Heart and Snow (Texas Highlanders Ice Hockey) Read Online Free PDF Page B

bored there.”
    “I can watch the Cowboys game with your brother.”
    “You hate the Cowboys. Hell, you hate football.”
    “Better than tea with your little sister.”
    “She’s nineteen. She doesn’t do tea parties anymore.” Jo rolled her eyes for good measure.
    “See? Even better.” Cody grinned, wiping his face of that undecipherable expression he’d had.
    “You’re sure you wanna go?” Jo frowned. She was way apprehensive about being near her family with such a huge secret. She’d never kept anything from her family before. She needed to tell them soon, but she didn’t want their opinions clouding what should be between her and Cody.
    “Yeah. We should.”
    Jo scanned his face, looking for any of his usual tells when he was trying to spare her feelings, but found none. Could he actually want to see her family? Probably not, but he seemed sincere in his desire for her to be happy. The thought had her nearly in tears again. She grabbed a napkin and dabbed her eyes so it wouldn’t ruin her makeup. Slowly, she nodded. “Okay. We’ll go.”
    She raised the phone back up to her ear. “Sorry, Mom. Um, we’ll come up Thursday morning, okay?”
    “Great! I can’t wait! I’ll make my famous red velvet cheesecake for dessert.” That had Jo’s mouth watering. That was her favorite and her mother knew it.
    “Love you, Mom. See you then.”
    “Love you too!”
    Jo ended the call and set the phone down on the table. She ran her hand over her face, and stared at her half-eaten sandwich. Her stomach was starting that rumbling thing again. She glanced at Cody. “You’re sure about this, right?”
    He nodded. “It’s going to be fine.”
    Somehow she didn’t really believe him.

CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Week Seven
    Cody stared at the snow-covered house in front of them. Morning, Texas was just about the smallest town he’d ever seen. Tucked up in the panhandle of the large state, it was a sleepy little town. Even after ten years of marriage, he still was amazed by the quiet of the town.
    He’d always lived in a lot of cities. Montreal, Buffalo, Tampa Bay, and finally Fort Glasgow. His father had been through a lot of teams in his hockey career, bouncing from each for various reasons, most of which culminated in the one reason that mattered: Dad didn’t play well with others.
    His phone vibrated in the center console. He picked it up. Speak of the devil . He didn’t want to talk to his father right then. Not when they were about to see his in-laws. He ignored the call and shoved the phone in his pocket. He wasn’t sure what his father wanted, but he was sure it would make his day worse.
    Jo had passed out in the side next to him during the drive. It kind of made him smile, because they’d never had a trip where she stayed awake the whole time. In fact, he almost didn’t want to wake her then, because she hadn’t been sleeping well lately, but no doubt if he didn’t, her family would be coming out to see what was wrong. Plus, it was cold out there.
    He gently shook her shoulder. “Jo. We’re here.”
    She whined a little in her sleepy state and stretched as much as she could in the passenger seat. His eyes fell to her stomach. She wasn’t showing yet, even if she had the signs. Sometimes it didn’t seem real, this pregnancy thing. He could almost pretend it wasn’t real.
    She gripped the blanket over her body and opened her sleepy eyes, blinking a little in the light of the snow around them. “We’re here?”
    “Yeah. Let’s go say hi, and then I’ll come back for our bags later.”
    “I slept the whole way. I was supposed to drive partway…” Her sentence trailed off in a yawn. “Sorry.”
    “It’s okay.” Cody kissed her cheek. “You’ve been pretty tired lately. I’m glad you got some rest.”
    She sat up. He opened the door, bristling in the snippy cold of the winter air. This couldn’t be more than twenty degrees here. So different from six hours away, where the lowest average