Bucking the Rules(72)

“Now on to the good stuff.” Amanda leaned in, elbows on the bar, chin in her hands. “Has Trace talked to you yet?”

“You’re relentless.” Might as well get it over with. “Okay, fine. Yes, he talked to me. Yes, we worked it out, sort of. And yes, we’re still an item. But I don’t want to share more. We are what we are, and I’m comfortable with that. We’re not pushing to be more, and we’re not going to make a big deal about it. Right?” She shot Amanda a hard look.

Unfazed, the other woman smiled, catlike. “Did he convince you in bed? Was it a wrestle to the death?”

“Let’s pretend you didn’t ask that, and we can move on.”

“Thank you,” Stu grumbled.

“How are you going to handle the baby?”

Jo’s eyes closed at the reminder. Ugh. “Yeah, I’m not sure yet. We’re sort of… ignoring that elephant in the room. At least for now. That won’t last forever, but I’m hoping things will be clearer when we reach that stage.”

“Good idea.” Stu nodded. “Single parent dating can’t be easy. Don’t wanna introduce the kid to every woman who comes by. If you’re taking time to get to that point, it can’t be anything but good.”

“Yeah.” She didn’t know how to explain the whole wait and see thing wasn’t just for the kid’s benefit, but hers as well. But hey, if this approach made her look mature and capable, then she’d grab it.

“Oh!” Amanda’s eyes lit up. “Oh, my God, I totally just remembered! This is perfect. Now you can find out who the mystery mama is.”

“The … no. I’m not even going to ask.” Jo sipped her doctored soda and sighed. Jack Daniels, the best man of all.

“I’ll tell you anyway. Trace went off to do the rodeo thing, and we all watched from a distance. Marshall is very proud of our local cowboys when they go off and do their own thing, you know.” She puffed up a little with town pride. “But he didn’t come back all that often, so any news we got about Trace was either through the circuit, or from Peyton. And then one day, poof. He’s just back, seemingly for good. Only now, he’s got a kid. Which is so weird, because he did not at all seem like the type to play doting daddy.” Her eyes went a little soft. “But from the few reports I’ve heard, they say he’s actually really good at it.”

“None of that sounds mysterious,” Stu pointed out.

“Shush, I’m building. So anyway, we expected to see some buxom blonde trailing behind him any day. But a week went by, then two, and no sign of the kid’s mom. So delicate inquiries were made, and it appears nobody knows who the kid’s mother is. Not even his family. Or if they do, they’re completely quiet about it.”

“Does it matter who the mother is?” All this intrigue over one man and his son. It boggled her big city mind.

“Well, no,” Amanda conceded. “But I’d just like to be the first—or second, or even third—to know. Spill.”

Jo smiled a little wicked smile. “My lips are sealed.”

“So unfair!” Amanda posed with a pout, then shrugged one shoulder. “Oh, well. If you need someone to unload your burdens to, my phone is always with me.”

“Uh-huh,” Jo said dryly. “I’ll remember that. Now scoot. I’m closing up.” Amanda stood, and Jo gave Stu a pointed look. “You, too, big guy. I appreciate the support, but as Semisonic said, it’s closing time.”

Amanda started humming the tune as she grabbed her purse and walked out the door. “See ya later!”

Stu waited a moment more, then bent down to buss her cheek. “Call me if you need some muscle. Or call Trace. He’s a cocky son of a bitch, but he’ll watch out for you.”

“Thanks.” She patted his arm and followed him to the door. “But I’m a big girl. I can watch out for myself.”

“I know you can, but nobody’s got panoramic vision. Having someone there to watch your back isn’t a weakness, it’s a strength.” With a wink, he left her alone in the bar.

A strength … to depend on someone? She just couldn’t wrap her mind around that one. If you needed anyone but yourself, you were that much weaker, weren’t you?

Jo scrunched her eyes shut and massaged her temples. The end of a long day was definitely not the time to get philosophical. It was the time to get drunk.

She reached for the best man in her life, Jack Daniels. Jack could watch her back any day.





Chapter Seventeen


Trace popped into the kitchen to check on Emma. “Everything going okay in here?”