Page 61 of The Cowgirl's Forever Love
Karen wrinkled her nose, not just at the task at hand, as she ditched the messy diaper and got Tyler suited up in a clean one. “I guess we’re going to find out if these family traits truly run from genetics or if it’s more based on how you were raised.”
The needy tone in her voice was too clear to miss.
He waited until she’d scooped Tyler up then held his arms out. “Not to jump the gun or anything, but if you need a hug from a big brother…”
Josiah left the offer open, not wanting to push, but to his surprise she accepted immediately. Karen shuffled Tyler to one side and stepped in to squeeze Josiah tight. Even with just one free hand, she patted him on the back nearly as hard as his brothers did on a regular basis. “You’re a good guy, Josiah. Welcome to the chaos.”
There was a warm spot glowing inside as they pulled apart. Something completely family-like and caring in her words…and it felt good.
Josiah tipped his hat, tapped Tyler on the nose, and snuck out the door.
He barely had the truck ready by the time Lisa showed up.
She threw a gym bag into the back seat of the crew cab, lifted Ollie to the floorboards, then climbed up and slid into the middle next to him. “I’m running away tonight. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” He headed carefully down the snowy drive. “My roommates will be home,” he warned.
“I don’t think I’m in the mood for screaming,” she said quietly.
“No assumptions.” He slid his arm around her shoulders. “You want to wait until we get home to call Julia?”
“Part of me wants to wait until forever to make that call, but that’s not fair to anyone.”
Ollie whined softly before hopping up on the passenger seat. She stepped daintily across Lisa’s lap to deposit herself in the narrow space between their thighs.
Nope. Josiah slowed to a stop before pulling out onto the highway. He snapped his fingers and pointed to the other side of Lisa. “You’re already pushing it riding in the cab, dog. Get over there.”
Ollie rose, a disgruntled look on her face, but she obeyed. She settled with her chin on Lisa’s thigh and proceeded to stare piteously at Josiah.
“You offended her,” Lisa scolded as he resumed driving. “She simply can’t get comfortable unless she’s sitting onbothof us.”
“I noticed. She might need to adjust her standards because that’s not going to fly with the veterinarian.”
Lisa pulled out her phone and stared at it for a moment before letting out a huge sigh. “Here goes nothing.”
As difficult it was for Lisa to make the call, in some ways Josiah thought it was even harder to be on the listening end. To have no control—
But wasn’t that the problem? None of the people who’d been thrust into this situation had control. The only option they had was to face the future.
The evening had beenover-the-top crazy, yet through it all, Lisa clung to two facts.
One, the mysterious woman who had shown up andmightbe family seemed a decent individual. It wasn’t her fault any of this had happened. All Lisa could do was to try to mitigate the shock that was about to arrive.
The other? How much she appreciated that Josiah had been beside her. Lisa couldn’t remember a single time in the past when she’d been the one who had someone looking out for her.
But no one else could do this. It was on her shoulders.
She made the call.
“Hey, Lisa,” Julia said. “I didn’t expect to hear from you this soon.”
“I’ve been thinking about you lots, and there’s been an interesting development I need to mention. It’s kind of big,” Lisa warned. “Are you sitting down?”
A moment’s silence came from the line. “I’m not driving or doing anything dangerous. What’s wrong?”
“Not necessarily wrong, just a bit of a surprise. Remember I mentioned there might be an uncle who lived in Calgary around the time you would’ve been conceived?” Lisa made a face as she watched the gate in front of them open. Way to go beating around the bush. She wasn’t about to win any awards for charm, not picking such a stupid way to approach this.
“Do you think he might be my dad?” Julie asked. Nothing in her tone said she was freaking out or excited. She just was.
