Saved (5 page)

Smiling, Emma nodded her head. “I don’t think
that I will ever forget that sweet boy finding my mop and bucket
and asking me if he could mop my floors. Every time he comes over,
he asks to do it again.”

I let out a laugh.

That sounded like my little
brother Matthew. He’d been diagnosed with Fragile X when he was
eighteen months old. My mother and father had been concerned
because he was not sitting up or meeting his other developmental
milestones
when he should have been. After
endless tests and going to see the best doctor’s money could buy,
they had finally gotten their answers. I would never forget the day
they had found out. The first time I’d ever seen my father cry was
when I was thirteen years old. My mother had given herself a day of
sadness and then she bounced back full force. She had found the
best occupational, speech, and physical therapists
around.

I looked over at my mom and smiled. If I
could only be half of the mother that she is, then I’d be so
happy.

“I know that I need to find out if I might
pass Fragile X onto any children that I might have. I’ve been
putting it off for years, but I think you’re right, mom. I need to
know.”

“Does Jeff know that you could possibly pass
this onto your kids?” Emma asked as she gave me the sweetest
smile.

Jeff, he was so good with Matt, and Matt just
loved Jeff. Matt would follow him everywhere and would do anything
to make Jeff laugh. Once he would figure out what made Jeff laugh,
Matt would do the same thing over and over again, and Jeff would
laugh every time. Jeff has never once lost his patience with Matt.
Jeff had even stopped by the house at least once a week to play
video games with Matt. Sometimes, Gunner had even tagged along with
Jeff to hang out with Matt. Both of them treated Matt like a
regular boy and not a mentally impaired one. This just added to the
list of reasons of why I loved Jeff so much.

Just thinking about the way Jeff was with
Matt made my heart melt. “Yes, he knows, and it doesn’t matter to
him either way. He says he would love our child no matter what. He
adores Matt, and Matt adores him. Speaking of, where is Matt
Mom?”

Emma and my mother both laughed.

Emma turned to look behind me. “Jeff stopped
by and took Matthew down to the stables to see the horses. Of
course, Jeff didn’t have to ask twice,” she said.

The thought of Jeff spending time with Matt
just made my heart hurt even more.

Fucking stupid-ass
Rebecca.
That bitch was lucky she had a
damn restraining order out against me because all I wanted to do
this very moment was kick her ass.

Then, Heather walked into the kitchen with
her perky-ass morning voice.

“Good morning, Sue and Emma. My gosh, Ari,
you look like you’re ready to kick someone’s butt.”

I just glared at her while she poured herself
a cup of coffee.

Emma stood up and smoothed her hands down her
dress. “It’s such a beautiful morning, ladies. Let’s drink our
coffee outside and watch all the young men take apart the
tents.”

We all looked at each other
and busted out laughing.
I just loved this
woman.

As we walked out to the porch, Heather saw
Josh talking to Lynda, and she stopped dead in her tracks.

“What the fuck is she still doing here?”

I turned my head to look at
Heather. “Holy shit! Did you just say
fuck
?”

Heather gave me a go-to-hell look that made
me laugh.

“Yes. Yes, I sure as shit did! That woman
would not leave Josh’s side during the whole wedding. I mean, she
was really hanging on him while she flaunted her stupid breasts in
his face all night.”

I looked down at Heather’s chest and then
back up at her. Out of all of us, she probably had the best
boobs.

“Heather, flaunt what the good Lord gave ya.
I keep telling you that. I know you like Josh, and according to
Jeff, Brad, and Gunner, Josh likes you. So, do something about it
for Christ’s sake!”

I watched Heather look back over at Josh and
Lynda, and I could practically see the steam coming from her ears.
Emma and my mother were deep in conversation about Fragile X.
Another item on my to do list, get tested for Fragile X.

“She stayed last night did you know that?”
Heather said as she glanced back at me.

“What? Who stayed last night?”

“Lynda. She claimed that she was feeling
sick. She said the ride back to Austin would just make her feel
worse, so she stayed here last night. She bunked with me in my room
and talked about Josh all darn night. I don’t like her. Something
about her just sits wrong with me.”

“Oh, holy hell, Heather you’re fucking
jealous!” I laughed loudly throwing my head back. When Josh saw us,
he took two steps away from Lynda and smiled at Heather. I heard
her mutter something like asshole under her breath, and then she
turned and walked towards Emma and my mom. Josh’s smile faded when
Heather walked away. He turned and said something to Lynda before
he headed down to the barn.

Interesting. Very interesting.

CHAPTER FOUR

JEFF

“Where is Ari’s horse, Jeff?” Matt asked.

“She’s not here, buddy.”

I saw Josh walking into the barn with a
concerned look on his face. I looked down at Matt as he was trying
to sweep some hay away from one of the barn doors.

“Hey, Josh.”

Josh looked over at Matt and
smiled, and then he looked at me as his smile faded.
Shit. I know that look. Something must have
happened with Heather.

“What’s up, dude? Hey Matt buddy, you helping
Jeff clean up?” Josh asked.

Matt smiled at Josh and held out the broom
for him to see it.

Then, Matt turned to face me again.

“Where is Ari’s horse, Jeff?”

“She isn’t here, buddy. What’s going on,
Josh? You look like someone just kicked you off the playground.” I
said with a smirk.

Josh rolled his eyes and gave me the
finger.

When I laughed Matt looked at me.

“What’s so funny, Jeff?”

“Nothing, buddy, Josh rolled his eyes at me,
and it made me laugh.”

“Do you like that, Jeff? I can do that, too!
Jeff, where is Ari’s horse?”

“She’s not here, buddy. Want to pet
Rose?”

“Yes!”

Josh walked into Rose’s stall, put a lead on
her, and brought her out. I picked up Matt and carried him over to
Rose.

Matt loved being around the
horses. Even just the mention of seeing them got him all excited.
Ari and I had taken him to some stables around Austin a few
times.
I just loved this little
guy.

I started to think about Ari and how badly
she wanted kids. She’d been worried about having kids. Now, with
the whole Rebecca shit, I knew it was going to be on her mind
again.

“You like her, Matt?” Josh asked. He was
giving Rose some oats while Matt was running his hands along her
back. “You want to sit on her, buddy?”

Nodding his head at Josh, Matt smiled the
biggest smile I’d ever seen.

“Keep a good hold of him, Josh,” I said.

“I know what I’m doing, asshole.”

“Assmole!” Matt yelled out.

Josh and I lost it, and we both started
laughing. This only caused Matt to say it over and over again.

“Assmole! Assmole! Assmole!”

Holy shit!
We couldn’t stop laughing.

“Assmole Jeff!”

Oh hell!
I needed this laugh.

Josh had tears running down his face. I think
the fucker even snorted.

“Huh? Jeff, Why is my little brother saying a
bad word?”

Josh and I both looked at Ari, and instantly
stopped laughing. Matt smiled at Ari as she walked up to him.

“Hey, buddy! Do you like sitting up there on
Rose? You want to go for a ride with me, sweets?” Ari asked.

Matt nodded his head, and I held my breath
because I knew what was coming next.

“Assmole!” Matt yelled again.

Ari was so good with Matt. Instead of
laughing, she just went on about her business.

She started to pull out a saddle and harness
while she talked to Matt.

“Matt, we’re going to ride Rose for a little
bit while Josh and Jeff talk about using the proper language
because swearing is not nice.

“Ah, that’s the pot calling the kettle black,
Ari.” Josh said with a laugh. Ari turned and shot Josh a go-to-hell
look.

“Where is Ari’s horse, Jeff?” Matt asked
again.

“She’s not here buddy. Remember I told you a
little bit ago that she wasn’t here.”

Ari turned to me. “Be specific Jeff, he needs
a real answer, babe.”

Oh shit! I always forget
that.
I’m just so use to him repeating his
questions to me.
Damn.

“She’s down at another stable, buddy, and
then she’s going to come live on our property at our stable,” I
explained.

“Oh…cool,” Matt said.

And that was it. Question was answered, and
he was satisfied.

Damn. Where was Ari twenty-five minutes ago
when he first asked me that question?

“You want me to go riding with y’all?” I
asked while I helped Ari saddle up Rose.

Something was off with her today. Last night
had been so perfect, but this morning it was like she woke up with
the world on her damn shoulders.

Rebecca.

“No, I’d rather be alone with Matt if you
don’t mind. I think you need to make a phone call. Don’t you?” Ari
said with sarcasm dripping from her mouth.

“Um, yeah I guess so, but, I was kind of
hoping to take care of it tomorrow when we’re back in Austin.”

Josh lifted Matt and put him in the saddle
while I helped Ari get seated behind the saddle on Rose.

“Can you hand me that helmet for Matt, Josh.”
Ari asked.

Then she turned and looked at me. The look in
her eyes as they filled with tears about gutted me.

“No. Take care of it now.”

She put the helmet on Matt and started to
ride off.

“Ari, what about your helmet?” I asked.

She just rode off without an answer and never
looked back at me.

Fuck.

I jabbed my hands through my
hair and looked up at the ceiling.
Motherfucker.
Josh slapped me on the
back, bringing me back to reality.

“Jeff, she’s right. Call Rebecca and set up a
time to meet with her. You have to get this shit taken care of. I
still can’t believe that you’re the one who got the baby daddy
phone call.” Josh said with a laugh.

“Yeah, douche-bag assmole! You should be the
one with about twenty-five girls knocking on your door.”

“Fuck no. I have three fuck rules.”

Did he just say fuck rules?

“One, always use protection
and buy the most expensive-ass condoms you can get. Two, never have
sex drunk, and three,
never
have sex with a girl who is clearly in love with
or obsessed with you.”

I just stood there, staring
at him.
Bastard.

“Fuck off, Josh!”

Josh threw his head back, laughing, as we
walked out of the barn. He stopped dead in his tracks, grabbed my
arm, and turned to walk us in the other direction.

“Jesus, Josh, I’m not in the mood for a
romantic stroll with you. I’ve got to go call a crazy bitch who
claims to be pregnant with my kid.”

Josh picked up the pace and
made his way around the other side of the barn.
Shit.
He was almost in a dead
jog.
What the fuck is he trying to get
away from?

“Josh! What the fuck, dude? What are we
doing?”

“Shit, Jeff, keep your voice down and just
walk, dude. I’m trying to get the fuck away from Lynda, Gunner’s
cousin.” Josh whispered.

I wanted to laugh at him but, considering
what I had going on with Rebecca, I didn’t need any bad karma.

Throughout the wedding reception yesterday,
Lynda had spent most of the evening hanging all over Josh. Every
time Josh had looked for Heather to dance, Lynda somehow showed up
and talked him into dancing with her.

“
What is she still doing
here? I thought Gunner’s cousins went back to Austin last night,” I
said.

“They did! Lynda claimed that she wasn’t
feeling well, and get this, she ended up staying in the same room
as Heather last night. God knows what the fuck she said about me to
Heather.”

“Wow. That’s messed up dude. What’s going on
with you and Heather anyway? Are you ever going to ask her out on a
real date?”

Josh stopped and looked at
me. I almost laughed at the face he was making.
Damn. I’ve been in his shoes before. I should really be a
better friend
.

“I have asked her, Jeff, like twenty times.
Every time I ask her, she says no. I’ve done everything I can think
of. She’s driving me crazy. One minute, she acts like she can’t
stand me, and the next she looks pissed because I’m talking to
another girl. Do you know when the last time I had sex was?” he
said, clearly frustrated.

“Ah, no, and I don’t care to know, so don’t
share that shit with me!”

“Four fucking months,
Jeff!
Four.
I
haven’t had sex in four months, and it’s all her fault!”

I just stood there and
looked at him.
Holy shit. he really liked
Heather.

“How the hell is it her fault?”

“She has me all tied up in knots. Every time
I get ready to have sex with someone, I can’t do it. I have to get
dressed and leave. All I can think about is her.”

As Josh and I made our way towards the house,
I saw Heather with Emma, Garrett, Mark and Sue sitting on the
porch.