Page 14 of Rescued By the Mountain Grump
He laughs softly. “I’m sayingmake all the plans you want. Plan our whole life down to every minute of every day. I’m a Marine, remember? I can take orders. And I’m yours to command.”
I smile wickedly. “Oh, really? I like the sound of that.”
He grins down at me. “What’s your first order, ma’am?”
I hook my thumbs into the waistband of my underwear, tugging them down slowly. “On your knees, Marine.”
Epilogue
Jenny
I’msittingatthekitchen table when Roxy pads over and rests her chin on my knee, looking up at me with those big, liquid eyes of hers.
“This was definitely not in my plans yet,” I tell her softly, turning the small white stick over in my hands. “But if I’ve learned anything from my time with you and Micah, it’s that my life gets spectacularly better with each unexpected surprise.”
Roxy thumps her tail against the floor like she already knows.
I look down at the two pink lines, and the tears I’ve been holding back spill over. Happy tears. The overwhelming, can’t-catch-your-breath kind. A year ago, I couldn’t have told youwhat I was missing. I had my color-coded calendar, my perfectly planned life, my careful, sensible, risk-free routine. And then I stepped off a trail for a dog who didn’t even need saving, and everything I thought I knew about what I wanted got magnificently, wonderfully blown to pieces.
I hear the back door open behind me.
“Are you crying?” Micah’s voice is low and careful in the way it always gets when he clocks that something’s off. He crosses the kitchen in three strides. “What’s wrong?”
I look up at him. His flannel shirt is open at the collar and there’s a smear of sawdust on his jaw. He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. My eyes drop for just a second to the plain gold band on his ring finger, and my chest squeezes with a love so big it still startles me sometimes.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I manage, though my voice wobbles embarrassingly. “Everything’s wonderful. I just—” I take a breath. “Roxy’s going to be a big sister.”
He stares at me.
Blank.His brain is doing that thing where it takes a beat to catch up to his face. I know this man. I can see the exact moment the gears start turning.
I hold up the pregnancy test. “We’re having a baby, Micah.”
He lets out a sound I’ve never heard from him before. Something between a whoop and a laugh and a war cry, loud enough to startle Roxy, making her bark. And then he’s scooping me out of the chair and into his arms, swinging me around like a little kid.
Like he’ll do for our kid before long.The thought makes me cry even harder. I never knew a person could bethishappy.
“A baby,” he says into my hair, his voice rough and wondering. He squeezes me tighter. “Jenny.”
“Micah.”
He sets me down and cups my face in those big, steady hands of his. He doesn’t say anything for a moment. He doesn’t need to. I can see everything in his eyes.
“I love you so much,” he says.
“And I love you.”
Roxy barks again, indignant at being left out, and we both burst out laughing. We each kneel down to pet our sweet dog.
“Without you, Rox,” I say, planting a kiss onto her big forehead, “we’d still be two lonely fools. Thanks for being the best matchmaker ever.”
“Roxy gets extra treats tonight, for sure,” Micah says. “And so do you.”
I smile. “I get extra treats too?”
“Of course. You’re eating for two now.”
