Free Rough Drafts by J. A. Armstrong Page B

to
think like this too if she comes on board.”
    “I know,” Candace admitted. “I don’t have to like
it, Dana.”
    “No, you don’t,” Dana agreed. “How about J.D.?”
Dana changed the subject. “How does she like all these grandchildren?” Dana
asked with a smirk.
    Candace finally chuckled. “Truthfully, I think she loves
it,” Candace said. “You know her, she’s just a big kid at heart.”
    “Candy…”
    Candace sighed. “I know, Dana.”
    Dana nodded. “Did you really put in a word for Jason to work on Senator Maupin’s
campaign?”
    Candace shrugged. “He’s good at what he does. He needs
to learn boundaries. Gordon will be good for him,” Candace said. “Enough about
campaigns. I still have a job,” she reminded her friend. “So, let’s talk what
is happening today. ”
    ***
    “Shit. J.D., that sucks,” Jonah said flatly after
hearing her recap the story of Craig’s death.
    Jameson laughed. “You sure have a way with words,”
she said in amusement.
    Jonah shrugged. “Well, it does,” he said.
    “Yeah, it does. It did. Suck, I mean,” Jameson
said.
    “Puts my problem in perspective,” Jonah said
quietly.
    Jameson regarded him thoughtfully for a moment as
Jonah drew patterns in the condensation on his beer glass. “Jonah?” she called
over to him. “What’s going on?”
    Jonah took a sip from his beer and then looked at
Jameson. “J.D., it’s complicated.”
    “What is?”
    “Things with Laura. They’re just—complicated.”
    “Complicated, how?” Jameson asked.
    “I just don’t know what is going to happen when she
tells her parents,” Jonah said.
    Jameson waited for Jonah to continue. When he didn’t, she decided to press lightly. “Look,
you don’t have to tell me anything,” she said.
    “I don’t think they are going to be very
accepting,” he said.
    “Of the baby or of you?” Jameson inquired.
    “Both,” he said. “They’ll expect us to get married,
I think. And, even then….I don’t know.”
    “I’m guessing her parents are a bit conservative?” Jameson
asked.
    “Understatement.”
    “Is it you that you are afraid they will have an
issue with or is it your mom?” she asked him.
    Jonah chuckled nervously. “Oh, they’ll have an
issue with me. They will definitely have an issue with who I am. I’m screwed.”
    “Do you mind me asking; what does Laura think?”
    “I don’t know. She’s scared shitless to tell them,”
he said. “I have no idea what will happen. I just know it isn’t going to be
fun.”
    “Maybe it won’t be as bad as you think,” Jameson
said.
    Jonah laughed. “It will be.”
    “I’m sorry, Jonah.”
    “No,” Jonah said. “Shit, J.D., I’m the one who is
sorry. Sorry that Laura has to deal with
this. Sorry that it might hurt Mom. It’s all my fault.”
    “It’s not anyone’s fault, ”
Jameson said. “Sometimes things happen. It’s just life, Jonah. You need to give
yourself a break,” she told him. Jonah lifted his eyebrow. “That’s freaky,”
Jameson said.
    “What is?”
    “That!” Jameson pointed to him. “That’s the look
your mother gives me when I’m in trouble for something.”
    Jonah chuckled. “Get in trouble often?” he asked.
    “I plead the fifth,” Jameson said as she lifted her
beer and took a sip.
    “Just seems like maybe you should take your own
advice,” he said.
    “Come again?”
    “Well, like you said, sometimes things happen,”
Jonah repeated her words. Jameson sighed. “Hey, I can’t imagine how pissed you
must have been,” he admitted. “Man, if that happened to Marianne or Shell…or
Rick? I’d be pissed. I don’t know who I would be the most pissed at, though,”
he said.
    “What do you mean?” Jameson asked.
    Jonah shrugged. “Well, I mean let’s say it was
Shell and Marianne and Shell died. I don’t know if I would be angrier at
Marianne or at Shell. I don’t know what I would do without them, you know?
They’re annoying as hell, but as sisters