by Becky McGraw
Karlie chuckled, “Those saddle bums will be jealous for sure…you better keep a close eye on them.”
Jess was eerily quiet beside him, while he and Karlie joked around, and he cringed when she finally asked in a low and lethal tone, “What did Karlie mean, Wade?”
Trying to delay the inevitable explosion, he purposely misunderstood and said, “They’ll be jealous because they don’t have such a beautiful girlfriend and little girl…”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” she grated then pinned Karlie with her narrowed green glare, “What did you mean Karlie? What’s wrong with his back?”
Karlie’s face flushed then she held up her hands and said, “I’m sorry Wade, I thought you told her why you quit riding…”
“I think he left a few details out, why don’t you tell me…” Jess told her sweetly, then gave him a glance that could have set his hair on fire.
Sabrina walked up right then with a big smile, which wilted a little when she evidently noticed the tension at the table. Wade smiled at her and said, “Hey gorgeous, where’s my handsome godson?”
“He’s in the office taking a nap,” she said then looked down at Angel and her smile lit up again. “Oooh, there’s my beautiful little girl. Will and I have missed you, darlin’,” she said then got on her knees beside the car seat and kissed Angel’s hair.
“You look so beautiful today…that dress is just spectacular, you look like a ray of sunshine,” Sabrina told her, then put her finger in Angel’s fist. Angel jerked it up and down with her arm, then smiled at Sabrina. With a shake of her head, Sabrina stood back up then said, “Jess you named her right…she really is a little angel,” she told her with a grin.
Jess smiled at her, but Wade noticed it didn’t quite reach her eyes…they were glittering angrily. “Thanks, Bri…we have to go see Will before we leave too. We’ll have ya’ll to dinner, as soon as the house is finished…the contractor says three months or so,” she said.
“I can’t wait to see the new house, I’ll bet you’re excited, huh?”
“Very…it’s gonna be awesome,” Jess agreed.
Sabrina looked around the crowded cafe, then said with a smile, “I better quit dawdling…what’ll ya’ll have?”
They all ordered the special, meat loaf, mashed potatoes and butterbeans, with sweet tea, and Sabrina left to go to put the orders in. Wade was about to sigh in relief, thinking he’d dodged the question for a while, but Jess was like a dog with a bone.
Looking back at Karlie, she repeated her earlier question and Wade flinched, “So, Karlie, tell me about why Wade quit riding,” then put her chin on her fist starting at Karlie intently.
Karlie looked at Wade with an apology in her eyes, then swallowed and said, “He broke his back and the doctor told him if he rode again, he could be paralyzed, so he quit…but they said the surgery helped.”
Wade heard Jess whimper, then she stood up and it took a second to get steady on her feet, then she leaned down and picked up the car seat. Without another glance his way, or word, she walked out of the cafe.
“Fuck,” Wade muttered then shoved up to his feet.
“I’m sorry, Wade,” Karlie said with tears in her eyes, and Gabe put his arm around her shoulders.
“Not your fault, sugar…I’ll work it out. Cancel our orders will you?” he said then turned and hurried after Jess.
By the time he got past the crowd waiting by the door to check out and got outside, Jess was halfway down the sidewalk to the bar, so he yelled her name then took off running, but she didn’t stop. The cast had her moving in rolling gait, and she’d perfected it to move quickly now, even carrying the car seat.
“Jess, wait!” he yelled again, then stopped when he got beside her. She didn’t look at him, or even acknowledge that he was there. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but Karlie didn’t have it right. You know how rumors go…”
“I know how liars go…you lied to me, Wade.”
“I did not lie to you,” he protested, because he hadn’t. He just didn’t tell her about it, that was different…and she hadn’t asked. She assumed he’d quit because he was too old, and he let her believe it.
She stopped and turned to face him, her face was bright red, and her eyes glittered. “Okay, well you didn’t tell me…and don’t you think that was an important fact to omit? The fact that my baby’s father could be paralyzed, because he’s too fucking stupid to stay off a wild animal?”
“Broncs aren’t wild, Jess…they’re trained to be bucking stock. My daddy raised them in Arizona.”
Jess snorted, then shook her head, before she said sarcastically, “Tell that to the fucking horse that’s gonna put you in a wheelchair,” then she turned and stalked the rest of the way to the front entrance of the bar. She yanked on the door and it was locked, so she walked around the corner toward the back.
“Where are you going? Stop and talk to me!” Wade yelled, then followed her.
“There’s nothing to talk about…you made your decision, and I made mine. I’m not sticking around while you do something you know could get you killed.”
Panic surged through him, and Wade grabbed her shoulders and stopped her, then hissed, “You’re not leaving me dammit!”
“Watch me. You ride in that event, and I’m done, because I need a man who puts us first…doesn’t take those kind of chances. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you break my heart, Wade Roberts…or Angel’s. We don’t need that shit,” she told him with tears in her eyes. “I love you, and if you love me, you should give a crap about taking care of yourself for us.”
Wade dropped his hands from her shoulders, as anger replaced the fear he’d felt a moment ago. He didn’t bend to ultimatums, and that’s damned well what she’d just given him. Yeah, he loved her, but he wasn’t going to be shoved around because of it.
“I don’t like ultimatums, Jess. Those don’t work real well with me,” he told her in a low serious voice.
Her lips twisted sadly and she told him in a voice barely above a whisper, “I’m sorry to hear that, Wade…” then she opened the door and walked inside the bar, shutting it behind her.
The urge to go after her was strong, but he knew if he caved in now, she’d do it again, and he wasn’t going to live his life that way. If that was the kind of woman she was…he didn’t need it. His dad had been married to a woman like that, his mother, and Wade had watched it growing up. He loved his mother, but she was manipulative and used every tool in her arsenal to control those around her.
With every threat that his father had bowed to, he became less and less of a man, and more and more of a lap dog. Wade wasn’t going to live like that. He wasn’t that man, and if that’s what Jess wanted, she did need to find someone else, as much as it ripped out his heart to think about that.
Thinking about his mom, brought to mind that he hadn’t even let her know she had a grandbaby yet, or taken Angel and Jess to meet her in Phoenix. Now, he didn’t know if that would happen…because he was going to ride this weekend, now if nothing but for the principle.
Shaking his head, Wade walked back down the alley and went back to where his truck was parked at the police station. Maybe Jess would cool off and think about what she was doing, he hoped so anyway. He hated to go into this weekend with that weight on his shoulders. She should be supporting him, not throwing around gauntlets, like he was supporting her singing career.
The whole damned reason he was riding in the event to begin with was to help her…make things right, so she didn’t have to worry.
***
Jess was a blubbering mess by the time she got to the bottom of the stairs up to the living quarters above the bar. She sat Angel’s car seat on the ground then yelled up the stairs for Jazzie. She needed her best friend to shore up her confidence that she’d made the right decision. Regardless, she wasn’t changing it, because she and Angel deserved better than Wade was giving them right now.
Sucking in a shuddering breath, she
yelled for Jazzie again, and finally, her friend appeared at the top of the stairs with her hair in a towel, and one wrapped around her body. When she saw her, she gasped then ran down the stairs, holding the towels. “What’s wrong, Jess?” Jazzie asked her then put her arms around her.
“W-w-wade and I broke up,” Jess wailed then hugged Jazz to her.
Angel woke up with all the caterwauling and started wailing too, and Jess groaned then stepped back from Jazzie and bent to get her out of the car seat. “He’s going to kill himself this w-w-eekend at the st-st-stupid rodeo,” Jess said brokenly, as she pulled Angel up into her arms and hugged her tightly.
“He’s a professional rodeo rider, Jess…why do you think he’s going to get killed? And what event? Where?”
“D-d-dallas, and he’s going to ride broncos to get money to b-b-uy my contract from Ray.”
“Um…what contract?” Jazzie asked in an edgy tone.
“I signed a two year contract with that record company where Ray works…and gave him rights to the three new songs,” she told Jazzie standing up with Angel in her arms.
“What?!?!” Jazz screeched then threw her hands up in the air and yelled, “Why the hell would you do that?”
“To get Wade out of jail…to get Ray to drop the charges, and promise not to sue him…I had to do it.”
“That’s probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, Jessie,” she told her then went and sat down at a table and put her head in her hands.
“Wade wouldn’t have gotten out…he’d have probably gone to prison,” Jess told her then went and sat down too…he didn’t have money to get out or hire a lawyer, because of us and the house.”
“There had to be something else you could’ve done other than get hooked up with Ray again! Does Travis know?”
“No, I haven’t told him yet, either…it was my decision to make, Jazz.”
“Well, we have something to say about it too, Jess…you’re not a one woman show!”
“I know that, but the songs were mine, and so is my career. If you guys want to leave me, I’d hate it, but I understand. It’s done, so there’s nothing I can do, other than what they tell me to do.”
“Bullshit there isn’t! That bastard stole your other songs, and he stole all your money. He mismanaged you! And now you’re going to let him use you again…that bastard knew what he was doing when he came here the other night.”
“I know he did…he said he’d done it on purpose. He laughed at me, but there’s no way I can prove it. He also said he’d sue Wade, and I can’t let that happen, Jazzie…I love him.”
“If you love him, why the hell did you break up with him?”
“He’s gonna ride in that event this weekend, even though he knows he might be…” her lips quivered and the word didn’t want to go past her throat, but she shoved it out, “paralyzed.”
“Paralyzed! What the hell?” Jazzie yelled and shot up from her seat.
“He said he quit the rodeo, because he was too old…but I found out today it was because he broke something in his back, and the doctors told him if he rode again he could wind up paralyzed.”
“Holy shit!” Jazzie said then fell to her knees beside Jess’s chair. “No wonder you’re upset!”
“Yeah, I couldn’t make him change his mind, so I told him that if rode, we were done…and he’s going to do it anyway.”
Jazzie’s eyes narrowed and she asked, “Is that how you put it to him, Jess?”
With a wail, Jess admitted, “Yeah, I thought that was the only way he’d change his mind.”
“Jesus, Jess…you know men better than that! If you do that, he’ll do it just to show you he’s not going to let you control him like that!”
“That’s exactly what happened, but I’m still not going back on what I said, Jazz. He should have put me and Angel first, cared more about staying healthy for us, than fucking money,” Jess told her then put a hand up to her mouth, because she felt sick at her stomach.
“We’ll get Red to find someone else to play this weekend, and we’ll go see the rodeo,” Jazz told her then squeezed her shoulder. “At least if something happens, you’ll be there for him.”
“I don’t know if I can watch it now, Jazz…what if something does happen?”
“Then you’ll just have to help him get through it, Jess. He’s doing this for you, whether you want him to do it or not. Damn Ray Turner for forcing him into this…and damn you for falling for Ray’s tricks, Jess.”
“I did what I had to do…and I don’t regret it. What’s two years compared to losing Wade, and Ray taking him to the cleaners?” Jess said then tears poured down her face again, “But it looks like I’m going to lose him anyway.”
“Not if I can help it,” Travis said from where he’d been standing on the steps listening. Jess didn’t know how long he’d been there, but his face was mottled with rage, and his jaw was clenched. “Wade called me and told me what was going on, he wants a copy of the disk with the financial records from when Ray was your manager.”
“Why does he want that? There’s nothing there,” Jess said flatly.
“He has a forensic accountant friend in Dallas, he wants to get to look them over and see what he thinks. If we can find proof that Ray mismanaged your money, or embezzled money, we have leverage to help get you out of the contract…and have him arrested.”
“I have to find the thumb drive, it’s in a fire safe box, and I think it’s upstairs in one of the boxes I have stored here.”
“Let’s go look for it, Wade gave me the guy’s email address, so I can send the files to him.”
“Was Wade okay, Trav?” Jess asked him in a teary voice.
“No, he’s not okay, sis…and neither am I, because you signed that contract behind our backs. What he’s trying to do is save your ass from two years of hell with Ray Turner, and you basically slapped him in the face.”
Anger surged up inside of Jess, because although some of this was her fault, Wade wasn’t innocent here either. “Did he tell you that if he rides this weekend, he could wind up paralyzed, Trav? Did he mention that?” she told him in an escalating frantic voice.
Travis’s face blanched and he said, “No he didn’t mention that…what’s going on?”
“He has something wrong with his back, and if he rides and gets hurt, he could be paralyzed for life. That is why I was so upset, and said what I did. If something happens to him, where will that leave Angel and me then?”
“Not in a good place for sure…I’m going to call him back,” Travis said and pulled out his phone.
“No don’t!” Jess yelled, then held up a hand and said, “You don’t need to get in the middle of this, Trav…just get him the files he wanted…and leave it be. Wade is gonna do what Wade wants to do, no matter what we say about it.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Late Friday afternoon, before their show, Jess was getting ready for the show upstairs in the room Jazzie and Travis were sharing. She had to borrow clothes from Jazz, because she hadn’t brought anything with her from the bunkhouse.
Last night after the show, Travis, Jazzie and Den had helped get her up the stairs, so she could sleep in the room with Jazzie and Travis. But she hadn’t done much sleeping, mostly she’d lain awake all night worrying about Wade…and missing him. She couldn’t eat either, because her stomach was a vat of acid from the out of control emotions she was battling with inside.
Jess had reapplied her makeup twice now, because she couldn’t control the damned waterworks that sprang up out of the blue. Jazz just sat on the bed watching her and shaking her head when they started again. Travis had gotten the hell out of Dodge, smart man that he was. There was no telling what was going to come out of her mouth next…she’d yelled at everyone at least once today, so far, even Angel, she thought then the tears welled up in her eyes again.