Part 18 (1/2)
about false negatives on the test? She needs to be careful and take care of herself, just in case.”
”A couple of hours after the test, uh, she found out for sure.” Red crept up his face, tipping his ears beneath his dark curls. ”She said she figured it must have been stress affecting, you know, her cycle.”
J.T.'s jaw flexed. ”And this makes everything okay?”
”Yeah, of course it does, Dad. She's not pregnant. Great news.”
Foot throbbing as much as her head, Rena slid back into her chair, her hand tugging Chris around to face
her while J.T. calmed down. ”You two were lucky this time. But what happens next time? Safe s.e.x is important for more reasons than unplanned pregnancy. There are diseases out there that can kill you.”
”Like I don't know that already? They've been telling us that in school since junior high.”
”All right, just doing the parent thing and checking.” Rena drew in a shaky breath. ”I wish you would have at least brought Miranda over to meet us.”
”Miranda? I'm not seeing Miranda. She's just somebody-” Chris shuffled his feet, squeak, squeak ”- from work.”
J.T.'s shoulders bunched over their son's shoe squeak that chimed like a telltale lie detector. Rena rushed to add, ”Okay then, whoever it is, I wish we could meet your friends.”
”When?” Chris's deepening voice grew louder. ”When's ever a good time around here lately? Besides, like you two have any room to preach to me about getting somebody pregnant even if I had done it.”
”Enough.” J.T.'s curt edict cut the air.
The air snapped between father and son. Chris's words hurt, but not as much as watching her family disintegrate under the weight of mounting tensions. ”J.T., it's okay.”
”Like h.e.l.l it is.” J.T. stepped over the pile of trash and stopped nose to nose with his son. ”Don't ever talk to your mother that way again.”
Chris backed until his b.u.t.t b.u.mped the counter. ”Fine, okay. But I'm not dating anybody. I'm definitely not getting busy with anybody. G.o.d. Like anyone would have me. I helped a friend. That's all. You don't want me messing around in your business? Well, stay out of mine.” He pivoted on his Nikes and sprinted up the stairs two at a time.
His door slam echoed.
Rena sagged back in her chair. So much for her pride in her mediation skills. Now the evening sucked on all levels. Her hands fell to her lap, peanuts and hope weighing like lumpy cookie dough in her stomach.
Kneeling, J.T. scooped up the garbage, stuffing it back into the bag until at least the floor was clear, if not their lives.
She wadded up the empty snack wrapper and extended her hand to add it to the trash. If only she could back the day up to the start of their drive, just c.o.kes and kisses. No stupid ”Did you ever love me?” questions. ”We'll talk to him again tomorrow.”
J.T. gave the bag ties a vicious yank. ”d.a.m.n straight I'll be talking to him. And he'll be giving you an apology shortly thereafter.”
She bit back the urge to tell him to go easy on her little boy who wasn't so little anymore. More than ever she needed to let J.T. find his way as a solo parent, too, in case...
The peanuts gained fifty extra pounds of dread in her stomach.
She inched her hand up into her loose s.h.i.+rt and released the waist b.u.t.ton on her skirt. She would need maternity clothes soon, new baby things. Would she and J.T. shop for a baby crib together this time? Or would they need two, one for his place and one for hers?
Reaching under the sink, he unrolled a new garbage bag and lined the trash can. He prowled the kitchen, closed an open kitchen cabinet. Smacked the lid back on the airplane cookie jar.
Finally, the kitchen immaculate, he sat, leaning down to untie one boot, then the other. ”At least we have a clue now as to why he's been so preoccupied.”
”Do you believe him when he says he couldn't have been the father? He's sixteen, almost seventeen. I understand teenagers have s.e.x.” She was proof of that one. ”But Chris hasn't seemed to go out much in anything other than groups.”
J.T. dropped the boot on the floor beside the other. ”I think he's telling the truth. Except I can't help but wonder what's up with this friend Miranda or whoever she is. She's obviously sleeping with someone, and she didn't turn to the father. What the h.e.l.l's wrong with the guy that she wouldn't go to him?”
The unspoken accusation of Rena keeping the pregnancy secret flicked her conscience. ”I know I should have told you about the baby sooner.”
”Thank you.” He nudged one boot closer to the other with his toe, lining them up before leaning back in the chair when in the past days he would have unzipped his flight suit partway, made himself at home. ”There's obviously a problem there. If he's a violent type, then he's not going to like his girlfriend turning to Chris.”
”You're thinking about the car accident?”
”Just running through possibilities. I can't seem to get away from the fact that you were in Chris's car, and d.a.m.n it, that van swerved deliberately. Not some drunken weaving. Once the van hit you, it didn't so much as take out a trash can on its way off. The driving was deliberate and smooth.”
”A disgruntled boyfriend?”
”Could be an explanation. Hormones and rage together can be a lethal combination.”
”And you need an explanation.”
”Don't you?”
”Accidents happen.”
”And sometimes they don't.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. ”Look, I don't want to argue with you about this. Especially not now when it seemed like maybe we were making some headway earlier. We never finished our discussion in the truck-about trying to work things out.”
Headway that ground to a halt when he'd made it clear he wanted to come home for the baby. She'd gone that route once and ended up with her heart shredded. ”We've tried before-”
”Hold on. I'm not talking big plans. Just keep things like they are for a while longer. We still have the weekend before you can drive. There's the question of what's going on with Chris. Why shake things up?”
Because she didn't think she could survive watching J.T.'s broad shoulders walk out of her life again.
”No need to decide now. Tuesday, I have a flight I can't cancel or change. Lots of prep work, too. Why don't we regroup after that?”
Putting off answering seemed easier than discussing anything else tonight with the taste and smell of him still on her. ”Tuesday, then.”
”Good. This is the right thing, babe, you'll see.” He scooped his boots up and stood. ”'Night, Rena.”
He leaned and kissed her. On the lips, lingering a full two seconds beyond a peck but not long enough for her to gather her thoughts and object.
Then he was gone, the familiar thud of his steps echoing up the stairs.
And thank G.o.d he hadn't pressed her for more, because just like twenty-two years ago in the back seat