Broken Dreams (Franklin Blues #2) by Elizabeth Princeton

back to the table, and she looks like she’s seen a ghost. I start to ask her about it, but she shakes her head. She knows I’ll ask about it later, but for right now I want to spend a nice afternoon with her.
    “Okay, this is not the way I wanted to do anything, but I want you to move in with me. Now that you are going to be having my baby, I want to take care of you and our baby. Please think about it.”
    She looks at me for a moment before she gets the biggest smile on her face. She nods her head up and down so fast I’m sure she’s going to give herself a headache.
    “Lance, today is a day of celebration. We are starting a family, and now I’m going to move in with you. I need to tell you something though. That call I got a couple of minutes ago, it was my boss. I have a patient I have to go take care of. Something about a bad accident at work and now the person is home bound. One of the reasons why I don’t want to go is because it’s my hometown. I’m almost sure it’s not Jeremy, but I don’t want to run into him. I’m so in love with you, but I still don’t want to have to see him and my old best friend together with their child.”
    She starts to look away, but I refuse to let her feel sad on a day like today.
    “Hey Babe, if you don’t want to take the job, then don’t, hell, if you never want to work again then don’t. I make more than enough to provide for you and Little Bit here. Now with that said, I know you won’t quit working, but I want you know you have that option.”
    She gets really quiet as the waitress drops off our food. We eat in silence, but it’s kind of comfortable, although I can tell this conversation isn’t over yet.
    “So, when do you want to grab your stuff to start moving in? I’m off for the rest of the day, thanks to you. I thought we could go ahead and get it at least started today then spend the night relaxing. What do you think about that?”
    She nods in between bites. I can already tell I’ve said something to upset her because she’s never this quiet.
    We go and get my car from the tow lot. When I have the car, I tell her I’ll meet her at her place with boxes. She nods her head and takes off down the road, leaving me in the dust. I get in my car and take off to the store for boxes. I want her in my house and in my bed as soon as humanly possible.
    I get to the store, and the first person I see is Mason. “Hey man, how’s it going? I haven’t seen you since you drank almost a half-gallon of Jack over at Shawn and Hailee’s place. You been doing okay, you kind of look like shit?”
    “Gee, thanks asshole. I’m fine; I need to fix some stuff around the house. I finally have a day off and need to get some shit done before I start working all of those hours again. I love working as much as I can, but I’ve really let the house go.”
    We stand around bullshitting for a few minutes and I tell him about Amy and I having a baby and her moving in with me. He gets this faraway look in his eye, tells me congrats, and walks away. I know he’s been through some shit with that Melanie chick, and now I can’t help but think I’ve rubbed salt in his wounds. He was supposed to already have what we all have, and I can’t help but think that I’ve made a huge mess of things with him.
    I get all the boxes and shit that I need to get my woman in my house and drive to her house with the biggest smile on my face.
    ~**~
    I pull up to her house, and get out of my car. By the time I get to her door, I can hear the music blaring from the house. I know she’s in a better mood when I hear ‘Country Girl, Shake it for Me’ by Luke Bryan blaring from the speakers.
    I walk into the house and she’s dancing through the house. She hasn’t started packing, but considering I have all the boxes, I’m sure she was having a good time before I got there. I stand in the open door and watch her. She has no idea I’m even here, and I love watching her like this. She’s got a