The Trouble With Tomboys(51)
Her insides flameed with anger because Tucker Rawlings had her right where he wanted her; she stared at him with a stubbornly stiff jaw. “Do I look like a tattletale to you?”
He nodded, reassured. “So...if you marry him, 142
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sign a prenuptial agreement of course, and keep him happy until the baby’s born, I’ll give you the plane, free and clear. You marry him, sign the same prenup, and he realizes what a mistake he’s made, you hand over the baby and take out for parts unknown...with your plane. Either way, the Cessna’s yours, B.J. I gotta say, that doesn’t sound like such a bad deal on your end.”
She gave a short nod. No, it didn’t sound like a bad deal. Except for that part about abandoning her own child...oh, and the being-held-under-Tucker-Rawlings-control thing. That sucked eggs.
The whole agreement made her want to throw
something—preferably something sharp and
deadly—right at Tucker Rawlings’ head.
Remaining as cool and collected as she could, she asked, “And if I say no deal? To hell with you and to hell with my plane; you can keep it. What’re you going to do then, Mr. Almighty?”
His eyes sparked with challenge, and B.J. had a very bad feeling she’d just asked the exact wrong question.
“Oh, I still have an ace up my sleeve.”
Though she kept her body still and didn’t shrink from the victorious gleam in his eyes, she wanted to cringe so bad, already dreading something more awful than she could comprehend. “An ace in what form?”
“From what I hear, you run a good bluff. You can act like you don’t care what happens to your plane all you like, B.J. And, hell.” He gave a shrug.
“As old and worn out as it is, maybe you don’t care.
But can you act so blasé about your family?”
An uneasy chill raced up the back of her spine.
“What about my family?”
“Seems my family might owe your family’s plane service a lawsuit for nearly killing my boy on that trip home from Houston.”
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All the air vacated B.J.’s lungs. “Just what the hell are you going to sue us for? Grady wasn’t hurt.
None of his possessions were damaged or lost. And he was given a full refund for the scare.”
“Ah, but he was spooked, wasn’t he. You made him fear for his life...probably caused lasting emotional damage.”
“Oh, Jesus. Gimme a break.” B.J. rolled her
eyes, even as her stomach rolled with unease. But dear God. If the Gilmore Plane Service got a bad rep from the Rawlings family, no one in Tommy Creek would ever do business with them again...hint of a lawsuit or not. No one displeased the Rawlings.
“So, what do you say, B.J.? Do we have a deal?”
She shook her head. “I gotta think about this.”
He gave a short nod. “You do that. And
remember...breathe a word of any of this
conversation to Grady, and all deals are off.”
****
B.J.’s phone was ringing as she stepped inside
her back door. She groaned. If it was Tucker Rawlings, she was going to hang up on him. She’d had enough of Grady’s father for one day. He’d ruined her entire afternoon as it was.
Expecting to hear his voice and dreading it, she dropped the mail and lunchbox she’d carried in with her onto the kitchen table and scurried to the phone.
“Hello.”
“Hello. B.J.?” a hesitant female voice asked.
B.J. frowned. Who was this? “Yep. Sure is.”
“Oh. Well, good. This is Jo Ellen. Jo Ellen
Gerhardt.”
Pausing in her perusal of the mail, B.J. lifted her face. Oh, dear God. Here we go again. If it wasn’t the father, it was the daughter. But, Jesus, if Jo Ellen planned to give B.J. a piece of her mind for getting herself knocked up by Grady, then she was going about it in way too polite a voice.
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“Okay,” B.J. said. And?
She could imagine what kind of threats and
name-calling Grady’s sister was going to start tossing around.
“Mama called last night and told us the happy news...about the baby.”
“Yeah?”
Dropping the cable bill in her hand, B.J.
squinted blankly across the room and wondered what her caller’s main objection was. She seriously doubted the woman wanted to congratulate her.
Thinking Grady’s sister could only have nefarious plans just like her dad, B.J. braced for the outpouring.
“Well, I was just wondering if you’d like to come over for a little while,” Jo Ellen said. “To, you know, girl chat.”
Girl chat? B.J. winced at the word before the main subject of the question struck her. Jo Ellen was inviting her over?