Page 87 of Snow in Texas

His belly growled with anticipated unhappiness as he plucked a Slim Jim off the rack and moved down to add bagged cheddar popcorn to his late lunch of junk. He already had a root beer under one arm, and a pack of gum for after.

He heard Candy come up beside him.

“You done?”

“Yeah.”

There was a long line, the people ahead of them at the register ranging from harried mothers with sons demanding gum and candy, to tired-looking cowboys in saddle-worn jeans.

Colin settled in to wait, rolling his shoulders, trying to flex some of the tension from his back.

“You anxious to get there?” Candy asked, voice innocent enough, but his gaze direct. Assessing.

Colin saw no wisdom in playing it cool at this point. “Yeah. We’ve been away a long time.”

Candy nodded. “You miss her?” It was faint, but unmistakable, the edge in Candy’s voice. That thread of violence that would come unraveled if Colin said the wrong thing. It had faded while they were in Knoxville, but on the road back to Jenny, it had returned full force. A man who wouldn’t tolerate dishonesty when it came to his little sister.

“Obviously,” Colin said. “You think I missed that shithole you call a clubhouse?”

Candy grinned and smacked him affectionately on the shoulder. “Good.” He laughed. “Maybe she’ll even be glad to see you, who knows.”

He was well used to the ribbing at this point, but they’d been on the road since before dawn, and he was sore all over, tired, and about to eat an indigestion-inducing lunch. So he said, “She does like me, you know.”

Candy, amused and surprised, gave him a sideways smile. “I know she does. Doesn’t mean I’m not gonna give you shit about it.”

Like an idiot, Colin pressed on. “I’m serious about her, you know.” His voice softened as he thought about their phone call last night, her warm sleepy laughter as he’d talked about having a smoke with Mercy.

“Yeah, I figured.” Suspicion, now. “Trust me, I’d have broken your jaw by now if I thought you weren’t.”

“Yeah, well…” He had to tell him, Colin realized, dread hardening in his belly. Had to tell him now. He couldn’t go back to Amarillo and let Jenny break the news, risk Candy losing his head in front of the rest of the club, embarrassing Jenny, making her cry. Shit, no, she couldn’t cry about this. Colin couldn’t stand the idea that she might be made to feel bad about this.

He took a deep breath. “Candy, there’s something you need to know.”

The man’s golden brows lifted.

Another breath, massively insufficient, given the way his head spun. “Jenny…Jenny and me are gonna have a baby.”

Candy didn’t react for one…two…three seconds. Then frowned with comical confusion. “Jen’s pregnant?”

Colin’s lungs wouldn’t work. “Yeah.”

“You got my sister pregnant?”

“I did, yeah.”

“So my sister’s gonna have your little swamp spawn?”

“She is.”

Colin waited, and waited, and wai–

The punch snapped his head back on his neck, scattered stars across his field of vision. Several people in line swore. The woman gasped, and her kids said, “Awesome!”

Was he dead? He must be dead. His whole head had exploded and gone spraying across the store. Except, that couldn’t be true, because he felt his face swelling, his jaw inflating; tasted blood in his mouth where he’d bit his tongue.

Candy’s murderous hand landed on his shoulder and dragged him in close, supported him. His voice, dim as though coming down a tunnel, said, “It’s alright, he just lost a bet is all,” to the people around them. He sounded cheerful, just as he did when he leaned in to whisper in Colin’s ear. “Congrats, you big idiot. That was your warning shot. Fuck this up somehow, and dirty diapers are gonna be the last of your worries.”

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