Rescuing Harlow by Aubree Valentine
Chapter 6
Now more than ever, Zane needed a little break from reality.
Thankfully his older brothers seemed to sense his need for some time away and decided that a long overdue fishing trip was in order.
Hudson showed up about thirty minutes before Shelby. By the time he arrived, Zane and Hudson were waiting outside with all their things, ready to go. They didn’t even give Shelby time to get out of the driver’s side before they were piling the cooler and their fishing rods in the bed of his pickup.
“Y’all weren’t kidding when you said that you were ready. I half expected to get here and have to wake Zane up.” Shelby joked as he helped them grab the last of the gear they were taking.
“Shut up. I don’t sleep in anymore.” Zane swung to hit his oldest brother in the arm, but Shelby moved and stopped him at the last second. It had been a good five years since he could say he slept past eight am. Though, having Harlow in his bed did tend to make it hard for him to pry himself out of the bed in time for their fishing trip.
“You boys got everything you need?” Harlow’s voice broke up their banter.
“Morning, Harlow.” Shelby gave her a friendly smile while he and Hudson both looked at her with uncertainty.
Harlow cleared her throat. “You can both stop staring at me like that. Z said he told you the news.”
Hudson and Shelby both looked at each other like they didn’t realize how weird they were being. Zane chuckled.
“Alright, come ‘ere,” Shelby held open his arms. “I guess congratulations are in order.”
Harlow gave Shelby a hug then hugged Hudson too. These two were as much like family as Zane. She knew no matter what, they’d always have her back and love this baby, no matter what.
“Do us one favor?” Hudson asked. Give us some warning before you tell both sets of parents, so we know when to plan Zane’s funeral.”
“Haha.” Zane grumbled. “Laugh all you want.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have let Shelby handle the birds and bees talk with you.” Hudson ribbed.
“Fuck you.” Shelby shoved his brother. “I don’t have any offspring running around.”
“That we know of,” Zane added.
Shelby rolled his eyes. “You two want to go fishing or not. Keep it up and I’ll leave your asses here.”
“We’re going to tell our parents next week, after my doctor’s appointment. If you two can keep it under wraps for now,” Harlow interjected.
“Scouts honor,” Hudson promised.
“Thanks, guys. Now get out of here and try not to kill each other while you’re gone.” She wrapped her arms around Zane and pressed a kiss to his lips. It wasn’t often that either of them indulged in public displays of affection, but Harlow couldn’t help herself. She was trying, without words, to get Zane to understand just how much she cared for him.
The fact that he kissed her back gave her hope as she watched the taillights from Shelby’s truck face away.
Zane was the first to hop from the truck when they made it to Genieben Creek. Eager to set up camp for the weekend, he grabbed the tent from the bed of Shelby’s truck and pulled it from the bag.
“If you think we’re going to let you nap the day away once you’ve got that thing put up, you’ve got another thing coming Little Bro.” Hudson called out, as he stepped down from the back seat of the truck.
“I already told you suckers; I’m going to kick your ass when it comes to the biggest catch. I know you two, if we don’t set the tent up first - you’ll both be shitfaced and I’ll be trying to put this up by myself, in the dark. Now get the hell over here and help.” Zane shot back with a smirk.
It wasn’t the first time they’d all gone fishing together, except the last time Hudson and Shelby were the only two old enough to drink. Sure, they let Zane sneak a beer or two over the weekend but they’d both gotten so drunk that one time they had to sleep under the stars when Zane couldn’t see well enough to put the tent up. Another time, he’d barely gotten it put up by himself, so he left the two of them outside and slept soundly until it started raining and Hudson and Shelby got soaked.
He thought it was hilarious. They did not.
“Who said anything about getting shit faced?” Shelby pulled a beer from the cooler and popped the top. “It’s been a long damn time since I’ve been shitfaced, thank you very much,” Shelby added before helping them set up the tents.
With shelter set up for the night, they each grabbed their fishing gear and made the short 100-yard trek to the riverbend.
They sat in silence for a while, just existing and taking in the quiet world around them; until Hudson took the plunge and broke their silence. “So, what’s your game plan Zane? Have you made any decisions?”
“Hell no. And I’m even more confused now than I was before.”
“You are going to do right by Harlow and the baby though, right?” Hudson asked.
For a split second, Zane felt offended by his brother’s question. How could he possibly think that he wouldn’t do the right thing? “If by doing right by them, you mean take care of them and make sure my child wants for nothing? Yes. Of course, I am. That doesn’t mean I’m going to run off and marry her tomorrow though. You think I wouldn’t take care of my responsibilities?”
“I don’t think either of us doubted that you would make sure both Harlow and the baby were taken care of.” Shelby chimed in to defuse the situation.
“You know, I applied for a job with the FBI Field office in San Antonio. About a month ago.” Zane decided he might as well tell his brothers about that too. He looked past the shocked look on their faces and added, “I figured it was a long shot, but the worst case would be that they said no.”
“Have you heard anything?” Shelby asked with honest interest.
Zane snorted at the irony of it all. “Yeah. They called the day before Harlow told me she was pregnant. To tell me I was shortlisted for a position that would be opening up in about six months’ time.”
“Damn, Little Bro. That’s pretty fucking awesome.”
Hudson clapped Zane on the back. “And here I thought being a Texas Ranger was badass.”
“Yeah. It’s great. Except once again, I’m stuck. And before either of you say it, I know it’s my own fault. I should have been more careful.” Zane picked up a rock and skipped it across the creek. “One thing I know for certain though. I don’t ever want our kid to think he or she was a mistake. Or that any of this is their fault. Because it’s not. And while I’m scared as fuck that I’m totally going to screw up a tiny human, there’s a part of me that is anxiously excited too. I still believe this kid is some sort of blessing.”
“And that right there is exactly why you’ll be a good dad no matter what. You don’t have to be married to Harlow or stay in Weintraube to do that.” Shelby assured him.
Leave it to his oldest brother to know exactly what to say and when.
“You want to be the one to tell Mom and Pops that for him?” Hudson laughed, doing what he does best to bring a little humor and sarcasm to the conversation.
“Or tell that to Harlow’s parents?” Zane added. “You know that’s not how things work around here.”
“I think the first damn thing you need to do is talk about all of this with Harlow. The lady deserves to know about the job and how you’re feeling about marriage and life in general. Otherwise, you are being kind of a dick and leading her on.”
Leave it to Shelby to be the one to give it to him straight. His older brother was right. He did need to talk to Harlow about the job prospect and everything else. But before he could do that, he really needed to clear his head and decide how he wanted to handle the biggest change of his life.
He was about to be a father.
Shit.
