Page 67 of Her Guarded Hero

She got up from his lap and tugged at his arm. “Do you need help packing?”

The corner of his mouth kicked up. “You’re just trying to get your hands on my skivvies.”

“Always,” she might have grinned, but she died a little on the inside.

* * *

She used the soft brush around Aladdin’s face. She’d started working with her favorite horse after she finished crying in the tack room. These pregnancy hormones were going to be the death of her.

She dropped the brush and Aladdin jerked when her cell phone rang. She looked at the display.

“It’s okay Baby. It’ll only be a minute. It’s Grandpa,” she reassured the horse.

“I’ll be on-time for dinner this time, I promise. I thought everyone was arriving at six-thirty. It isn’t even six yet.”

“Thought I’d let you know that there are two trucks coming up the drive. One I recognize and one I don’t.”

“Okay, give me five, and I’ll come in and help you get dinner on the table,” she reassured her grandfather.

“Hold up. The first truck is a beat-up baby blue Chevy.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, her blood turned to ice, and her left hand spanned her stomach. What was Dalton doing here? Worse. She hadn’t figured out anything to tell him.

“Aurora, you still there?”

“I’m here. Just considering all of my options.”

“Seems like fate has taken a hand.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“Grandpa am I hearing glee in your voice?”

“No baby girl, you’re not,” Gunnar sighed. “Just know that in fifteen minutes there will be a house full of Dressler’s as well as one big Olsen who’ll have your back. So, I want you to wait before you come up to the house.”

“That’s not-”

She heard what sounded like a knock on the front door. “Just do what I tell you and sit tight. Play with your horsies little girl.”

She snorted with laughter at her grandfather’s long-ago refrain. He hung up, and she turned back to her horsie.

“What do you think, Aladdin? Should you and I play?” She bent down and picked up the soft brush off the ground. Aurora did long sweeping strokes along the length of Aladdin’s body, she didn’t know who she was trying to soothe more, the stallion or herself.

She’d expected to be the one to determine when they’d see each other again. What was she going to say? How was he going to react? Please God, let him be happy.

* * *

She looked at the time. Six-forty-five. She breathed deeply as she passed the corral and made her way to the ranch house. She counted five trucks and the sheriff’s SUV parked in front.

Great.

She thanked all the powers that be that she’d grabbed her grandfather’s shearling coat on the way to the barn. It hid her swelling stomach better than her own coat. Aurora climbed the steps just a little more slowly than she had five months ago, her breath fogged in the cold air. She opened the door and saw Lindy waiting for her in the kitchen. Her cousin’s eyes immediately lowered to her stomach, then they lifted with a twinkle.

“Hiding something?” she asked as she opened her arms.

Aurora’s eyes darted to the closed kitchen door. “They all in the living room?”

Lindy nodded, then waggled her fingers. Aurora walked around the kitchen table and stepped into a big hug. “I’ve missed you,” Aurora said.