Page 42 of The Trouble With Tomboys (Tommy Creek 1)

Instead of snapping at her for the rude question, he’d thrown back his head and hooted with glee. Then, slapping at his good knee, he’d urged her to climb onto his lap and commenced to tell her the story of exactly how he’d lost his missing appendages. She’d found the old timer’s gory account so fascinating, she’d gone back to him every time she’d seen him after that—at Fourth of July picnics, Christmas parades, and Spring dances—crawling into his grandfatherly lap and demanding another story. The man had never failed to entertain her with some type of tall tale.

Knowing she’d disappoint him if she did otherwise, B.J. plopped down on Granger’s lap now and pressed a loud, sloppy kiss to his wrinkled cheek. He grinned approvingly and tugged at the back of her ponytail. She might’ve gained a good fifty pounds since the first time she’d sat on his knee, but neither of them cared.

“Where you been, darling?” he asked. “I haven’t seen you in years.”

Slinging an accommodating arm around his neck, she continued to grin into his dancing blue eyes, which she realized were the same hue as Grady’s. “Well, hell, I thought you were long dead by now, old man.”

Granger laughed and smacked her leg in a light, playful gesture. “Missy, I’m way too young to croak yet.” The smile on his face made him look twenty years younger than he had to be. He winked. “Besides, I can’t go anywhere until you finally agree to marry me.”

“Marry you?” B.J. said in surprise. God, what was up with these Rawlings men all of the sudden? None of them would shut up about getting hitched. “Why in the world would I want to marry an ancient, lecherous coot like you?”

Really getting into the flirtatious mood, Granger leaned closer and said, “Give me five minutes alone away from my grandson over there, and I’ll show you why.”

B.J. couldn’t help but laugh, all the while thinking it must run in the family. She was just as drawn to Grady as she’d always been to Granger.

Glancing Grady’s way, she was curious to see how he was taking all this interaction. But he merely sat slumped back in his chair, looking amused. Arching her a look, he asked, “Want me to go?”

“Do you mind terribly?” she asked, leaning toward Granger and resting her cheek on his forehead.

But before he could comment, his mother came bustling into the room with a silver serving tray full of cups and saucers and a coffee pot. The smell of Folgers hit B.J. almost instantly. Slapping a hand over her mouth, she surged off Granger’s lap and stared wide-eyed at Tara Rose.

“Do you have a bathroom?” The words rushed from her mouth as her stomach rebelled.

“Er. . .of course. . .it’s down the hall to the. . .” She never even finished the sentence, because B.J. had already turned and fled.

****

“Is she okay?”

Grady turned his gaze away from the doorway where B.J. had beat a hasty retreat and glanced at his mother. “Uh. . .” was all he could manage to say.

“Looked like she was going to upchuck to me,” his grandfather said, wheeling closer to where his daughter-in-law was setting down the tray on the coffee table in front of Grady. “Leaped up like the smell of that coffee didn’t agree with her.”

Tara Rose frowned and glanced down at her refreshment. “Hmm,” she said, giving the coffee pot a strange look. “How odd. I’ve never seen anyone have an aversion to the smell of—”

Breaking off in mid-sentence, she lifted her face and pinned an accusing look at her son. He could tell immediately when the truth dawned. Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, he stared back, unable to wipe the guilt off his face. As her face drained of color, Tara Rose glanced toward the abandoned doorway.

“I heard the strangest rumor yesterday at the beauty shop,” she murmured.

“What’s that?” Granger asked, reaching forward to help himself to a cup of coffee.

Tara Rose frowned at her father-in-law. “Dad!” she hissed. “I didn’t bring out enough for you too.”

“Well, it’s not like she’s going to drink any if the very smell makes her hurl.” He glanced at Grady. “What? She pregnant or something?”

As Tara Rose sucked in a breath and spun toward him to hear the answer, she covered her gaping mouth with two hands.

Grady sank further into his seat. “Is that what you heard at the beauty shop yesterday?”

She nodded. All he could see over her fingers was her large brown eyes.

Grady hissed out a curse. “Well, doesn’t that just beat all. My own mother found out before I did.”

“Oh, God,” Tara Rose said in a small voice.

“What’re you two talking about?” Granger wanted to know. He glanced up from where he was stirring in a healthy spoonful of sugar. He studied Tara Rose and then turned to Grady. Pausing, he lifted his bushy eyebrows. “Holy hell. Are you the one responsible for her condition?”

Grady scratched at the back of his neck and winced. “How long till Dad gets home?”

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