Page 56 of All in with the Maverick Montana

Tires crunched on gravel, drawing up behind him and breaking Josh from his melancholy thoughts. He perked up, turning as headlights blinded him momentarily and a vehicle pulled up close. He hadn’t been expecting company, and he jumped aside.

Shane hung out the window of his truck, one hand on the wheel, creeping up slowly. “Hey, man. Everything okay?”

Josh squinted at him in the near darkness. “Hey,” he said, unable to muster an ounce of enthusiasm. “Yeah.”

“Saw your truck down at the Social Club. I popped inside, thought we could have a beer together, but Mike said you’d already gone home in a taxi.”

“Yeah.”

“You could have called me, you know?”

“Not a big deal,” Josh said. Truthfully, he could have called a lot of people. He didn’t though, because there was only one person he’d wanted to talk to, one person he’d wanted to be with, and anyone else would likely have asked about why he needed a ride home on a weekday. Well, maybe not Shane. He probably wouldn’t even have judged Josh for it. But Josh was still getting used to having him back in town.

“So everything’s just fine despite you looking as stormy as those clouds up there,” Shane said. “Am I understanding things?” He cut the ignition and the truck stilled.

“About the gist of it,” Josh muttered.

Shane snorted and got out of the truck. They fell in line next to each other, walking back toward the house slowly. “I can tell when you’re lying, you know. I have known you long enough. You get all broody and avoid looking at me.”

“I’m not lying,” Josh said. “Relatively speaking, everything is fine. No one’s hurt. No one’s dying. The ranch is trucking along. You know, on a scale of one to all the cattle escaping, it’s not that bad.”

“Girl trouble then,” Shane said with a nod.

Josh did look at him then, but only to roll his eyes.

“Don’t try denying it. I could see those slumped shoulders a mile away. And I should know. I became very familiar with that look every time I clocked myself in a mirror lately.” He bumped Josh’s arm. “Feels just like old times, huh? When we were both in high school and couldn’t get a date to save our lives.”

Josh shook his head, smiling despite how wretched he felt. It did sorta feel like old times. But they were kids back then, regardless of how grown up they’d felt. Plus with their shifting infatuations from week to week, there was always someone new to get hung up on. Josh didn’t want to think about anyone else. He wanted Amy, and only her. He sighed. “This feels different. Like there’s more at stake.”

“Because it’s real now,” Shane said. “Because it matters. She matters.”

He was right. If this thing between them didn’t matter, Josh would have stepped aside the moment Amy told him she was expecting. He would have wished her luck with everything and chalked these past weeks up to a good time. And maybe that’s what he should still do. But something inside him refused to acknowledge that option. He couldn’t walk away from her; he just didn’t know where he fit anymore.

He thought it might be by her side. But was there room there with Tru?

“I’m guessing you and Amy didn’t fully break it off,” Shane said.

“No,” Josh said immediately. “We’re not… At least, I don’t think so. I mean… It’s complicated.” He huffed a humorless laugh. How cliché. “How can you tell?”

“I figure you’d be more of a wreck if you had. I saw the way you looked at that girl when you came by the ranch. It’s all Gram could talk about after you’d left. How you’d finally found a good woman who would do right by you.”

Josh didn’t know how to respond. Even Angela thought they were good for each other, and that meant a lot.

“So what is it?” Shane asked. “Did you find out she has a long-lost boyfriend somewhere she’s still pining over? Oh, God, she isn’t married, is she?”

Josh shook his head. “No, um… She’s pregnant.” He had no intentions of telling Mike at the bar or anyone else, but Shane was different. He used to be able to tell Shane everything. Anything. And even though Shane had been away for a while, that hadn’t changed. He trusted him not to go blabbing all over town. He even trusted him to keep this from Angela. “Sorta took her by surprise. Unplanned. Unexpected. All that.” At the look on Shane’s face, he added, “It’s not mine. She’s about three or four months along I would figure.”

“Wow,” Shane said, the word leaving his mouth on the end of a whistle. “I was not expecting that.”

“Me neither.”

They walked in silence for a beat, reaching the house. Josh slumped down on the porch steps. He felt like he was carrying sandbags on his shoulders.

“And she really had no idea?”

“No. And I believe that. I don’t think she would have let things get this far without telling me.” She’d been adamant that she hadn’t lied to him, and Josh saw no reason not to believe her.

“Must be a shock to the system. For both of you.”