Looking for Trouble

by Becky McGraw

  Jess snorted then shook her head and said, “Sure didn’t look like it when I walked up.”

  “That damned Cam Jessup was trying to rape me, and Wade ran him off,” Katie told her in a trembling voice. “I was hugging him to say thank you…nothing else.”

  Jess finally turned around to face them, and asked Wade, “Is that the guy I told off today at the steakhouse?” she asked Wade.

  “One and the same…he’s on a roll today, evidently,” Wade responded seriously, hoping her turning around meant she was listening to them.

  Katie smiled then chuckled, “You told him off today?”

  Jess’s eyes were wary when she looked at Katie, but she responded, “Yeah, he was giving Wade shit, and needed it.”

  “Oh, god, Katie, you should have been there, she was magnificent…” Wade said looking at Jess.

  “Wish I would have been there, bet it was something,” Katie said then huffed out a breath. “I’m a nervous wreck now, I probably should just drop out of the barrel racing competition, Laramie will be fit to be tied, cause he’ll know it.”

  “No—you need to go ride. Don’t let that bastard have the satisfaction, Kate…go get you a beer, and settle down, then ride…see if they’ll put you at the tail end.”

  She nodded then smiled at him and said, “Thanks again for the rescue…ya’ll have a good night,” then he watched her walk back toward the door.

  Turning to Jess he told her angrily, “You need to quit assuming things, darlin’…it’s getting old. I don’t want Katie, or Jazzie or anyone else, except you, so stop that shit.”

  “I could say the same with you and Beau…or any other cowboy I smile at when I perform. I only want you, and not anyone else, Wade. So, if I’m going to slay my green-eyed monster, you need to do that too.”

  She stuck out her pinkie to him and he had no idea what she wanted him to do, or was trying to tell him. He laughed and said, “Is that your way of flipping me off, sugar?”

  She hooted, and Angel jumped in her arms, then she soothed her and told him quietly, “No, that’s a pinkie swear, the most binding swear of all, between women…and now a woman and a man, so stick out your pinkie big boy…”

  He grinned and stuck out his pinkie and she hooked hers with his then pulled. “No more jealousy…it’s just you and me, got it?”

  “Got it…now let’s go back to the hotel, cause I’ve got plans for you.”

  ***

  Wade walked into the medic office the next morning to get help making sure his brace was on right. Working his way through the other cowboys in there he looked around for an available trainer, and they were all busy, so he took a seat and waited. Looking around the room, his eyes snagged on Cam Jessup up on a table getting his ribs taped. He was holding an ice bag to his left eye, and didn’t look too happy. Wade figured he must be hurting this morning from their scuffle last night.

  Good, the bastard deserved it, and then some, but Wade figured someone else would give him the rest of his ass whooping soon. It wouldn’t be him, that was for sure, he was here to ride, not fight. He was so close to winning that prize, he could taste it, and that’s where his eye was, not on fighting with that jackass.

  Earlier, Wade had gone to the barn and made his pull for his horse today, and he was excited about the horse he’d drawn. He hadn’t ridden him before, but a lot of the other cowboys had, and said he was a mean bucking bastard, and would give him a good ride, if he was man enough to stay on his back. Just the kind of horse he wanted today.

  Someone jump down from a table, and Wade walked over there quickly before someone else did. Hopping up on the table he pulled off his shirt, and handed the brace to the medic, then sat up straight so the guy could put it around him, then cringed as he laced it up tight. Wade was a little sore from yesterday, because he hadn’t ridden in so long, but it wasn’t enough to complain about. He’d ask for a couple of ibuprofen and suck it up…he knew how to do that, since he’d done it for sixteen years. He’d ridden in a helluva lot worse condition than he was today that was for sure.

  After the man finished lacing the brace, Wade twisted it a little to make it more comfortable, if that could happen. The damn thing was like a corset, and made moving fluidly nearly impossible. He thanked the trainer, then asked for some ibuprofen and a bottled water, which he took with him to go do his equipment check.

  He had about an hour to waste before it was his turn to ride, which gave him too damn much time to think. As many years as he’d been riding, he was a little nervous today. He’d ridden for bigger purses than this, and hadn’t been nervous, so he didn’t know why he was edgy today, but he needed to get over it, before he got on Black Jack’s back. That was the name of the horse he’d drawn…fourteen-hundred pounds of muscle and meanness.

  After he checked his reins, and saddle, he put on his chaps, thinking of how much Jess liked them last night, when he’d worn them for a different kind of riding. She was a mess…he’d never thought of chaps as sexy, but Jess sure as hell did. Wade knew he needed to deflect those thoughts, or he was going to wind up in a whole different kind of pain when he got on that horse. He put on his spurs and gloves, then went to find her for a good luck kiss…a quick one, not like the one yesterday.

  He walked down the alley, then the corridor between the seats and the arena, and looked up to find her. She was sitting on the first row again, and when her eyes met his, he grinned and climbed the scaffolding to get up there to her. “Hey, darlin’, I came to get my good luck kiss,” he told her.

  Jazzie and Beau chuckled and Jess stood up and walked over to him, then put her arms around his neck and he put his arms around her waist, and as usual the best laid plans led straight to perdition where they were concerned, and the kiss scorched his hair. She didn’t pull back, until Jazzie, Beau, and Gabe started clapping and whistling.

  She whispered by his ear, “Good luck, darlin’…be careful, and I love you.”

  He didn’t care about the audience they had, he kissed her again, then told her, “I love you too, sugar…and I think I used up all my luck when I found you again.”

  She put her forehead to his and told him with a chuckle, “You say some of the sweetest things…for a rough old cowboy.”

  “You callin’ me old again, darlin’? Remember the last time you did that?”

  “Boy do I…and no, I won’t make that mistake again,” she hooted, then kissed his cheek. “Get your butt in gear, you’ve got a competition to win.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he said with a grin then climbed back down to the ground, and went back to the pen where he’d left his gear.

  Cam Jessup was standing a few yards down talking to some of the other rookies in the competition, and cut him a hate-filled glare. He glared back telling him silently not to start his shit today. Wade was about at the end of his tether with that guy. He quickly picked up his gear and walked off to wait somewhere else for his turn to ride, away from Jessup. He found a few old buddies and dropped his gear there and they chilled out and talked.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Angel started fussing in her car seat, so Jess unhooked her and held her, while she gave her a bottle, and sang softly to her. Wade’s ride should be coming up soon, she thought. Half the cowboys had ridden, and Beau told her Wade’s ride was about halfway through the group. She hadn’t seen him again, since he’d come up there for his good luck kiss, and she hoped he was relaxing and getting focused. She also hoped that guy from last night was leaving him alone, because he didn’t need that distraction.

  She’d mentioned what happened to Beau, and he’d been upset and wanted to go talk to the guy, but she told him that Katie wanted it left alone, so he didn’t. Gabe was pretty pissed too, but she’d sworn both of them to secrecy, because she knew that Karlie would go off like a mama bear if she found out about it, and then Katie would probably be pissed at her.

  “And next up will be Wade Roberts, former PRCA Bareback World Champion, and the leader in the saddle bronc competit
ion, riding Black Jack, a mean black bucking machine from B&H Stables in Tulsa, Oklahoma…” the colorful announcer told the crowd. Anxiety pulsed through Jess and she pulled the bottle from Angel’s lips and put it back in the bag, then put her to her shoulder and stood up, shaking her to burp her.

  Jazzie got up and stood beside her and put her hand on her back, and said, “This is it…he’s gonna do good, sugar, don’t worry.” Beau and Gabe got up at the rail too, and were watching intently, as Wade climbed over the fence into the chute, and waited for the handlers to get the horse under control. He slid down on the horse’s back then jumped back when he reared and pawed the air. The handlers pulled him back down again, and Wade pushed his hat on his head then tried it again. This time he managed to get on the dancing animal’s back and grab the reins, then slid up on it’s back. He jerked the saddle horn, then lifted his hand up in the air then leaned back a little and gave a confident nod to the person at the gate.

  To Jess, it seemed like the gate swung open in slow motion, and the animal took a huge leap out through the opening and Wade planted his heels right above the black and white horse’s shoulders and held them there, until the horse’s front feet touched the ground. Then like a boat riding a huge swell, the horse reared again, and launched off of its back feet to catapult him and Wade through the air. Wade kept spurring him in the shoulders with his toes pointed out, as the horse switched directions crazily, and seemed damned and determined to throw him off. It was amazing how well Wade kept his balance with one hand high in the air through the horrific twisting and turning the horse was doing.

  The buzzer sounded, then a split second later, it looked like Wade was going to get off the horse, but instead, the horse bucked and his backend hit Wade in the back, which launched him forward. He grabbed the saddle horn, but instead of steadying him, he flew over the horse’s neck with the saddle in his hand. He flipped once in the air and landed on his back hard, and didn’t move. The horse was dancing and bucking crazily around him, and almost stepped on him a couple of times, before some other cowboys raced out there to help him. Jess lost her breath and sickness welled up inside of her. Screaming his name she handed Angel to Jazzie, then ran down the aisle past Beau and Gabe, down the steps and to the backstage area, so she could get to Wade. When she got to the pen area, she saw two red-shirted men running out there with a stretcher and her heart sank to her knees, and she gagged a couple of times, then took a deep breath trying to stop the blood that rushed to her head.

  Her ears were buzzing, but she was determined not to pass out, so she sucked in one more breath and took off out into the arena where the crowd of cowboys were surrounding him, and she stopped when she saw a man with a stethoscope was kneeling down working on him. “I need an ambu bag!” the doctor yelled, then added, “And a back board and C-collar…quick!”

  One of the red-shirted guys took off for the backstage area, and the doctor started pumping on Wade’s chest, and a wail worked its way out of Jess as she faded to her knees, sobbing wildly. She knew what that man was doing, and it wasn’t just giving him smelling salts, because he was unconscious. Her breathing came in short pants, as anxiety overwhelmed her and the black dots that had been spotting her vision, closed in to a black curtain. She heard voices from far away and then felt herself sinking to the ground.

  Something pungent tickled the bottom of her nose and she wiggled it, then coughed as ammonia shot straight up her nasal passage with her next breath. She coughed again then gagged and finally opened her eyes to see some guy with a worried frown leaning over her, then she heard a wail and Jazzie ran around the bed and threw herself over her chest hugging her and crying.

  “Oh, god, you scared the crap out of me, Jess…” she sobbed, then everything came back to Jess and she sat straight up on the table and screamed and then sobbed Wade’s name, holding her stomach, because it felt like the acid in there was eating a hole in it.

  Jazzie grabbed her shoulders and hugged her, “Shh…they took him to the hospital to get checked out…Beau can take us,” she told her brokenly.

  Jess grabbed her shoulders and asked frantically, “Did you see him when he left?”

  Jazzie shook her head and her thick black hair danced around her shoulders. “No, I was worried about you, they were taking care of him.”

  Panic shot through Jess and she asked Jazzie, “Where’s Angel!” then got down off the table and her legs almost gave out again, because she landed wrong on the cast. The guy who’d been taking care of her grabbed her and helped steady her.

  She put her hand on his arm, and asked him, “Did you see Wade, before they took him to the hospital?”

  “No ma’am…I was taking care of you,” he said with a shake of his head.

  “Gabe and Karlie have Angel, they’re going to keep her, so we can go to the hospital…let’s go,” she said then they walked quickly down the long hallway and outside, where Beau was waiting for them, by the truck. He was on the phone, and frowning.

  When they got to his side, Jess heard the last of his conversation, and her heart about stopped. Her heart skipped a few beats then she asked, “Someone intentionally hurt Wade?”

  Beau’s eyebrows drew together and he told her in a sympathetic voice, “Looks that way, sugar…they cut the strap on his saddle. It’s a miracle it didn’t break while he was riding, that’s what the other cowboys and officials who looked at it said. I have it in a bag in my truck for evidence. We arrested Cam Jessup…the judges and administration disqualified him too. Wade won the competition, and they have his check when he gets out of the hospital.”

  Jazzie had put her arm around Jess’s shoulders, and Jess shrugged it off then got in Beau’s face and demanded, “Where is that sonofabitch, I’m gonna kick his ass from here to next Sunday!”

  Beau took her shoulders and told her, “Calm down, Jess…he’s going to jail, honey, that’s basically attempted murder, if the prosecutor decides to go that route. There were witnesses…and he bragged about it to a few people, and I’m hoping that saddle might have his fingerprints on it. I got his knife too, and I’m sending it to forensics with the saddle.”

  Jess huffed out a breath, then her shoulders wilted. “Thanks for doing all that, Beau, I hope they lock him up and throw away the key.”

  “If they don’t, there’s a line of people who want to kick his ass…he’ll be safer in jail,” Beau said with a chuckle.

  All she cared about was Wade, and she needed to get to him now. “Can we go to the hospital now? Have you heard anything about Wade?” she asked in a trembling voice.

  “I haven’t heard anything, I’ve been working on gathering evidence and getting that bastard where he should be, sorry…” he told her with sympathy in his eyes.

  “Don’t be sorry—that needed to be done, but I’m so damned worried about Wade, I wanna be sick,” she told him and clutched her stomach that felt like someone was shoving hot knives in it.

  “Hospital isn’t too far, hop in,” he said and she and Jazzie ran around the truck and got in.

  When they got to the hospital, he let her and Jazzie out at the door of the emergency room, then went to park the truck. She ran through the door, then looked around, and ran to the admitting desk, where a nurse was sitting. “Please tell me where Wade Roberts is…how’s he doing?” she asked frantically, leaning over the desk.

  He’s in ER-5, but you can’t go back there unless you’re a relative, the woman told her. “I’m Jess Sparks, his fiancé, and the mother of his daughter,” she lied, not caring about their damned rules. She couldn’t very well say, “I’m his lover, and we’re playing house,” because that was about the extent of their relationship right now.

  “Some of his friends are here in the waiting room, over there,” she pointed out the room, then said, “But I’ll show you to the examining room, so you can talk to the doctors.”

  “Thank you,” she said with a relieved sigh and followed the nurse down the hall. When she walked into the room and saw all
the wires attached to him, Jess whimpered, then ran over there and fell on top of him, sobbing. The nurse pulled her off of him, and told her, “He’s still unconscious, honey…they’re about to take him for an MRI on his back…maybe it’d be better if you go wait in the waiting room with the others. I’ll come and get you when the doctor has news.”