Annie had drawn her eyebrows on crooked that morning, giving her a decidedly malevolent look. “You want this girl back, Calvin, you’re gonna have to set yourself to a serious courtship.”
“He doesn’t want her back,” Jim snapped. “Look what she’s done.” He snatched the newspaper from Cal’s hand and shoved it toward the women.
Jane moved down onto the top step, took it from him, and bent her head to study the page.
Cal had never heard his father sound so bitter. “I hope you’re proud of yourself,” he snarled at Jane. “You set out to ruin his life, and you’ve done a damn good job of it.”
Jane had taken in the gist of the article, and her gaze flew up to meet Cal’s. He felt the impact in his chest and had to tear his eyes away. “Jane didn’t have anything to do with that newspaper story, Dad.”
“Her name’s on the damn by-line! When are you going to stop protecting her?”
“Jane’s capable of a lot of things, including being stubborn and unreasonable”—he shot her a hard-eyed look— “but she wouldn’t do that.”
He saw that she wasn’t surprised by the way he’d come to her defense, and that pleased him. At least she trusted him a little. He watched her clutch the tabloid to her chest as if she could hide its words from the world, and he made up his mind Jodie Pulanski would pay for the pain she was causing her.
His father continued to look thunderous, and he realized he was going to have to give him at least part of the truth. He’d never tell him what Jane had done—that was nobody’s business but his—but he could at least explain her behavior toward his family.
He took a protective step forward as his father closed in on her. “Are you getting regular prenatal care, or have you been too busy with your damn career to see a doctor?”
She met the old man square in the eye. “I’ve been seeing a doctor named Vogler.”
His father gave a begrudging nod. “She’s good. You just make sure you do what she tells you.”
Annie’s arm was starting to shake, and Cal could see the shotgun was getting too heavy for her. He caught his mother’s eye. She reached out and took it away. “If anybody’s going to shoot either one of them, Annie, I’ll do it.”
Great! His mother had turned crazy, too.
“If you don’t mind,” he said tightly, “I’d like to speak with my wife alone.”
“That’s up to her.” His mother looked at Jane, who shook her head. That really pissed him off.
“Anybody home?”
The female triumvirate turned in one body, and all of them began to smile like sunbeams as his backup quarterback came strolling around the corner of the house like he owned the place.
Just when he’d thought things couldn’t get worse . . .
Kevin took in the women on the porch, the two Bonner men standing below, and the shotgun. He arched his eyebrow at Cal, nodded at Jim, then moved up on the porch to join the women.
“You beautiful ladies told me I could stop by for some of that fried chicken, so I took you at your word.” He leaned against the post Cal had painted only a month earlier. “How’s the little guy doing today?” With a familiarity that indicated he’d done it before, he reached out and patted Jane’s belly.
Cal had him off the porch and flat on the ground within seconds.
The shotgun blast nearly knocked out his eardrums. Bits of dirt flew into his face and stung his bare arms. Between the noise and the fact that the dirt had temporarily blinded him, he didn’t have time to land his punch, and Kevin managed to roll out from beneath him.
“Damn, Bomber, you’ve done more damage to me this spring than happened all last season.”
Cal swabbed the dirt from his eyes and lurched to his feet. “Keep your hands off her.”
Kevin looked peeved and turned to Jane. “If he acted this way to you, it’s no wonder you left him.”
Cal gritted his teeth. “Jane, I’d like to talk to you. Now!”
His mother—his sweet, reasonable mother—stepped in front of her as if Jane were her kid instead of him! And his old man wasn’t helping any. He just stood there looking at his mom as if he didn’t understand anything.
“What are your intentions toward Jane, Cal?”
“That’s between the two of us.”
“Not exactly. Jane has family now to look after her.”
“You’re damn right she does! I’m her family.”
“You didn’t want her, so right now Annie and I are her family. That means we’re the ones looking out for her best interests.”