BONUS CHAPTER 1
(Extended HEA)
RORY
FIVE YEARS LATER
Her little kick in my belly feels like Morse code, like a message I need to decipher. “Jace, she’s doing it. Hurry.”
He runs in from the bathroom, his hair sticking out every which way and his pajama bottoms clinging on for dear life as his toothbrush hangs out one side of his mouth. “Show me.”
Jace joins me on our bed, and I take his hand and place it on my baby bump. “She was moving like crazy a minute ago.” But now nothing. I shake my head. “She’s a prankster just like her dad.”
He takes his toothbrush out of his mouth and kisses my belly. “I know you’re in there, sweet pea. Mommy and Daddy love you. And Mommy picked out some really good books for you that we’re gonna read later today.”
I run my hand through his hair. “How do you have so much energy this morning? Aren’t you tired?” He had three back-to-back concerts in Austin this week. We’ve hired someone to take professional footage of his shows, so it’s not imperative that I attend all of them, but I still manage his social media.
He kisses my belly again and smiles up at me. “Got a lot to do around here before the baby comes.”
“How was the show last night? I’m sorry I missed it. I was just so tired.”
“I’m glad you got some rest. No need to wear yourself out. It’s not like you haven’t been to a million of my concerts.”
I smile at my handsome husband. “I love supporting you, and everyone on your crew feels like family, so it’s fun. Layla’s old enough now to know all the lyrics and enjoy them too.” Cooper ended up joining another band, but Shane and Derek sometimes still play with Jace. They’ve come a long way from our early days when they mistrusted me. Cooper and I will never be close, but he’s not an asshole anymore.
“I love having you there.” Jace holds up a finger. “Hold on.” He runs back to the bathroom and returns a second later without the toothbrush. “Okay. I’m ready now.” Leaning over, he kisses me, and I laugh and pull him closer.
“Sing that song.”
“Which one?” he asks as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
“The one you wrote last night.”
He shoots me his signature grin and clears his throat. “You’re telling me I don’t know shit. You’re saying it’s too big. But there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that we can make it fit.”
I giggle and pull him close for another kiss. “I love you, crazy man.” I shrug the strap of my camisole off my shoulder. “Think we have time for some fun?” This pregnancy has made me ravenous for my husband.
Groaning, he shakes his head. “I promised Rhett I’d help him. Can I take a raincheck? How about tonight?”
“If you can catch me before I pass out, yes.”
He glances up at the ceiling. “Maybe we can squeeze in a nooner.”
I laugh. “A nooner?”
“Yeah. Like that old song ‘Afternoon Delight.’” He jumps up and slaps his own ass. “Gotta keep my wife satisfied.”
“Get out of here, goof.”
“I’m gonna go grab Doodle to wake up our sleepyhead.” He tugs on some boots and heads for the door.
I can’t believe he gets our rooster to crow on command. I listen to his steps as he races out the back door to our chicken coop. Our cabin is situated on the north side of the Walker ranch. Even though all of my sisters-in-law have chickens, we wanted our own so we could teach our kids how to raise them. When we’re on tour, we pay one of Honey’s former students to help us care for them.
Jace pauses in the doorway with his pride and joy, a giant rooster named Doodle that he hand-raised from a baby two years ago. It must’ve imprinted on him because when we’re home, that bird follows him everywhere. “Watch this,” he says with a grin. He disappears and I hear him knock on our daughter’s door. “Rise and shine, my little ladybug.” Then he whispers something to that rooster, and the damn thing crows.
A minute later, Layla stomps into our bedroom and crawls into bed with me. I open my arm, and she tucks herself against me. “Mornin’, Mommy.”
“Hi, baby.” I pull a blanket over us. “Did you have a good night?”
Yawning, she nods. “Gonna go help Dad and Uncle Rhett bottle-feed some calves. Then we’re fixin’ some fences.”
“You’re going to know how to run this ranch by the time you’re ten.” She chuckles and yawns again, and I smooth down her hair. “Make sure you wear your gloves because I don’t want you getting blisters, and listen to the directions they give you.”
“Okay.”
“Do you have any homework we need to finish for tomorrow?” She’s in first grade.
“Nope. It’s all done.”
“Nice job.” I’m so proud of this kid. She got an award for reading this year, and she’s in advanced language arts, which means she takes that class with the second graders.
Layla pats my belly. “Is she awake?”
“She was, but then I think she got tired.”
Layla leans down to my belly. “Hi, little sis. This is your commander-in-chief Layla talkin’. We love you. Can’t wait to meet you.”
She cracks me up. “Do you know what commander-in-chief means?”
Her little nose crinkles. “It’s the president.”
“A for the day.”
She lifts her arms in victory. “I love getting As.”
Jace returns, sans rooster, and leans on the doorframe. “Go get ready, squirt.”
She kisses my stomach and trots off. When she walks out of our bedroom, my eyes snag on my husband, who’s looking sexier than should be legal in those pajama pants. “Please go put on some clothes before I ravish you.”
He starts singing another song he wrote me, and I grab a pillow and press it over my head. “That’s not fair. You know I melt into a puddle when you sing for me.”
Jace pulls off the pillow. “Careful or you’re gonna smother my woman, and we can’t have that.” He cups my face. “I won’t be gone too long. You know you can reach me with our walkie-talkies if you can’t get me on my phone.”
Staring at my husband, I smile. “We’ll be fine. Get going.”
He tangles his hand in my hair and kisses me. “Love you, gorgeous, and you too, little one.” He rubs my belly, and then he’s off.
“Love you too!” I call out.
* * *
That evening, after we have dinner and Layla takes a shower and goes to bed, I watch my husband clean the kitchen. “I like watching you work.”
He glances back at me over his shoulder and winks. “I aim to please.”
I soak in the warm glow of our home and the rustic finishes. This is definitely the house of a rancher and a bookworm. The coffee table is full of my books and Layla’s craft supplies while Jace’s cowboy and baseball hats hang on wooden pegs in the entryway. Below that, his cowboy boots line up like little soldiers. And his favorite guitar that he plays every night sits on a stand next to the fireplace.
But my favorite thing about this house is the built-in cabinet next to the fireplace that houses my mom’s old record player and all of our albums.
Jace sets down the dish sponge and turns to face me. “I found the perfect food truck for your bookstore. Beau said he’d help me convert it into something that would work for you.”
I point to my stomach. “I might be busy for a while.”
“I know that, but wouldn’t it be fun to pick out the decorations and coffee makers and books you’d want to have in the meantime?”
He’s right. I’d love that. “As long as you hold off on buying it.” Because if I let him, he’ll run out tomorrow to get it for me. I smile at him. “I want to call it the Book Nook.”
“Love that. You know, the library still has a suck-ass story hour on the weekends.”
“How would you know?”
“Babe, I’ve done some reconnaissance.” He taps his temple. “I want to know who your competitors are. ’Cause when you’re ready, you’re gonna have the best children’s bookstore in Texas.”
I’ve decided that’s where I want to put my focus. I love kids’ books and having children has only solidified that.
“Thanks for putting so much thought into this.” Jace might say I’m his fiercest supporter, but he’s mine too.
I click on the radio. I got into the habit of listening to local radio stations on tour, and I never really stopped.
The announcer’s voice fills the kitchen. “Thanks for tuning in to K-TEX. Did any of y’all catch one of Jace Walker’s concerts this week?” My eyes widen and my husband and I turn to each other. Yes, he’s had lots of hits, but this never gets old. “Hooo boy, they were awesome. Here’s his latest hit, ‘The Long Way Home.’ And here’s something you might not know. He wrote this song with his wife, and you can hear her on the chorus.”
Pride surges in my heart for this song. I’ve tinkered with songwriting for a few years, but this is the first one I’ve sung on.
Jace presses his hand against his chest. “Have I told you lately how much I love that you sang that with me? That you co-wrote it? Damn, I have a talented wife.”
I chuckle. “You’re biased.”
“Hits don’t lie, baby. You have a beautiful voice. Garrett even told me you and I should do some duets.”
“We’ll see.” I’m still getting my feet wet with songwriting, but mostly I do it because I love working with my husband.
Jace holds out his hand. “Wanna dance with me?”
I grin, my heart fluttering like a schoolgirl. “I’d love to.” He pulls me into his arms, and as we two-step across the kitchen, I can’t believe how much I love my life. “I’m so proud of you.”
He kisses my forehead. “I’m proud of us. You know I can’t do what I do by myself. It takes a village and all that, but mostly, it takes a really awesome wife who will strangle anyone who does me dirty.”
Laughing, I lean up to kiss him. Then I freeze. “She’s kicking.” I take his hand and place it over my belly.
“Holy shit.” His eyes crinkle in the corners. “You’re growing a human. That’s amazing.” He gets down on his knees and tugs up my shirt to kiss my stomach. “Hi, darlin’. Nice to see you up and about. Be gentle with your mom. Don’t rough up her kidneys or she might tinkle.”
I snort and shake my head. “You’re terrible.”
He stands and kisses me. “Terrible or not, you’re stuck with me, woman.”
“How will I ever cope?” I tease.
A mischievous grin spreads on his mouth. “I have one or two ideas and they involve us gettin’ naked.”
All of my hormones fire at once, and I nod. “My side of the bed or yours?”
His eyes go soft and he rubs his nose against mine. “How ’bout we meet in the middle?”
BONUS CHAPTER 2
JACE
SIX YEARS LATER
As I pull my girls out of the truck, I remind them to be on their best behavior. “This is Mommy’s big day. Let’s try to stay focused on her.”
Meadow tugs on my shirt. “Daddy, my ponytail feels weird. Can you do it again?”
What I’ve learned in the last decade is if you wanna be on time with kids, you’d better aim to be an hour early. “Sure. Come here.” I reach into the glovebox to get out a brush. Rory always keeps emergency grooming supplies there, bless her.
Meadow is five and a half and is the spitting image of her beautiful mama. As I brush out my daughter’s hair to put it up in another ponytail, I keep one eye on my baby. Sunny is three, and she’s my little hellion. She has my green eyes and that devil-may-care attitude I had as a child. If any of my kids are gonna give me an ulcer, it’s this one.
“Darlin’, please get Mommy’s gift. It’s down there.” I point to the floorboard of my truck.
She grabs the box and tugs at her dress, and I chuckle at her annoyed face. My girls would rather toss on jeans and boots and roll around in the mud, but I thought it would be nice to wear our Sunday best for the occasion. It might inspire them to stay clean for five minutes. But she points to the swing set. “I wanna pray.”
She means play. “I promise we’ll do that in a little while.”
When I’m done with Meadow’s hair, I grab the giant bouquet of pink roses for my wife. “All right, girls. Let’s do this.”
I grab Sunny’s hand so she doesn’t wander off, and the three of us cross the grassy embankment where Rory’s bookstore is parked. Meadow skips alongside me happily while Sunny eyes the swings. I know my hellion is thinking about running off right now.
When we reach the area where all of the food trucks park, my wife’s bookstore, the Book Nook, is off to the side, and it has a huge crowd, thank God. I really want this to be a smashing success for her. She’s worked so hard for my career and our family, and I want her to have her moment.
I spot my brothers and their families, and my girls and I wait with them for the festivities to start. When Rory’s father joins us, I shake his hand and pull him into a hug. “How was the drive?”
“Not too bad.”
“Glad you could make it.”
As he watches his daughter, he beams with pride. “Wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”
Karl is still married to Camille, but he agreed to never discuss her with Rory. My wife is happy as long as she doesn’t have to hear about that woman or her spawn. Taylor just divorced her third husband after the poor guy caught her in bed with his best friend.
But as I watch my beautiful wife, all that family drama fades away.
Aurora stands out front with Layla and waves to everyone. “Thank you all for coming to the Book Nook! I hope we have something for everyone. On this side, we have children’s books.” She slides open one side of her truck to reveal a wall of titles, and everyone claps when they see the setup. It’s pretty dope, if you ask me. “On the other side, you’ll find lots of options for adults. We’ll also be selling coffee, iced tea, and cookies.”
Everyone claps again, and I brim with pride. To think she used to think of herself as a wallflower. My wife was born to stand out. She’s incredible.
After Rory lists off some popular titles people might enjoy, she motions Layla over. “I also want to thank a few people for helping me make today happen. My incredible husband Jace and his brother Beau were the masterminds behind this great truck. But all of the Walkers have helped me get this off the ground, and I’m so grateful for their support. And my three girls helped me hand-pick every book you see on the children’s side, so I know your kiddos will enjoy them. I also want to give a special thanks to my daughter Layla, who helped me set up everything. I’d still be sitting in a huge pile of boxes if it wasn’t for her.”
Grinning, Layla shouts, “And I made the killer cookies!”
Everyone chuckles. Layla just turned thirteen, but she’s reading at a college level and acing all of her classes. Pretty sure that kid can do whatever she wants when she grows up.
As soon as Rory’s done talking, the crowd moves closer and people line up to order coffee. Layla runs the cash register, selling food with one of her friends, and Rory migrates around the van, helping people who have questions about books.
Karl heads over to talk to my wife, and Rhett pats my back. “This is great. You and Beau did a killer job converting that food truck.”
“Rory figured out what she wanted, and that made it easy.” She and I had so much fun brainstorming ideas for how to optimize this space. The van was my anniversary gift to her last year. It took us a while to customize, and then Rory wanted to wait until spring for the grand opening.
“What’s she gonna do with the bookstore when y’all go on tour next time?”
I shrug. “I’m gonna take a break for a while. Focus on songwriting. My studio is booked through the end of the year.” After we had Meadow, I realized how much I hated lugging all my shit to Austin to record, so my brothers helped me build my own studio behind our house. I’m lucky that my music royalties should take care of my family for a long time. “But if we decide to tour again, Rory might hire someone. Down the road, Layla could probably run it. She’s trying to talk her mom into booking birthday parties.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
Plus, I wanna just spend time with my family. We can really only tour during the summer ’cause I don’t want the kids to miss school. We’ve done some homeschooling over the years, and that can be fun too, but I’m ready to stay home for a while. My wife hauled her ass all over the world for me. I’m happy to do whatever she wants for the foreseeable future.
When the crowd lightens up, the girls and I congratulate my sweet Aurora. I kiss my wife and hand her the bouquet. “Congrats, baby. So proud of you.”
“Thank you.” She kisses me again. “You made this happen. I’m so happy.”
“You deserve it, darlin’.”
She glances at the crowd. “This is a crazy turnout.”
Meadow nods. “You’re doing great, Mommy.”
Sunny points into the truck. “I’m hungwee.” I just fed her, but the kid is a bottomless pit.
I pick her up. “Give Mommy our gift, and then maybe Layla can grab us a cookie.” She hands Rory the wrapped box, and I lean over to kiss my wife again. “You’re amazing. Open the box.”
Grinning, she tears off the bow and paper. When she lifts the lid, her eyes get shiny. She pulls out the business card. Aurora Walker, The Book Nook. It has her logo of an open book, website, and contact info. It’s something we talked about, but she’s been really busy and never pulled the trigger to order them.
“Figured you could hand that out so people can reach you. Since you might park at other locations.”
“This is so thoughtful. Thank you.” She opens her arms for a group hug.
After I snap several photos of my wife and kids in front of her mobile bookstore, I tuck my phone away and kiss my wife one more time. “All right. I’m taking the kids to the swings ’cause I promised.”
Sunny nods. “Daddy pwomised.”
Meadow points to her baby sister. “I’m gonna keep an eye on her.”
Rory and I both chuckle.
As I push the girls in the swings, I watch my brothers and their wives and kids buy books and support Aurora.
It’s funny that I thought I had to leave Wild Heart to achieve my dreams.
Because everything I want is right here.