from the small town. It’s like he knew exactly what my heart I needed. But then again, he’s always known me so well.

I sit at the table with his family, indulging in steak, potatoes, and asparagus while his mom wastes no time jumping into wedding plans. She says she’s had a vision for a barn wedding venue for some time, and that this is the perfect opportunity to get it off the ground. We’ll be the first couple to get married there, and then with my help and marketing expertise, of course, we’ll create a website with beautiful photos, advertising it for other couples.

They do have that empty barn sitting there, after all. Nothing but a bunch of barn cats, hay, and tools are its occupants.

I grow excited at the prospect, immediately having visions for it.

“Let’s do it,” I say, grabbing Mrs. Parsons’s hand and squeezing.

We talk excitedly about our plans while Courtney admires my ring, and Jake, his dad, and Brandon talk about the renovations to the barn they’re going to need to do.

It only took eight weeks, but the barn is ready to go, and as I stand in the house in my white gown holding a bunch of wildflowers, my eyes grow misty. I can’t believe this is happening. That I’m marrying the love of my life.

A year ago, I would have laughed at the idea. That I would move back to Chestnut Grove, hook up with Jake again, and then get married in a barn. But I guess when life throws you a tragedy, you have no choice but to face it head-on and hope something good will come out of it.

And something has. Big-city life was fun for a while, but in my heart of hearts, you can take the girl out of the small town but you can’t take the small town out of the girl. I will always be a small-town North Carolina girl, and as I watch my groom at the end of the aisle, smiling at me with so much love, I know once I’ve married my small-town boy, nothing will ever, ever convince me I didn’t make the right choice with Jake Parsons and Chestnut Grove.

THE END