Cowgirls Don't Cry(23)

That option wasn’t any better for Jessie, either. “I know. Which is why I’m gonna suggest Mom watches him one weekday, and then the three of us could rotate and take over on the other weekday and I’d have him on weekends.”


Tell frowned. “And what about the three other days during the workweek?”


Brandt said, “Jessie has agreed to take Landon to Sky Blue daycare those three days,” and braced himself for their reaction.

“Jessie knows about this?”


“I told her last night after the wedding reception.”


Dalton launched himself out of the chair. “You’ve gotta be f*ckin’ kiddin’ me! You not only blabbed to Jessie about Luke’s bastard child, you asked her to help you take care of him?” He stomped closer and loomed over his older brother. “Is this your way of makin’ sure she hates you so you can stay the hell away from her for good?”


Tell didn’t jump to Brandt’s defense either. “I’m with Dalton on this. It’s goddamn selfish of you to expect anything from Jessie except a knee to the balls.”


“Yeah? Then how come Jessie agreed to help out?” Brandt demanded. “If I’m such a flaming f*cking * who doesn’t give a good goddamn about how she feels then why did she call Skylar and explain the situation? Why did she agree with me that it’d be better if I stayed overnight with her during the week instead of us dragging Landon back and forth between our places? Why did she—”


“I don’t know!” Dalton bellowed. “Was she drunk?”


“Fuck off, Dalton.”


Tell said, “Guys—”


“This is why we wanted you to stay away from Jessie, Brandt. You two keep hurting each other over and over and neither of you even realizes you’re doin’ it! Goddammit, do you know what it’s like for us to have to watch you both miserable—”


Landon started to wail, scared by the raised voices. Before Brandt could pick him up, Tell pulled the boy onto his lap. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re just a little freaked out by you and this whole situation. But we’re gonna do everything we can to make sure your needs are met above anyone else’s.”


No surprise Tell looked right at Brandt when he said the last part.

Tell said, “I don’t know if you’ve got some warped version of happily ever after floating in your head, bro, but even if you and Jessie do spend all this time together in close quarters taking care of Luke’s kid, you do know she ain’t gonna fall in love with you, right?”


Hurt, resentment, denial swelled up inside Brandt to the point he thought he might explode. But he tamped it down; refusing to lash out at Tell or give into the hair trigger temper he’d inherited from their father.

“More likely than not, when it’s all over, she’ll hate your guts for forcing her hand.”


The thought of Jessie hating him had bile crawling up Brandt’s throat.

Dalton added, “Hate to agree with Tell, but I don’t see it endin’ up any other way, Brandt.”


Silence.

Then Tell, the peacemaker, said, “What was up with Uncle Carson givin’ Keely and Jack some land as a wedding gift?”


“Think Dad knew about it?” Dalton said.

“Probably. Typical that he didn’t tell us. But it doesn’t fit that he ain’t throwing a shit fit about it. He’s always insisted the McKay land trust won’t allow for pieces just to be handed out. Not even to the next generation. It has to be a unanimous decision.”