Page 86 of Wild Highway (Runaway 2)

The Greers were as excited about this baby as we were.

We pulled up to Carol and Jake’s place and Easton shut off the truck. We were late for family dinner because my appointment had gone long, but it was a gorgeous evening.

The May flowers were in full bloom, the front of Carol’s flower beds brimming with canary-yellow daffodils and fuchsia tulips. The ranch was as green as I’d ever seen it, the meadows lush and the trees overflowing with blossoms.

Calves danced around their mother’s legs. Fawns bounded through the grass. JR and Liddy had a batch of baby chicks and there was a litter of new barn cats.

And soon, I prayed, we’d have a healthy and happy baby boy.

“Don’t get out,” Easton ordered. “I’ll come around and help.”

Normally, that would earn him an eye-roll. But tonight, I’d listen because he was worried and I knew he felt helpless.

As he opened my door, I swung my legs to the side and took his face in my hands. “I love you.”

He leaned in, sliding his arms around me and tucking his head against my neck. “I love you too.”

We held on to each other until the front door opened and Cash called, “Granddad wants to know if you both want cheese on your burgers.”

“I’m pregnant. What kind of stupid-ass question is that?”

Easton laughed and leaned away to holler at Cash. “Yes, cheese.”

“Double on mine!”

He grinned and helped me to the ground, then pinned me to his side as we walked to the house. The minute we crossed the threshold, we were bombarded with questions about my appointment. Carol ushered me to a chair at the dining room table, Liddy brought me a glass of iced water and Katherine sat down beside me.

Easton dropped a kiss to my cheek, then disappeared outside to find the guys who were hovering beside the grill, while I gave a recap of my appointment.

“So I guess this means your trip is canceled,” Katherine said.

“Yes.” I sighed. “I’ll call Londyn later and tell her.”

“She won’t care.”

“I know. It’s just disappointing.” I’d been looking forward to the trip, not only to find Karson, but because Easton would be going with me.

When—if—I decided to see my mother, I wouldn’t have had to face her alone.

I shrugged. “Eventually, we’ll go.”

It would be after the baby was born, and after the wedding we’d planned for next June. Maybe this road trip to California could be part of our honeymoon.

Carol, Liddy and Katherine had thrown themselves into the wedding planning. The four of us met each Sunday to go through bridal magazines and talk about ideas. They were anxious to make me an official Greer, though I didn’t need the last name to feel a part of this family. Every day that went by, those roots grew deeper.

I’d been dealt a miserable set of cards for the first part of my life, but now I was getting straight aces.

“Can I help with dinner?” I asked, practically begging not to have to sit here while people waited on me.

Carol scoffed. Liddy gave me a sweet smile while shaking her head. Katherine hid her laugh in a glass of wine.

“Activity restrictions,” I muttered. “This sucks.”

And if I knew Easton, he was outside right now talking to his grandfather, father and brother about how to cut my hours at the training facility.

The expansion was in full swing on the new property, with Cash taking the lead. We’d planned to take the

trip to California in a few weeks because it would be before the construction crew broke ground on the stables at the new training facility.