“You’re the one always blabbing, Jake. It’s not me. Look what happened when we got caught red handed by our parents for sneaking their booze one Friday night in high school. It wasn’t me spilling my guts as soon as they came in,” he laughs.
“What were we going to do? Say hey mom, hey dad. I don’t know who drank all of your scotch, as we’re turning green to the gills,” I respond.
“Yeah, yeah. What trick do you have up your sleeve?” he questions.
“Going to take Larissa up to the lake house and marry her. The only thing is she doesn’t know that it’s all planned yet. Down to the very last detail. Mom has been working as hard as she can, asking questions to Larissa without giving it all away,” I’m thinking back to the way mom’s eyes lit up when I told her my plan. At first, she wanted to know why Larissa and I aren’t planning our wedding on our own. When I told her Larissa was content with getting married in a courthouse even though I didn’t want that for her. I wanted her to have something to look back on and have amazing memories of.
Mom wept and then got into wedding planning mode, “My sweet boy. You’d do anything for her. I’m so proud of you,” were her words.
“She has no idea. That’s pretty slick. I should have done something like that instead of dealing with momzilla,” I can hear the laughter in his tone.
“Well, Larissa wasn’t interested in planning it and I want her tied to me, so this was the fastest way possible to get it done,” I comment.
“Email me the time and date, we’ll be there. I won’t tell Kendall. I’ll just let her know we’re going out. I know the two of them cackle like hens.” He’s not wrong. I’ve been around when they’re on the phone calls that can last hours, hell they even watch The Bachelor on the phone together, if we don’t have them over or vice versa when it airs.
“You’re not wrong, brother. See you this weekend,” I tell him, and he replies, “You got it.”
We both hang up and I finish my work and emails, before I turn the computer off and head for home. Two more days and Larissa will be mine, now and forever.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Larissa
For the past two days, Jake has been walking around like he’s a man on a mission. I’m sure he’s up to something, but I’m not sure what it could be. We have everything, literally everything that could ever make us happy. A handsome baby boy, we’re engaged, and a beautiful home. I’m happier than I could ever possibly be. I’m just wondering what he’s up to. It must be something big.
“Do you have everything you need?” he questions me, knocking me out of my thoughts.
“Yep, Eli’s bag is packed, I have the pump and small cooler packed,” I answer him. All he told me was we’re going on a day trip. He hasn’t been to the lake in a while and he wants us to go as a family.
We all load up into the Expedition, Jake grabs my hand and holds it as he expertly backs the SUV out of the garage, and we head out.
“How far away is the lake?” I ask him as we get on the road.
“It’s only about an hour away,” he replies.
“Are you sure nothing is going on?” Repeating my question from earlier.
“Nope, everything is good. Just wanted a family outing,” he says as we continue on. I watch as the trees eat up the mileage and look around. Elijah is in the back seat and sound asleep. I’m content, for the first time ever. I have a home filled with love and happiness. A very far cry from what I grew up with.
We talk and laugh the time away, until we come around a bend in the road that leads to a dirt road. I instantly see the lake and I’m in awe.
“Jake, this is beautiful. How did I not know about this place?” I feel like today I’ve asked him a million and one questions, he’s answered them all, with more patience than I could ever have.
“It was Mack’s dad’s house. He left it to him, and we’ve had it for a while now. He fixed it up some, so it was more livable and built a new dock to fish from,” he says, as we pull into the driveway area. I hear Jake say, “Stay, I’ll come help you out,” but I’m already out of the vehicle. I open the back door, climb in and start to grab the car seat out, when two hands are on my hips pulling me back. When my body is out of the car and Jake is pressed up against my back I can feel his hard length. It makes me whimper, when he whispers, “I told you to stay. I take care of you and Eli. I know you’re independent as hell, but let me have this, baby.”