“Don’t cry!” Darcy yelled. “I’m not good with tears.”
“You all are just so nice,” Kenzie said, trying to steady her emotions.
Savannah busted out with a sob and everyone turned to her. “You all are so nice. I’m so lucky to have you as my friends and family.”
“Here, have a drink,” Darcy said, trying to get her to stop crying, only it caused Savannah to sob harder.
“I. Can’t,” Savannah sobbed.
“Of course you can. It’s not like you’re pregnant,” Harper teased and then instantly stopped laughing as everyone’s gaze dropped to Savannah’s stomach.
“You’re pregnant!” Ellery gasped.
Savannah nodded, and then chaos erupted.
“I’m going to be an aunt!” Tinsley cried as she hugged Savannah. “Does Ridge know?”
Savannah nodded. “I told him last night. Gavin confirmed it with a blood test.”
Kenzie normally would have moved apart from the group, but she was so happy for Savannah that she was right in the middle of the group, giving her a hug.
“Can we tell our husbands?” Darcy asked after things calmed down.
“Ridge wants to tell everyone at family dinner tomorrow at the bar. But I just blew the surprise.” Savannah started to cry again and Kenzie felt horrible for her.
Suddenly Skye gasped. Her eyes were wide. Her hand fluttered over her chest. “You’re pregnant? No way!” she acted out.
Edie joined in next. “Oh my gosh! A baby! I can’t believe it.”
“I’m going to be an aunt!” Tinsley screamed again, full of excited surprise.
Savannah began to laugh and cry at the same time as everyone swore that Ridge would never know she’d spilled the beans. Kenzie spent the next two hours with the ladies, sitting out back with a drink in hand. They talked about life, love, and just getting to know each other. Kenzie laughed hard at the stories of growing up in Shadows Landing and how the couples had met. When people started to head home, she took the dress and heels and headed over to Ryker’s. She didn’t want to bother Tinsley with letting her in. Tinsley was too busy talking baby things with Savannah. If Ryker wasn’t there, she’d just sit out back and wait. It would give her time to reflect on the absolutely perfect and surreal evening she’d just had.
Skye had given her the code to the gate, so Kenzie parked her car and bounded up the steps to Ryker’s back patio. The door was locked and after knocking at the front door, she settled in to wait.
The pool was beautiful, but it was the dock and the river that drew her. The sound of water flowing always calmed her. She couldn’t imagine how peaceful it would be to live here and end every day sitting on the dock, listening to the water.
Ryker had a boathouse that she was sure held the boat he’d mentioned, but it was the comfortable-looking seating on the wide dock that called to her. She walked over the planked boards and took a seat on an overstuffed chair facing the river. She watched the water roll by, heard the breeze blowing the sea grass, and smelled the salt air. She had settled in and was completely relaxed until she heard hisssss.
14
Ryker pulled into his garage with as much speed as he could. He saw Kenzie’s car out front and knowing she was waiting for him in his house triggered emotions he couldn’t quite fully name.
He opened the door and his heart stopped when he heard an ear-piercing scream coming from the dock. He knew without a doubt it was Kenzie and she was in trouble. He dropped his briefcase and ran faster than he’d ever run before. He rounded the pool, passed the guesthouse, and leapt onto the long dock leading to the river. Instantly, he saw what the problem. Bubba, the town’s resident alligator, had Kenzie trapped.
“Don’t move!” Ryker yelled.
“Yeah, I wasn’t planning on it,” Kenzie shot back full of snark. It made Ryker smile even as he slowed his run so he wouldn’t scare Bubba. Ryker pulled his phone from his pocket, sent a text, and then slowly moved forward.
“Are you okay?” he asked, keeping his eyes on Bubba, who was now looking behind him at Ryker before turning back to hiss at Kenzie.
“Besides the mild heart attack this big boy gave me, I’m good.”
Ryker got close enough that Bubba’s tail could hit him and dropped his voice to a whisper. “I need you to distract him. Just move your hand a little to keep his eyes on you.”
“Why would I do that?” Kenzie asked as if he were the stupidest man on the planet.
“Because I’m going to tackle him so you can get off the dock and to safety.” Nope, now the look Kenzie was giving was that he was the stupidest man on the planet. “I know what I’m doing. This is Bubba. Everyone in Shadows Landing knows him. He’s kind of our town mascot.”
“A pirate-founded town with a pissed-off alligator mascot named Bubba. Yeah, this town wins over mine for the weirdest small town. I mean, we have the chicken factory that makes harnesses and clothes for pet chickens and other farm animals. I thought we had it locked down with the Miss Farm Animal beauty pageant, but you have Miss Booty and a town alligator.”
Ryker shook his head. “No, I’m pretty sure your town still wins.”
“Yeah, we’d never call women farm animals,” Trent said, coming down the dock behind Ryker. “We heard the scream and after Skye insisted it wasn’t a pleasurable cry, I decided I better come see what was going on. It’s just Bubba,” Trent yelled over his shoulder.
Ryker turned to see Skye’s head trying to poke over the fence again and maybe their town did win for weirdest little town.
“Ryker wants to tackle him,” Kenzie said with the same isn’t he stupid voice.
Trent nodded and turned to Ryker. “Head or tail?”
“Head,” Ryker replied. “Ready?”
Trent nodded and Kenzie started to question what they were doing when Ryker jumped first and landed on Bubba. A second later Trent was wrapped around his tail. Bubba thrashed his head, hissed and growled, but while gators had strong snapping abilities, it didn’t take much to push their jaws closed.
“Y’all are crazy!” Kenzie shrieked.
“There’s some tape in the storage box there,” Ryker said, looking toward one of the tables that doubled as a storage area. “Can you grab it for me?”
Kenzie was muttering about men and gators as she went digging around and pulled out the black tape. “Just wrap it around his jaws about five times.”
“Are you serious right now?”
Ryker smiled and Trent chuckled. “He can’t hurt you. I have a grip on him.”
Kenzie gave a little snort of amusement as she taped his jaw. “He’s better behaved than half the people who come into the ER.”
“Bubba! You just came over to say hi to this purdy lady, now didn’t ya?” Ryker looked over his shoulder at the giant country boy in overalls and a baseball hat with COCKS emblazoned across it for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks.
“Kenzie, meet Gator. Gator, this is Kenzie,” Ryker called out.
“You don’t need to introduce me to the alligator, Ryker. I feel intimately acquainted with him as it is,” Kenzie said as she ripped the tape off the roll and secured the end.