5 Reasons To Love Again

Chapter 105

When I woke up, I was alone in the living room and my dirty plates and cup had been cleared away. There was a short note left on the tv tray though. Delphine, Wyatt had to go to work offsite but I am in my office if you need me. Love, Preston. I smiled and stretched before getting up to go use the bathroom. I put on some rubber soled slippers that I kept downstairs so that I wouldn't slip and fall on the hardwood floors.

 I decided to check in with Preston before attempting to go water my plants in the greenhouse. The door to his office was open and I leaned against the doorway watching him work away writing numbers on papers and then typing something onto his screen. It looked like a real estate deal for a large commercial building in downtown Charleston. What I couldn't believe was the amount of zeros in the price it was sold for. No wonder Preston's offices was doing so well! Even if I hadn't known Preston like I did, I would trust him to handle a deal for me because he didn't miss a thing. Plus it helped that he looked completely honest.

"Did you have a good nap my dear?" he asked me without turning around. "I thought that I didn't make a sound standing here." I replied. Preston turned around to grin at me, "You didn't. I could see your reflection in my monitor." I took a few steps over to him, he pulled me onto his lap and kissed the tip of my nose. "I'm sorry to interrupt you but I just wanted to check in with you before I go water my plants in the greenhouse." I could see the indecision written all over his face. He wanted to let me go alone but at the same time he was wanting to coddle me.

"Are you sure that you are up to it? If you still feel shaky, I should come with you but it's up to you my dear." he said to me. I smiled at him, "I think that I can do it, I'll call you if I get too tired." I got off his lap and gave him a kiss on the cheek before heading to the backyard. He caught me at the backdoor before I got outside to hand me my phone. "I think that you will need this and this." he said as he held up a fuzzy hoodie for me to wear. "I don't know where my head is today." I said a little embarrassed that I would forget these things.

"You are still a little tired. Remember that you have been sick so try not to overdo it. We have the jellybean to think about now." he said as he helped me put the hoodie on. Laughing, I said, "Not you too! First Jake and now you. Is this the new baby's nickname?" Preston shrugged with a smile, "Jake came up with it first and it's caught on. Until we know if it's a girl or a boy, jellybean seemed appropriate given the size and shape of the baby right now."

"Hmm... I guess that's the baby's nickname." I said still laughing as I walked out the back door. I kept my pace much slower than usual to conserve my energy. Once I was inside though, I used my phone to hook the system up to some soothing classical music for my little jellybean and turned my hose on. The plants weren't too dry meaning that one of them had been here yesterday to water the plants for me. Turning the hose on, I started a light spray of water on my herbs. I started through the rows of plants and when I was almost finished with them all, I started to feel tired. Finishing up the last two, I gratefully turned off the hose when something caught the corner of my eye. I saw the shadow of someone in the trees  not too far away.

My internal alarm went on high alert and amazingly I kept calm. Instead of panicking, I pretended that I hadn't seen the figure and pushed the button on my phone screen for Preston. "What's wrong my dear? Are you sick again?" his voice came over the speaker system. "No, but I see someone trying to hide in the trees. On the right side if you are facing the greenhouse. I'm pretending that I don't see him. Nobody else is home but us right?" I asked him.

"Delphine, stay where you are and pretend to garden. If you can, go lock the door without being obvious about it. I'm going to come around through the trees to see if I can get him. I won't let anything happen to you." he said with complete assurance in his tone. "Be careful Preston." I said. I couldn't keep the tone of worry out of my voice. We hung up and I grabbed a broom from the corner where it was hanging and started to sweep. I also took a pair of scissors and stuck them in my pocket just in case. I made my way towards the door and reached out quickly and locked it unobtrusively. It took all my self control not to stare out the windows at the figure.

I was more nervous about this than situation than I usually would been. I had a little jellybean that I needed to protect. My phone beeped and then Wyatt's voice came on the line. "Darling, stay put. Preston's got the guy on the run and I've got eyes on you. It's going to be ok. I'm on my way." I sighed in relief, "Ok Wyatt, thank you." I could almost hear the smile in his voice, "You're welcome darling." Within five minutes, I spotted Wyatt jogging my way. I unlocked the door when he reached it and was gathered up in his arms. He buried his face into my hair and sighed, "I'm so glad that you have brains."

I was startled into a laugh, "What?" Of all things I would have expected for him to say, that the was last thing! He laughed too and said, "Well, you were smart enough to not let him know that you saw him and you called Preston right away. Did I forget to also mention how much I love you?" I put a pretend pout on my face and said, "Yes, you did forget that part."

"Well, you are the love of my life and I don't want you to ever forget that." He leaned down and tried to kiss my lips but I turned my face the last second and his mouth landed on my cheek instead. "Not until I get cleared by Chase. I don't want you getting sick too," I told him. "So did Preston catch the guy?" He shook his head and said, "Let's get you inside the house and we'll talk." We walked quickly back to the house with adrenaline giving me the power to do it. Once inside the house, he locked the door behind us and had me sit down on the nearest couch.

Preston walked in from the front of the house his cheeks a little pink, his hair disheveled and immediately came over to embrace me and make sure that I was ok. He kissed my hand before leaning back and sighing. "I almost caught that ass before he got into his car and got away. It's ok, I know who it was."

Wyatt got a look of disbelief on his face, "No! The same idiot? What the hell is he thinking! Trespassing onto our property?"

I looked at them, confused at first but then the answer dawned on me. "Are you talking about that guy, the PI whose been taking pictures of me? What on earth does he want with me?"

Preston looked angry, cold and determined. "We are done playing around. Gene Murdoch needs to be confronted and he will tell us all that we need to know." I placed my hand on his forearm to reassure him that I was ok. He turned his eyes to me and his expression softened as he raised his hand to cup my face. "I shouldn't have let you go alone." he said softly.

I covered his hand with mine, "It was just to the greenhouse. How were we supposed to know that he would come on to your property?" Wyatt nodded in agreement, "We had no clue that the idiot would do that. I would have let her too. I mean, it's our own backyard!" Preston sat back and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He opened them again and looked straight at me, "You are right my dear except for one thing. It's Our  property."

Wyatt barked out a laugh and touched the top of my head as he plopped himself down on the other side of me. "He's right darling. It is our property now so remember that!" he playfully reminded me. I smiled and swatted at his leg. Wyatt grabbed his leg and pretended to be hurt, groaning and moaning. "Did you see that? Our woman is beating me up! Who knew that pregnancy would make her violent."

Preston just rolled his eyes and shook his head. I giggled and then made a cat sound. "Meow." Wyatt stopped moaning and looked at me surprised. "Did you just meow at me?" I nodded yes and explained, "That's what the swim coach used to say in high school when any of the guys complained." Preston sat there with a knowing smirk on his face. Wyatt continued to look confused by it and I just laughed. "What does that mean?" Preston laughed and said, "What's another name for a cat? You know, an older expression?" It finally dawned on him and he started to laugh too. "First you beat me up and then you go after me verbally?" Wyatt shook his head laughing and I laughed too before giving him a kiss near his mouth.  "Thanks for the sugar, I'm all better now." he said.