His brows furrowed before his face went slack and he fell on his ass.
“Oh shit. You’repregnant?”
“Bingo.” She nodded, pointing her finger at his chest. “And I am only telling you this because I’ve been so sick and I don’t want to have to hide it around you. But I can’t have you telling Mom or Dad or anyone else in our family right now. Mom is counting on me for the diner and I’m not about to let her down.”
“Fuck, Jess. I mean… Mom will understand. And you might want to get her on your side, fast, because I definitely don’t see a ring on your finger and I don’t remember going to your wedding… and Dad is really going to kill you.”
“Let me get through the next few weeks,” she groaned. “I’ll have a cute picture to show him of the baby, and he’ll fall in love before he even realizes he’s disappointed in me.”
Lachlan whistled. “It’s almost like you didn’t grow up with the same dad as the rest of us. There is no pulling the wool over Daniel Ford’s eyes.”
Jessie tied off the bag inside the trash can and nodded.
“Are you with him?” he asked.
“Him?”
Lachlan nodded to her belly. “The dad. You haven’t mentioned anyone and you’ve been working so much lately and taking those business classes at night, it’s hard to think you’ve been out there dating too.”
“It was a one night stand.”
“Jess,” Lachlan groaned. “You can stay here. Upstairs, in the apartment, if you need to. There’s that spare room. It’s really small, but we can turn it into a nursery. I’ll have to fix the air conditioning before spring, but we can make it work.”
Tears stung the back of Jessie’s eyes, and Lachlan clearly caught on because his face filled with panic.
“I thought a plan was going to help you feel better. Please don’t cry. I love you, but you just puked and I really don’t want to have to hug you unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
“You’d take my side over Dad’s?” she asked, her voice watery with emotion.
“Yeah, of course I would. Figure I still owe you for that time they caught me coming in from a field party my senior year and you begged them not to punish me because I was out looking for one one of your stuffed animals. Don’t tell the others, but I’ve always had a soft spot for you.”
Her stomach clenched again. Shit. Why had she already tied up the garbage bag? “Oh, they know. And they made sure to make up for that.”
“Are you scared for them to find out? We could loop them in. All present a united sibling front for you.”
That would never happen. “Beau and Hayes are going to side with Dad.”
“And Colt?”
“I think Colt is going to be even more excited than me about the baby. I’m just sad for him.”
Her brother’s body went stiff, and he nodded, a sad smile filling his face. “Shit. I didn’t even think about that.”
Lachlan fell silent, and Jessie closed her eyes. She’d only been a teenager when Colt and Violet got married, and they had been so in love she thought nothing would ever tear them apart. But they hadn’t been strong enough to weather the storm of infertility.
“Jess?” Lachlan held a cold bottle of cola out to her. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I will be. I think.” She took the bottle. “I hope.”
“You will be. Drink that and then get out of here. Take some time off before you have to go in for your shift with Mom.”
“I don’t need?—”
“I’m not asking, Jess. I think Dakota crashed there last weekend, but you can lay down upstairs if you don’t want to go out to the ranch just to have to come back into town.”
“I’m fine. I need to finish the invoices, and rewind the security tapes. I’m feeling better now.” Just to prove her point, Jessie rolled her legs underneath her body and pushed up, fighting through the wave of dizziness that made the room spin.
“Yeah, right. You’re perfectly fine.” Her brother’s hand landed on her shoulder, and she heard the chair rolling on the floor behind her. “Sit. Drink your coke and then get out of here. No more work today.”
