The Temporary Roomie (It Happened in Nashville 2)

Lucy takes a sip of her watermelon margarita. “I don’t know. Just be careful, Drew. She’s been through a lot, and not in the way that most people have ‘been through a lot’ but then you learn really someone just ran over their dog when they were a kid and that’s the only tragic thing that’s ever happened to them. Jessie has already been through more heartache than most people experience in a lifetime.”

My mind races back to the night she blew up at me over mentioning her mom. “What sort of heartache?” Am I even allowed to be asking that? Jessie would probably murder me if she knew I was prying into her life without permission.

Cooper gives Lucy a private look. It’s annoying.

“I know, but I have to tell him!” she says with wide eyes. “Jessie NEVER will, and I’m afraid if he doesn’t know, he’ll go too far.” She turns back toward me just as someone hops up to the mic and blows into it. Music starts up, forcing her to have to practically yell over Hit Me Baby One More Time. “Jessie’s mom died in a car crash when she was little.”

In no way do those words match the pop song being screeched over the speaker. It almost feels irreverent.

“But that’s not all,” Lucy continues. “Her dad was a deadbeat and split while Jessie was just a baby. Even after her mom died, he never came back.” No wonder Jessie doesn’t want to talk about her family.

“So her grandparents raised her?”

Lucy nods. “Until her grandma died while Jessie was still really little. Her grandpa raised her alone since then. Isn’t that horrible? She’s literally lost everyone in her family besides her grandaddy. And though most of it happened when she was too young to remember, I know it hurts her still, especially now that she’s pregnant and having to answer so many questions about her medical history.”

I sink five inches down in my seat, wishing I could slide all the way to the floor. I’m an idiot, the biggest idiot to ever walk the face of the earth.

The woman’s pitchy voice bellowing through the speakers drowns out our chances at conversation for the next two minutes, and I’m left alone with my thoughts. Once she trips off the stage, I lean forward and ask the question I’ve been dying to get an answer to. The last piece of the Jessie puzzle.

“What about her child’s father? Is he in her life at all?” I haven’t noticed any dudes hanging around or her talking on her phone too much, so I doubt it. But still, I need to know for sure. Not sure exactly why I feel the need to know, but I do.

Lucy shakes her head. “That’s the one thing I still don’t know about. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but Jessie is extremely closed off to any kind of personal talk.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“Yeah, so all I know is that he left. Not sure why, but it’s definitely been hard on her.”

This news is pulling some very strong and unexpected feelings from me. Because I’m her friend? Because I’m a doctor and hate having to see women birth their children alone? Because no one deserves the sort of life she’s had so far? I think it’s a mix of those reasons and also another one that I’m not willing to admit yet.

My sister sighs. “It breaks my heart that she’s been so mistreated…especially when she’s literally the sweetest.”

I scoff. “Unless she’s around me—then she’s the feistiest, least agreeable woman on the planet.” And completely adorable.

Cooper is eyeballing that stage like it holds all his unrealized dreams, but Lucy leans forward, eyes narrowed on me. “I know! Which has always been odd to me. You seem to trigger her in ways no one else does. Literally, no one. Jessie loves everyone—but not you. She’s strongly opposed to—”

I hold up my hand. “Yeah, yeah, I get the point.”

“Just hide in her closet and jump out and scare her,” says Cooper, still staring at the stage and clearly only halfway tuned into this conversation.

“Huh?” Lucy and I both say at the same time.

Cooper begrudgingly drags his eyes back to our table and shrugs while taking a sip of his beer. “Oldest prank in the book. Hide, and then jump out and scare her. Simple. Easy. Effective. No preparation needed.”

I stare at him. “That’s a terrible idea.”

“Is it? She’ll scream, you both will laugh, she’ll fake punch you or something, you’ll pull her up close, and then BOOM—making out before you know it.”

Because I’m excellent at keeping my emotions concealed, Cooper has no way of knowing that his idea has my heart hammering against my chest with excitement when I say, “I’m trying to get back at her for all of her pranks—not make out with her.”

Both Lucy and Cooper laugh in a way I don’t appreciate.

“Okay, suuuuure.” Lucy leans into Cooper’s side so he can drape his arm around her.

Cooper smiles. “We all know all this fighting and pranking between you two is nothing but sexual tension. You like her; she likes you—”

“But you guys are too stubborn to admit it, so you have to revert back to adolescent ways to test the waters.”

I bounce my finger between the two of them snuggled up in the booth. “I really hate when you two do this. Your united front is obnoxious.”