Free Saving Us by Jennifer Foor Page A

fine."
    "Your sister told me what that girl said to Amy. She's lucky I wasn't in that bathroom. I would have given her a piece of my mind. Rumor has it, she's having an affair with her step-daddy. Did you know that her mother has cancer? How could that girl be so thoughtless?"
    "Damn. Mom, I'm sorry it ever happened. I guess it's good I moved away from my friends. Seems like none of them have changed much."
    She shook her head. "John comes home once a week saying how one of your buddy's got themselves in trouble again."
    I laughed and looked over at John, who was watching us. He gave me a nod. "He really makes you happy?"
    She looked over at him and smiled. "He'll never be your daddy, Conner, but yes, he makes me happy and I love him. Son, you need to live every day like it could be your last. You never know when your time is up. If you love that girl, you make sure she knows it every single day. You hear me?"
    I kissed her forehead. "Yeah, I hear ya. I don't think that's goin' to be a problem. Last night we felt the baby movin'. I don't think I've ever felt so happy about anything."
    Amy walked over to us and hugged my mother. "I want to feel my grandchild. You let me know when he starts kicking."
    she smiled and looked over at me. I watched her touching her belly. It was still small, but somehow she was showing just enough for me to notice. I loved when she touched her stomach. It made me feel like she was already protecting our child. Amy was going to be an awesome mother. I needed to get that house built fast.
    We sat down and all started eating. The kids were being kids. They still didn't know that the witch story was a movie and that they weren't going to come through the woods and steal children. Ty probably had something to do with that. I swear, he tortured people even when they didn't know it was happening. Once everyone got quiet, I put my fork down and cleared my throat. "So mom, did you set a date yet?"
    I hadn't exactly talked to her about my plans to build a house in North Carolina. Sure, I'd mentioned it, but she didn't know that Ty's dad had deeded me five acres to do it. Plus I had taken my lunch break one day last week to apply for the building permit.
    "We were talking about this summer. Why?"
    "I was hopin' John could come give a hand once we break ground on the new house. Amy's goin' to be popping that baby out sooner than we know it. I need my family to have a place of our own. The permits will be in as early as next week. This shit is happenin'."
    The room filled with celebration. Since I'd kept it from Amy, she looked shocked. I had this dream of blindfolding her and carrying her up to our wrap around porch. Things didn't always go as we planned them though.
    She started to tear up and I wiped the first ones as they fell down her pretty cheeks. "Don't cry. Ain't this what you want?"
    She nodded. "It's all I want Conner. I can't believe you went and did this on your own."
    I chuckled. Ty leaned over. "I was with him. Does that count?"
    My sister smacked him and smiled. "You little sneak. You didn't even tell me."
    Ty looked at my sister. He put his arm around her. "It's a guy code thing. You wouldn't understand, baby."
    "Guy code is when you don't sleep with someone your buddy dated. You punk." She shook her head and chewed on a piece of bacon.
    "Yeah, I asked him to be quiet about it. I've been savin' all of my money and the bank is goin' to lend me the rest. I got a first time buyers loan and my rate is low. With all of your help, I reckon we can get it done fairly quick."
    Amy's arms wrapped tightly around my waist. We were sitting at the table, in front of my whole family, but I hugged her back and appreciated her happiness. "I'm sorry about yesterday."
    I kissed her on the head. "Only you, Blaze. This is all for you."
    "You can count on me bein' there cuz. John and I can ride out together," Colt interrupted my private little moment with Amy.
    "I can go with Amy and Miranda to pick out inside