Page 29 of Not Our First Rodeo
Cooper fixes me with a look, one that I can easily read. He thinks I should go ahead and tell them, and I let out a long breath, knowing he’s probably right. I’d planned to pull Morgan aside and tell him before dinner, but Cheyenne will never forgive me if she finds out with the rest of the family.
I look at them each in the eye, taking them in. My twin, who looks the same as me, dark hair and dark eyes, except no mustache and a five o’clock shadow that never seems to grow any longer. My younger sister, tall, wild, carefree. Morgan, a calm, steady presence that I swear he inherited from my father even though he isn’t related to us. They’ve always been there, no matter what, and I know this time will be no different.
“Elsie’s pregnant.”
Cheyenne’s eyes blow comically wide, her mouth falling open, and a ball of chewed-up gum rolls out. “Seriously?”
Cooper snorts and picks up her gum, dropping it into the neck of the bottle I’m only now realizing I’ve emptied. “No, he’s making it up.”
She swivels to face him and smacks his arm. “Shut up. This is serious.”
Morgan’s eyes connect with mine, and I notice a small smile playing on his face. He looks both genuinely happy for me and amused at my siblings’ antics. “Congrats, Beau. You’re going to be a great dad.”
Some of the nerves in my stomach calm at his words. Morgan is a dad as well. He has two rambunctious boys who constantly keep him on his toes. I’ve leaned on him a lot over the last few months because, although our situations are very different, he’s been in a difficult marriage before too. Shortly after the birth of his second child, Ryder, who is now two, he found out his wife had been cheating on him for a year, and he wasn’t even sure whether Ryder was his. She left him for the other man, and after confirming his paternity, Morgan was able to get partial custody of both Ryder and Cash.
I give him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Morgan.”
Cheyenne turns back to me, eyes alight with a familiar temper that has been getting her in trouble since she could talk. “I better not have been the only one who didn’t know.”
“No,” I say with a shake of my head. “I only told Coop because he was annoying me.”
She nods sagely, because we both understand how he can be.
“What are we talking about?” Dad asks, entering the conversation.
I almost jump out of my skin at the intrusion. I can feel my heart in my throat and my face flushing, so I look down at the scarred, knotted wood floor, hoping he doesn’t notice.
Before I can think of a way to change the subject, Mom yells out from the dining room.
“Dinner’s ready!”
Thank God.
I’m the first to leave the group, hoping to get into the dining room and snag a seat before anyone else asks questions. It’s not until I get in there that I notice Jade is absent. I wonder where she is, since she rarely misses dinner at the big house. Across the long dining table, her parents, Wyatt and Tessa, settle into their chairs near Mom and Dad.
I’m about to take my seat when a chubby toddler bounds into my legs, wrapping me in arms that are surprisingly strong for how little they are. A smile creeps up onto my face without trying, and I bend down to pick up Ryder. His blond hair is messy and he has what looks like jam on his face. I imagine it came from Mom. She no doubt slipped him a spoonful in the kitchen while she finished up dinner.
“Hey, Ryder. How you doing, buddy?”
He gives me a broad smile, gaps between his baby teeth. His breath smells like sugar. “Hi, Uncle Beau.”
His little voice soothes the last vestiges of nerves inside me. No one in my family could be upset about having another perfect little human like this in the family. It’s not even that I thought they would be upset. My only worry stemmed from the conversation I had with Cooper in the stables the other day, when he said he was going to look out for me if no one else would. My family loves Elsie, and nothing could change that, not even her asking me to leave. They may be as in the dark about her reasons as I am, but she’s a Jennings too, and nothing could make them stop seeing her that way.
I only wish Elsie knew that. I wish that she was here to see how excited they will be for us. That phantom limb feeling returns,and I look at the empty seat next to me, the one no one has filled for months, awaiting her return.
I tear my gaze from the empty chair, shaking away the grief that’s starting to burrow into me, and focus my attention on the little boy in my arms. The one wearing dirty cowboy boots that are sure to leave muddy marks on my favorite jeans. I can’t even bring myself to care.
Leaning forward to whisper in Ryder’s ear, I ask, “Can you keep a secret?”
His already huge smile grows even larger, and he nods excitedly. He’s absentmindedly toying with the collar of my shirt, and every little brush of his fingers makes the warmth inside me grow. “Mm-hmm.”
“Auntie Elsie is going to have a baby,” I tell him, keeping my voice low. It doesn’t feel like a confession. It feels like a promise.
His eyes widen, the same blue-green color as his dad’s. “Really?”
I nod and press a kiss to his sticky cheek. “Sure is, bud. You’re going to have another cousin.”
And then, to my complete horror, Ryder turns away from me and screams to the entire table, “Auntie Elsie is having a baby!”
