Page 50 of All in with the Maverick Montana

Josh’s jaw went slack. “Are you being serious right now? You mean Hollywood heartthrob Tru McCoy?”

“One and the same,” Amy mumbled. “Though heartthrob sort of wears off when you get to know him.”

“Tru McCoy is the father?” Josh said, clearly still stunned. “Wait, didn’t I just read somewhere that he got married?”

Amy nodded, unable to meet his eyes. “Yes, to one of his costars. Within weeks of breaking it off with me. So that tells you how faithful he was. And how much of an idiot I am.”

“Oh, Amy.” Josh cursed. “That son of a—”

“I understand if this might change things between us,” she said, cutting him off. “I get that this is a lot. It’s so much to process. Maybe too much.”

“I’m honestly not sure what to think right now.” Josh shook his head slowly, his eyes unfocused. “But I think I should probably get back to the ranch,” he said. “Chores and stuff.”

“Of course.” Amy bit her tongue to keep the tears from falling again. She knew it was too much for him to handle. “Yeah, you should get back.”

“I’ll, uh… I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure.” She nodded as he left the kitchen. Would they talk later? Or was this goodbye? Watching him walk away now, knowing she might never see him again, was too hard, and she turned away to save herself some of the heartache.

This was just like when everything fell apart with Tru all over again.

No, Amy thought suddenly. No. Somehow, this was so much worse.

Chapter Thirteen

Josh had never been skydiving before but he felt like he’d been pitched out the side of a plane without a parachute.

He was just falling, falling, falling.

And he wasn’t sure when he’d hit the ground.

Or how much it would hurt.

He hurried out of Faith’s house without so much as a goodbye or a wave in Amy’s direction. He had one singular focus, and that was to exit that kitchen before he looked Amy in the face and said completely the wrong thing.

A baby?

Amy was having a baby with a movie star. And not just any movie star. Tru McCoy. The blond, blue-eyed, ruggedly handsome cowboy of everyone’s dreams. Regardless of how it had ended, at one point, he’d been the cowboy of Amy’s dreams. Somehow putting a face and a name to Amy’s ex-fling made everything worse. That was the man who had dumped her to run off and marry someone else. That was the man who had hurt her.

He was also the man that had apparently knocked her up.

Josh massaged the ache between his eyes. It thudded in the middle of his forehead. Was this the weight of his anxious thoughts? Or was his head just coincidentally going to explode? It felt like a thousand thoughts were ricocheting around his brain, and Josh had no idea what he was supposed to do now. What was the right thing to say in this situation? He tried to imagine being in Amy’s position. The last thing he’d want was other people’s advice, and platitudes would feel hollow. Besides, how could he sit there and promise everything would be okay when he didn’t even know if that was something she wanted to hear?

Was she angry?

Scared?

Shocked?

Judging by the look on her face and the fact she’d broken down in tears, she wasn’t exactly happy about this, so he was certain congratulations probably wouldn’t go over well. But what else did you say when someone announced they were pregnant? He didn’t even know where to start. Besides wanting to knock some sense into Tru McCoy, he wasn’t sure he was the right man for the job.

What did he say now that the woman he lov—

Josh wrenched the door of his truck open. Leaving was for the best. He needed to screw his head on straight before it twisted off completely.

Josh climbed into his truck, backed down the driveway, and headed to the ranch, throwing himself into afternoon chores. By the time evening rolled around, he wasn’t any closer to knowing what to say to Amy. He let out a heavy sigh that rattled his lips, got back into his truck, and started driving.

What he wanted most of all was to be a loving, supportive boyfriend—because that’s what he was now, wasn’t he? They’d been tiptoeing around this thing, around these feelings, for weeks, and Josh sort of thought that after what Amy had said last night, things between them had gotten a lot more serious. And if that was the case, and he’d read the signs clearly, then he was as good as her boyfriend. And as her boyfriend, he wanted to know how Tru could have left her like this?