Page 96 of Sheriff's City Girl

“No, no,” Mason contested. “If you go ask him, he’ll feel pressured to say yes. I’ll just go and ask him right now—but don’t get your hopes up. I don’t know if it’ll work out in your favor. We’re already forcing the poor guy to have a damn fundraiser.”

“Oh, just go,” I shooed him toward where Lucas had disappeared off to.

Mason rolled his eyes, and ducked off, leaving us there standing in the kitchen. Jess giggled as he left, turning to me.

“I don’t know why Dad always thinks that everyone needs space.”

“Maybe that’s because he always copes with things by needing space,” I suggested, watching him until he disappeared. “That’s a great idea you had though,” I admitted. “You’re a very thoughtful person.”

“Thanks,” she smiled. “I honestly thought of it because of you. No one ever reached out to us the way that you did. After Dad’s accident, I don’t ever remember people coming over or caring about him. It was lonely, and you’ve just made me feel like… Like someone cares about us.”

“I’ll always be here for you.” I grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. “I promise.”

“No matter what?”

I nodded. “No matter what.”

About the time that the words left my mouth, Mason appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. “Well, I guess we’re going to be eating here tonight. Lucas has agreed to dinner with us.”

I smiled. “Perfect.”

“I think we should just order pizza,” Lucas called from the hallway, before appearing next to Mason. “I could really use some good pizza. Also, there’s nothing to make here.”

“Pizza is good with me,” Jess chirped. “And I can go with Emma to pick it up while you two have some bro time.”

“Bro time?” Lucas burst into laughter, sounding ten times lighter than before. “What the hell is bro time?”

“It means you and Dad hang out and talk about guy stuff. I don’t know,” she giggled, shrugging her shoulders. “Still, we’re going to go pick it up.”

“Whatever,” Mason laughed, shaking his head. “I guess we’ll go watch some TV and wait for ya.”

“Deal,” I agreed, grabbing Jess’s hand, and pulling her toward the door. “We’ll see you two in a bit.”

We stepped out into the evening air, and I took a deep breath, relieved to have the night off from cooking. I usually loved it, but now that I was about halfway through my pregnancy, I was running out of steam a little faster… Even if my appetite wasn’t.

“Ugh,” Jess’s voice caught my attention as we made it to my car.

“What?” I asked, confused by the change in her demeanor.

“Cody,” Jess pointed to the young man entering the barn.

Part of me wanted to just let it go, but the other part knew that I shouldn’t. “Is something wrong between the two of you?”

She shrugged, climbing into the passenger seat. “I don’t know if I’d say that. He’s just been acting so weird ever since his dad got arrested. It’s like he has a big chip on his shoulder. He doesn’t care about us anymore.”

“What does he care about now?” I started the motor and began to back out of the spot.

“I don’t know…” Jess’s voice trailed off, her eyes still fixed on Cody, who was carrying a couple of buckets full of feed. “Maybe he just wants space.”

“Well, he is going through a lot himself,” I said carefully, eyeing her. “And it probably doesn’t help that his dad’s violence was directed at his girlfriend’s family.”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” Jess said softly. “He’s made that very clear.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Mason

“Are you ready?” Emma’s voice was full of nerves and excitement as we pulled into the hospital for the anatomy scan.

---