“Dude, why are you looking around the parking lot like you’re fixin’ to say something top secret? Do you know where Jessie is?”

“What? No. Shit, I would never do that to Scott. I’ve been thinking though. Do you think she could have met someone?”

Jeff looked down at the ground and kicked a rock before glancing back at me. “I’ve already thought about that. It’s just weird that she would tell Amanda she was only going to be gone for three weeks, and it’s been almost five weeks now. Christmas is in a few days. Is she really not going to come home for Christmas? Or even call her dad? I get that she’s trying to just avoid it all, but this is just insane. If she were my daughter, I’d be losing my goddamn mind.”

I glanced back at Scott in the truck. He was passed out cold.

Turning back to Jeff, I said, “I don’t know, Jeff. I know Jessie has been in love with Scott since high school, and the same goes for his feelings for her. He hurt her so bad in high school though, and I know it was a huge leap of faith for her to trust him not to hurt her again. And now, in her mind, he did. I can’t even begin to imagine how she felt when she walked into that bedroom. I think she panicked more than anything. The only thing she knew to do was run away—just like she had done after high school when she’d left for college and avoided Scott like he was the plague. The only thing we can wish for is that she comes to her damn senses and comes home. I just can’t see Jessie not even calling her dad on Christmas. All we need is for someone to tell her what really happened.”

“Yeah…let’s hope.” Jeff took a deep breath and let it out. “Anyway, Ari wants to know what she can do to help with the birthday party.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Nothing…just bring Luke and Grace and a big appetite ’cause I think Ellie ordered enough food for a small army.”

Jeff smiled and said, “Alright. I’ll talk to ya later.”

“Later, dude,” I said.

Jeff and I each got in our trucks. I glanced over and looked at Scott sleeping. I had a strange feeling that Jessie wouldn’t be coming home next week or letting anyone know where she was anytime soon.

I stood on the back porch and watched as Scott and Gunner made their way toward the barn. Gunner had insisted on building a barn by the house, and now, I was wishing he never had. If we hadn’t built that barn, Scott wouldn’t have fallen asleep in there that night, and Bryce would have found him.

“Ellie, you’re so deep in thought, sweetheart,” Grace said from behind me.

I placed my hand on my stomach and turned to smile at her. “I was just thinking that if we had never built that barn, then…” I shook my head. I couldn’t even finish my sentence.

I took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. Everyone would be here soon for Alex’s first birthday party, and I couldn’t help but think that it didn’t feel right, not having Jessie here.

Grace walked up and put her arm around me as she looked out toward Gunner and Scott. “I know, honey, but the barn is not to blame for what happened. Honestly, I’m so shocked Jessie has not gotten in touch with anyone. Drake is about to go crazy with worry. My heart hurts for him and for Scott.”

“I’ve never in my life met anyone like Chelsea. I mean, I thought Rebecca was bad, but this girl makes Rebecca look like an angel. I just can’t believe she lured Jessie over there, and then she was able to talk Bryce into having sex with her, for Pete’s sake.”

Grace let out a small laugh. “Well, Bryce is a man, and sometimes, men make poor decisions because they don’t know how to think with anything but their dicks.”

I snapped my head over and looked at my mother-in-law. “Grace! Oh my god!”

She rolled her eyes and sat down on one of the rockers. “Oh please, I’ve heard you and your friends talk. Just because I’m in my forties doesn’t mean I can’t say the word dick.”

I let out a giggle and put my hand on my stomach as I felt the baby move. She’d been moving for about a week now, and every time she moved, I felt my face blush because I thought back to the night she’d been conceived. I was almost positive I knew which night it had happened. When I’d told Gunner about this, he had laughed at me. He’d said we made love too much to know when she could have been conceived, but I knew. I had known it the moment we were done making love.

“Grace, can I ask you a question?” I asked as I sat down in the rocker next to her.

“Of course you can. You can always ask me anything,” she said with a smile.

I smiled back at her. “Did you ever think that you knew the moment when you’d conceived Gunner?”

She looked out toward Gunner. I slowly followed her gaze, and I couldn’t help but smile. Just the sight of him caused me to catch my breath. I didn’t think it was possible to be so in love with someone or to feel this way after being married for a few years, but with Gunner, I swore that I fell in love with him more and more every day.

I glanced back at Grace and watched as the smile grew on her face. It was followed by a blush of her own.

“Grace, you’re blushing!”

She let out a small laugh and threw her hands up to her cheeks. “Am I?”

I nodded and settled in for a story.

She looked at me and made the cutest face before she started talking. “Well…Jack and I had been fighting. I mean, knock-down fighting. We didn’t talk or see each other for probably almost three weeks.”

“What? Wow. I could never go without seeing Gunner for three weeks. I’d die.”

Grace started laughing. “Trust me, if you were as mad as I was, you might think twice about that.”

I set the baby monitor I had been holding in my hand down on the side table, and then I crossed my legs. “Oh, this sounds good. I wish I had popcorn.”

Grace shook her head. “It started off at a Thanksgiving Day party. One of Jack’s friends invited us over to his parents’ house. Everything was nice—the dinner, the people. It felt like home. It was probably one of the best Thanksgivings we had spent together since being married.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Jack flirted with his friend’s sister. I mean, he flirted, and she was just as guilty. Oh, I was so mad that I couldn’t even think straight. Listening to the two of them made me sick to my stomach. I asked to talk to Jack outside, and I told him that his flirting was getting out of hand and that he needed to stop.”

I let out a gasp. Jack flirting…in front of Grace? “Jerk! What did he say?”

“Well, he said he wasn’t flirting. He was just having a bit of fun. I told him it was the same thing, and I asked him how he would like it if I did that with his friend. He laughed and told me I was just being jealous. That was the last straw. I gave him a look and said if he did it one more time, I was leaving. He’d also been drinking, and when he drank, he acted like an ass sometimes.”

“Good for you, Grace. Gunner must have inherited that from Jack.” I glanced over right as Gunner threw his head back and laughed at something Scott had said.

Grace grinned and shook her head. “Yes, Gunner does act just like his father when he’s drinking. Anyway, when we walked back in, Jack’s friend’s parents and everyone had started decorating the Christmas tree. I was so excited. You know how much I love Christmas and decorating the tree!”

I rolled my eyes and nodded. Grace loved decorating for Christmas more than anything. When she decorated for Christmas, the little cabin would be so full of white and green lights that it was almost blinding.

Poor Jack. His back has to kill him after hanging all those lights.

“They started playing Christmas music, and my favorite singer ever came on. Nat King Cole was singing “The Christmas Song,” and I looked around for Jack because everyone started dancing. He knew how much I loved that song, and he always danced with me when it would come on. Well, I found him…dancing with her. Gesh…I can’t even remember her name anymore, but he might as well have kicked me in the stomach. He knew how much I loved Nat and that song.”