Katie sighed. “And you spooned.”
“Cuddled. Kind of.”
They paused for a moment, both thinking and not talking.
Then Katie said, “Sounds like you connected with him.”
Monica shrugged. “Must not have. He didn’t even say good-bye when he left.”
“But you wanted him to?”
No. Actually… Monica didn’t want to say good-bye at all.
“We’re pregnant.” Jack stood at the head of the table with Jessie at his side and made the announcement just about everyone was expecting.
Monica glanced over at Katie and said, “You owe me five bucks.”
Katie rolled her eyes and Jessie laughed. “You guys knew?”
“Guessed,” Monica told her.
Gaylord walked around the table and bear-hugged his daughter-in-law before taking Jack’s hand in his. “Well, I didn’t know.” His face beamed and his cheeks warmed to a rosy color. He glanced back at Jessie and hugged her again, lifting her off her feet.
With the exception of Monica, everyone took their turn hugging Jessie and Jack and offering advice to Danny. “I’d jump up for a hug, but my jumping days will have to wait.”
Jessie walked over and leaned down for a sister hug. “I’m happy for you,” Monica said.
Jessie lowered her voice. “So different than the first time.”
Monica understood. When Jessie found out she was knocked up in high school, they both thought her life was over. Their mom had been good about it. As much as a mom could be, but never once did Jessie think being a parent on her own at such a young age was going to be a picnic. Still, she brought Danny into the world, alone because the dirtbag who didn’t glove up split soon after she announced she was expecting, and put her life on hold to raise him. This time she’d have a husband, a family to support her… everything a new mom could want.
Monica reached up and hugged Jack. “Congrats, stud man.”
He beamed.
Danny took that moment to pull on Jack’s sleeve. Without hesitating, Jack scooped Danny up into his arms. “Can my baby brother sleep in my room?”
Jack ruffled Danny’s mop of hair. “Maybe. What if you have a baby sister?”
Danny regarded that possibility and dismissed it. “I don’t think Mommy can have girls.”
Jack shook his head and laughed. “She might have a girl.”
“As long as she doesn’t have too many dolls, she can sleep in my room.”
The adults at the table laughed.
They settled into their seats again, and champagne was served to everyone but Jessie, who opted for milk in a crystal flute.
Sometime before the meal was over, Danny asked a question that had Jack earning his daddy stripes.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah, sport?”
His young brow pitched together as he picked his words carefully.
“How did Mommy get the baby in her belly?”
A hush went over the table.
Katie and Monica exchanged glances and waited Jack’s reply.
“I-I ah, I put the baby there.”
Dean chuckled under his breath and drank his beer.
“Yeah, but how?”
Jack ran a hand over his chin and glanced around the table. Not even Gaylord was offering any help.
Then Jack sat a little taller and said, “A special hug.”
Danny pushed out his lips and looked at his mom. “Oh.” And then he went back to the food on his plate.
Chapter Twenty-One
Jessie sat with Katie on the split rail fence surrounding the corral that held Danny and his horse. Jack had insisted Danny learn to ride shortly after they moved to Texas. He received no complaint from Danny, who loved all animals big and small. The kid was going to either be a veterinarian or a rancher.
“Maybe it’s the hormones, but the thought of everyone leaving is making me weepy.”
“It’s gotta be the hormones cuz we’re all a pain in the ass.” Katie nudged Jessie’s shoulder, knowing full well that none of them were difficult.
“And I’m worried about her.”
The doctors had put Monica’s leg in a walking cast after four weeks. Not that she was ready to go back to work, but she felt the need to get back to California to fight for her job.
Jessie didn’t need to elaborate who she spoke of. She and Katie had a few quiet conversations about Monica’s disposition since she had returned from Jamaica.
“Oh, don’t do that,” Katie scolded.
“Do what?”
“Make me worry any more than I’m already doing. She’s a mess, isn’t she? I mean, you’d know better than I would.”
“She’s not joking, smiling… finding any reason to get out of the house.”
“Maybe getting back to California and fighting back will help.”
“I think whatever is bugging her has something to do with what happened in Jamaica and less about her job.”
Katie placed a hand over Jessie’s shoulders. “She did nearly die.”
Jessie winced. “I can’t even think about it. You think it’s some kind of post trauma crap?”
“Maybe. What else could it be?”
Jessie thought about the question for a minute. “Has she said anything to you about the guy she was in the cave with? Trent?”
“Only that he bolted as soon as he was discharged and didn’t say good-bye.”
Jessie waved at Danny who managed to stay on the back of his horse despite the trot and uneven gait of the animal. “Don’t you find that odd? I mean, even if they didn’t hit it off, wouldn’t someone you’d damn near met your maker with deserve some kind of see ya later? Have a nice life. Something?”
Katie seemed to consider the question for a while.
“And it’s not like Monica to not call a guy on their bullshit. I’m taken aback by the fact she hasn’t tried to call him out.”
“Call him out on what? Not being into her? Can’t blame anyone for not feeling the same way. Look at that John guy. He keeps sending flowers and she’s not led him on at all. Maybe she’s worried about that conversation when she gets home. Or maybe she’s worried she won’t get her job back. I’ve tried to tell her that we’d help her out if she needed money.”
“Monica won’t accept it.”
“I know,” Katie said. “I’ve tried. I had to go behind her back when I lived with her last year to pay the landlord directly.”
Jessie pulled her cowboy hat farther down her face to keep the Texan sun from burning her nose. “Monica hates depending on anyone. And if that anyone has a penis, forget it. That’s the by-product of growing up without a dad and having your mother keep a revolving door of wannabe replacements nearby.”