A Fallow Heart (Tommy Creek #2)(33)

Jo Ellen gaped at her. Then she blinked and shared a look with Em, silently asking, did she just say what I think she said?

Emma whirled back to Alexa. “You did what?”

With her hands covering her face and only letting them see bits of her red, blushing cheeks, Alexa muffled the words again. “I freaking peed my pants. I can’t believe it. I didn’t even know I had to go. One second I was chowing down, then there was this gush, and it’s all wet and…and…”

Since Emma Leigh was too busy gawking as if Lexi had turned alien on them, Jo Ellen rushed forward to catch her cousin-in-law in a warm, supportive hug. “It’s okay, sweetie. Don’t worry. We can handle this. I’m sure with thirty extra pounds pressing on your bladder, it happens all the time to women in your condition.” Needing her twin’s backup, she sent a telling took to Em. “Right, Emma Leigh?”

Emma Leigh winkled her nose before giving a slight negative slash of the head. “I never peed my pants when I was pregnant.”

As Lexi sobbed even louder and hid her bright-pink face against Jo Ellen’s shoulder, Jo Ellen scowled. “Could you possibly be a little supportive here? She’s clearly upset. You understand what she’s going through more than I do. Tell her this is normal.”

“But I never—”

“Emma Leigh!” Jo Ellen cried, wanting to strangle her sister, not for the first time in her life. “I said supportive.”

“Oh, all right.” Easing hesitantly closer, she nudged Lexi’s arm. “Buck up, sport. At least you’ll have something in common with your new baby now, huh.”

As Jo Ellen sighed and rolled her eyes, Lexi thankfully blurted out a shocked laugh. She lifted her face, wiped her red eyes and threw Em a tremulous grin. “Oh my God, you suck at moral support.”

Emma grinned back, looking proud. “I know, right?”

With another heaving breath of exasperation, yet relieved the tension had abated, Jo Ellen patted Lexi’s arm. “Why don’t you step into a stall and toss your underwear over the door. We’ll hold it under the hand dryer until you’re dry and good to go again.”

“Thank you, Jo Ellen. You’re a life saver.” Following orders, she promptly slipped into a stall and latched the door closed.

“I can’t believe you seriously peed your pants.” Emma Leigh wandered to the sinks to inspect her face in the single mirror. She leaned close to pat a discoloration on the side of her nose. “Bran is going to die laughing when he hears—”

“If you tell him, I will slaughter you.”

“Oh, honey, there’s no way I’m keeping this from him. Wild horses couldn’t—”

“Panties incoming.”

Jo Ellen stepped forward and caught the wad of cloth sailing over the bathroom stall. She grimaced when her fingers encountered wetness. But determined to be a supportive cousin-in-law, she trooped dutifully toward the dryer.

“Please don’t tell him, Em,” Lex had resorted to begging. “This is downright humiliating.”

Thinking the two needed their attention diverted, Jo Ellen cleared her throat and decided now was as good a time as any to announce, “So, I ran into Travis the other day.”

Mission accomplished, she watched Emma Leigh gasp and swivel toward her. Eyes wide with shock, she opened her mouth to demand answers. Jo Ellen pushed the dryer on, successfully drowning out her twin’s question.

“Where? What happened? What’d he say?” Emma demanded as soon as the loud rush of air stopped venting through the machine.

After drawing in a huge breath, Jo Ellen explained how she’d encountered him at Mr. Sheffield’s house party while she patted Lexi’s underwear to see they were still a bit damp.

Eww.

“Did you spit in his face?”

Jo Ellen frowned. “Of course not. Why would I spit in his face?” Without waiting for Em’s certain rebuttal, she pushed the dryer back on.

“Why!?” Emma Leigh repeated as soon as the dryer died down again. “Because the creep dumped you after knocking you up…when you were eighteen. Oh my God, Joey. The * left you high and dry to deal with a major problem all by yourself. If I were you, I would’ve racked him between the legs right before giving him a bloody nose.”

Jo Ellen smiled. “Well, I’m sure Travis appreciates that I’m not you then.”

“I cannot believe you're getting back together with that piece of slime.”

Jo Ellen scowled. “I never said I was getting back together with him.”

“But you plan to meet him?”

“Yes, I told you I want to tie up—”

“And you gave him your cell phone number?”

“Yes, but—”

“Oh my God, you're getting back together with him.”

“Good Lord, Emma Leigh. Will you just listen to me?”

“He knocked you up when you were eighteen,” Em repeated, “then dumped you, leaving you to deal with the fallout. How can you be so stupid as to even talk to him again?”

“There are unresolved issues. I want this settled. I want—”

“How can you waste your time on settling anything with him? There are so many better men out there who'd take you in a heartbeat. Hell, Coop just outside this door is one of them.”