Read Online Dinner with the Blakemores (The Blakemore Files Book 5) by Olivia Gaines - Free Book Online Page A

of a life wasn’t her dream.
    Dwight wasn’t her dream.
    Ryanne’s phone buzzed. It was Eddie.  A simple text message came through that said he was in Houston. 
    She responded back to him.  So am I .
    As he told her earlier, nothing is random.

Chapter 13. Dear Lawd …
     
    While Saxton was rubbing down Longshot, Lucy showed everyone to their rooms.  Odessa pulled her mother-in-law to the side. “Ms. Lucy, my father has a bad hip. Is there a room downstairs for my parents?”
    Lucy waved her hand. “Oh, pooh, girl!  You do know we have an elevator!”  Lucy pulled Big Sarge into it as everyone else climbed the grand staircase. Odessa reached the landing and could feel the tug at her lower belly.  Maybe I need to take the damned elevator, too . Each day, the changes in her body were dictating the limitations of her condition. She rubbed her tummy. “Mommy is tired, baby.  You are taking a lot out of me.”
    Lucy stepped from the elevator at the end of the hall, dragging Big Sarge behind her. The three bedrooms on the right side of the hallway were open, fresh, and ready for their new guest.  What was new was the nursery.  Odessa’s eyes were wide as Lucy opened the door next to Saxton’s room.  “We haven’t had a nursery up here in years.  I was so excited. I had Dusty get started on it.  I am just waiting for you to pick out patterns and wallpaper this week, so we can have it done!”
    The giddiness of Lucy was new.  Her mother-in-law not having a drink in her hand was also something new.  Her exuberance was contagious.  Even Dora was pulled into it. “Odessa, this is exciting.  Have you even finished the nursery in your own home?”
    In truth, she had not given it much thought, nor had Saxton put any effort into it, because in her heart, she knew, her husband was going to have to come home at some point.  It seemed as if he was waiting for the right time to tell her, just as she was waiting for the right time to tell Ryanne how her life was going to change.
    “Well, don’t just stand around, y’all!  There is a kitchen full of good food to eat, stories to tell, and a baby shower to plan for tomorrow!” Lucy exclaimed.
    Odessa was still standing in the door of the nursery. I am going to be a mother . She absentmindedly rubbed her tummy. In that chair is where I will nurse and sing to you . Tears welled in her eyes as her brother and sister both flanked her; Kevin’s arm around her shoulder and Ryanne’s arm around her waist. It was Kevin who spoke first. “I am going to be the world’s best uncle.”
    “And I am going to be the world’s best aunt,” Ryanne added.
    Her head still low, and fingers on her tummy, Odessa said through her sniffles, “I am going to be the world’s best mom.”
    Saxton arrived at the top of the stairs, winded but anxious to speak to his wife. “Yes.  You will be, Mrs. Blakemore,” he said as he leaned against the wall. He grinned at them. “Guys, give me a few minutes to get showered and changed and I will give you a tour of the ranch,” he told Kevin and Ryanne as he took Odessa by the hand.
    In the privacy of the bedroom, behind closed doors, he kneeled in front of his wife and kissed her belly. “I know it was only a couple of days, but it felt like forever.  I have gotten so spoiled lying down each night beside you, and waking up to you each morning….”
    Odessa’s fingers ran through his hair. “Saxton, are we ready for this?”
    “We are as ready as we will ever be,” he told her.
    “Your mom is working on the nursery….”
    It was the way he exhaled that made her pause. “Odessa….  At some point, I have to come home.  My family will live in this house.  Our children will grow up on Blakemore land, eat Blakemore beef, and learn how to take care of the earth as we pull from it Blakemore oil. I was sitting in a saddle before I could even walk on my own….”
    His eyes beseeched hers for understanding.  “I didn’t want the