Heart and Snow (Texas Highlanders Ice Hockey) (9 page)

Her sister didn’t move, like she was frozen to her spot. Cherry stepped to the center of the room, so she was only a few feet from the two girls. Her lips were pursed, anger emanating from her as she raised a paper up. “Care to explain?”

Jo stared at the paper, but when she looked at her mother, her eyes were on Michele. Michele paled. “What?”

“What is this, Michele?” She held it out to her daughter. The younger girl took it, and her pale face turned into a sheet of white. Her eyes widened, and the makings of tears appeared in the corners of them.

A few seconds later, she said, “It’s a receipt, Mom.”

“A receipt. For what, Michele?”

“A plane ticket. To Italy.”

Oh, shit. Jo stepped back a ways. Her mom’s face had turned a brilliant angry red.

“This was on my printer. Care to explain why there is a receipt for a plane ticket to Italy on my printer?”

Michele blanched.

“Ed!” Cherry’s voice was shrill with anger, echoing in the quiet of the house. Michele’s face turned to an expression of horror when Cody, Doug, and Ed came in the room.

“Do you know what your daughter is doing, Ed?”

Her father blinked, glanced from his wife to his daughter. “Sitting on the couch?”

Cherry pursed her lips with an unladylike grunt and turned back to Michele. “This is right before the semester starts, Michele. You can’t miss school for this trip.”

“Well, Mom…” Michele set the paper down on the coffee table and fiddled with a fingernail. “Here’s the thing…”

“No things. I want the truth.”

Michele looked up, her eyes darting around the room, to each person present. Jo felt for her, seeing as she’d expected to keep this a secret a while longer.

“I dropped out of the engineering program.”

“What?” Cherry’s eyes bugged, her voice unnaturally shrill. “You can’t be serious. We’ve already paid for this semester.”

“Well, yes, and no.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I applied for an art school in Milan.” Michele gave a weak smile. “My portfolio was accepted, so I used the money to pay for that tuition instead.”

“And you didn’t think you should tell us about leaving the country? How could you not tell us? I cannot believe you’d be this careless about your future, about your life.”

Michele stared at her mother, shock apparent on her face. Obviously, she hadn’t expected to have to deal with this now, let alone in front of the whole family. She glanced at Jo, who motioned to her mother with a go-ahead motion. She might as well tell her the whole thing now.

Michele glared at her, pursing her lips in silent fury.

“Michele, what do you have to say for yourself?” Cherry asked.

“Joey’s pregnant.”

CHAPTER TEN

Cody’s mouth fell open. Did Michele just—his head snapped around to look at Jo. She stood there in silent shock as well. Oh, god, she had just… Jo’s eyes were on her sister. Fury emanated off her, pulsing like a heartbeat. When had she told Michele about the baby?

Cherry blinked and looked at Jo. Then back to Michele. She drew out a long breath, putting up her hands in a calming stance. “Okay, I’m going to go into the kitchen. I’m going to beat some bread dough. At some point, you two,” she pointed to the two sisters, “need to come up with explanations that don’t make me want to punch bread dough.”

She sniffed indignantly, and turned on her heel. A couple of steps and she was in the kitchen. Cody marveled at Cherry’s exit. Somehow the woman managed to keep her grace, even when she was so spitting mad she could scream.

Jo let out a breath. Veins were popping out from her temples. Her body was shaking. Cody could see the boiling point coming. He could see her sailing right past it. He took a step toward his wife at the same time as Michele did.

Michele stepped closer to her sister. “Jo, I’m so—” Michele never finished the sentence. Jo pulled back and slammed her fist against Michele’s face so hard Michele jerked backward, into Doug’s arms. Michele jerked up to a standing position as Jo advanced on her.

“You selfish little troll!” Jo yelled. She pushed Michele into the wall. “How dare you!’

Cody all but tackled his wife, holding her arms against her sides in a bear hug.

“Oh please!” Michele stumbled to her feet, helped by her brother. “You’re such a goody-goody, Joey. You should be glad! Now she knows, and you didn’t even have to tell her.”

“It wasn’t your news to tell! Just because you lied and wanted a fucking way out!” Jo stressed the last word. She kicked up her feet, trying to hit her sister, but Cody held fast and pulled her out of reach. “Cody, let me go!”

“Oh, no.” Cody shook his head, and tightened his arms around her. “There are no murders on Christmas Eve.”

Jo screamed incoherently, then added in some curses. Doug held on to Michele while her father stepped in trying to make sense of what either sister was screaming about. Michele’s lip was bleeding from where Jo’s fist landed. If Cody hadn’t been holding on to Jo, he might have found the whole ordeal comical as hell.

“No, hold on you two!” Ed stretched out his hands, trying to placate them but neither was having any of it. “Damn it. Michele, go to your room. We’ll talk when you guys calm down.”

“Why do I have to go? She hit me!”

Ed whirled around, for once his easy demeanor vanishing in the wake of his temper. “Michele, I told you to go upstairs. You may be nineteen, but the last part of that is still
teen
. Which means, you go upstairs until I come get you.”

Michele huffed and stormed off. Ed turned toward Doug. “Go look after your sister.”

Doug frowned but followed without a word.

Ed turned around, this time facing Jo and Cody. He hadn’t let her go, but she stopped trying to get away from him as soon as her father trained his full gaze on her.

“I’m not sure why we’re just now hearing about this pregnancy. But you’re twenty-nine years old, Jo. You have a life all your own. You’re not dependent on us to live. It’s your decision on whether you tell us you’re about to be a parent.”

“Dad, I—”

“But I’m disappointed that you felt like you needed to hide it from us.”

He didn’t wait for a response. In a few strides, he’d left the room and had joined his wife in the kitchen. Cody heard muffled murmurs in the kitchen, but other than that, silence took the place of the family.

“Come on, babe,” Cody said. “Let’s talk.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” He lifted her up into his arms, and walked out of the living room and up the stairs to the bedroom they were staying in.

“Goddamnit, Cody, put me down!” Jo cried out, pounding on his back. But he ignored her, and didn’t stop until he brought her into the bedroom and tossed her on the bed. If she hadn’t actually been pregnant, he might have sat on top of her.

She shot to her feet. “What the hell was that?”

“Pretty sure that was you losing your shit and punching the fuck out of your sister!” Cody shot back.

“God! I could kill her!” Jo threw up her hands. “Who the hell does she think she is?”

“Jo.”

“I cannot believe she would just rat me out like that, because she was in trouble—”

“Jo.”

“—and she didn’t want to get in trouble. Talk about selfish. I cannot believe—”

“Jo!” Cody grabbed her by the shoulders. “You could have told your parents… at any time. Any time.”

“Whose side are you on?”

The question surprised him. “I’m always on yours.” Why would she think he was on any other?

“Then why are you giving me grief?”

“Because you’re blaming your sister for something you could have prevented.”

Jo sunk down on the bed, tears collecting to the brim of her eyelids. “She promised me, Cody. She said she wouldn’t tell. I’m supposed to be able to trust my sister. I trusted her not to tell, and she sold me out.” Jo choked back a miserable sob.

“Why didn’t you?”

“What?”

“We’ve been here for two days. Why didn’t you tell Cherry? You flat out lied and said you weren’t going to have children.”

“I don’t know. Cody, I don’t know. I got put on the spot. I didn’t know how to handle it.”

Tears slid from the corners of her eyes. She dropped to the bed on her back, her arms out from her body, and her feet hanging off the edge. Tears glistened from the corners of her eyes to her hairline.

Cody sighed, and sat down next to her. He rubbed her thigh. “You know I love you, sweetness.”

“Yeah.” Her voice was dejected and low. “Mom hates me. Michele hates me. I’m pretty sure that Doug’s new wife is probably the only one who doesn’t and she doesn’t even know me.”

Cody laughed and crawled over her, leaning on one elbow so he could see her face. Tears streaked her makeup across her cheeks. He reached over to the nightstand where Jo had left that box of tissues, and dabbed at her face, cleaning off the wetness from her face. “No raccoon eyes.”

Jo giggled, which was what he’d hoped she’d do. He liked making her laugh.

“No one hates you, Jo. Michele was just… caught off guard. So was Cherry. You should talk to them.”

“I don’t want to talk to Michele.”

“Wow.”

“What?”

“You sounded just like this ten year old I know.”

“Shut up!” She laughed, and smacked him in the shoulder. Silence fell over them as she stared up at the ceiling. Cody smoothed his hand over her hip and rested it on her stomach. When did the baby start moving? He hadn’t a clue. Why hadn’t they researched this stuff? They truly were clueless future parents.

Her hand covered his, and they laid there on the bed like that for several moments, the sound of their breathing and the snowflakes hitting the window the only sounds. Finally, her eyes met his.

“I have to talk to Mom.”

“Yep.”

“I’m not talking to Michele.”

“Not ideal, since we’re stuck here for a few days.”

“I can think of some distractions…” She grinned up at him. Suddenly, he became aware of her hand sliding along his jeans to his crotch. Her hand tightened around his balls, and he let out a soft groan.

“Dirty fighter,” Cody groaned. “You’re not getting out of this.”

“But… I could do it later…” She purred.

“Jo!” Cody grabbed her hands and pushed them into the mattress, holding himself up above her. “Stop.”

Jo sighed. “Fine.” She pushed him off her, not easily, because he kind of liked her under him like that, his hips against hers, her hands helplessly held prisoner in his. He fell into the mattress while she stood. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Just be honest.”

“Easy for you to say. You don’t even talk to your parents.”

Cody stopped, like a deer caught in high beams. He cleared his throat and sat up. “What?”

Her face paled, her eyes widening as she realized what she’d said. “Oh, Cody. I’m sorry.”

“Would you like me to talk to my dad about the baby, Jo?” He asked her. “My dad’s an awesome role model. He can teach the baby how to drink, and gamble, and cheat on his wife.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“My parents don’t deserve to be grandparents. But yours,” Cody reined in the fury he wanted to unleash on her. She didn’t understand how bad his parents were, how scared he was of becoming like Jeremy Baker. “Yours would actually care, would actually want to be part of our kid’s life.”

“This was a bad idea,” she said. “We should never have come here.”

“Why, because you have to face that your family isn’t all that bad?”

“No, because we were almost talking, almost communicating as a couple before we came here. And now,” she shook her head. “Now I don’t even want to look at you.”

“Me? You lied to me, you lied to your parents. Who else, Jo?”

“You know what? If you like my parents so much, you stay here with them.” She swiped the keys from the nightstand and headed for the door.

He shot off the bed and blocked the door. “What are you doing?”

“Leaving.” She met his eyes, hers cold and unwavering. He didn’t like what he saw in them.

“Just like that? It’s snowing outside.” He shook his head. “Don’t be a child.”

“Convenient, since I’m carrying one. Maybe I’m channeling baby.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Then it’s better I leave now then. I want to go home.”

“Now?” He swallowed. “You promised your parents Christmas.”

His heart sank. His anxiety doubled. Leaving her parents like this would kill Jo later. Her family was important to her, and right now, she wasn’t thinking right. Her emotions were churning so close to the surface he could feel them pulsing from her.

“Take me home, Cody, or get out of my way so I can drive myself.”

He didn’t budge. He didn’t know what to say to her to make this better, but he knew she needed to work this out. Maybe she was upset now, and maybe even embarrassed for having not told her parents. But she’d hate herself later if she didn’t fix it now. If she left without talking to them…

She rolled her eyes, shoved him to the side and ran out of the house. And he let her, because he didn’t know what to say to make it all right for her.

*~*~*

This was likely not her best moment, she thought, shivering as she unlocked the driver’s side of the SUV. She sat down in the driver’s seat, pushed down the brakes, and released the emergency brake in preparation of driving.

She stopped. Did she really want to leave? Her clothes were in the house. Hell, her jacket was in the house, and it was freezing out here. She should have grabbed a jacket. She stopped. There was one in the back. She stepped through the white ground to the hatch and unlocked it.

“Jo!”

She ignored the heavy stomps as Cody ran out of the house toward her.

“Jo!’

She stopped and glared at him while she shrugged the jacket on.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like? I’m leaving.” She zipped up. “You’re not going to take me home, then I’m going to do it myself. I am capable of driving you know.”

“Jo, we need to talk about this!”

“This isn’t working, Cody. I’m pissing you off, you’re pissing me off. Neither of us can get past this.”

“That’s not true. We were doing okay.”