The Delivery of Decor (Shiloh Ridge Ranch in Three Rivers #7) - Liz Isaacson Page 0,51
as he glanced at Dot. The small nod she’d given him. They had something, and as the call with Ranger ended, Bishop took a moment and closed his eyes to pray for Ward.
Help him find the peace and information he needs, he thought. Bless Montana and I to know what to do with Aurora. Bless Montana through this last leg of her pregnancy.
Bishop kept rolling dough until it was all done, and then he turned toward Don as he came into the kitchen. “How are your children?” Bishop asked, putting a smile on his face despite his own worries and fears.
Don smiled at him and set his phone on the countertop. “They’re doing well,” he said. “Of course, they can all leave their homes. We’re the only ones shut in up here in the Panhandle.” He came right over to Bishop and put his hand on his shoulder. “I’m worried about you. How are you holding up?”
Bishop wasn’t sure what the older gentleman saw when he looked at Bishop, but it was obviously something.
“I’m tired,” Bishop whispered, glancing toward the door way that led out of the big kitchen and living room at the back of the house. “But I’m trying.”
Don gave him a kind smile. “I think that’s the motto of life, son. Tired but trying. I like that. I’m doing that too.”
“I think we all are,” Bishop said. “I just keep telling myself that nothing lasts forever. Montana won’t be pregnant forever. The wind won’t blow forever. The construction won’t go on forever.”
“You’re certainly right about that,” Don said. “Once, when I first started my business….” He continued to tell a story about something that had happened many years ago. Bishop liked listening to him talk, because the man had a powerful, quiet voice, and plenty of life experience. As Bishop often felt like he had no idea what his next step should be, he appreciated the steadiness and wisdom that Don shared with him.
He caught sight of Montana lumbering into the kitchen, and Bishop dropped the washrag he’d been wiping the counter with and went to help her. “Baby,” he said. “Why aren’t you asleep?”
“This baby is kicking me,” she complained, and Bishop helped her to the couch, where she lay down. She sighed and closed her eyes, placing one hand over them. Bishop looked down at her, his heart bleeding for his wife.
Ten more weeks, he thought. Can we make it ten more weeks?
Chapter Sixteen
Ace Glover woke when his wife groaned. Her footsteps on the marble tile in their bathroom told him she’d gotten up, and he rolled toward her side of the bed. The scent of clean, crisp linens, fresh paint, and an overall new car smell filled the house.
He and Holly Ann had only been living in their new house for nine days, and he still wasn’t quite familiar with everything.
“Did I wake you up?” Holly Ann asked as she returned to bed. She was tall, dark, and beautiful, and the way her belly rounded with his child made Ace smile every time he saw her.
“A little,” he said.
Holly Ann smiled as she bent to get her pajama pants. She got too hot in the middle of the night now that she had a body growing inside her. “Go back to sleep. It’s barely six. I’ll go make coffee.”
“Mm, okay.” Ace closed his eyes like he’d really go to sleep but he had no plans to do that. Ace couldn’t drift back to sleep the way Holly Ann could—at least before she’d gotten pregnant.
She left the master suite and closed the door behind her. Ace listened to the furnace come on and the whooshing of hot air as it came through the vents. He heard Holly Ann bumping and thumping around in the kitchen, though the master bathroom sat between him and the gourmet area where she put together fabulous meals.
Ace had gained ten pounds since marrying her last spring, and he wasn’t sure he cared. She had dinner waiting for him every evening, even if she had a party or event off the ranch. Ace loved her for more than her cooking though, and he counted her as one of his biggest blessings.
He groaned as he rolled over too. He put his feet on the thick carpet and reached both arms up over his head. He stretched left and right, rolled his neck, and finally left the warm comfort of his blankets and pillows.