Page 58 of The Cowgirl's Chosen Love
George shook his head. “He’s been away for a long time, but we’ve gotten back in touch recently. As far as I know he’s been single his whole life.”
“Julia’s mom was in Calgary for a while. It’s possible she was seeing him at one point. Or maybe the other uncle before he passed away—John?”
Another headshake of denial. “John didn’t go anywhere outside of Rocky Mountain House. Definitely not without Mark.”
“It’ll take some digging, but we’ll figure it out, if Julia is interested,” Tamara said. “I had to do DNA testing back while I was in university. If she wants, we can release the privacy on it to see if we’re actually related before we worry about anything else.”
Lisa nodded, then pulled a face. “It’s too bad we can’t ask her mom, but Sharon Blushing passed away a year ago.”
George’s fork fell from his fingers and clattered on the table, the potatoes and gravy he’d been about to put in his mouth splattering half on, half off his plate.
He grabbed a napkin and dabbed at his mouth, but his face had gone white.
“Dad?” Tamara was on her feet, pushing back from the table. “You okay?”
George shook his head, reaching for his water glass. “I’m fine. I’m fine.”
But the man was not fine. Josiah laid a hand on Lisa’s leg to keep her in place before turning to catch George’s eye.
He’d gone white right down to the bone, as if shock was settling in. Something in the last moment had hit hard enough to send him nearly over the edge.
“Deep breath,” Josiah ordered. “Hold it for second then let it out as slowly as you can.”
Tamara was there, pushing her dad’s chair back. “He’s right. Focus on your breathing. Do you feel any pain? Is it your heart?”
“No. Just stop.” George had pressed his hand against his chest, but he glanced quickly across the table at Sasha and Emma, who were both watching with wide-eyed horror. “Geegee is okay,” he told them. “Just swallowed wrong. Go back to your dinner. All of you.” Their father said it forcefully, twisting away from his daughter and back to the table. If he had been having a heart attack, he was hiding it well.
When he deliberately picked up his fork and pushed it into his meatloaf, everyone started to move again.
“Lisa. My brother found a spare guitar for you. You were talking about wanting to practice.” Caleb deliberately kept his gaze off his father-in-law, but he wasn’t fooling any of the grown-ups. They were all doing their best to get to the end of the meal when the little girls could be dismissed.
At that point, George Coleman would have to either fess up or lie his ass off. Because it was all too clearwhenhe’d reacted.
Fight or flight? From what Lisa had shared earlier about her father, and the tension in the room before everything had blown up—Josiah wasn’t sure which way it was going to go.
He stayed at Lisa’s side, stealing her fingers into his and holding on. Offering himself as an anchor.
He had no idea that getting involved with her would involve so much drama. So be it—he was the king of dramatic families, when it came right down to it. None of this could scare him away. And if he could somehow make the night a little less traumatic for her, he was on board.
They finally finished the meal, and with impeccable timing, Kelli James showed up at the door. “Knock, knock. I have two little girls I need out in the barn, stat.”
Sasha and Emma eyed their grown-ups suspiciously, but Kelli was a big temptation. “Why?” Sasha demanded.
Kelli grinned. “I’ll give you a hint. What has twenty legs and purrs?”
“Kittens,” the girls shouted, racing for their coats and boots.
“That was convenient,” Josiah whispered toward Lisa.
She pushed her phone toward him and let him read her messages.
Lisa:Family emergency. Nothing wrong with Tamara or baby, but we need you to kidnap the girls in fifteen minutes.
Kelli:I’m on it.
While they were waiting for the girls to leave the room, Lisa stood and put on the kettle for coffee, but other than that there was no pretense of clearing away dishes and moving to the living room.
Tamara stared at her father. “Now that the girls are gone, what’s wrong?”
