Page 103 of Broken Boundaries

Brooks looks at me curiously. “You wanna get married at the ranch?”

“Oh, well, I assumed you’d want to do it there.”

“But what do you want?” he asks.

I’ve never really pictured my actual wedding day. Sure, I wanted to get married and have the babies and the life. But that was all after the ceremony. I was never one of those girls who looked through wedding magazines and scrapbooked every dream. I don’t have any Pinterest boards of centerpieces and extravagant bouquets. I simply wanted the family that came along with the wedding.

“It doesn’t really matter to me,” I answer honestly.

“Really? I assumed you’d want some fancy ballroom or something.”

I laugh thinking about gathering Blue Haven residents in a fancy ballroom like the one at the hotel I used to work at in Atlanta. Yeah. No. That’s not happening. “The only thing I care about is that you’re at the end of the aisle.”

He smiles and grabs my hand. “There’s no question about that. I guess the ranch it is.”

“It makes sense, too. The ranch is where we fell in love. It’s where we’ll live out our future together. Might as well make it official there.”

“How are you this perfect?” he asks.

“Yeah, remember that next time you get mad at me for leaving the fence unlocked.”

He sighs. “I wasn’t mad. Just… frustrated.”

I laugh. He was definitely mad but tried to pretend that he wasn’t after he spent hours riding around the ranch trying to find the horses that got out. “Right.”

He shakes his head and scoots out of the booth. We head outside and toward his truck when I remember that I needed to get something in town.

“Hey, I need to run to the drug store really quick.”

“Alright. I need to go to the bank. Meet back here in ten?”

“Yep!”

He gives me a quick kiss before we go our separate ways.

Luckily, the drugstore is mostly empty, and thankfully, Brenda is not at the cash register today. I just know she’d have a field day telling the whole town what I’m about to buy. I grab a small basket and throw some random lotion, gum, and a tube of mascara in before I make my way to the aisle I really need.

Family planning.

I quickly find the pregnancy tests, but why do there have to be so many different brands? This morning I realized I’m two weeks late. At first, I freaked out, but then I realized that Brooks is going to be so excited if I am pregnant. I want to make sure it’s true before I tell him, though.

I finally pick the one that actually says if you’re pregnant or not, because I don’t want to have to stress about decoding the lines.

I throw the box in my basket and try to hide it as best as I can with the other items. I’m about to go check out when someone says my name, and I stop in my tracks. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard that voice.

I turn around slowly. “Hi.”

I’ve seen Zach a few times over the last year, and while he’s never happy to see me, the anger has faded a little each time. We never really talk, but I know he graduated from the police academy and was hired by the county. I also know he’s started dating someone new. He’s moving on, and I’m so happy for him even if he’s not happy for me.

“How are you?” Zach asks. He looks uncomfortable talking to me, and I get it. However, it’s also hard to forget those two years when we were inseparable.

“I’m good. How about you?”

He nods. “Yeah, I’m good too. I, uh, heard about the engagement.”

I wince a little, preparing myself for the worst. Brooks told me that he texted Zach before he proposed, just so he wouldn’t hear it from someone else. Brooks has done a lot of one-sided texting with Zach over the last year. He understands why Zach won’t talk to him, but I know it still hurts.

“Oh. Yeah.” We both glance down at my ring.