The Trouble With Tomboys(45)

Breaking off in mid-sentence, she lifted her face and pinned an accusing look at her son. He could tell immediately when the truth dawned. Shifting

uncomfortably in his chair, he stared back, unable to wipe the guilt off his face. As her face drained of color, Tara Rose glanced toward the abandoned doorway.

“I heard the strangest rumor yesterday at the beauty shop,” she murmured.

“What’s that?” Granger asked, reaching forward to help himself to a cup of coffee.

Tara Rose frowned at her father-in-law. “Dad!”

she hissed. “I didn’t bring out enough for you too.”

“Well, it’s not like she’s going to drink any if the very smell makes her hurl.” He glanced at Grady.

“What? She pregnant or something?”

As Tara Rose sucked in a breath and spun

toward him to hear the answer, she covered her gaping mouth with two hands.

Grady sank further into his seat. “Is that what you heard at the beauty shop yesterday?”

She nodded. All he could see over her fingers was her large brown eyes.

Grady hissed out a curse. “Well, doesn’t that just beat all. My own mother found out before I did.”

“Oh, God,” Tara Rose said in a small voice.

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“What’re you two talking about?” Granger

wanted to know. He glanced up from where he was stirring in a healthy spoonful of sugar. He studied Tara Rose and then turned to Grady. Pausing, he lifted his bushy eyebrows. “Holy hell. Are you the one responsible for her condition?”

Grady scratched at the back of his neck and

winced. “How long till Dad gets home?”

“Could be hours,” Granger boomed. “Now, quit holding out on us, boy. That your baby in her or not?”

Grady nodded once and quietly murmured, “It’s mine.”

“Oh. Oh, my Lord,” Tara Rose whispered and

sank into a seat, staring glazy-eyed at the wall.

Granger grinned. “Well, boy, howdy,” he

cheered, smacking Grady’s hip. “I always knew you had good taste in the ladies, kid. But you topped the cake with this one. That Gilmore girl’s a fine woman.

Good breeding stock. Why, the two of you will have strong, healthy babies. Damn, boy…”

He beamed as he continued to pummel Grady’s

thigh like he was giving a congratulatory slap on the back. “What a way to carry on the line. I couldn’t have picked out anything better for you if I’d chosen her myself. B.J.’s a sturdy one. Got nice, wide, child-bearing hips and—”

“Dad!” Tara Rose hissed in a strangled voice.

Grady lifted his face in time to see B.J. standing frozen in the doorway, her face drawn and pale.

“Oh, good,” she said as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face. “I missed the big announcement.”

Then her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she passed out cold.

127









Chapter Eleven


“Now, why are you driving my truck again?”

Grady held in a deep sigh. But then he glanced at B.J. in the passenger seat, and the frustrated weariness dissolved instantly. She still looked pale.

Too pale.

“How’s the head?” he asked, reaching out to once again feel the bump she’d accrued from landing noggin-first on his mother’s hardwood floor.

She quickly lifted her hand to the spot before he could touch it, sinking her finger into the thick mass and wincing.

“It’s fine.”

Dropping his fingers, Grady’s eyes drifted over her hair before once again returning his gaze to the road. He couldn’t recall ever seeing her hair down before. It was surprising how long and...pretty it was. The brown hue was a rich chocolate with golden hints of natural highlights. The locks were more straight than curly, providing a healthy bounce to them that tumbled over her shoulder and made him want to bury his nose in her neck and have all that long, silky hair coat his face.

“Still have a headache?” he asked, forcing his attention back to the road as he realized he hadn’t even seen her hair down the night they’d slept together. But he’d certainly been quick about pulling the ponytail holder from her skull so he could feel for a bump when she’d passed out nearly twenty

minutes ago.

B.J. muttered, “It’s not so bad I can’t drive my own freaking truck.”

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Grady ignored the comment, all the while trying to forget the fear that had pounded through him when he’d seen her wilt to the floor like a stage actress in some dramatic Shakespearean

performance. Only this had been real...way too real.

Still upset he hadn’t been able to make it to her in time to catch her, Grady winced as the thump her skull had made when she hit the floor continued to echo through his ear canal.