Free Clifford Arbor: Savouring Emily by Sam Crescent Page B

feeling light-headed and dizzy he got onto his knee.
    Emily placed the coffee jug carefully on the table. Without taking his eyes off her he grabbed her hand.
    “Emily, I love you. Always have and always will. When you left I thought a part of me had died and gone to hell. Since you’ve come back I can’t see a future without you in it. I’m not very good at speeches and I suck at everything else. I can only really tell you how much I love and intend to love you for the rest of my life. So with that in mind I would very much like the honor of you becoming my wife.”
    Chase brought the ring up for her to see. His hand was shaking and he couldn’t hold the box steady. He heard her gasp. Tears were pouring out of her eyes.
    "Are the tears good sign?” he called out to the room. Emily started laughing and with a jerk of the head he took as confirmation. “Is that a yes? Baby, be sure because once you give me your answer there ain’t no turning back,” he warned.
    “Yes. I love you so much.” Chase spun her around and Lawrence joined them.
    “We’ll all get married together,” he whispered against her ear. She nodded and accepted the offer of congratulations from everyone else. Chase shook hands with his best friend.
    His life was about to change and he couldn’t wait to see what happened next.
     

Chapter Eleven
     
    One year later.. .
     
    Emily glanced out at the vegetable garden. Chase was out with his little wicker basket uprooting potatoes and carrots. She also saw some of his tomatoes and cucumbers. He loved his garden and she loved watching him bend and work. Chase always took off his shirt and she saw the love heart tattoo on his chest. Lawrence was the name at the top above the heart, Chase’s name was at the bottom and in the center of the heart was her name.  She loved that ink more than all the rest. The other tats were great but that monster he’d gotten on their honeymoon. As part of their celebration they’d all gotten tattoos. She had a dragon inked on the base of her back. The boys liked to call it her tramp stamp. Lawrence got fancy writing of their names down his arm.
    A very outrageous thing to do but one she’d enjoyed every minute.
    She took a bite out of her apple and watched his muscles ripple as one plant was tough in coming out of the ground. A laugh escaped her when he fell back onto his ass. Lawrence was out at the shop. She’d finally managed to convince Chase he could get some bare essentials like bread and milk. So far Lawrence hadn’t let her down.
    A hand pressed to her stomach when she thought of the news she’d gotten that morning. A few months ago she’d started having the flu and after a few weeks she’d recovered to feeling right as rain.  About a week or two afterward, she’d been vomiting in the morning and had a few other side effects. She’d gone to the doctors to find out what was the wrong and they’d said she was pregnant. Emily hadn’t believed them and demanded further investigation. She wanted her blood and urine samples tested before she’d tell her men about the problem.
    Her doctor had phoned a few hours ago. She needed to take folic acid of which she had a prescription to pick up and another appointment had been booked to monitor her pregnancy.
    Chase moved around his garden and she laughed when he scared a bird away from his seedlings. She didn’t know how to approach bringing up the baby. Lawrence and Chase loved her but babies had never been discussed.
    She ran a hand through her hair and took another bite of her fruit.
    Emily moved through the house and went to stand in the kitchen when she heard the front door slam at the same time as the back door. Her men were home.
    She braced herself for the upcoming argument.
    “Fucking hell. It’s a mad house out there. Everywhere you bloody turn one person after another is barging past. I know we love tourists but the way they act it's as if they own the bloody town,” Lawrence complained dumping