Unfinished Ex (Calloway Brothers, #2)(85)

“Christ,” he says. “Way to ruin the trip. Might as well leave our shit here. We’ll still need a place to sleep later.” He stands. “Let’s go if it will shut up your whiny ass.”

Coop asks Tag, “When did you become such a damn softie?”

I lean over and put my hands on my knees, wanting to protect my family but knowing there’s not a damn thing I can do from this far away. “Nicky’s pregnant.”

My brothers’ jaws hit the dirt simultaneously. Tag bends over laughing, the asshole he is. “Holy shit, bro. You have to be fucking kidding.”

“Do I look like I’m kidding?”

“How in the hell did you get yourself into this?” Cooper says.

“It’s not like I planned it. Both were accidents. We didn’t even think Nic could get pregnant. We already lost one baby. I’m not about to lose another.”

Tag’s head whips in my direction. “What do you mean you lost a baby?”

I twist the ring around my finger. “I never knew she was pregnant. It’s a long story. The gist of it is she was pregnant when she moved to Oklahoma. Neither of us knew about it. She had a miscarriage, which left her with scarring in her uterus.”

“So much for not keeping secrets from your brothers,” Tag says.

We get into his SUV. “I couldn’t say anything. If XTN finds out, it could jeopardize her job. Not to mention she’s considered high risk. And then there’s the fact that I’m having two kids with two different women, so the longer we can keep this under wraps, the better.”

When we get to the paved highway, Cooper points right. “I saw some backwoods dive bar on the way here. About five miles out.”

I keep trying to text Nicky the whole way. None of my texts are delivered. I can’t get a hold of my parents either. Or anyone back in Calloway Creek.

“What are you going to do?” Tag asks.

“Maybe we can find some chains and make it back home?”

“Not about that, about your situation. Two babies? Shit, Jaxon.”

“That’s not the half of it.” I scrub my hands down my face. “They are both due in May, within two weeks of each other.”

Tag laughs again, and I hit him from the back seat. “How about we be adults for two seconds here.”

“Sorry, bro. But you have to admit this is all kinds of fucked up.”

“I’m plenty aware what this is.”

“No one else knows?” Cooper asks.

“A few people Nic works with is all. Oh, and Hudson McQuaid.”

Two pairs of eyes snap back at me, and we almost run off the road. “Hudson knows?” Cooper asks.

“He works with Nicky’s doctor. But he’s sworn to secrecy by law. Luckily, he’s kept his mouth shut.”

“Wow,” Tag says. “I did not see that coming. So that time we ran into them at Donovan’s?”

I nod. “He knew.”

“I gotta say, I almost have to respect the guy.” He shakes his head. “Okay, that tasted like shit coming out of my mouth.”

“Speaking of the McQuaids,” I say, remembering what Nicky told me. “Apparently Hawk had a one-night-stand with Shannon Greer, and now she’s knocked up.”

“Is there something in the goddamn water around Cal Creek?” He chuckles. “After all the shit he gave you, dude’s going to get some major payback the next time I come across him.”

“He probably won’t even support the kid despite being a millionaire,” Coop says. “Ten bucks says his daddy finds him a way out of it.” He turns to me. “Speaking of which… Two kids on a teacher’s salary? Ouch.”

“You’d probably keel over if I told you the offers that have been rolling in for Nicky. I doubt money is going to be a problem.”

“Any of the jobs local?” Tag asks.

I shake my head.

“So how’s that going to work?”

“A lot of time on airplanes, man.”

“Sounds horrible.”

“Yeah, but you do what you have to do for the woman you love.”

Suddenly it’s as if Tag understands. We lock eyes in the rearview. And he gets it.

“There,” Cooper says, pointing ahead.

A few old pickup trucks are parked outside of an old shack that has a sign hanging off the hinges.

It reads: Billy’s.

I swear if it were any other day, I’d make Tag keep driving. But I have to get to a television.

The OPEN sign flashes sporadically as if it’s got a short. A few beer signs are illuminated in the window. Inside, heads turn when the three of us walk in. I guess they only get locals in here.

The bartender calls us over. “What can I get fer you? Name’s Bill.”

I point over his head to the television currently tuned to a station with some guys playing corn hole. “Can you change the channel? There’s a storm in New York, and we have family there.”

Three coasters are placed in front of us. “Long as you keep drinkin’, you can watch SpongeBob SquarePants for all I care.”

“Three whiskeys.” I get out my wallet and throw two twenties on the bar. “Mind if I have the remote?”

He slides the remote across the bar. “You boys let me know when you need a refill. I’ll be playin’ pool with my lady.”