Page 58 of Love Me Again

“What about that racing video game you like so much?” Boone suggested. “Josie’s a killer at it.” He smiled over at her. “You’ll never beat her.”

He was clearly remembering back to when they’d been dating, and one of the other cowboys had his gaming console set up and would challenge anyone who came by. He’d beaten everyone, Boone included, when Boone had handed her the controller.

Come on, sweetheart. Someone’s gotta show this asshole up.

She’d never been one for video games, but something about this particular game made sense to her, came easily to her. By the end of the night, she’d trounced everyone, Boone included.

She remembered how entertained he’d been. He’d called her champ for days. It had been fairly early in their dating, so she’d still been kind of shy and uncertain, always waiting for him to realize she wasn’t his type.

But he never had. He’d kept asking her out. He’d swept past all her defenses and concerns with charming grins and incendiary kisses and… Well, she supposed the thing was, he’d never played games. Sure, he’d kept things from her, been annoyingly tight-lipped about his family, but everything else had been straight forward. Honest.

Good.

Micah thrust the videogame controller at her, and she was forced to break her gaze from Boone, and from memories, and look down at the hopeful teenager.

She took the controller. “I have to warn you, Micah,” she said gravely. “I’m very good.”

He rolled his eyes in that way only teenagers seemed to be able to do, a mix of unending and unearned confidence and something sweeter and more childlike. “So am I.”

She nodded gravely. “You’re not the kind of guy who can’t take a girl beating him, are you?”

“You won’t beat me,” Micah replied. “Even my Uncle Will can’t beat me.”

Boone tsked. “I like the confidence, kid, but she’s going to wipe the floor with you.” He grinned at her.

And against all her better judgements, Josie grinned back.

Josie beat Micah three times, then proceeded to beat everyone else in the room. Boone watched with amusement, torn between living in the moment and old memories of the night she’d embarrassed a bunch of cowboys.

“She has to be cheating,” Micah insisted to Boone, but he was watching with avid interest as she took on her toughest opponent—Grandma Maisey. And despite the assertion she was cheating, Boone heard Micah rooting for Josie under his breath.

Micah also wasn’t worrying about his mom, thanks to Josie’s surprising prowess.

But when the phone rang, everyone turned toward it. Micah tensed. Josie paused the game as Deb answered. All eyes on her.

“All right. Yes. Text me whatever you want me to bring. We’ll be on our way.” Deb listened, said a few more words, then hung up. Her eyes met Micah’s gaze. “Well, Micah, looks like your baby brother is on the way.”

Micah jumped to his feet. “Really? But…it’s early, isn’t it?”

“Not too much,” Deb assured him, and everyone else in the room. “Shane said the doctor is confident everything will be just fine. So we’re going to get together anything your mom wants and then head up to the hospital. No real rush, having babies takes time, so you’ll want to pack yourself a bag of things to entertain yourself with, okay?”

Micah nodded, taking off at a dead run out of the room.

“For now, I’ll just take Micah. Once the baby is here and Cora’s up to it, I’ll call you guys to come up,” Deb said, before following Micah out of the room. Ben, always a silent presence, followed her out.

For a moment, everyone left was still and silent, absorbing this news. Cora was going to have her baby.

It was like the physical manifestation of change. Of adulthood. Sure, Micah roaming the halls of the house had been a change, an adjustment, but he’d come to them mostly fully grown. A teenager who certainly needed some help and oversight, but not a tiny, helpless baby.

Boone had been aware things were on the cusp of changing, so it was a surprise how much this felt like…a big, momentous moment.

“I can’t believe we’re going to have a baby around here,” Lindsay said, eyes a little misty.

Lou was rubbing her own stomach, looking faintly worried even though she had a few months left to go. Gavin had his arm around her. Grandma Maisey had begun to clean up the trays of cookies and Molly had jumped in to help—her eyes looking suspiciously shiny too.

He didn’t realize he was looking for Josie and her reaction until he couldn’t find her. She had escaped at some point as she was nowhere to be seen.

Without a word, Boone left the room and went in search of her. He doubted she’d gone to the bathroom or anywhere deeper into the Tyler house. No doubt she was trying to⁠—