Pumpkins, Cowboys & Guitars

by Patti Ann Colt

  He leaned back in his chair and gazed at his mother. “You want to say something about this business between me and Amy Rose, Mom. Say it.”

  His dad gave a deep sigh and muttered under his breath. “Now you’ve done it.”

  His father turned to his mother and gave her a hand to go first. “You’ve been wanting to wade into this. Go on.”

  “Oh hush, Chase.” Mama stared at Jess, fingered her tea cup, and made him squirm in his chair like he was five-years-old.

  When she spoke, he braced himself. “She loves you, adores you. I’ve never understood the problem. What is it exactly?”

  “We fought about her future. She wouldn’t stand her ground with her father and I feel like those choices are going to take her down a path away from me. I couldn’t stand the idea, couldn’t stand that she wouldn’t turn away from that and I opened my big mouth.”

  His mother stared at him, amazement, frustration, irritation, passing over her face. “You didn’t trust her to choose you, then? You just wanted to order her around?”

  “I didn’t want to order her around. I just want her to choose, Mama.” He finished his cup of coffee, sorry he couldn’t explain better the morass of twisted feelings deep inside.

  “Did you ask her to choose you? As in asking her to marry you?”

  Jess cleared his throat. “It was under discussion. I just assumed, but then she was dithering about this position with her father’s law firm and you know how different that life is from the one here. She can’t have both.”

  His mother shoved her teacup aside. “Let me give you a piece of advice, young man. A woman generally doesn’t like to be told what her decisions ought to be.”

  “She apparently agrees with you, Mama. She spit some nastiness at me. I spit some at her. Next thing I know, she’s high-tailed it to Dallas. When she came back, we had a mini-version of the same damn argument, so nothing was solved with that our little break.”

  His mother huffed in disgust. Jess looked at his dad for help.

  His dad shrugged. “Hard when you’ve got a smart woman with a will strong enough to solve her own problems. Latching onto that wagon takes a patient, steady man to just love her. You think you don’t love her enough to wait her out? Let her figure it out?”

  “No! Yes!” Jess leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath before opening them again. “I don’t think it’s been any secret how I’ve felt since the moment I laid eyes on her.”

  His mother gave a tight laugh. “I remember that day. You came home from school with stars in your eyes. Had to be a girl, but you were so taken by her that I couldn’t even get her name out of you. Shane told me.”

  “I wasn’t that smitten.” Jess made a mental note to kick his brother.

  She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Were so. If I recall, I offered to let you cut some of my wild roses to take her the next day. You blushed and went to the barn.”

  Jess’s face turned red. The memory reminded him that at the time he didn’t want anyone knowing how he felt. It was too precious and fragile. “You could have been more subtle, Ma.”

  “Why? You were in love and I was tickled pink.”

  Jess squirmed in his chair. He hadn’t found the nerve to do anything about those feelings until several years later.

  “Regardless, the idea that she’d choose that life over you is ridiculous. Don’t you know that?”

  Did he know that? Maybe he did, but if that was the case, why didn’t she just choose? He voiced that very question.

  “She had her relationship with her parents to think about, and it wasn’t your place to make the choice. You’re supposed to love her enough to respect that!”

  “Read her mind, you mean.”

  His father reached over and patted his arm. “Don’t argue with your mother. She’s right. Patience and respect.”

  His mother rapped on the table to get his attention. “Listen to her and understand and she’ll latch onto you and never let go. And if you don’t go apologize for being so pig-headed right now, well I just don’t know what to say.” His mother rose from the table, dabbing at a tear in the corner of her eye.

  Both men watched her retreat to the living room. The television switched on with a morning news show.

  His dad cleared his throat. “Sometimes a man thinks he can solve every problem by just saying what’s going to happen. Doesn’t work that way. How long you been feeding Amy Rose’s horses out of our supply?”

  Jess closed his eyes for a moment, feeling a new flush creep over his face.

  “I still look at the books and can add two and two. We didn’t paint anything around here either.”

  Jess opened his eyes and turned to his daddy with an explanation on his lips.

  His dad held up his hand. “Don’t explain. I’ve been married for thirty-five years to a strong, stubborn, smart woman. Thing is, son, they gotta hear you backing them up once in a while. Doesn’t matter if there is money in the bank, or if you break your back making her world perfect. You gotta tell her that her choices matter. Understand?” His dad rose. “Is it harder to do that or harder to lose her?”

  Jess’s stomach dipped, tossing his eggs to and fro. God, the last two weeks had been hell and the last couple of nights with her back, well, being near her had been as close to heaven as a man could get.

  His dad put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Seems to me she’s had more than a few years to accomplish her father’s wishes and yet she’s still here with you. Actions, son. She’s already chosen.”

  He rose and hugged his father. “I hear you.”

  “Good. Now get to work. I gotta go soothe your mother.”

  Jess took his plate to the sink and high-tailed it outta the kitchen and to his own house on the corner of the ranch. He raced through a shower and dressed, but stopped when he pulled out a clean pair of socks. There in the corner of his bureau drawer was a jewelry box.

  He hadn’t looked at the necklace inside for a long time. He snapped open the lid and fingered the small heart on the silver chain. The tiny diamonds are the edge winked at him. He’d bought this necklace for Amy Rose in high school, imagined giving it to her a thousand times. Yet, he hadn’t even found the nerve to ask her out. It had sat in his drawer for years, mocking him for his foolishness and even when he’d started dating her, he’d never quite worked up the nerve to admit how long he’d loved her.

  He slipped the necklace out of the case and put it in his pocket. If a man couldn’t admit he was foolish to a woman he loved, then it was time to pack it in.

  Way past time he should have given this to her.

  Way past time to admit he’d been wrong, say he was sorry, and believe in her.

  ∞∞∞∞

  Amy Rose turned into her driveway, frustrated and tired. And there was the object of her frustration.

  Jess’s fancy red truck was down by the barn.

  She’d driven to his ranch to see him, but his truck hadn’t been there. In the mood she was in, she didn’t think it was a good idea to talk to his parents. So she’d kept searching. She’d driven the circle from his house into Flower Mound and back to the Low Down, checking all the places he normally went and couldn’t find him. So she’d driven to the cell phone store and while she’d bought a new cell phone, she fretted.

  She’d been damn mad after the confrontation with her parents and now she just hurt. Hurt that they hadn’t cared enough to consider another way that would have kept them in her life. Now that the confrontation moment had worn off, she was in desperate need of comfort, the Jess variety. And yet, the same issue was unresolved with him with the baby icing on the top.

  She drove down her driveway and parked next to Jess’s truck. “Calm down and just breathe, Amy Rose Adams, before you say something that makes this whole situation worse.” But the frustrated part of her prevailed. The deep hurt from her parent’s visit twisted inside. The botched dinner last night, Jess leaving bed this morning without wak
ing her, the frustrating search all over town, and two weeks of replaying their argument like a You Tube video boiled over. She reached for the door handle and ignored her calm down advice.

  She scurried out of the car, determined to grab Jess by the ears before he disappeared on her again.

  She stepped into the dark interior and gave herself a minute for her eyes to adjust to the shadows. Jess was on his haunches checking the legs of her favorite mare, Betsy Brash.

  He was murmuring a nonsensical tune while he rubbed expert hands over every muscle and joint, pausing for a moment with hands held over her back right leg. The horse danced away from his touch.

  “I know, girl. Sore isn’t it?”

  “Why are you taking care of my horse? What’s wrong with her?”

  She approached carefully, but the agitated tone of her voice had upset Betsy, making her sidestep. Jess grabbed her reins and crooned to her, making her settle.

  “Sorry, I know better than that.” Amy Rose moved slower and reached the shy, brown spotted horse and petted her nose. “Sorry girl.”

  “She’s got a sore leg. Not sure why. She hasn’t been ridden.”

  “Chaz Davies is supposed to be caring for my horses. That’s what my father pays him to do.”

  “Let me put Betsy away and we’ll talk.” He pulled the gentle horse to the last stall and spent several long minutes getting her settled.

  Amy Rose looked around the barn and all the questions about the care of the place returned. Jess closed the gate on the stall and walked toward her. She turned to him, suspicions prodding her tongue. “What have you been doing?”

  Jess shrugged and reached for a towel to wipe his hands. “You shouldn’t pay Chaz. He hasn’t been caring for the horses. He hasn’t been here in at least a week. Since you left, he’s been here maybe twice.

  “And you know this how?”

  “I’ve been watching. I suspect he’s been slacking since long before you left. Your tack was a mess. And this last week, you’ve been out of hay and feed. Maybe he didn’t think they needed to be fed.”

  She sucked in a breath. “I don’t understand. Chaz has been working for my father for years without many problems. He paid him to get the feed, to be here to care for the horses. I confirmed with him after I left.”

  Jess shrugged and started picking up his supplies. “I don’t know what to tell you, Amy. I’ve been feeding them since day four, and cleaning their stalls. He hasn’t been here. I’ve only saw him the first two days, and the second day I gave him a piece of my mind about the state of the horses and the stalls. He may have quit coming after that.”

  Horrified, she wrapped her arms around herself. “You should have called!”

  He shrugged again. “I did. You didn’t answer.”

  Her temper died. “My phone quit. I bought a new one this morning.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but his cell phone beeped and he pulled it and read a text message.

  “I have to go, Amy. Another fire. Had one at the McCormick place this morning. Now the Hardy’s on your other side need some help.” He reached for her and pulled her close. “We’ll talk later, I promise.”

  He pressed a warm kiss against her lips and was gone, leaving her standing in the dark barn, her morning of searching all for naught and her need to be held unrealized.

  Amy Rose moved her car up by the house and went inside. She should have some lunch, but the churn of her emotions and the benign smells in the kitchen meant that wouldn’t happen. She made her way to the bedroom and stared at the bed.

  She was so damn tired — tired of fighting, physically tired, emotionally tired. And the argument with her parents and unresolved things with Jess just sapped her. She slumped down on the bed and typical for a pregnant woman according to all her reading, she fell asleep.

  ∞∞∞∞∞∞

  CHAPTER SIX

  Jess and Shane battled the grass blaze side-by-side. Shane’s fire engine had arrived just as he’d parked his truck and the two brothers made their way to the burning grass near the corrals. Shane was dragging the hose from the fire engine and Jess had the pick and shovel from his truck. They were focused on saving the barn and house from the sweeping fire.

  He was hot and sweaty and drenched and getting nowhere. The fire was roaring across the dry grass, sparks flying in the air like little fire flies. Two trees on the opposite side of the grassy area were already in flames.

  Jess threw another shovel of dirt on a hot area and turned to survey what the other crews were doing. He damn hated when this happened. The fire blackened the land, leaving a scar that took years to heal, leaving a rancher without good grassland to feed the cattle. Hopefully, the barn and house would be spared, but Ethan Hardy and his brothers were focused on getting his cattle and horses moved away from the fire.

  The whipping wind wasn’t helping. Not a stiff breeze, but enough of one that pushed the fire to uncontrollable.

  “Jess!” Shane pointed to the gully to the left side of the barn.

  The spit disappeared from his mouth.

  Fire in the trees there, too!

  That gully ran to the back of the grove on Amy’s Rose’s land.

  He dropped his shovel and reached into his back pocket for his cell phone. Amy Rose’s cell rang and rang, then bumped to voicemail.

  “Dammit. What good does a new phone do if she doesn’t answer it!” He turned to his brother, about to tell him he had to get to Amy Rose.

  Shane spoke first. “Go! I’ll be right behind you with a fire engine.”

  Jess raced to his truck and drove like a maniac down the road to Amy Rose’s house. He swore long and loud, and kept his hands gripped on the wheel. He could barely see from smoke.

  “Should have woken her last night, should have hashed everything out. Don’t let it be too late.” He swore as he had to slow for a curve. Big large plumes were rising just over the tree line, which meant the flames were in the grove and coming up behind the house. Where was Amy Rose?

  The driveway came into view and he strained to see her car, but he wasn’t close enough yet. “Let her be gone. Let her have gone to the store, or anywhere.” When he pulled into the driveway, the smoke was lying so low, it was like fog on a bad morning.

  Two things he recognized simultaneously.

  Amy’s car was by the back porch.

  The roof of the house was on fire.

  ∞∞∞∞

  Amy Rose woke groggy, coughing and fighting the urge to puke her stomach inside out. She rolled over, offering anything to the pregnancy gods to make her feel better.

  Except the pillow smelled and the room smelled.

  She carefully sat up, begging her gut to settle and took a sniff.

  Smoke.

  Smoke in the house.

  “Oh my God,” she rolled off the bed, searching for her shoes.

  A door banged. “Amy Rose!”

  “Jess! In the bedroom.” She got to the doorway and braced herself on the door frame. Smoke was rolling down the hall from the back of the house.

  Jess, black face and clothes, raced down the hall. “House is on fire. Get out.”

  “What happened?” She leaned into him and let him carry her weight down the hall to the kitchen and the door there. He grabbed her keys and purse off the counter.

  “Wildfire.”

  Out of the house, he supported her to her car. “Take your car. Get down the road.”

  He shoved the keys into her hands. She touched his face. “What about you?”

  He didn’t answer, just opened the door and helped her into the seat. “Go.”

  He took off across the yard, headed to the barn.

  Amy Rose turned to look at the back of the house and sucked in a horrified breath at the wall of flames that were bearing down on them. “Jess, no!”

  A fire engine pulled into the yard. First man off the truck she recognized.

  “Shane!” She left her car and ran for him. The air was thick with smoke. “Barn!
Jess went after the horses.” She bent double and coughed until she gagged.

  Strong arms came around her. “Ambulance coming up the road. Get in your car and meet them at the crossroads. Can you drive?”

  She looked at the resolute expression in Shane’s eyes and knew he wouldn’t go help Jess until she left. “I’m going. I can get there. Help Jess.”

  The smoke swirled and thickened. The back of the house was fully aflame and the roar in the trees suggested the monster wasn’t about to stop. The other members of Shane’s company were battling a lost cause. Grief and frustration didn’t begin to stand against the fear for Jess’s life. Shane left her and ran to the barn.

  She coughed her way to the car, got in and started the engine. Betsy Brash raced by her, followed by her other horse.

  Thank God! She backed around and did exactly as Jess and Shane had asked her to, reluctance in every fiber of her being. One glance at the rearview mirror showed the attic fully engulfed in flames.

  Her grandmother’s house and antiques were going to be lost in the fire.

  Tears slipped down her face.

  Let her not lose Jess, too.

  ∞∞∞∞

  Amy Rose sat on the edge of the ambulance with the oxygen mask over her face —worried, scared and spitting mad. She supposed it was some kind of defense against the shock and tears.

  Her breath was choppy.

  There was a fine tremor in her hands.

  Tiredness pulled at her.

  She’d reached the crossroads near her house, been checked by a paramedic and then they’d forced her to move further down the road away from the flames. She’d been sitting like this, breathing fresh clean air through a mask, and refusing to go to the hospital for more than an hour. She needed to wait for Jess to find her.

  Every truck that drove by raised her hopes. Every man that wasn’t Jess plummeted them. Her phone was gone, burned in the house along with everything else. Tears rose and she hiccupped, fighting against them. Her stomach churned, but she ignored it. The loss of the house didn’t matter. Not as long as she had Jess. Where was he?