A Baby of Her Own (Dundee, Idaho #1)(47)
Author: Brenda Novak

“There you are,” she said to him. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“This is Mary,” Josh said. He took a drink from his beer bottle, since she had his glass, then tipped the mouth of it at a slight angle toward Conner. “Mary, have you met Clive Armstrong’s grandson?”

She shook her head, her smile bright. “This is Conner? I haven’t met him, but I’ve heard a lot about him.”

Conner could only imagine what.

“Congratulations on the coming baby, by the way,” she said. “I didn’t realize you and Delaney even knew each other before you moved to town.”

We didn’t, Conner thought, but he wouldn’t say it. He sensed Mary was probing, and whether Delaney deserved to have the truth catch up with her or not, he refused to leave her vulnerable to the ridicule of this woman or anyone else. “We once met in Boise,” he said, making it sound as though it was some time ago.

“That must have been a memorable meeting,” she said.

Conner smiled. “It was.”

Too memorable, he added mentally.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK they’re talking about?” Rebecca asked, covertly eyeing Conner and Josh when Billy Joe and Bobby went to the bar to get another drink.

Delaney set down her darts and took a stool, firmly keeping her back to Conner so she wouldn’t be tempted to stare. “Us. They keep glancing over here.” She knew because she caught Conner looking at her whenever she looked at him.

Rebecca bit her lip, and Delaney knew she wanted to smoke, just as she knew Rebecca would never let herself do it while Josh Hill was in the bar.

“I haven’t seen Josh for months and now I seem to run into him everywhere,” she complained.

“Maybe he’s trying to warn Conner about us,” Delaney said.

“No one’s ever warned anyone about you.”

“He’s too late, anyway.”

Rebecca didn’t seem to be listening. “And where there’s Josh, there’s Mary,” she added.

“Beck, you’re really scaring me. You’re getting married in a month, and yet I’m beginning to suspect you have some sort of interest in Josh.”

“Interest?” Rebecca cried. “I have no interest in Josh Hill. I’ve never even liked him. He’s the last person on earth I’d ever get with. I—I don’t even find him attractive.”

Delaney narrowed her eyes. “Okay, I know that’s a big lie.”

Rebecca glowered at her for a moment before answering. “All right, so six feet two inches of lean muscle, a calendar smile and golden-brown skin would be attractive to anyone. But the only feelings I have for him are bad feelings.”

“I don’t know, Beck. Methinks thou dost protest too much.”

“When I was eight, he made me wreck my bicycle and skin both my knees,” she said, as if this unfortunate incident was somehow relevant today.

“So? You paid him back by giving him a fat lip. Besides, that was twenty-three years ago. What’s your point?”

“That I don’t like him any more now than I did then.”

Delaney scrutinized Rebecca’s face. She knew her best friend too well to believe what she was saying, and yet Rebecca was so emphatic about it that Delaney could do nothing but accept her words at face value. “You’re sure, then? About Buddy, I mean?”

Rebecca waved her concern away. “Of course I’m sure.”

“How are you sure?” Delaney pressed.

“What do you mean?” Rebecca picked up her darts and threw a perfect bull’s-eye. “He loves me for who I am. And he…I don’t know.” She threw another dart and hit a ten, which didn’t count for anything. “There’s no pressure. It’s nice.”

“And Josh?” Delaney asked.

Rebecca threw her third dart, which missed the board entirely, bounced off the wall and hit the floor. The two groups playing on either side of them looked up in surprise. Rebecca gave them a glare that told them to mind their own business, and they went back to their respective games. “He and Mary are meant for each other,” she said. “Golden boy marries golden girl. High school quarterback marries high school cheerleader.”

Delaney scooped up her own darts, waited for Rebecca to remove hers from the board, then began to throw. “I hope you’re right—about Buddy, about Josh, about everything,” she said. “Because I’ve got to tell you, I’ve never met anybody as unlucky in love as we are.”

“Did someone say they want to get lucky?” Billy Joe piped up as he and his brother returned, coming in on the end of the conversation.

Bobby wiggled his brows at them. “Ladies, look no farther,” he said, but before Delaney and Rebecca could tell them both to quit dreaming, another man interrupted. A man who hadn’t previously been part of their group.

“Not tonight,” he said, and the sound of his voice made Delaney’s final throw veer off and nearly stab Rebecca. It was Conner. He was standing at their table, holding her coat, which she’d slung over a stool. “Come on, Delaney,” he said. “It’s time to go.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DELANEY BLINKED. “Did we have plans to leave together?” she asked.

For a moment Conner looked a little uncomfortable. “No, but it’s getting late and you need your rest.”

Delaney wasn’t ready to go. She was having fun for the first time in weeks. “But I’m not going back to the ranch,” she said, trying to understand why he was being so insistent. “I’m off for the weekend, remember?”

“I know,” he said. “I’ll give you a ride home.”

An assertive person stands up for her tastes, desires, values and opinions, Delaney told herself. An assertive person does not give in to the domination of others.

But an assertive person also recognizes the validity of others’ views. So she didn’t see any harm in standing up to Conner without making a scene.

“Will you excuse us for a moment?” she asked Rebecca, Billy Joe and Bobby, who were staring at them in surprise.

“Remember what I did to Josh when he skinned my knees?” Rebecca muttered. “All it takes is one punch.”

Delaney feared it wasn’t going to be as easy as one punch. “I’ll be right back,” she said, and took her coat from Conner.

“You tell him, Laney!” she heard Billy Joe call as they made their way out.