She hands it to me. “I think you should. I mean, you came all this way.”
As we make our way across the street I slide my finger into the seam. A small black-and-white square sits inside. Taking it out gently once we’ve reached the parking garage, I stare at it, feeling the sunshine on my face and wondering if my parents and grandparents are smiling down on me.
There’s a song here somewhere, but I’ll write it later.
“Congratulations, Daddy,” Robyn says softly, taking the picture from my fingers. “It’s a boy.”
“You have a name picked out yet?” If I know Robyn, she has an entire list.
She leans against my arm. “I was thinking . . . Denver.”
I can’t help it. I laugh. I want to pick her up and spin her around and shout from the top of the parking garage that I am officially the luckiest man in the universe.
“So what now?”
My girl always has a plan.
“Now we go get you some real stitches in that arm. Then we go get some pancakes because I am seriously starving.”
“Sounds good. Then what? We just wing it?”
Robyn scoffs at me. My girl doesn’t wing it.
“Then we live happily ever after.”
Epilogue | Robyn
“DIXIE SAID YOU’D BETTER CALL HER YOURSELF SO SHE CAN HEAR your voice. I think there was one heck of a vigil going on over there. Sounded like she had a house full,” I tell my fiancé as he pulls me onto his lap. “Did you talk to Gavin?”
Dallas kisses me on the tip of my nose and places his palm on my protruding belly. “I will. And yeah, I did. He had some news, too, actually.”
“He finally talked to Dixie and they’re getting married, too?”
“Uh, no. Why? What did she say to you about him?”
“Not much. Just that she saw him with some chick she plans to back over with your truck and that he acted like an asshole.”
Dallas makes a growly noise of discontent in the back of his throat. “Remind me to hide my truck keys when we go to Amarillo.”
I rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes, savoring the clean wood-infused scent of him. “Okay.”
“Speaking of Amarillo,” Dallas says, shifting me so that I lift my head. “We need to finalize the wedding plans because I have another proposal for you, but I don’t want to add any additional stress on the mother of my baby.”
I roll my eyes. I basically thrive on stress and Dallas knows this. “Tell me what’s going on, Lark.”
“Gavin works at that huge new bar downtown—the Tavern.”
I vaguely remember Dixie mentioning that that’s where she saw him. “Okay,” I say slowly. “And . . .”
“And Rock the Republic Records is hosting a Battle of the Bands there in a few weeks. First prize is twenty-five thousand dollars and a one-year recording contract.”
I sit up so fast I nearly head-butt him. “Are you serious?”
Dallas grins and nods. “Yeah. Since Capitol is probably already drawing up the paperwork to drop me like a bad habit, I’m thinking it’s time for the band to get back together and give it another shot.”
I can’t even contain my squeal of joy. “I can get y’all a fan site set up right now. We can do a Facebook promo to get people to come out and—”
“Babe, slow down.” Dallas tightens his grip before I can jump up out of his lap. “I was hoping you’d help out with that stuff. But there’s plenty of time for that. First I have to make sure Dixie is on board and that those two can put their drama aside to do this. Then maybe Leaving Amarillo will get a second chance. Think we can convince my sister to give Gavin one?”
“Well . . . you know how I feel about second chances.” I place kisses along the edge of his jawline when he reaches over to place a protective hand on my slightly protruding belly bump—something he does often and I’m not even sure he’s conscious of.
He rests his forehead on mine and I am swept away by the overwhelming love and adoration in his gaze.
“That I do, sweetheart. That I do.”
Loving Dallas Playlist
“Crazy Town,” Jason Aldean