Page 87 of Kicking Up Dust

Blair breathes a sigh of relief.

“Okay. Thank you, Maddie,” she says and my lips twitch. I’m pretty sure it’s the first time she’s called him by his family nickname.

“Yep,” he says again, hanging up. Never been one for sticking around, that one.

“See, mama, I told you,” I say gently, tossing my phone over on the couch and wrapping my arms around her middle again as she stares outside. “But it’s important to me that you’re aware we’re not going to get stuck inside. The odds of that happening are like a million-in-one.”

“I think the odds of me getting pregnant despite being on birth control and through a condom were similar.”

I hide my grin in her hair.

FORTY-SEVEN

BLAIR

“The goddamn thing’s rigged, you asshole!” Colt shouts at his ex, pointing back at the mechanical bull in the corner of Quitter’s.

Austin’s eyes flick over at him, bored as can be as she mixes a cocktail in her shaker.

“It’s not rigged. You’re just out of practice and don’t know how to ride anymore.”

I snort at the double-entendre, and it brings Colt’s attention over to me as if he could’ve possibly heard it over the music and the shouting. After weeks of renovations, Quitter’s Saloon is open for business again and the locals are taking full advantage of it.

“Baby, tell her the thing’s rigged and I know how to ride a fucking bull,” he whines petulantly, coming to sit beside me in the booth.

I pat his cheek. “You know how to ride a bull,” I promise, though I’m not sure. In the weeks leading up to telling Colt I was pregnant, I’d stalked his Instagram. And YouTube. And TikTok. He knew how to ride a bull then, but I didn’t know about now.

“I think we’re the only sober ones here besides Austin,” I tell him to distract him. I’d been people-watching while he’d been repeatedly falling off the back of a mechanical bull.

“Nah, Tate and Tyler are underage.”

I nod. This is true. I don’t think it means they’re sober though. The jukebox plays some upbeat country song that has the two of them showing off the dancing lessons they took when they were kids. I’ve only gotten to see them dancing once before, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can dance better than they are right now.

Beside them, Kenny hangs off of Theo, her arms around his neck and her body entirely too close to a man that’s technically still her boss when she took up shifts at the feed store. Theo’s hands sit low on the small of her back, but they’ve definitely migrated south from where they’d originally started out.

Bailey plops down on the other side of the booth and follows my eyes over to her sister with a snort before pulling out her phone to film them.

“Colt, you may want to update your date in the betting pool.”

“What?” He’d been glaring at the bull, watching another man ride it with absolutely no trouble. He sees Bailey’s phone out and also looks over at Kenny and Theo with a grumbled, “Goddammit.”

“What was your guess?” I ask him, leaning against his side when he turns to face forward again.

“Three years from now.”

I snort, agreeing with Bailey that they won’t possibly last three years. “She’ll start teaching Callie next fall, right? I’d guess it’ll happen then.”

“Oh yeah? What are you betting with? You didn’t bring your purse.”

“Put it on my cowboy’s tab,” I tell Bailey, patting Colt’s bicep. Bailey grins and winks at me.

“With Mama watching Callie overnight, it wouldn’t surprise me if they end up getting together tonight,” Jameson says, coming up behind us and then knocking the hat off Colt’s head. “The hell was that riding, bro?”

Colt grumbles, picking up his hat, which reads Boner Donor, much to my displeasure.

Movement by the bar catches my eye and I look over just in time to see Austin passing Tate a shot on the sly and Tyler snatching it out of her hand just before she can down it, shooting it back himself. Maddox comes out of nowhere and slaps Austin on the ass for her antics, but she only grins.

I’ve never seen Maddox drunk, but it’s funny as hell. He’s clingy, his arms wrapping around Austin’s waist and his lips pressing to her neck. She just grins and continues making drinks. I’m sure this sort of stuff won’t fly after opening night, but right now, the entire town’s just happy to have their bar back.