The Trouble with Tomboys (Tommy Creek #1)(41)

Really getting into the flirtatious mood, Granger leaned closer and said, “Give me five minutes alone away from my grandson over there, and I’ll show you why.”

B.J. couldn’t help but laugh, all the while

thinking it must run in the family. She was just as drawn to Grady as she’d always been to Granger.

Glancing Grady’s way, she was curious to see how he was taking all this interaction. But he merely sat slumped back in his chair, looking amused. Arching her a look, he asked, “Want me to go?” “Do you mind terribly?” she asked, leaning toward Granger and resting her cheek on his forehead.

But before he could comment, his mother came bustling into the room with a silver serving tray full of cups and saucers and a coffee pot. The smell of Folgers hit B.J. almost instantly. Slapping a hand over her mouth, she surged off Granger’s lap and stared wide-eyed at Tara Rose.

“Do you have a bathroom?” The words rushed

from her mouth as her stomach rebelled.

“Er...of course...it’s down the hall to the…” She never even finished the sentence, because B.J. had already turned and fled. ****

“Is she okay?”

125



Linda Kage



Grady turned his gaze away from the doorway

where B.J. had beat a hasty retreat and glanced at his mother. “Uh…” was all he could manage to say.

“Looked like she was going to upchuck to me,”

his grandfather said, wheeling closer to where his daughter-in-law was setting down the tray on the coffee table in front of Grady. “Leaped up like the smell of that coffee didn’t agree with her.”

Tara Rose frowned and glanced down at her

refreshment. “Hmm,” she said, giving the coffee pot a strange look. “How odd. I’ve never seen anyone have an aversion to the smell of—”

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.

126



The Trouble with Tomboys



“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



Linda Kage





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.