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I slowly look up at Jack, not knowing what to say or how to express the tremendous sense of gratitude I’m feeling right now. I’m free because of him.
A nagging worry begins to worm its way into my mind. “The police?”
“Will never find him,” Jack says with a confident nod. “My friend Stan owns a construction company with lots of heavy machinery. He helped me out.”
“Oh,” I say when it clicks. They must have buried them deep in the ground somewhere out in the wilderness. If Jack says it’s okay, then I’ll have to believe him. He is a professional in this area after all.
“Thank you, Jack,” I whisper as I look up at him. “You’re my hero.”
He gives me a tired smile that makes me all tingly inside.
“I guess there’s nothing stopping me… from… going home.”
That smile quickly disappears. “I’m stopping you.”
A warmth fills my chest. That’s just what I wanted to hear.
“Are you going to keep me here as your prisoner?”
“I’m going to keep you here as my girl.”
A slow smile builds on my face as I watch him.
“It doesn’t matter that I’m older, Ruby. It doesn’t matter that your father was my best friend. We belong together, baby girl. You and me forever. Don’t go back. Stay with me. Stay with me and we’ll start a new life. We’re better together, you know that.”
It’s not even a choice. I’ll pick him over anything.
“Okay, Jack,” I say with flushed cheeks and a big smile. “I’ll stay and be your baby girl.”
He lunges forward, cups my cheeks, and kisses me like I’ve never been kissed before.
I moan as I fall back on the bed, pulling him on top of me.
We better add a few more nights to our booking…
We’re going to need it.
Epilogue
Jack
Nine months later…
Ruby bends over in the passenger seat and wails like a wounded buffalo. She’s clutching her swollen belly as I speed up even faster.
“You’re doing amazing, baby girl,” I tell her as I hold her hand. She’s squeezing it so hard that it hurts. I didn’t know my girl was this strong.
The contraction passes and she sinks into the seat, breathing heavily with sweat beading on her forehead.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she says in a breathless tone. “Just don’t stop.”
I hate to see her in pain like this. If I could take it from her and experience it myself instead, I would.
I would do anything for her.
She’s given me so much. She’s given me a new start. A new lease on life.
Before she arrived on my doorstep, I was drinking too much, smoking too much, and fighting too much—all things that were bad for me.
But ever since she stepped back into my life, I haven’t touched any of it. Not one drop of alcohol, not one inhale of a cigarette, and not one trip back to The Cracked Barrel Saloon for Fight Night. Stan has been begging me to return—he always bet heavily on my fights and always made out well—but that dark part of my life is done.
All of the darkness is over.
I’m a man who’s seen a lot of darkness throughout his years, but Ruby is my light. She’s the light that guides me now.
“Oww!!” she screams as another contraction hits. Her face twists up and she grits her teeth as she powers through it.
It kills me to see her like this. I hate to see her in pain.
I love her so damn much. I’m utterly obsessed with this girl.
The past nine months have been pure bliss. Just having her in my house where I can look out for her was good enough, but then she told me she was pregnant and my whole world was rocked.
I loved seeing her stomach get larger over the past few months, knowing my baby was growing in her womb. We couldn’t keep our hands off each other this whole time.
She wanted to get a job in town, but I didn’t want her working while she was pregnant, so I surprised her one day by converting a spare room into an office for her custom sticker company. I blindfolded her and brought her in. She was so thrilled when I showed her. I had done a lot of research to find out the best sticker-making equipment and I bought it all for her. The top-of-the-line printer, cutter, and all of the various inks and sticker paper she could dream of. I even bought her a new laptop.
She instantly restarted her business and it’s been going great. She gets orders every day.
“The hospital is just up ahead,” I say as I race toward it. “We’re almost there.”
The excitement is building within as I park the truck and race to get a wheelchair. I can’t wait to see my baby. We’re having a girl.
Ruby likes Aurora for a name, but I like Jessica.
