A Fallow Heart (Tommy Creek #2)(29)

For a couple months, they’d hidden all the keys from him. Then he’d fallen off when trying to climb onto one and bruised his hip so bad it was a miracle he hadn’t broken it. That’s when Loren and Coop decided he needed to go to a nursing home, where he couldn’t wander off and hurt himself.

Thad’s mind had only decayed from there. Most days, Thad didn’t recognize Cooper’s face. To top everything, Cooper had found that damn, incriminating letter a month ago when he’d been helping his mother clear out all of Thad’s old clothes. He hadn’t been able to look her in the eye since, too confused and strangely upset. His entire foundation where his parents were concerned felt rocked and no longer stable. It was almost as if he didn’t even know who he was himself any longer.

“Poor Loren,” Em cooed, making him grit his teeth to keep from blurting out his new awkwardness with his mother. “She must be miserable; used to having Thad around all the time.”

Coop managed a tight nod. “Stacia keeps trying to get her to move in with her and her boys, but…”

“Is Stacia your wife,” Branson butted in, sounding hopeful.

Coop managed to hide a grin as he shook his head. “No. My sister. She lives about five hours away and has three kids. All boys. But Mom says she refuses to leave Dad here by himself.”

It took all he had not to sound sarcastic. But his whole life, he’d adored his mother and everyone knew that. To suddenly show any kind of disapproval toward her in public would only produce a bunch of questions he really didn’t want to answer. So, if his mother wanted to pretend she really missed his father, he’d go along with that story. Sure.

He didn’t know what to do about either of his parents. The helpless frustration he’d felt since moving Thad to the nursing home to this new knowledge he’d gained about Loren made it hard for him to breathe, burning his windpipe.

As if realizing he needed some kind of diversion before he disgraced himself and broke down, the door quivered open, stirring warm outdoor air into the bar. Cooper had no idea what possessed him to look; it was as if he sensed her or something. Drawn like a magnet, he lifted his gaze and froze, unable to even breathe as Jo Ellen Rawlings appeared between the scarred old doors and swept inside.

Suddenly very alert, he continued to hold motionless while every nerve ending in his body twitched like a live wire, ready to electrocute the first thing he touched.

The feminine way she moved, the tilt of her head, the way she wore her hair. God, she was breathtaking. She was so…so Jo Ellen.

He told himself he hadn’t been pining for her. But seeing her brought about an almost painful awareness, making his skin grow tight and foreign. He couldn’t work his lungs right, and his hearing went wonky so he couldn’t make out anything Emma Leigh said to him past the buzzing in his eardrums.

He quietly exhaled a long breath, trying to calm himself before he nudged Em’s elbow. “Expecting any more to join your party tonight?”





Chapter Nine


Jo Ellen took a deep breath as she entered the tavern, paying careful attention to dropping her keys into her purse and clicking the latch closed.

She hated entering a social establishment alone. She should’ve just told Emma Leigh she’d meet her at their parents’ house where they were staying the entire week.

Thank God she heard her sister’s voice as soon as she tucked her purse under her arm. “Hey, Joey. Over here.”

She didn’t know what she would’ve done, loitering around the bar and looking pathetic all by her lonesome until Emma Leigh had arrived. Relieved she didn’t have to worry about any of that, she smiled and glanced toward the call to find Alexa and Dexter gathered around Branson and her sister. Her step faltered before she regained her momentum, forcing herself to suck it up. If she was going to be stuck as their fifth wheel for the entire week, she might as well get used to it now.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I ran into a traffic jam on the interstate and—”

“You’re not late.” Em checked the Rolex on her wrist. “You’re ten minutes early.”

“I am?” Jo Ellen frowned and consulted her own slim, silver watch. “Then what’re you doing here?”

Her sister really had changed if she actually ran on time these days.

Emma Leigh tossed back her long, dark hair and laughed before explaining, “Oh no. I haven’t changed that much.” She hooked a loving thumb Branson’s way. “Even Mr. Dependable here can’t keep me on time for anything. This one is all Lexi’s fault. She was starving, which forced us to get here early.”

As they glanced in unison at Dexter’s wife, the bartender served her a plate of steaming barbeque. She grinned and waved before she picked up a sauce-dripping rib with her bare fingers and tore into the juicy meat.

Jo Ellen smiled fondly and neared Alexa to set her hand on the baby bump. “How’s my little goddaughter doing in there?” She stroked once before she felt an answering kick. The sign of growing life caught her in the throat, choking her up. So bittersweet, it had her blinking back tears as she dropped her fingers from Lexi’s abdomen.

Nearby, Dexter corrected her, saying, “Godson.”

She brightened. “Oh, you found out the gender?”

“Oops.” Emma Leigh cringed. “Forgot to tell you. They’re having a boy.”