A Fallow Heart (Tommy Creek #2)(34)

Abruptly forgetting all the different arguments brewing inside her, Jo Ellen blinked. “Cooper?”

“Yes!” Emma Leigh set hands on her hips with an exasperated huff. “He had a raging thing for you all through high school. God, maybe before that.”

A strange tingle blanketed Jo Ellen's skin. Cooper Gerhardt? A thing? For her? No. It couldn't be. Still, the idea of that handsome man out in the bar truly being interested in her made her shiver, the good kind of shiver. A hot chill burned up the length of her spine, only increasing the shudder.

“No, he didn't,” she insisted on a laugh, a very stiff, uncertain laugh. “Em, don't be ridiculous.”

“I'm not being anything but honest,” Emma Leigh charged. “The boy was freaking crazy about you. Every time he saw me, he’d always—always—send this quick glance around me to check out who I was with. Took me a couple years to figure out he was looking for you. Whenever you were with me, his eyes would spark and his nostrils would flare before he zipped his gaze away. Then he'd make sure not to set eyes on you again while you were around. And when you weren’t with me, he’d keep searching, waiting for you to appear.”

Jo Ellen shook her head. “Emma Leigh, that’s…well, it’s outrageous.” But even as she denied it, a heavy ball of nerves plopped into the base of her stomach.

Cooper Gerhardt.

Her heart began to thump hard.

“Even tonight,” Em continued. “First thing he did when he saw and recognized me was scope out everyone who was with me.”

“Oh my God, he did,” Lexi confirmed from her stall. “I remember wondering why he looked so relieved when he focused on my face after gaping at my huge belly. I bet he was worried I might be you, thinking you’d gotten married and were going to have another man’s baby.”

Jo Ellen flushed, even more uncomfortable with this conversation. She sat her hand on her flat stomach, remembering, wondering—

“I'm with Em on this one, Jo Ellen,” Lexi said. “I'd make a go for the Cooper guy if I were you. He's yummy.”

“I'm not making a go for anyone,” Jo Ellen growled and flung Lexi's panties over the side of the stall door, forgetting to warn her they were coming. When Lexi yelped out a startled sound, she gasped. “Oops, I'm sorry. I should've told you I was sending them over.”

“No worries. I caught them."

A moment passed. Jo Ellen crinkled her eyebrows into a mini scowl as her twin glared at her. Turning her back to anymore crazy notions, she hurried to the sinks and scrubbed her hands with plenty of soap and scalding water. Behind her, Em thankfully remained silent, obviously deciding she'd said all she was going to say, which was an utter relief. Jo Ellen couldn’t bear to hear another word about either Travis or Cooper tonight.

But when a small moan of agony came from the other side of the stall, she jerked to attention.

“Alexa?” Jo Ellen called, setting her hand on the door, ready to break it down if need be. “You okay in there, sweetie?”

“Oh...” There was a pause as if she had to think about her answer. Then, “I…yeah, I'm fine. I just...it's those stupid barbequed ribs. I was so starved before we got here tonight I was having these major hunger pangs. But now, I only feel worse after eating them. Stomach cramp.” She sucked in a pained breath.

Jo Ellen exchanged a worried glance with Em. “Want us to go get Dexter?” she offered.

“Dear Lord, no! That man can't handle it when he thinks something might be wrong with me. He totally freaks out. And when he freaks out, he yells. Loudly.”

Jo Ellen grinned as the stall door opened and a refreshed-looking Alexa stepped out to join them. “Nope. Don't bother him. Everything’s fine now.”

Yet as soon as she spoke, her smile fell. Eyes widening, she grasped her lower stomach and hunched over it as she gawked down at her feet, or at least tried to see them past her baby bump.

Jo Ellen scanned down as well to find the insides of both of Lexi’s pant legs much darker than the outsides. Wet drops trickled from the hem of her slacks into the small puddle forming between her feet.

Emma Leigh's mouth fell open. “Holy shit, you peed your pants again?”

“I...I...” Lexi shook her head dramatically, tears welling in her eyes. "I couldn't help it!" she wailed.

“But are you certain—” Jo Ellen quieted and bit her lip, not sure if her suspicions were correct. She didn’t want to alarm anyone if she was wrong.

“Are we certain…about what?” Emma Leigh pressed, waving her hand with an impatient flourish to encourage Jo Ellen to speak her mind.

With a wince, she faced Alexa. “I could be wrong. I mean, I have no experience in this but…” She hesitated.

“What?” Em cried, clearly frustrated.

Jo Ellen sucked in a breath and took Lexi’s hands. “Lex, I’m not so positive you’re wetting your pants. What if…what if your water broke? You said you were having stomach cramps,” she rushed to add when the two women merely stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “I just wondered what if they’re labor contractions instead of hunger pangs.”

“But I’m not due for another four weeks,” Alexa insisted, swishing her head back in forth in adamant denial. She whirled to Emma Leigh and demanded, “Is this what your water breaking was like?”