Page 53 of Moving to Love

Joci grinned at him and shook her head.

Gunnar laughed. “Mom, Jackie, and Sandi are the Golden Girls. They used to go out on ‘girls’ night’ and sing Karaoke. Mom can sing like crazy. Their signature song is “Lady Marmalade.” You should hear her, Dog. She blows the room away when she sings it.”

Jeremiah looked at Joci, and her face flamed up bright red.

“Really? Sing for me, sweetheart.”

Joci shook her head no. “I can’t sing without my girls.”

She had a goofy grin on her face. Jeremiah leaned over and hugged her. “Then we’re going to go out with your girls soon. I want to hear you sing.”

Joci leaned her head into Jeremiah and closed her eyes. She whispered, “Guess I’m a cheap date.”

He kissed the top of her head. “I love you, Joci.” Then he whispered, “I’ll take care of you.”

Joci closed her eyes and let herself believe that was true. Only time would tell.

Chapter 21

Sunday was a long day. Joci had a headache but refused to ride behind Jeremiah and let everyone think she couldn’t handle it. But she was suffering. She remembered laughing and having so much fun, actually everyone was having fun. When she looked around, it looked like a lot of them were hungover, so she wasn’t the only one. Even Jeremiah looked kind of worse for wear. Deacon and Julie were the only ones who didn’t look tired and drawn. Joci couldn’t wait to get home and take a nap.

They stopped for gas, and Joci pulled to the edge of the parking lot to drink a Gatorade. Jeremiah walked over to her but didn’t say anything. He kissed the top of her head and laid his head on top of hers. They stood together like that for several heartbeats.

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” he whispered.

Joci chuckled a little. “I’m good. How about you?”

Jeremiah snickered. “I’m good. However, I want to get home and take a nap with you.”

She nodded her head. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

When Joci woke up from her nap, she had a dry mouth and a slight headache. Jeremiah was nowhere to be found. Hmm. She got up and went to the bathroom, took a couple of aspirin, and looked in the mirror. Oh, well. She walked out to the living room to find her man. Nope, not there.

She walked out to the garage and there he was, removing their bags from the bikes. He smiled at her when she walked out.

“Hey, gorgeous. How are you feeling?”

Joci laughed. She had just seen herself in the mirror.

“If you’re talking to me, I’m okay. If you’re talking to someone else, never mind.”

He grabbed their bags from the bikes and walked up to her and kissed the top of her head. “You’re the only woman in the world I think is gorgeous. So, yeah, I’m talking to you.”

She shrugged. “Okay. You?”

He shrugged too. “Been better. But totally worth it. You’re a very cute drunk.”

Joci groaned. She didn’t want to know. He put his arm around her and walked into the house. He looked around at the boxes of Joci’s stuff stacked everywhere, looked at her, and smiled.

“I think we are going to need a bigger house after all. Where are we going to put the baby?”

Joci’s eyes got huge. Did he just say that? No, no, no, no, no.