Back To Country (Country Love #4)(3)

"Nash! Are you following her? Watching her every move?" She leans in, fire in her eyes. "Are you stalking her?"

I lean back. "What? No! Why would you think that?"

"Hey! Prie! Nash! C'mon!"

We both turn our heads and see Trevor wavin' at us from inside the elevator. Dammit! I'm never gonna find out anythin' this way. Prie pinches my arm. "Ow!" Then heads towards the elevator.

"Hey, Nash is gonna give me a ride home. We're talking about...." Her eyes move to mine, her mouth still open, not knowin' what to say. I turn and puff out my chest, tryin' to look like I'm calm.

"We're just goin' over that  –  uh  –  thing she wants me to build for the kids to play on." Shit! Real smooth, Nash.

Trevor stares at me and then looks at Prie, his hand holdin' the elevator door open. I hold my breath until finally he winks at Prie and smiles. "Yeah, okay. See ya at home. Don't be long." We both stand still, waitin' as the doors close.

"Ow!" She hits my arm, again. Damn, she has a mean punch. Her hand fists some of my shirt and we turn toward each other.

"What the hell, Nash?" She can still be a little spitfire when she wants to.

"Why are you so angry?" I half yell. Next thing I know, her hands are flat against my chest, pushin' me back until I hit a wall. Damn, she's pretty strong when she wants to be.

"I'm not angry," she says through gritted teeth.

We're both quiet, both of us seethin' at each other. "Sheesh. I just thought I'd like to ask Tina out, get to know her better, and you go all Kamikaze on me. What's goin' on with you?" Everythin's been so hectic, we haven't really gotten to sit down and talk for a while. I've missed our talks. Not just about girls but about what's been goin' on in her life. She went from bein' captured by a lunatic madman and bein' hurt by him physically to bein' hurt by Trevor  –  more like confused. Then for the first time since she'd been captured, she went back to her home town to lay her family to rest after they were killed. She then came back here, fell in love, got married, and started runnin' her house for battered women and their kids. Other than doin' some things for her place and just catchin' a glimpse of her here and there, we've not had any time to take a breather and just catch up. Her eyes scan mine, her skin changin' to a pasty white. "Are you gonna be sick now?" She swallows hard. 



 "I'm pregnant," she whispers, looking all around.

My eyes widen and my smile spreads. "That's great!" She shakes her head and swallows hard again, really lookin' like she's gonna be sick. I start shakin' my head with her, my brows lowerin' in confusion. "That's  –  not great?"

She looks around again and then at the waitin' room we came from. Takin' my hand, I follow her there. She peeks around the doorway and then leads me into the empty room. She walks about halfway into the room and turns to me. "I know I've only told you a little about what happened when Mik  –  Mikael took me."

"Prie. You don't need to." This is too hard on her. I told her a long time ago, I don't need to know the details of everythin' that happened to her. I know it was horrible for her, and that she was injured. She doesn't need to relive any of it ever again.

"No. I want you to know this much." She takes a deep breath. "You're my best friend and even though I can't talk about everything, I need you to know this."

I squeeze her hand and pull her over to the chairs. We both sit down and face each other. She's right about one thing. We've become so close. I haven't really had a best friend until I met her. "Okay, but only what you feel you want to tell me. I don't need to know everythin'. That's buried as far as I'm concerned. You're happy now and don't need nothin' standin' in the way of that. I'm so proud of you and how you did with your therapy and gettin' your life back. Hell, you're one of the bravest and strongest people I know." She smiles, a little color returnin' to her skin.

"I don't know what I would ever do without you." She squeezes my hand, looks down and back up into my eyes. "Thing is, I was told by a doctor, after everything that happened, that after what he did to me  –  well, I would most likely never be able to have kids."

"Then it's great news that you're pregnant, right?" I ask excitedly.

"Yes and no. I dunno."

I shift in my seat and take her other hand in mine. "Huh? Prie, you're not makin' sense. That asshole thought he took somethin' precious from you and you beat him again by doin' what he thought you'd never be able to do." I'm more confused than ever. Why wouldn't she be happy about this? I know she's always wanted kids. That asshole thought he took that chance away from her, but God saw fit to give her that precious gift. I'm happy for her.

The corner of her mouth lifts a little then fades. "It's not for certain that I can carry this baby full term, Nash." My brows lower, frustrated. Gotta say, sometimes it's hard being a guy.



       
         
       
        



 "I don't understand." I shake my head.

She takes a deep breath. "I went to see Sadie's OB doctor. He did a test to confirm I'm indeed pregnant but he told me that my scar tissue is so bad that it could cause problems during the pregnancy. Something called placenta previa." I shake my head, all this jargon makin' me more frustrated. She gives me a sad smile. "Because they're so many scars in the lining of my uterus, it could cause the placenta, which is what holds the baby and protects them, to cover my cervix, where the baby needs to come out. It makes me a high risk pregnancy and could cause really bad issues for the baby." I watch as a lone tear falls from her eye, glidin' down over her cheek. I reach up and wipe it away, concern floodin' me.

"Have you told Trevor?" She shakes her head slowly. "Why not? You know he worships you."

Her mouth turns up into another sad smile. "That's just it." Her chin quivers. "The one thing he doesn't have, I may not ever be able to give him." Another tear falls from her eye.

I smile at her. Such a brave woman. "Caprice, honey. He'd do anythin' for you, and he knows there may be a chance you may never be able to have kids, right?" She nods, more tears fallin'. "He would give you his strength and be there for you through anythin'. I think he's already proven that." She lets out a laugh and wipes her tears away. "He's your husband, your other best friend." She laughs again. "Tell him. Let him be there for you. Besides, don't you think he has a right to know he's gonna be a daddy, even if there's a chance it may not work out?" She nods and folds into my arms, grippin' the back of my shirt and snifflin'.

"Thank you. I don't know what I'd ever do without you." She grips my shirt tighter and lays her head on my shoulder.

We sit there for a few minutes, givin' her time to calm down. Finally, she sits up and smiles. "Feel better?" I ask. She gives me some eager nods. "Good." I stand and pull her up. "Let's get you home. I think you have some talkin' to do with your husband." I put my arm around her and over her shoulder, and we start walkin' toward the elevators. "Besides, that whole pedestal I'd put you on, bein' the brave and strong woman you are, I'd hate for it to topple over and you go crashin' to the ground." She play smacks my stomach and laughs. "I mean, who in the hell else would I put up there?" 

We talk all the way back to her place, and I could tell by the time she kissed my cheek and climbed out of my truck, she was feelin' a bit better about tellin' Trevor. She told me I should man up and be the man she knows and loves and ask Tina out. I watched her walk up to her front porch with a little kick in her step, happy that I could help put it there. I turn my truck around and go the little ways down the road until I turn into my drive. My house looks so damn huge, sittin' there with a few lights on in various rooms. The guys who work for me are probably already in their rooms in the house behind mine. It's a pretty cool layout with them havin' their own place. Sometimes they come up to my house for meals or just to hang out and have some cold ones. There are times we play some poker, or spend some time in my game room. Most of the time though, I'm alone in this big place. It wasn't the house that had caught my eye as much as the large stables and amount of land. Raisin' horses is a livin' that's been in my family for decades, one my pa passed down to me.

I pull into the garage, turn off my truck, and as the garage door lowers, I walk into the house, turnin' on the lights as I go. Silence. Emptiness. So many times you think 'bout your life, where you'll be as a young man. I never thought past takin' over Pa's business, never really had the time. I gave up a ton of freedom, things other guys my age where doin'. They were out there havin' fun, chasin' girls, or maybe findin' the one they wanted to spend the rest of their life with. Me? I was takin' care of my dyin' pa then later takin' over his business and makin' sure it thrived. I start flippin' off those same lights as I walk through the house. When I reach my bedroom, I start untuckin' my shirt, pullin' it off my shoulders and throw it in my overloaded hamper. I sit on the edge of the bed, take off my boots, set them on the floor then take off my socks, tossin' them in the hamper too. Once I've thrown my jeans in there, I climb into bed, get under the covers, and lay my head on my arm, starin' up at the ceilin'. Yup, Memphis, Colby, and Trevor have been through a ton of shit. At least they got their women  –  the loves of their lives. I envy them.