Page 2 of After this Summer (Seasons in Montana: Summer #11)

INDIE

BEAU: I can’t wait to see you

INDIE: Me too

I stare at the messages and will my heart to slow in my chest. It doesn’t, but I’m not sure if that’s because of anticipation or the nausea that is a constant reminder of the weekend I spent with Beau Sterling this past December.

Or the fact that after two weeks, I still can’t get ahold of Toni.

But I can’t think about that right now because Beau will be here any minute.

I can do this.

Letting my eyelids flutter closed, I brace my hand on the counter behind me and take a deep breath. That weekend had been one of the best of my life—aside from my best friend not getting married—and my connection to the eldest Sterling brother hadn’t waned in the time we’d been apart.

Constant messages and a dozen phone calls had me wearing a constant smile, his charm and swagger kicking up a swarm of butterflies in my belly.

But then that swarm of butterflies had turned into me emptying the contents of my stomach each morning. That and a pregnancy test I’d had stashed in the back of the bathroom closet in my apartment with two pink lines.

Two pink lines.

I’d run right out to the store and bought two more boxes only to have five positive tests staring back at me a few minutes after I returned home.

Knock. Knock.

The sound against the front door has my heart pounding in my chest all over again, the moment of quiet gone in an instant.

Forcing myself to move, I pad across the hardwood floor and pull the front door open before I lose my nerve. Beau Sterling looks like a dream from his baseball hat to the fitted jacket, jeans, and boots. He’s gorgeous, and the sight of him has my eyes welling with tears.

Stupid hormones.

“Hey, what’s?—”

I don’t let him finish the question before launching myself into his arms. He catches me with ease, dropping his bag barely over the threshold and kicking the door closed behind him as my legs wrap around his waist.

It’s not just about the baby—it’s everything.

The salon. Toni. My life savings…

Hints of pine and bergamot settle over me like a warm blanket, and I thank anyone in the universe listening that the smell doesn’t have me bolting for the bathroom.

Because I need this moment of reprieve.

“You need me to take care of someone? I brought my good jeans, but I can buy another pair if they get ruined.”

I choke on a laugh and shake my head against his neck, my lips pressing a gentle kiss against his skin.

I needed him.

And I hate that.

I’ve never needed anyone.

But it’s not his fault. From the moment we met and every moment after, he’s just been this pillar of strength that I want to lose myself in.

And now is no different.

“I need to tell you something.”

“Picked up on that all on my own if you can believe it,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to my hair as he moves through the small entryway to the living room.

Without setting me down, he eases us onto the couch with me now straddling his lap, as his arms envelop me in a hug that’s exactly what I didn’t know I needed.

“Only one of us can be sassy right now and it’s not your turn,” I grouse, sitting up so I can look at him.

His eyes are brown and they look darker than I remember, the brim of his baseball hat casting a shadow over his handsome face.

Spinning it backward, my pulse quickens as the corner of his mouth curves up in amusement.

“Indie.”

“Shh, just let me have like five more seconds of looking at you.”

“I mean, I can take my clothes off and you can look at me naked. I seem to remember you liking that.” His words are as teasing as they are true, and I know I can’t wait anymore.

At least not about this. I’m still hoping I can clear up things with Toni before anyone in my circle finds out.

“I’m pregnant,” I whisper.

“A baby?” he asks, his voice just as quiet except where mine was filled with worry, his is filled with awe.

“Yes.”

“Stunner, I need you to look at me.”

Exhaling heavily, I do as he asks, his gaze searching mine as his fingers dig into my hips, holding me steady—maybe holding us both steady.

“I’m scared,” I admit and he nods.

“Me too.”

“You’re not gonna ask if it’s yours?” I ask, needing to poke him—needing a reaction.

“I know it’s mine.”

Huffing, I shift on his lap. “Do you?”

“Yeah, Stunner, I do. And I’m trying like hell to figure out if you’re excited or not because I’m already in. All the way.”

“That’s what got us in this predicament in the first place.”

“Indie.” He says my name like a warning, and I sigh as I weave his fingers with mine.

“I’m more excited now that you’re here…that you know.”

“And?”

“And everything, Beau. We’re havin’ a baby and besides how good I know you are with your tongue between my legs, we don’t know each other well and we’re gonna be parents and we have to figure all these things out and?—”

My rant is cut off as Beau pulls me down to press the sweetest kiss to my lips.

“Stunner, there’s nothing we need to figure out right this second.

” I open my mouth to argue but he shakes his head.

“I want to help you in any way I can before the baby comes. I want to read the books and do those breathing classes. I want to do this together, and we can start tomorrow but tonight I just want to take care of you.”

Tears well in my eyes because this man is sweeter than apple pie at a barbeque, and I don’t know what I expected but this is more.

So much more.

“I’d like that,” I admit, wiping at the wetness on my face.

“Me too, Stunner, me too.”