Page 120 of Nobodys Baby But Mine (Chicago Stars 3)

“What the hell’s going on, Bomber? Why are there two cars blocking the road?”

He was getting more than a little tired of explaining himself. “You don’t go inside unless you hand over your keys.”

Unlike Ethan, the kid didn’t give him any argument. He shrugged, pitched them over, and stuck his head in the front door. “Don’t shoot, ladies. It’s the good guy.”

With a snort, Cal crossed his arms over his chest, tucked his chin, and shut his eyes. Sooner or later she was going to have to come out and talk to him. All he had to do was wait.

At one o’clock, the old man arrived. Damn people kept coming, but nobody was leaving.

Jim jerked his head toward the road. “It looks like a parking lot.”

Cal held out his hand. “Give me your keys if you want to go inside.”

“Cal, this has to stop.”

“I’m doing my best.”

“Can’t you just tell her you love her?”

?

?She won’t give me a chance.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Jim tossed over his keys and went inside.

Cal hoped so, too, and he wasn’t going to admit he had doubts. Especially not to his old man.

Cal’s feelings for Jane were so clear to him now, he couldn’t believe he’d ever been confused. The thought of living his life without her left him with an emptiness nothing would ever fill, not even football. If only he could forget the way he’d thrown her love back at her that day she’d left him. It was the most precious gift he’d ever received, and he’d tossed it away like week-old garbage. Now she was doing the same to him.

Despite her brief flirtation with the dark side to get herself pregnant, she had more integrity than anybody he knew, and he had to put his trust in the belief that, once she loved somebody, it would last forever. Still, when he looked the truth straight on, he knew he deserved what was happening to him because he hadn’t possessed the good sense to value what God had given him. He also knew he’d sit out here for the rest of his life if that’s what it took to get her back.

The afternoon dragged on. The blare of rock music coming from the backyard signaled that an impromptu party had broken out, but still Jane didn’t appear to talk to him. He smelled charcoal and heard Ethan calling out, “Gin!” At one point Kevin ran around the side of the house to catch a Frisbee somebody had thrown. Everybody seemed to be having a great time except him. He was a stranger in his own family, and they were dancing on his grave.

He straightened as he saw two figures moving through the woods on the east side of the house. For a moment he thought Jane had convinced someone to help her sneak away on foot, but just as he got ready to bolt out of the chair, he recognized his father and mother.

They stopped near an old white ash he’d climbed when he was a kid. His father pressed his mother against the trunk. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and the next thing he knew, they were going at it like a couple of teenagers.

His parents’ estrangement was finally over, and he smiled for the first time in days. But his smile faded as he saw the direction his father’s hands were taking and realized he was getting ready to feel up his mother!

With a shudder, he turned the rocker around. There were some things he didn’t want to witness, and that was right at the top of his list.

For the next couple of hours he dozed on and off between brief visits from Kevin and Ethan, neither of whom seemed to have any idea what to talk about. Ethan settled on politics, while Kevin rather predictably picked football. His father was noticeably missing, but he didn’t let himself dwell on what the old man and his mother might be doing. He heard nothing from Jane.

It was close to dusk when his mother appeared. She was badly mussed, and the redness on her neck looked suspiciously like beard burn. A bit of dried leaf clung to her hair, just behind her ear, giving further evidence that she and the old man had been doing something more than collecting wildflowers out in those woods.

She gazed down at him, and her forehead creased with worry. “Are you hungry? Would you like me to bring you a plate of food?”

“Don’t do me any favors.” He knew he sounded surly, but he felt as if she had betrayed him.

“I’d invite you inside, but Annie won’t allow it.”

“You mean Jane won’t allow it.”

“You’ve hurt her, Cal. What do you expect her to do?”

“I expect her to come out here so we can talk.”

“So you can yell at her, you mean?”

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