The Trouble with Tomboys (Tommy Creek #1)(47)

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.”

143



Linda Kage



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?

Okay, so maybe she wanted to cuss her out in person.

“Are you busy for the next hour or two?” Jo

Ellen sounded almost hesitant.

Well, hell. A whole hour’s worth of name-calling? Grady’s sister must have some doozies. She could already imagine the typical insults. Gold digger, hoochie mama, bitch, slut, whore. But damn, a whole hour’s worth?

“I guess I’ve got some time,” she muttered on a sigh. Might as well get this over with now.

“Great,” Jo Ellen gave the perky reply. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

As she hung up, B.J. glanced down at her

clothing. She’d been outside in the heat all day under a grimy plane engine. She should probably take a shower and change first. But, hell. Who honestly dressed up for a dressing down? Shrugging, 145



Linda Kage



she wiped her palms on her pants and headed back out the door.

****

Five minutes later, she stood at the Gerhardt’s, ringing the bell. In these parts, everyone knew where everyone else lived. In fact, B.J. could remember who’d lived in this particular house before Jo Ellen and her husband had bought it two years ago when they’d married. It was a modest-sized place, but clean and well taken care of. Jo Ellen was a Rawlings who’d actually married down on the social chain.