Page 1 of Love Me Again

CHAPTER 1

Boone Tyler stared at his sister-in-law. He had never considered himself a man who let himself care too deeply what other people thought. He followed the beat of his own drum. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, how he wanted, and if his mother couldn’t guilt him into anything in this life, why would this woman he’d known less than two years?

Cora put her hand on that giant belly.

Okay, that was why.

Turned out, pregnant women freaked him out.

It hadn’t started that way. The little bump Cora had started sporting had been cute, and his oldest brother, Shane, had acted so nervous and easier to rile than normal—which was something—Boone hadn’t thought twice about it.

But they’d entered the a baby will be here soon portion of this whole…thing. And Cora lumbered around looking like an over-inflated balloon. A gorgeous one, all in all, but a balloon nonetheless.

Boone was half afraid a wrong look and she’d just pop.

And then, again, he’d be blamed for yet another calamity.

Kind of his lot in life.

“I know you have it in you, Boone.”

Boone knew he didn’t. Or if he did, it had been trampled out of him by a bull too long ago for his body to still feel this broken.

“The last time you entrusted me with your kid I’m pretty sure he broke his arm.” Boone still had nightmares about it. Micah falling from that horse. The cast the teenager had needed to wear around for weeks. The grumbling, grumpy outcome of it all.

And even Boone couldn’t wrestle the blame off his own shoulders for that one.

“It was an accident,” Cora said softly. Kindly. “He’s fourteen now. Shane was supposed to take him, but he doesn’t want to leave me here this close to the due date with the forecast such as it is. And I hardly think making Micah miss this basketball game is going to help in the please love your soon-to-be-brother moment.”

“What about Molly?”

“Boone. You’re his favorite person. You understand basketball. He’d be over the moon if you took him.”

There was another problem with Cora’s plan. Boone wasn’t sure he had it in him to make the drive to Denver and back without his body betraying him, but to admit that would be to admit that he was in more pain than he wanted his family to know about.

He had surgery scheduled for the week after Christmas, and that was supposed to help. But no one needed to worry about that, so he just pretended he was fine. Eventually it would be the truth.

Finally.

He supposed he could probably convince Lindsay to drive them. His youngest sister loved a shopping trip, and she’d be on holiday break from teaching by then. He’d just say he needed help with his Christmas shopping. She’d jump all over it.

And she could help with Micah, and everyone would be happy without knowing he needed some help to be what they all needed him to be.

“If I agree, will you go inside so Shane doesn’t accuse me of causing you frostbite?”

She grinned at him, because she knew she’d won.

And he couldn’t help but smile back, because… Well, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to make a person he liked happy.

Something he was only just learning.

Josie didn’t know what the hell she was doing. She should have waited. She was exhausted and stressed out and furious, and she should have taken some time to deal with all of that.

She was good at taking time. Thinking things through.

Not a surprise Boone Tyler was the one currently having her act out of character. That was her entire experience with him.

She hadn’t fully realized how little she’d known about the man until she’d started on this little road trip. She could count off the things she knew about his family on one hand.