“Thanks, Matt.” Jace could practically hear Riley rolling her eyes.
“No, babe. Like it’s freaking huge. I’ve never seen a needle that big. It looks like it’s for a horse or something.”
Jace glared at Matt who just kept staring at the needle fearfully. “Riley, breathe in. Breathe out. And here we go.” Jace pushed the needle into the tight muscle. Riley hissed out her breath. Matt looked as if he was about to pass out.
“There. All done. Let’s ultrasound that baby,” Jace said.
Thirty minutes later, Matt and Riley were heading for the hospital nervous and scared, but hopeful. Riley’s ultrasound showed the baby was healthy for this stage of development. Jace was now no longer the doctor in charge, but he was still the primary for Riley and the baby. He’d told Matt and Riley that he’d visit at least once a day to check in on them. He’d be notified as soon as Riley went into labor since he was still the baby’s primary doctor. The high-risk pregnancy specialist, Dr. Estes, would take over from here on out.
Jace headed upstairs and sniffed. Bacon. The smile returned as he rushed upstairs where he found Stella wearing nothing but one of his scrub tops as she cooked breakfast in his kitchen.
All those little puzzle pieces that made up life seemed to rotate, flip, and fit perfectly together as he looked at Stella. She was his life, his love, and his future. There was no question about it. She looked up and smiled at him. If he had a ring in his pocket, he’d be down on his knee right now.
Instead, he strode over to her and kissed her long and deeply before pulling away. “I love you.”
“Good morning. I love you, too. A girl could get used to hearing that.”
“I already want this every morning. But what are you doing up so early?”
“I open the garden center at nine and Katelyn texted that Jimmy is feeling much better and that I can see him before work.”
“I’ll drive you after breakfast. Now, what can I do to help?”
Stella had never enjoyed breakfast more. When she’d woken up alone, she’d been momentarily worried at finding the apartment empty. However, it didn’t take her long to figure out where Jace had gone once she’d peeked out the rear window and seen his SUV still parked behind the building. So, she’d rummaged around and found enough to make homemade biscuits and bacon for breakfast.
There was something nice about the quiet of the morning and making breakfast for the man she loved. Then she’d gotten the great news about Jimmy. While he still needed to stay at the clinic for a couple of days, at least they now knew he’d pull through and be back to normal when he came back home.
On the way to the clinic, she and Jace had talked about their upcoming week. It was easy to agree to her staying at his place this week while they got her window repaired. She wanted to go back to the farmhouse, but right now it didn’t feel safe.
The visit to Jimmy had made her cry with relief. Her sweet boy had thumped his tail and licked at her tears. Katelyn had assured her all was well with Jimmy and that she could come visit anytime.
Jace held her hand as he drove her home and then reality crashed into her. Seeing her home again brought back the nightmares.
“Want me to go inside and pack your bag?” Jace asked her as he pulled to a stop by her garage. There was now a large board nailed across her front door and the windows there.
It would be so easy to say yes, but Stella was determined not to let fear win. Not when she had love. “Let’s go in together.”
Jace led the way and Stella forced herself to look over at the broken glass as she walked upstairs. Who would do this to her? Cody Gray was going to meet her in thirty minutes. Yet try as she could, she wasn’t coming up with any names.
“I’ll wait here while you get what you need,” Jace told her as he stood in the doorway looking back down the hall toward the stairs. It simultaneously made her feel comforted and fearful. Was she really living a life in which someone wanted to hurt her?
“What can I do to help out today?”
Stella paused as she was putting a stack of clothes into her suitcase. “What do you mean?”
“It’s the weekend. I have the day off. I want to help at the nursery.”
“Jace, you don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I want to. I grew up on a farm and I like working outside.”
“Well, that will leave Nolan and me to answer questions, so if you could ring people up and carry plants to their cars, that would be a big help.”
“Is your family coming out today?” Jace asked as she finished packing.
“I don’t think so. Honestly, I haven’t told them about what happened to Jimmy. I know my brother will have a fit. I should tell him. I don’t want April to be in danger by being out here with me.”
Stella hefted the bag up, but Jace immediately walked in and grabbed it from her. “They’re safe in Keeneston. No one would let anything happen to them.”
“I’d like to believe that, but look what happened to Jimmy. If someone really wants to hurt me, they know April, my family, is where I’m most vulnerable.”
“I guess you need to tell them what’s going on. Let them make up their own mind.”
Jace was right, but it wasn’t a call she wanted to make. Jace put her bag in the back of his SUV, and as he drove toward the garden center, Stella called her brother. It wasn’t an easy conversation. Karl was upset that she didn’t call him last night and insisted that they’d be there in thirty minutes.
“Ugh. What is it about brothers not listening?”
“I’m the wrong person to ask. I’d move heaven and earth to help my sisters. Now, let’s talk business rivals.”
20
What a day! Stella smiled as the rush died down and she was finally able to sit. Her center was still packed even as closing time approached. Her sister-in-law and Piper were running the cash register while Jace, Nolan, and Karl helped with the customers.
April was happily shrieking and running around with Cricket. Tammy and Karl were talking as he carried more flowers to her minivan. Nolan had helped secure a deal to supply the flowers for Main Street. The city bought them and she’d plant them next week in the large bourbon barrel containers and hanging baskets that lined Main Street.
Cody had taken her short list of business competitors and went off to investigate that morning, but Stella knew that nothing would come from it.
At nine, Blythe had shown up. She’d chatted with Stella for a while and then just walked around . . . for eight hours. She only sat down when Aiden stopped helping Jace and began wandering around. Stella had a feeling they were her personal bodyguards, but everyone had just agreed to pretend they weren’t. However, it was hard to miss that they were on one-hour shifts.
A sleek black extended SUV pulled into the parking lot as dusk began to tease the sky. Nolan took over the customers as Jace joined her. The door opened and one long slim leg in a tight knee-length skirt and bright red high heels came out first. Then a second before Veronica stepped fully from the front passenger side as the entire royal family casually exited the back while happily chatting with each other.
“Oh, Sloane!” Mila pointed to a new flower shipment. “Those would look so pretty in front of your house.”