Looking for Trouble

by Becky McGraw

  “Get in touch with that accountant, supposedly Trav has been working with him too. Between the four of us, we can nail his ass, I know it. Then we’ll contact the authorities and have him arrested, and file a civil suit too, if we have to do that to get some of the money back.”

  Jazzie snorted, then said, “Don’t hold your breath about getting money back from him…he spends it like water, you know that.”

  “Yeah, but I think he stashed a lot too, we just have to find it…and we will. We need to schedule that studio time Travis set up for us, and cut some demos of the new songs, maybe hit a few radio stations.”

  “I like your new attitude, Jess…it’s good to see you back to your old self again.”

  “My heart hurts like hell, but that’s always good for writing, huh? Angst and heartache make for good song material. I should be able to write some chart toppers right now,” she said in a nasally voice, with a watery chuckle.

  “I reckon, sugar…let’s get out of here, there’s probably all kinds of nasty stuff on this floor,” Jazzie told her then scrunched up her nose and stood up.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Beau took them back to the arena, and Jess and Jazzie got Angel from Karlie and Gabe, who had lots of questions she wasn’t going to answer. She thanked them then Beau took them to Jazzie’s parent’s house, and dropped them off, telling them he had to get back to Lubbock tonight, and it was a long drive.

  Jess thanked him and they went inside the large patchwork house that had been added on to over the years to accommodate the six kids in the Ramos family. All but the youngest, twenty-three-year-old Frankie, who was about to graduate from college with a degree in engineering, had moved out now, so they had plenty of room when the kids boomeranged back home for a little while.

  When they walked in the door, Mrs. Ramos came bounding out of the kitchen yelling Jazzie’s name, which to her was Jasmine, pronounced with a Y for the J, so it came out sounding like Yaz-mean…and unfortunately, hers was Yessie, she thought with a chuckle. The beautiful, still young looking, Latina woman turned her attention to Jess after she finished hugging the stuffing out of Jazzie, and gave her the same treatment.

  That’s why Jess had always loved staying with this family, they were real, they loved each other and weren’t afraid to show it…and they treated her like she was part of their family. What you saw was what you got with them, you never had to guess what they were thinking or feeling, because they let you know.

  And as soon as Mrs. Ramos caught sight of Angel, she dropped to her knees and took her out of the car seat and oohed and ahhed over her, then stood back up with her on her shoulder. From staying with them, while she was pregnant, then for a month or so afterwards, she knew that it would be a rare occasion that she got to hold her daughter here. For all intents and purposes, Mrs. Ramos was Angel’s yaya, or grandmother, but definitely not the first grandchild.

  Jazzie’s older brothers, Chichi and Raffie, were married and each had two kids and her next oldest brother, Joe was engaged, so it wouldn’t be long, before he added more to her brood. Tall and entirely too good-looking for his own good, her brother Carlos was just a year older than her and Jazzie, and a was confirmed ladies man. He’d told her he was having too much fun shopping to buy the cow…his version of ‘why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free’, she supposed. When they all got together for family picnics or barbeques, it was quite an experience, sort of like a circus sometimes, but Jess loved every minute of it.

  “Come in the kitchen with me, I just finished making enchiladas for supper, there’s plenty,” she said and Jess and Jazzie followed like ducklings behind her. The delicious smelling food wafted out of the kitchen and teased her senses, before she ever got into the kitchen, “Smells fantastic, mama,” she told her. After the state of her nerves earlier, Jess thought it would be a long time, before she wanted to eat again, but her stomach growled, and she went to the cabinet and pulled down a plate for her, and one for Jazzie.

  She heard the front door open, and leaned around the doorframe to see Carlos come through the door with a big smile on his face. He was like clockwork coming home to eat, although he had his own apartment.

  “Ooh, enchiladas!” he said excitedly, and drew in a deep breath, then went to kiss his mother’s cheek. Jess reached back in the cabinet for another plate, and set it on the counter, because she knew what was coming next.

  “Jess! My little songbird!” he said then ran over and swung her up into the air and around in a circle, before he set her down and kissed her lips. “You’re even more beautiful than the last time I saw you, chica, when are you gonna marry me?”

  “You’re not getting married, remember? I’m a cow…” she told him, then kissed his cheek.

  “But you’re my kind of cow, mi ángel perfecto,” he told her near her ear.

  She pushed his shoulder and told him, “I’m not perfect, and definitely not an angel, so save your moves for those women of yours…you’re kissing your sister here, remember that,” she told him with a chuckle.

  His face scrunched up, then he turned his passion on the enchiladas, which he piled liberally on the plate she’d pulled down for him, then went to the table and started shoveling them into his mouth. Jess chuckled, because he was like a big Labrador Retriever puppy, easily distracted and always hungry.

  As she expected, mama slapped him on the shoulder and told him to slow down. Frankie came bounding downstairs and went to the cabinet, then piled his plate up too, then grabbed a fork, and sat beside his brother to start shoveling himself. He didn’t even say hello, he’d probably been upstairs studying and smelled dinner. Frankie was a bookworm, and always made good grades in school.

  “How’s school going Franco?” Jess asked him, as she served herself then Jazzie some food, making sure to leave some for papa, who wasn’t home from work yet. He owned a garage, but not just any garage, a high-end one that specialized in expensive sports cars and imports. Chichi and Raffie worked there with him.

  “Great,” he told her in between bites, “Last semester…I got a job lined up already in Austin.”

  “Oh yeah, mama’s letting you move away?” she asked with a chuckle, and sat down at the table.

  “Gotta go where the money is…and the job I got is amazing,” he told her then looked up at last and gave her a smile.

  “Congrats, that’s good to hear little brother,” she said and was really glad he was doing well. “We’re gonna miss you…”

  He snorted, then told her, “You’re not gonna miss me, because you and Jazzie never let grass grow under your feet. Ya’ll are all over the place playing.”

  He was right, they didn’t usually stay put long. The gig in Bowie was probably the longest they’d stayed anywhere in a while, but they did have breaks here in Dallas too sometimes, when they could get gigs here.

  “When are you coming to see us play again?” Jess asked him, then took a bite of enchilada and it melted in her mouth making her moan in pleasure.

  “Keep making those sounds, and you’re gonna get yourself in trouble,” Carols told her with a sexy grin.

  “I can’t help it, these are fantastic,” she told him then took another bite.

  Angel whimpered on Mrs. Ramos’ shoulder and Jess scooted her chair back, “She’s probably hungry…I’ll get a bottle.”

  Mrs. Ramos waved a hand to shush her, then walked to the diaper bag in the foyer and pulled out a bottle, uncapped it and stuck it in Angel’s mouth. “There you go, sugar…you drink up,” she cooed then kissed Angel’s head.

  “So where are ya’ll playing next?” Carlos asked her, then took a sip of his tea.

  “We don’t know yet…we have to go to Bowie and pick up our equipment and the crew. We were stuck there for a while.”

  “Oh, yeah? What happened?” he asked curiously, his dark eyes shining.

  “What didn’t happen would be a shorter list,” she chuckled. “The van engine burned up, I broke my ankle…lots of things,” she
hedged not wanting to go into the whole Wade thing.

  “You guys need a truck to haul it back?” he asked her.

  “Yeah, we do…and probably another body, if you know someone,” she told him, since she couldn’t help them load and unload with her ankle.

  “I’ll help, I’m off on vacation next week, will that do?” he asked helpfully. Carols might be a player, but he was a worker too. He managed a gym, and was also a personal trainer on his off days.

  She could always count on Jazzie’s family to help them, and she was thankful. “That would be great, thanks a lot.”

  “Okay, how about Wednesday?” he asked then told her with a grin, “I don’t have a date that night.”

  “It figures you’d schedule around your social calendar,” she teased him.

  “Of course…lots of cows out in the pasture.”

  She leaned back and howled with laughter. “You’re a mess, Carlos…better watch out for those hooves, I hear they hurt,” she told him then immediately regretted the words because they brought other hooves to mind, the horse’s hooves that had almost trampled Wade at the rodeo earlier today…then that led to thoughts of him laying there in that hospital bed.

  She wiped her mouth with the napkin, then said brokenly, “Excuse me,” then hobbled upstairs to the room she always used when she stayed there.

  Jazzie ran upstairs behind her, and caught her before she closed the door, and pushed her way inside behind her. “You okay, sugar?”

  “No, I’m not okay…but I will be…eventually. I’m worried about that butthead, and I’m going to call and check on him,” she said then pulled her cell phone out of her jeans, and called directory assistance to get the number. When she called, she got the information desk, and identified herself, then asked where Wade Roberts was in the hospital, and the woman looked his name up, then told her he was in surgery. Jess whimpered and hung up the phone then looked at Jazzie and moved her mouth, but nothing would come out.

  Jazzie grabbed her arm and sat her down on the bed, then sat beside her, “What did they say?” she asked calmly.

  Her voice came out as a raw whisper as she told her, “He’s in surgery, Jazz…they’re operating on him, and I’m not there…and the last words I said to him were not nice.” The tears clogging her throat worked their way to her eyes and down her cheeks, and she dropped her chin to her chest. “If something happens to him, I’m gonna feel terrible.”

  “You’re doing what he wanted you to do, Jess…remember that. He pushed you away, and insulted you to boot,” Jazzie said softly then stroked her hair.

  “I know…but I still love him, and even though he’s an asshole, I can’t help worrying.”

  “You can still love him, Jess, but you’ve got to think of you and Angel first right now…he’s a big boy, he’ll pull through this.”

  “There’s nobody to take care of him in Bowie,” she told Jazzie then looked up into her eyes.

  “That’s not your job, sugar. He doesn’t want your help, he basically told you that, right?”

  “Yeah, he did…you’re right,” she sucked in a deep breath then blew it out slowly, “Thanks for the pep talk. I’m so damned weak where he’s concerned, I think I’ll probably need a lot of them.”

  “That’s what best friends are for, Jess…I’m here for you. We’re gonna get up tomorrow morning, then we’re going to get busy on that plan of yours. This is all gonna work out, I promise, we just have to keep our focus and get back on track.”

  ***

  Wade had been in the hospital for a week, five days of it in physical therapy. They’d taken him to surgery to repair the cage they’d put in after the last accident, but saw that the bone chip had shifted, once they were in there, and it was a good shift that allowed them to remove it. Almost immediately after the anesthesia wore off, he could feel his legs and move his toes again, which was the greatest feeling in the world. He wasn’t going to be paralyzed, in fact if he kept up the PT once he got back to Bowie, they said in three months or so, he’d probably be back to full mobility.

  All that was great news…what wasn’t so great, was that he’d jumped the gun and run Jess off with his harsh words. He’d ripped her heart out and stomped on it for nothing, and crushed his in the process. He was headed home to Bowie on Wednesday and would be leaving her and his baby behind in Dallas. She hadn’t come back to the hospital to see him, and he hadn’t expected her to. What he’d done was final, just like he’d intended, because he’d been a damned coward. He couldn’t face having to see the pity on her face if he wound up only half a man, the eventual disgust at having to take care of an invalid. She deserved a better life that that, a better man.

  Wade held onto the bars and forced his legs to move forward, gritting his teeth against the pain shooting up his spine. He’d leave here with a walker, then progress to a cane, then they told him he could try short solo walks, until he could walk without it, but he’d have to exercise and keep limber.

  Cole and Sabrina had come by the hospital yesterday, and they told him he was coming to their house, while he recuperated. Cole told him he had a state-of-the-art gym in the house, and Wade was welcome to use it for rehab. The therapist was happy with that news, and told him he’d give him a workout regimen he could follow at home.

  When Wade asked how long it was going to be before he could ride and work again, the therapist told him bluntly it was all up to him and his dedication to getting better. Wade was more determined than he’d ever been in his life to get back to normal very soon. Because as soon as that happened, he was going to try and make things right with Jess and Angel, get her to forgive him. He didn’t have much hope she’d give him another chance, but maybe she would.

  Every time Wade closed his eyes, he saw Jess’s devastated eyes, when he’d said what he had to her. That wasn’t real conducive to getting sleep, so he was exhausted today, but he wasn’t going to quit, when the therapist helped him sit on a big ball and balance himself, working his core muscles the guy said. It felt like he was ripping apart the incision that they’d made in his back, and grinding every bone in his spine, with every shift of his body to keep his balance. But that pain didn’t anywhere compare to the pain going on in his chest.

  Wade called a halt to the routine when they got to the treadmill. As slow as the therapist set it, Wade couldn’t do it, he just didn’t have anything left to give today. He shook his head and asked if he could go back upstairs. The guy tried pressing him to do it, but he just couldn’t. His head was as fucked up as his body was right now, and he had to pace himself. Once he started with the Jess thing, he knew it was time to quit, before he wound up balling like a baby in front of everyone in the fitness room.

  With a sigh, the therapist helped back into the wheelchair, then had an assistant push him to his room. He felt like a damned invalid and it galled him to have to have others doing things for him that he’d been able to do for himself for thirty-four years. He was going to have to get used to it, he knew, because he was an invalid for the next three months at least, and he was going to have to be dependent on someone. That someone would probably be Sabrina, unless he used his winnings to hire a nurse to help him…which he wasn’t going to do, because he was determined to buy out that contract for Jess.

  Two days, and two intense therapy sessions later, Wade was being released from the hospital, ten days after Cam Jessup had tried to kill him. That was something else he was going to have to deal with, testifying against him, because he doubted the cocky bastard would agree to a plea agreement. But he probably had months before that would happen.

  Cole grabbed one of his arms and a nurse the other and they helped him get seated in a wheelchair, then shoved the brake up, and turned it toward the door. The therapist had been in to give him the exercise routine he wanted him to follow, and the doctor had been in to give him care instructions, and prescriptions, mostly for pain, which Wade was not going to take. All he needed was to get addicted to those in addition to being an inv
alid.