“I swear you two. You should take your comedy act out on the road, and leave me and my ‘sex life’ out of your routine,” I said.
“Now, Tenley, you know Wendy’s just playing like she always does, but you are still my daughter, and sometimes she runs a little too much with her mouth.”
“Don’t I know it, but I love her anyway.”
“I do too! Now, go take a bath, and I’ll bring your breakfast up.”
“Thank you, mama.”
“No need to say thank you. You’re my daughter. It’s my job.”
The bath did help soothe my sore muscles and clear my head a bit. I knew I had to call Jagger, and then call my office to check in. I had my laptop with me to keep on top of my e-mails, but didn’t check my computer at all yesterday.
Just when I was about to, my phone began ringing. Right on cue, it was Zoey.
“Hi, Zoe.”
“Hi yourself, hooker. I miss you, girl. When are you coming home?” she asked as I heard her tapping her nails. I shivered when she mentioned home. I wasn’t prepared to answer the many questions my friend would have if I gave her the opening to do so.
“I’m not sure yet. I still have a lot of details to work out. First things first, how’s the office?”
Silence.
“Zoey, are you there?” I called out.
“Yeah, I’m here, sorry. What did you say?”
“Zoey, you are a terrible liar. What’s going on? Talk to me.”
“Everything is fine here. Roxy still has her purple hair and is keeping things under control for you.”
“And…”
“Nothing hooker, everything is fine.”
“Zoey!!!”
“Okay, there is a teensy little thing I may have forgotten to mention to you.”
“What? Tell me now,” I practically shouted back at her.
“It’s Tommy. There was an accident at one of his job sites, but he’s okay and already released from the hospital.”
“What happened to Tommy? Zoey, I swear if you don’t tell me right now, I will be on the next plane.”
“Okay! No need to shout. I promised him Tenley, so don’t go calling him the minute we hang up, okay?”
“Whatever. Just tell me.”
“His company has the contract to the new development over on Long Island.”
“Yes, I know that. Our firm handled all the paperwork. Go on.”
“Well, he’s run into some problems securing materials and teams of workers to complete the project. He’s facing delays and tie-ups with the city. He drove out to the site and came upon a group of guys loading up a truck with some of his equipment and copper wiring, I think. They got away with about $60,000 dollars of it, but not before beating the hell out of him.”
I covered my mouth to hold back my tears. My friend was hurt, and I wasn’t around to help him.
“Zoey, where is Tommy now?”
“That’s another thing.”
“What now?”
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“Fucking hell! Yes, I want to know. Where is Tommy?”
“He’s with Roxy?”
“It is a weekday, right? Why isn’t she in the office—my office—doing her job?”
I gritted my teeth. I was now under the belief that my office was not as sound as they all would like me to believe.
“She took some time off to help Tommy, and Cheryl is covering for her. Please relax, Tenley. Everything is under control.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this first when I called to check in? And more importantly, why is Roxy with Tommy? They hardly know each other.”
“Oh, believe me, they know each other, and quite well for that matter. Tenley, they are kind of together now. I mean…together.”
Now I’ve heard everything. Tommy is dating my assistant. I guess he got over me all too quickly. What the hell am I saying? There was nothing to get over. We were friends, and as his friend, I was happy for him, and for Roxy. I guess this news would have been easier to take had I not found out about his accident first.
“Zoey, I’m going to call Tommy. He’s my friend.”
“Tenley, I promised him I wouldn’t say anything to you. Please let me talk with him first, and then if he says it’s okay, I’ll just pretend to tell you about it.”
“Are you serious, Zoe? Tommy knows you tell me everything. What makes you believe he would think you would remain quiet over this? And especially when he’s hurt?”
“Just trust me on this, okay?”
“I guess I don’t have any choice, but I am calling your father. I am still a partner there, and I have to check in with my boss.”
“I miss you, friend. When are you coming home?”
“I can’t really say right now. Can I take a rain check?”
“You can, just don’t make it a permanent one. I miss my friend.”
“I miss you too! I have to go, Zoey. I’ll be in touch.”
I ended the call and held my head in my hands. Something wasn’t right about this, and she was definitely keeping something from me. I have to go back to New York and find out what the hell is going on. But how do I explain my leaving to Jagger and my family?
“Tenley! Breakfast is getting cold.” Wendy shouted up the stairs.
I stepped out from my room and told her I would be down in a few minutes. I quickly combed out my long hair and left it in a loose bun on my head.
My phone pinged a few times while I finished dressing. I looked down to it and saw Jagger staring back at me. His contact picture was of the two of us from last night. He must have taken my phone and took it while I was sleeping. I thought I was a bit old for selfies, but this one made me tear up. Jagger had his arm wrapped around me while I slept on his chest. Leave it to him to program it in my phone and surprise me with it. What I didn’t like were his messages. First it was good morning, but I guess because I didn’t immediately respond, he must have gotten worried. The other three were asking me if I was on my way or if I was okay? The last text messages read:
J – I miss you. Please call me when you get this.
T – I miss you too. Busy morning. I will see you soon. Please don’t worry.
His response was almost immediate.
J – I’m not worried. Just thinking of you.
Liar! But I guess that’s to be expected. I knew we had a mountain of issues to work out, and I can’t blame Jagger for being nervous or even a little doubtful of my intentions. Words may be one thing, but actions speak volumes.
T – Soon Jagger. Xoxo
J- Love you too!
Jagger the cowboy, texting…who would have guessed? I looked at our picture one more time before going downstairs. He was so incredibly handsome, and the beard was definitely growing on me.
“It’s about time!” Wendy greeted me with her usual in your face greeting.
“Good morning, Wendy, mama.” I kissed my mother on her cheek, and stuck out my tongue toward Wendy, making my mother smile. I think I’ve been embarrassed enough for one morning, but something tells me Wendy had more to dish out. She looked ready to burst, wanting to hear all the details about Jagger.
“Tenley, please don’t sleep in the stables anymore. I know it’s heated, but still I would be happier knowing that you were in the house.”
“I’m sorry, mama. I didn’t mean to worry you. I just had a lot on my mind and needed my space.”
“Have you had enough? Can I get you anything else?”
“No, I’m good, but thank you. I have to head over to the hospital now to see Jagger. I will call you later, and maybe we can have dinner in town.”
“That sounds lovely. Your daddy will be happy to go out, but no ribs this time.”
“Okay, sounds good.” I hugged my mother and asked Wendy to walk me to my truck. Wendy couldn’t smile large enough. She was practically bouncing all the way to my truck.
“What’s on your mind, Tumbleweed,” she happily asked.
“I may h
ave to go back to New York. Something has happened, and a friend needs me.”
The smile has now left her face. “No! You are needed here. What could be possibly be that important that you need to leave now? And just when you are finally making progress with Jagger?”
“Wendy, I haven’t even told you anything about Jagger yet. How would you know what progress we have made?”
“Just don’t worry your pretty little head about such things. You need to stay here. Your family is counting on you for Christmas.”
“I know they are, and I want to be here.”
“So be here. End of discussion. I’ll see you later.”
I let out a sigh of frustration as I watched Wendy stomp back into my house and slam the door behind her. Well, that went well. I thought Wendy would at least have tried to listen to my reasons, but she stopped me before I could say anything else.
I began driving along the long road that would take me back to Jagger. I wanted to see him, especially after he was so sweet by adding a photo of us to my phone. It was then that my cell phone rang, and it was Roxy calling me. I decided to hold my tongue and feel her out before I said anything to her.
“Hello,” I answered and waited for her to respond.
“Hi, Tenley, it’s me Roxy.”
“Yes, I know. I recognized your number. Why are you phoning me from your cell phone? Aren’t you in the office by now?”
“Um…that’s why I’m calling you. I had a personal emergency that required me to take some time off. I cleared it with Mr. Steele and asked Cheryl to cover for me. I hope that’s okay.”
“Well I don’t know, Roxy, maybe it would have been okay had you come to me first, and not Mr. Steele, being you work for me.”
One business call and my curt tone is back. I didn’t want to be this short with her, but now knowing about Tommy’s accident, I was pissed that I was kept in the dark. Roxy knows she can tell me anything without judgment, so why keep this from me when it not only involves her, but Tommy, who’s one of my best friends?
“I’m really sorry, Tenley. It couldn’t be helped.”
“What’s wrong, Roxy? Is there anything I can do to help?”
“No, thank you, but we’re fine.”
“We?”
“I meant my family, we’re fine. Thank you for offering. So I’ve been checking on your apartment, and all is okay. I’ve just come from FedEx. I overnighted all of your mail to you, and you should have it by morning. Was that okay to do?”
“Yes, that’s fine. Anything else I need to know?” I questioned her again, but she wouldn’t budge.
“No, I don’t have anything else at this time. I have to go now, but call me if you need anything. Bye, Tenley.”
Before I could say anything more, the line disconnected. Unbelievable! I feel disconnected from my New York life already, and it’s only been a few weeks that I’ve been gone. I guess I should call Mr. Steele next, but why bother when he hasn’t called me?
At the hospital, I was greeted by the ever so cheerful Nurse Shirley. Before seeing Jagger, I asked her how he’s been this morning.
“Oh, you sweet gal, I am going to pray for you to have patience with that bull in there,” she said as she shook her head.
“That bad?”
“I’m afraid so. He went for x-rays last night and had his cast removed. Then we were having a pleasant morning, and chatting it all up about you.”
“Doesn’t sound too terrible so far. So what happened?”
“Your man happened. Ooh, he is stubborn. He wouldn’t wait for the orderlies to assist him out of bed, and then he went right down to the floor and screamed out in pain.”
“Is he okay? Did he re-injure his leg?” I asked.
“No, he’s fine, but he needs to take it easy. He has to gain some strength back into that leg, and it’s not going to happen overnight. Dr. Sampson wants him to stay on here and work with the physical therapist here on staff, but Mr. Brown Eyes has refused.”
“Okay, Shirley, thank you for the update, but I’ll take it from here.”
“Well good luck to you then because you’re going to need it.” Nurse Shirley said.
“I’m going to run a quick errand before I go see him. Will you be able to hold the fort down until I return?”
“I’ve handled bigger bears than that handsome one in there.”
I slowly walked past Jagger’s room, and I overheard him shouting at someone I believe was a physical therapist.
“For the last time! I. Do. Not. Need. A. Wheelchair. I will walk out of here on my own. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
Oh boy! The poor therapist. I hope Jagger doesn’t make him wet himself.
WHERE IS SHE? It’s nearly noon, and she’s not here yet. I’m going out of my mind worrying about her. When she left here last night, she seemed fine, but maybe she was only acting that way to put me at ease. I can’t believe she would lie to me, so this is me trusting that at any moment she’s going to walk through those doors, and I will be able to breathe again.
Instead, it’s Shirley. My face fell when I saw her walk in. I usually played along with her flirtatious flirting, but all I wanted was Tenley. Shirley told me that I was going down for some physical therapy. I didn’t want to go, but she insisted. I was helped into the waiting wheelchair for me, and my stomach just about turned over. I hated feeling so helpless. I wanted out of this hospital and back home to my ranch.
Shirley asked me last night about my love story with Tenley. I think it was her way of distracting me when I was getting my cast removed. While the physical therapist massaged my leg, we continued to chat about Tenley. I left out the harder parts of our story, and just told her about Tenley and Jamie. Although she asked me about him, I mostly left Shane out from the story.
A couple of hours later, I was back in my room and just felt restless. I couldn’t believe I fell flat on my face. Pain shot up through my leg, and I feared I messed it up again. Thank goodness I didn’t. It took two orderlies to lift me back into my bed with Nurse Shirley just shaking her head at me.
“What?” I asked her.
“You truly have to be the most stubborn man I have ever met.”
“I highly doubt that,” I snickered.
“You are, Mr. Brown Eyes, that’s for sure. You did a foolish thing by trying to walk by yourself. Do you realize you have been lying flat on your back for nearly seven weeks now? You have to give your body time to readjust. That’s why I called you stubborn, because you do not want to listen to good advice.”
“I am listening, but you all have to listen to me too. I will be fine once I am discharged from the hospital. My ranch offers all I need to get where I need to be. Now for the last time, please get Dr. Sampson down here. I want out of this place, Shirley, and that means today!”
“Knock, knock, May I come in?”
Finally! She’s here. My eyes found her sad ones almost immediately. The light that was in her eyes yesterday has now gone, leaving me with even more worry than I had this morning.
“Hey baby, come here,” I called to her. She was carrying a pink box which could only mean she brought me my favorite pastries.
She walked right over and into my arms. I kissed her lips and slowly entered her mouth with my tongue. I loved when we kissed. We could spend all night just kissing and never tire from it. I was slowly reclaiming what was mine, and that began with her delicious mouth. She felt amazing next to me, but something was troubling her.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” I asked her. She took my hands in hers and then looked at my leg.
“Your cast is gone. How does your leg feel?” Her way of evading my question.
“It’s fine,” I tell her. I lied, but talking about my leg is the last thing I want to do right now.
“How was physical therapy?” she asked.
“It was fine.”
“Another fine? I guess you’re fine.”
“Tenley, my leg needs some work, but it’s nothi
ng I can’t handle once I’m released, which will be today, or I’m signing myself out.”
“Jagger, you need to follow your doctor’s orders. I’m sure a few days of physical therapy will get you started, and then you can finish with an out-patient program.” Of course she was making sense, but I out talked her again and wanted to know why she was so sad.
“Ten, I started getting better the minute I woke up to see you holding my hand. The rest I will do on my own. Now I don’t want to talk about my leg right now, I want to talk about you. What’s wrong, baby?”
“Jagger, something’s happened back in New York, and I have to go home.”
“You are home.”
“Jagger, please don’t make this harder than it has to be. My friend was hurt and hospitalized, and I need to see if he’s okay.”
“He? You’re not saying that the guy that cares about you is the same friend that now needs you? Are you, Tenley? Because there’s no way in hell I’m sending you back to New York to comfort another man.”
“Oh really? What are you, twelve? And please let’s get something very clear. Jagger, no one tells me what I can and cannot do, so please do not even try. Yes, it’s my friend Tommy, but it’s not what you think. He’s been hurt, and not in a typical construction mishap. I just have a gut feeling that it has something to do with the case I represented him in.”
“No way, baby. If that’s what it is, then absolutely you are staying here with me. I can’t protect you there, but I can protect you here. Please do not go back to New York. Let me get out of here and back home, and then we can talk about this some more, okay?”
“Jagger, I’ve taken care of myself for quite a while now, and one trip back to New York will not endanger my life. He’s been there for me, and now it’s my turn to be there for him. That’s what friends do for each other.”
“Oh, please tell me more Tenley, how much has he been there for you?” I asked her, sarcastically. I couldn’t help my anger rising with every mention of this guy’s name. I wanted to put the guy through a wall and bury him in it. Just the thought of Tenley being with anyone besides me just made me sick.
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