Page 62 of All in with the Maverick Montana

“Want anything to do with the baby? No.”

The rest of his breath left him in a rush. “I’m sorry, Amy.”

“It’s probably for the best. I’m not sure he’d make a great father right now. Or ever.”

He was apologizing and part of him meant it. Amy deserved someone who was going to take responsibility for the child. Tru should have been that person. He had all the means to be that person. And the fact that he’d already failed Amy more than once made Josh angry. But there was a larger part of Josh that was quite relieved to hear this. Elated, even. If Tru was out of the picture, did that mean he and Amy could go back to the way things were? That they could just pick up where they’d left off?

But could he really compete with the memory of a movie star? Could he get over being the person she settled for? Mostly he wondered if she could really be happy living a quiet life in Tenacity when she was used to a life of adventure. Josh worried that he knew the answer to that question and it filled him with defeat. “I really am sorry things didn’t work out with Tru,” he said.

“I’m not,” Amy said quietly.

Silence lapsed between them, and Josh didn’t know how to fill it. What the hell was he doing? He wanted Amy. But she couldn’t possibly want him in the same way, especially not now that she was expecting a baby. She needed support and structure and so many other things he didn’t even know about.

“Well,” she said. “I’ll let you get back to cattle stuff.”

“Right. Yeah… I better do that.”

“I guess…” Her words lingered for a long moment. “I’ll talk to you later?”

“Yeah,” Josh said awkwardly. He had no idea when later might be, and he felt horrible about that as the call ended. This didn’t feel like a goodbye, but he also wasn’t quite sure what they were anymore. Here he was ragging on Tru for not stepping up, but Josh didn’t know the first thing about having a family of his own, so how could he possibly be any better than Tru McCoy?

Chapter Eighteen

“You want to stop for food?” Faith asked as they turned onto the narrow stretch of highway leaving town.

“There’s not really anything worthwhile between here and Bronco,” Amy said. “Just that little shack of a diner with the stale coffee.”

“And the oatmeal cookies that taste like cardboard. Yeah, I know. I meant when we get into Bronco. Might be nice to have some options for a change. Don’t get me wrong. I love Tenacity, I really do. But—”

“They don’t have your favorite chickpea falafel wrap?”

Faith glanced at her, a smile on her face. She reached over and squeezed Amy’s hand. “It’s gonna be a good day. Everything’s going to turn out fine at the doctor’s. So I think we can make time for a little fun, too. Maybe we can even swing by the arena if you’re feeling up for it. Visit with the horses. Catch up on all the rodeo gossip.”

It felt like eons since Amy had been in the Bronco Convention Center or set foot in the arena. She brushed her hand across her belly. It might be a good long while before she had another chance. “Well how can I say no to that?”

Amy had never fully appreciated Faith’s ability to soothe nerves. She’d been up all night thinking about this OB appointment, tossing and turning as anxiety-inducing questions ricocheted around her brain. They were on their way to see Dr. Rangely, an obstetrician who worked out of Bronco. Amy had also grown quite fond of Tenacity, but her options for medical care were more limited there than they were in the city. Plus she’d wanted to be seen as soon as possible and Dr. Rangely had an opening in her schedule.

Now that Amy knew about the baby, she was certain she’d done something wrong. Many things, probably. Her thoughts turned protective. She just wanted everything to be okay. This poor baby had already been rejected by its father. Somehow Amy had to do and be enough for this child.

“Hey,” Faith said, breaking her from her anxious spiral. “Really. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“I just feel like the baby’s not even here yet and I’m already screwing this up somehow,” Amy said.

“You haven’t screwed up anything. I bet you that if you talk to any new parent they feel the exact same way.”

“I didn’t even bother to notice I was pregnant for four months, Faith. All the signs were there.”

Faith shrugged. “You had other things on your mind.” Her eyebrows wiggled. “Josh-shaped things.”

Amy frowned.

“How’s that going by the way?”

“It’s not,” she said, a little defeated. “We honestly haven’t spoken much since the day Tru left. I thought it might reassure him, knowing that Tru wasn’t going to be around to get in the middle of what we had going on. He seemed happy about that part at least. But he has sort of retreated since then.” Almost a week had passed since their phone call, and though Josh texted her on occasion, things felt different. There was a distance there she didn’t know how to fix. “I think it kind of dawned on him that I was still gonna have this baby. And that being around me, being with me, automatically included that now.”

“Amy, I don’t think Josh is—”

“Of course he is. He’s probably wondering if he could raise another man’s baby. Wouldn’t that be what you were thinking?”