Page 112 of Nobodys Baby But Mine (Chicago Stars 3)

The tabloid newspaper rustled against his thigh, and Annie’s voice rang out from behind him. “You get off my land, Calvin. Nobody invited you here!”

Jane’s eyes flew open, and she dropped the hoe.

He turned in time to see his father charging around the side of the house. “Put that shotgun down, you crazy old coot!”

His mother appeared on the back porch and stopped behind Annie. “Well, now, aren’t we just a picture of Psychology Today’s Family of the Year.”

His mother. Although he’d spoken to her over the phone, she’d ducked his dinner invitations, and he hadn’t seen her in weeks. What had happened to her? She never used sarcasm, but her voice fairly dripped with it. Shocked, he took in the other changes.

Instead of one of her expensive casual outfits, she wore a pair of black jeans unevenly cut off at mid-thigh, along with a green knit top that he seemed to remember having last seen on his wife, although there hadn’t been a dirt smudge on it at the time. Like Jane, she wore no makeup. Her hair was longer than he’d ever seen it, and untidy, with threads of gray showing up that he hadn’t known were there.

He felt a flash of panic. She looked l

ike an earth mother, not like his mother.

Jane, in the meantime, had dropped the hoe and marched across the yard toward the steps. Her bare feet were tucked into dirty white Keds with slits in the sides and no shoelaces. As he watched, she silently took her place on the porch with the other women.

Annie remained in the middle with the shotgun still aimed at his gut, his mother stood on one side of her, Jane on the other. Despite the fact that none of them were exceptionally large, he felt as if he were staring at a trio of Amazons.

Annie had drawn her eyebrows on crooked that morning, giving her a decidedly malevolent look. “You want this girl back, Calvin, you’re gonna have to set yourself to a serious courtship.”

“He doesn’t want her back,” Jim snapped. “Look what she’s done.” He snatched the newspaper from Cal’s hand and shoved it toward the women.

Jane moved down onto the top step, took it from him, and bent her head to study the page.

Cal had never heard his father sound so bitter. “I hope you’re proud of yourself,” he snarled at Jane. “You set out to ruin his life, and you’ve done a damn good job of it.”

Jane had taken in the gist of the article, and her gaze flew up to meet Cal’s. He felt the impact in his chest and had to tear his eyes away. “Jane didn’t have anything to do with that newspaper story, Dad.”

“Her name’s on the damn by-line! When are you going to stop protecting her?”

“Jane’s capable of a lot of things, including being stubborn and unreasonable”—he shot her a hard-eyed look— “but she wouldn’t do that.”

He saw that she wasn’t surprised by the way he’d come to her defense, and that pleased him. At least she trusted him a little. He watched her clutch the tabloid to her chest as if she could hide its words from the world, and he made up his mind Jodie Pulanski would pay for the pain she was causing her.

His father continued to look thunderous, and he realized he was going to have to give him at least part of the truth. He’d never tell him what Jane had done—that was nobody’s business but his—but he could at least explain her behavior toward his family.

He took a protective step forward as his father closed in on her. “Are you getting regular prenatal care, or have you been too busy with your damn career to see a doctor?”

She met the old man square in the eye. “I’ve been seeing a doctor named Vogler.”

His father gave a begrudging nod. “She’s good. You just make sure you do what she tells you.”

Annie’s arm was starting to shake, and Cal could see the shotgun was getting too heavy for her. He caught his mother’s eye. She reached out and took it away. “If anybody’s going to shoot either one of them, Annie, I’ll do it.”

Great! His mother had turned crazy, too.

“If you don’t mind,” he said tightly, “I’d like to speak with my wife alone.”

“That’s up to her.” His mother looked at Jane, who shook her head. That really pissed him off.

“Anybody home?”

The female triumvirate turned in one body, and all of them began to smile like sunbeams as his backup quarterback came strolling around the corner of the house like he owned the place.

Just when he’d thought things couldn’t get worse…

Kevin took in the women on the porch, the two Bonner men standing below, and the shotgun. He arched his eyebrow at Cal, nodded at Jim, then moved up on the porch to join the women.

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