Cowgirls Don't Cry(103)

“Why? Samantha could be feeding you full of shit, Brandt.”


“True. But I talked to her aunt and she said Samantha was really sick the entire pregnancy. And Samantha was embarrassed. She barely left the house. As far as what happened after she gave birth to Landon, who knows? She racked up two DUIs. As far as her dumping him off with us for the long haul?

Nothin’s been decided because she’s still incarcerated.”


Jessie poured another shot. “There is no ‘us’ in that context. You do understand that, right?”


“As a matter of fact, no. I don’t understand it.”


“Where is Samantha right now?”


Brandt looked at her skeptically for dodging the question. “In the halfway house. Why?”


“How long has she been out of jail?”


“A week.”


“And in that week has she asked to see her son at all?”


The muscle in his jaw flexed. “No.”


“So after being locked up and away from him for months, she’s not chomping at the bit to see how he’s doing? Especially since she left him in the care of virtual strangers?”


He swallowed the whiskey in his shot glass.

“And since it’s a halfway house, she could have him overnight at some point. Couldn’t she?”


“I guess.”


“Has she asked you if she can have him over Christmas?”


“No. But I’m sure she has a—”


“Valid excuse?” Jessie supplied. “What? She’s afraid she won’t have time to buy him a Santa gift?

No. The reason she hasn’t asked for him is because she doesn’t want him.”


“That’s not true. The halfway house is just that, a place halfway between jail and normalcy. She’s adjusting. She’s got two more months before we should even be talkin’ about this.”


“Agreed.” Jessie lifted her glass in a mock toast but didn’t drink. “I will uphold my end of sticking out the full four months. But it will end at four months, Brandt. I have not changed my mind. I like Landon, but he’s not my child. If this whole thing heads south, like I suspect it will, if you want to file for permanent guardianship, fine. You can do that on your own. You don’t need me.”


“Why is this so different from if Luke had a kid from a previous relationship and that kid lived with you?” Brandt demanded. “Would you’ve kicked him to the curb after Luke died?”


She shook her finger at him. “Not the same thing. If I knew that kid, if I’d been raising him, I’d continue raising him because chances would be good that kid would have no other alternative and he’d probably consider me his mother. But Landon already has a mother.”


“You are impossible to reason with.”


“No. I’m right and you know it.”


“As long as we’re supposing, what if it comes down to Landon needing a permanent home and I become his legal guardian?”


“I’d be happy for Landon because you’d be good for him.”


“That’s it? You wouldn’t be a part of either of our lives?”


A sharp pain stabbed at her, thinking about walking away from Brandt forever. But unless she wanted to live her life waiting for the other boot to drop, she’d have no choice. “No.”