Heart and Snow (Texas Highlanders Ice Hockey) (5 page)

“Mom!”

“Cody, darling, come here and give me a hug.” Cherry sidestepped Jo and crossed the room to Cody, who pushed off the doorframe just in time to be enveloped in one of the best things about Jo’s family. Her embrace was tight around his torso, since he towered over the woman. She stepped back and stared at him. “Did you get taller?”

“Don’t think so, Cherry. I’m pretty sure I’ve peaked at thirty-four.”

She chuckled and patted his cheek. “How’s your team doing this year?”

“Good. I think we’ve got a real good chance at the playoffs this year.” Which was exciting for him.

“That’s wonderful,” Cherry said. “Joey, why don’t you and Cody take your stuff to the back room upstairs? And then go find your dad and say hi, okay?”

“Yes, Mom,” Jo said.

“And hurry up. Dinner’s ready in ten.”

Jo and Cody unpacked the car, and tossed the bags in their room before heading out to the back porch. Jo’s dad, Ed was outside with her brother Doug. Cody almost groaned, because while he liked Doug, he was a bit much to handle over several days. But he did it anyway, because family was important to Jo.

Jo’s dad had once been a sports writer for Fort Glasgow’s biggest newspaper, but had retired years ago. Jo’s mom had been a model, and one of the Highlanders’ Ice Maidens in her twenties. He didn’t know the specifics, but within the next few years, they’d both left the pro hockey circuit, gotten married and moved to Dallas, where Jo had grown up with her brother and sister, and then they’d moved on to Morning. It was a lucky coincidence that he’d met Jo at all.

A lucky coincidence.

As he watched Jo give her dad a hug and rib her brother about his newest wife/fling, a smile crossed his face. He was lucky. He’d found her, snatched her up before anyone else could. And now here he was, nearly ready to let her go. What was wrong with him?

He slipped back into the house and found himself in the hall, staring at the family picture wall. He could pick out all three kids. Jo was the oldest, a blonde bombshell even at fourteen. Her younger brother, Doug, was the redhead of the bunch, and easily picked out in all the pictures. And her sister, Michele, was a photo bomber, her little platinum blonde head poking out in every single picture, regardless of whether she was supposed to be there or not.

This was a normal family. No angels, no devils, just a family that didn’t grow up on the professional hockey circuit. Normalcy. It was such a rare thing.

“Mom! You put up the teenage years?” Jo’s voice had a whining quality that he only heard when she was at her parents’ house. Cody glanced to his side. When had she appeared? He had been so lost in his thoughts he didn’t realize she had come to stand by him.

“You hush,” Cherry said, walking by with a full pan with roast beef cut into slices. She set it down on the dining room table. “They stay up until one of you graces me with a grandchild and gives me baby pictures to fill those spots.”

Cody looked back at the wall. Blonde bombshell or not, fourteen had obviously been the awkward braces years for Jo, in that cheerleading uniform.

“Mom!” Jo’s voice nearly cracked on that note. Cody turned to face his wife. She looked wrecked. Her jaw was clenched, her eyes terrified. Cody took her hand, and her head snapped to him in surprise. He met her eyes, hoping that she’d see how she was overreacting. She took a breath while her mom was in the kitchen. “Sorry.”

“Just breathe. It’ll be okay.”

“I hope so.”

“Come on, you two! It’s time for dinner.” Cherry blew past them with a bowl of mashed potatoes. Cody took Jo’s hand, smiling at her. There was definitely something magical about being with family, even if it wasn’t his family. Maybe especially when it wasn’t his family.

*~*~*

It was almost like the first time Cody had come home with her to meet her parents. Same holiday, same people. Well, except Doug’s new wife, who still hadn’t made her appearance yet. When she and Cody made their first trip there, Doug had been on Wife #2. Last year, he’d just divorced Wife #3.

Her two siblings took their usual seats. Cody held her chair, so she gave him a bright thankful smile, which vanished as soon as his fingers trailed along her hip, and up her rib cage. She scowled at him, and he chuckled in response. Damn tease.

“So, Doug, Cody was just telling me how much he was looking forward to the Cowboys game today.” The chuckle stopped.

“Oh, yeah? Sweet!” Doug grinned. “Jo, you and Cindy could go do whatever girls do…” He trailed off. “You know… for girl time.”

The smug expression on Cody’s face didn’t even falter when she shot him a dirty look. Spending time with New Wife #4 wasn’t on her To Do list. The woman would be gone in a few months anyway. Doug wasn’t the relationship type. Getting to know the woman was just a waste of time.

“Sorry I’m late.” A feminine voice broke the quiet as a young brunette sat down next to her brother. She was a small thing, skinny. And familiar. “Hi, I’m Cindy.” She held out her hand to Jo. “You must be Joey.”

“Hello.” She studied the woman for a minute. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

“Don’t think so.”

“Babe, Cody here plays for the Highlanders.”

“Oh!” Cindy looked ecstatic. “You didn’t tell me you were related to Cody Baker.”

“He’s not,” Joey replied. “He’s related to me. Cody is my husband. So, you go to a lot of Highlander games?”

The woman blushed. “You caught me. I love hockey. Favorite sport. I have season tickets.”

“Oh?” Cherry smiled. “That’s wonderful.”

“My baby does love her hockey,” Doug cooed, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “She had Highlanders stuff all over her apartment before we moved in together.” The blush deepened as she smiled. Jo nearly gagged. She so wasn’t in the mood for happy, mushy couple love.

“Always glad to meet a fan,” Cody replied. He leaned forward. “I signed something for you, didn’t I? During the media day?”

Cindy cleared her throat. “Yeah. For my nephew. A jersey. It’s his first. I wanted him to have something special. He usually goes with me to the games.”

“Awesome,” Cody grinned. “Though I’d have suggested Charbonneau. He’s a much better player than I am.”

Cindy blushed, and looked down at her plate. “He likes you best.”

Jo pursed her lips. It might be the excessive hormones in her at the moment, but Jo wasn’t all that keen on the way Cindy was acting. Cody was soaking up the fan girl act too. Jo pinched his thigh. He jerked his thigh away and frowned at her.

So what if he got mad at her? They were at her parents’ house. He didn’t have to play the gracious hockey player all the time, and especially not there.

“When do you go back for games, Cody?” Cherry asked. If she saw what Jo did, she didn’t give any indication.

“Uh, January,” Cody replied.

“Oh, good. Then you guys get a few weeks, huh?” Her mother was fishing for something. Jo could smell her mother’s investigative digging. “Going anywhere special after you leave here? A vacation, maybe?”

Jo glared at her mother, but the woman would not be deterred. She completely ignored Jo, actually.

“Uh, not really. I think we were just going to take care of stuff at home, right babe?” Cody caught her eyes, the pleading plain to see within them.

She nodded. “Yeah.” She raised her glass to take a drink, suddenly wishing it was wine rather than water. But there was no alcohol in her mother’s house.

“Oh.” Cherry settled back in her chair. She seemed almost disappointed by the answer. “So when are you going to give me grandchildren, Joey?”

Jo sputtered out water and coughed. She wiped her mouth, trying to breathe at the same time. She set it down and turned her attention on her mom. “What?”

“Well, you’re the oldest. It makes sense you’d be the first.”

“I—Uh… Cody… Um… Why are you asking, Mom?” Jo wiped her mouth with her napkin.

“Just curious.” Cherry turned back to Cody. “You do like children, don’t you, Cody?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Cody’s discomfort was palpable.

“Cherry.” Her dad covered her mother’s hand with his and squeezed gently. “Stop interrogating your daughter and her husband.”

“Just wondering.” Her mother mumbled.

Jo was irritated, and the anger spread into her body, heating it almost to a pressure. Finally, she blew out a long breath and said slowly, drawing out the words. “Cody and I hadn’t actually planned on children.”

Her mom stared at her, obvious from her expression she didn’t understand. “No children?”

“Well, no, Mom.” The table had gone silent, making the whole conversation that much more awkward. She hadn’t really ever discussed plans like this with her family. It was a choice that she and Cody had made. True, it was changing soon, but she didn’t want the family pressure while she and Cody were working things out.

“I see.” Her mother’s voice had turned cool. This was exactly why she hadn’t told her mother about their decision not to be parents. And on the cusp of actually being parents, this conversation had to come up.

Jo took a chance and reached under the table, sliding her hand along Cody’s thigh. It was harder than granite with tension. Her mother meant well. She couldn’t possibly know how loaded that question was at the moment. Silence descended on the table, hovering over them all like a thick London fog.

Cherry excused herself to go grab some more napkins from the kitchen. Her father sighed, set down his napkin on the table, and followed her.

“Great job, Joey.” Michele laughed. “You know Mom wants grandchildren.”

“Shut up, Michele.”

“Hey, don’t get all huffy with me because you upset Mom.” Michele leaned forward. “So, did you bring any beer?”

Jo frowned, flabbergasted at her sister’s inherent selfish mentality. “No, Michele. What’s wrong with you? Mom would kill me for contributing to a minor. Plus, you know how Mom feels about alcohol in the house.”

Michele huffed and sat back in her seat. “Sure, you care about that, but don’t care about her desire to be a grandmother.”

Jo tensed, about to get up to kill her sister, but stopped when Cody placed his hand on her thigh. He squeezed lightly. She glanced at him, and saw his subtle shake of the head. She leaned back in her chair, taking one breath after another so she wouldn’t lose her temper with her sister.

“It’s not fair. You drank before you were twenty-one.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t. I said I’m not buying it for you.”

There was no liquor store close by anyway, and it had started snowing not long after they’d arrived. Neither of them were prepared to drive in the falling snow, anyway. Cody was a city boy, and Jo could barely manage to remain conscious for long periods of time at the moment. And definitely not for her snot-nosed little sister.

“Killjoy.”

Cherry came back and passed around napkins before Ed finally made her sit down and eat. She engaged in trivial conversations with the family for the rest of the night, and didn’t mention the grandchild thing again.

But it stayed on Jo’s mind. She glanced at Cody. Was he thinking about the baby? Was he upset with her telling her mom they hadn’t planned on children? His face was unreadable as to what he was really thinking. Jo didn’t usually have a hard time with reading him, unless he was hiding it from her. But blurting out she was pregnant to her family right then wasn’t how she wanted to tell them. Surely he’d understand that.

CHAPTER SIX

Cody leaned back in his chair. If there was one skill he wished Jo had picked up from her mother, cooking was it. Not that Jo was a bad cook, but she wasn’t anywhere near her mother’s caliber. He wasn’t about to say that to her, though. This dinner had been pretty awkward as it was.

He wasn’t exactly upset with her for not telling her mom about the pregnancy, That wasn’t something you shot across the dinner table while Mom was badgering you for grandchildren. But he’d hoped she’d at least be honest that they were considering it. Instead, she was trying to pretend nothing had changed.

“I made red velvet cheesecake for you, Jo.”

Cody glanced at his wife. Jo didn’t look happy at that, which was weird, since she always loved red velvet cheesecake. Actually, she was frowning, and her hand rested on her stomach. Was it because of the conversation or was it morning sickness?

He’d thought they were out of the morning sickness stage. She’d had it really bad, to the point where he’d thought she was really sick before he’d found out about the baby. But it had eased up lately. He’d thought she was on the mend.

“Great, Mom,” Jo said, but her voice was weak. “I’m a little full though.”

“You barely ate at all,” Cherry replied. “Are you sure you’re all right?” The children conversation had apparently been forgotten as Cherry’s concern for her daughter bled through. Cody was grateful for it.

“I’m fine, Mom.”

Cherry scrutinized her for a moment, not speaking and then sighed. “Okay. Fine.”

“Wow, honey, that almost sounded exactly like you.” Cody grinned, even as she scowled at him. Doug and Michele snickered. Jo shot them an evil I-might-kill-you look. It was true though. Jo had mannerisms she could have only gotten from her mother.

“Look, your father and I talked and I agreed to lay off the grandchildren talk for now,” Cherry said. “It’s obvious you two need to discuss it further so you’re on the same page.”

“Mom!” Jo swallowed, her neck muscles tensing.

“What?”

Cody took her hand, but she brushed him off. Enough was enough. Michele was being a spoiled little bitch and her mother was pushing her buttons. She wasn’t in any mental shape to deal with this. Cody could see that. Jo was reaching a boiling point. “We are on the same page. This is something we discussed when we got married. But I didn’t bother to tell you because I knew you’d act like this!”

Cherry didn’t reply, but her cheeks reddened with hot fury. Her jaw locked shut, another trait that Jo got from her mother.

“Excuse me for a minute. I feel like I’m going to be sick.” Jo covered her mouth and made her exit without waiting for an answer, and disappeared into the bathroom.

As the door shut, Cherry sighed. “I’m going to clean up.”