by Gigi Moore
“My dad accused me of playing with you two, insinuated that I’m not serious.”
“Are you playing with us?”
Jess heard his brother’s voice crack on the question that he wanted to know the answer to himself before Tamara said, “No more than you two are playing with me.”
“I can’t speak for Jax, but I’m not playing.”
“Neither am I,” Jax piped up.
“The question is what are you going to do about New York?” Jess asked.
“How can you ask me that right now?”
“How can I not?
Tamara slipped her hands from Jax’s grasp and extricated herself from the cage he and Jess represented surrounding her from front and back. She stood up and took a few steps away from them, looking from one to the other and back again. “This isn’t the time to discuss this.”
“It’s as good a time as any, especially since we haven’t had any other opportunity to talk about what’s going on between all of us.”
Jax silently nodded his agreement.
“My father’s sick, and I don’t know how or why. I don’t have the energy or time to get into this with either of you right now.” Tamara planted her feet on the floor and her fists on her hips.
Jess could tell just from her adversarial, challenging posture that she meant her little speech to put a stop to his and Jax’s questions.
Jesus, she must be something else to see in action in the courtroom!
Jess braced himself for her further ire and stood to approach her just as Jeremiah came into the waiting room trailing the doctor who had been on duty when Bailey had been brought into the emergency room.
Jax stood and joined Jess and Tamara as they converged on the two new arrivals.
“How is he, doctor?” Tamara asked.
It didn’t escape Jess how the doctor looked to Jeremiah before answering, and he held his breath wondering if Bailey had come to his senses and decided to let his daughter know about his illness.
“He’s conscious and doing quite well. Actually he’s ready to go.”
“You’re releasing him?”
“Medically, there’s no reason to keep him.”
How could that be? Jess wondered and noticed how the doctor avoided saying anything specific about Bailey’s condition or why he’d had a seizure.
Tamara noticed it too and, evidently not willing to let things go, asked, “What’s wrong with him? What caused the seizure?”
Jess could imagine the territory tricky for the doctor what with doctor-patient confidentiality and all. Did that apply to lying to the patient’s family to keep his patient’s trust?
The doctor put a hand on Tamara’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go in and talk to him? He’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
Jess held in a gasp of surprise as best he could and wondered if Bailey would let them all off the hook. A man could hope anyway.
Tamara opened her mouth to ask another question, but the doctor squeezed her arm and said, “Talk to him.”
She nodded, and they all watched as the doctor left.
“Well, I guess that’s that.” Tamara said and turned to him and Jax. “Care to come in with me to see what’s up?”
“Sure,” Jax said without hesitation.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jess murmured.
Tamara turned to Jeremiah who looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Jess imagined it couldn’t have been easy to keep Bailey’s secret all this time. He’d held the burden for only a week himself and already buckled under the strain. Would things have been less stressful if Tamara wasn’t back at the ranch, in the flesh and they didn’t all have to look her in the face every day?
“You kids go in for a spell. I’m going to hold down the fort out here. I’ve had about all I can take of the ornery cuss for one night.”
Tamara chuckled and leaned in to kiss Jeremiah on the cheek. “Thanks for being here.”
“Ah, don’t thank me. Where else would I be?”
She ensconced herself between Jess and Jax, hooking an arm in each of theirs and said. “Let’s go face the firing squad then.”
Jess thought a firing squad would be a thousand times more pleasant.
They walked down the hall to the treatment room where Bailey had originally been brought, and saw him sitting up in bed, pulling on his shirt—blood still on the collar from where he had hit his head on the floor—while he gave the nurse a hard time, as expected.
“I ain’t stayin’ another minute, missy, so you can get this bed ready for someone who needs it.”
Tamara crossed the room and stood at his side while Jess and Jax stood sentry on the threshold like good little lovers and co-conspirators.
Jess saw her wince at the white gauze bandage on her father’s forehead and the burgeoning shiner under his right eye. “Shouldn’t you stay as a precaution? Just for one night?”
“You sound like that young’un doctor. And no, I shouldn’t. I’m fine and dandy. I had low blood sugar and a touch of dehydration is all. Doc gave me a few stitches and cleared me to go home. End of story.”
So that’s the story he’d decided to go with, hypoglycemia and dehydration? Pretty clear, Jess thought, but could see Tamara slipped on her lawyerly, interrogator’s cap.
“What caused the low blood sugar? Are you diabetic, Dad?”
“Yeah, that’s it. I just missed one too many meals is all, and my sugar dropped.”
Tamara eyed him suspiciously, and Jess wondered how much of Bailey’s story she bought, how much of it he had rehearsed in his head before they’d come to get him. He had to admit the man lied well. But then he’d had a lot of practice, at least as far as it involved his illness. Who knew when or if he and Jax would have found out about the cancer had Jax not stumbled on Bailey and their father in the hospital? They would probably be in the dark right now, just like Tamara.
Ignorance certainly was bliss, Jess decided.
He wondered if that’s what had actually happened when Bailey fell off of his horse. Had he had a dizzy spell or a seizure and not been thrown when the horse came across a snake? Jess had always been suspicious of the latter scenario, and as if reading his mind, Tamara folded her arms across her breasts and asked, “Is that how you broke your leg? Did you have a seizure and fall off your horse?”
“What is this? The Spanish Inquisition? I’m sure Jeremiah told you all about it.”
“Yes, he told me. Now I’m asking you. How did you break your leg?”
Bailey actually had the decency to avert his gaze right before he glared at Tamara and growled, “I got thrown off my horse when a snake spooked him. Now that’s the end of it, missy!”
At least they remained consistent with their stories, Jess thought and wondered when Bailey had let their dad in on his little secret. Had he been forced to tell Dad the same way he had been forced to tell Jax, when Dad happened upon something suspicious?
“Well, don’t just stand there. Either give me a hand or step out of my way.”
Tamara immediately hooked an arm through her father’s while he leaned the rest of his weight on the one crutch cradled beneath his free arm.
As they passed Jess and Jax on the way out of the treatment room, Bailey turned to Jess and grumbled, “Where’s that father of yourn?”
“In the waiting room. I’ll go fetch him, so we can all go.”
“You do that.”
The minute he left Tamara with her father and Jax, the weight that pressed against his chest, stole all the oxygen from his lungs, lifted and let him breathe.
By the time he reached his dad, he felt almost like himself before Tamara came home and he learned about Bailey’s illness. He felt light and alive, almost normal.
But his dad looked anything but.
Jess stood on the threshold of the waiting room just looking at the ol’ man sitting in one of the plastic orange chairs, chin resting on his chest as he released a soft snore in his sleep. H
e looked like he had been rode hard and put up wet, and it clearly Bailey’s illness took a toll on him.
He walked over to his father on silent-as-possible feet and gingerly took the seat beside him. He sat there, staring at the monochrome wall in front of him for a long moment before he slipped an arm around the older man’s broad shoulders and squeezed his arm. “Pop, wake up. It’s time to go.”
Dad’s head jerked up mid-snore. He blinked several times before slowly turning in Jess’s arms to look at him. “Bailey all checked out?”
“He’s raring to go. Jax and Tamara are walking him out to the parking lot now.”
Dad rubbed his hands against the thighs of his jeans before slapping his legs and standing up. “Well, I guess that’s that then, huh?”
“Yeah. I guess it is.” Jess stood, averting his gaze.
Dad stood up beside him, now wrapping his arm around Jess’s shoulders and pulling him close. “Don’t think too hard on it, boy. You’ll only wear yourself down.”
Jess turned to stare at him. “Like you?”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m a tough old bird.”
“It doesn’t mean this is easy on you.”
“I’m makin’ do.”
Jess nodded, said nothing for a long time then asked, “How long have you been making do? When did you find out about Bailey’s condition?”
“He got his diagnosis almost a year before the accident that broke his leg.”
Jess gaped. “A year?”
His dad nodded a-matter-of-factly, as if he hadn’t said anything that outrageous.
“A year and we never knew,” Jess said, almost too himself.
How wrapped up in ranch business had he been to not notice what went on with his dad’s best friend? How could he not know?
“Don’t blame yourself. We were pretty careful about keepin’ things a secret. And you and your brother bein’ tied up with other things made it a little easier to keep it from you.”
Jess wondered if their dad knew about Jax and his extracurricular activities away from the ranch. He knew Jax thought he was pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes. Jess also knew how much the rodeo meant to his brother, and that it wasn’t something Jax would give up without a fight. It didn’t matter that he assured their dad he was here on the ranch to stay.
Jax’s body worked at The Double R, but his heart and mind dwelled with the rodeo.
“You know about Jax?”
His father didn’t even pretend to misunderstand what Jess meant and said, “I know the ranch isn’t fulfillin’ all his needs, if that’s what you mean. He’s not that great a liar, not with me anyway. I’ve always known what you boys are up to.”
Jess shuffled his feet and lowered his head. The tip of his ears felt on fire, and he knew his face probably looked beet red. The idea that their dad knew Jax sneaked off to compete was one thing, but he didn’t want to believe that his dad knew what went on with Jess and his brother and Tamara. The thought just didn’t sit well with a body at all.
“She’s a beautiful, intelligent girl, and I know how you both feel about her.”
“She’s a woman. And we’re men,” Jess stated, wanted to make sure his dad got the point.
Dad nodded, slapping Jess on the back. “That you all are.”
“So, what do you think about all of us being together?” Jess asked. He held his breath as his father rubbed his chin with a thumb and forefinger, contemplative.
“If there’s anything or anyone who can take your brother’s mind off the rodeo, I think it’ll be Tamara.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Jess said, though he thought the same thing. It had worked with Bailey, at least for a while anyway. Too bad Jasmine had had other ideas.
“Lemme ask you this,” Dad began, “how does she feel about the two of you?”
“She cares about us.”
“Does she love you?”
“I think she does.”
“You both should be sure before you go any further, don’t ya think? I mean, it’s a big commitment, not to mention it’s, uh, unconventional in more ways than one.”
At least his dad wasn’t totally against them, not like Bailey seemed to be. “I want to be sure, yeah,” Jess finally murmured. He wanted a lot of things. He wanted Tamara to profess her undying love and tell them that she would stay on the ranch with them, wanted her to spend the rest of her life with them, but he wasn’t holding out much hope for this scenario coming to fruition.
“Tamara not talkin’?” Dad asked.
Jess thought about the earlier scene in the waiting room. “Not much, no.”
Dad didn’t say anything for a long moment, still rubbing his chin, so Jess decided to fill in the gap of quiet with his own question. “How long did the doctors give Bailey a year ago?”
Dad chuckled, sudden tears filling his eyes, belying his mirth. “Six, eight months tops.”
“He’s always been a contrary, stubborn coot, huh?”
“Always will be.”
Jess nodded, heart clenching in his chest at the idea that Bailey’s daughter was just as contrary and stubborn, and he wondered how he and Jax would get her to stay when all was said and done.
Chapter 23
Several days after Bailey’s seizure, Jax got up before dawn and strolled down the hall from his room toward Tamara’s, his cock and heart acting as homing devices.
He’d had enough of sleeping alone, and since he considered her his and Jess’s woman, he didn’t think he should have to suffer, especially not when he knew Tamara wanted them as much as they wanted her.
Jax paused outside his brother’s room, fist poised to knock before someone drawled behind him, “I see someone else couldn’t sleep either.”
Jax almost leaped out of his skin at the sound of his brother’s voice, lowering his hand to turn and see Jess leaning against the door outside of Jax’s bedroom.
“Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I’ll bet.” Jax smirked. “Been tossing and turning most of the night.” He’d even been up to see the circumspect Quarry brothers make it back to the bunkhouse a couple of hours ago. They arrived back just in time to relieve the night riders and start their day herd shift. Jax wouldn’t have seen them at all if he hadn’t been suffering from celibacy-induced insomnia. He wondered when they ever found the time to sleep.
“Me too,” Jess said now. “I went down to grab a glass of milk before I came back up here and found you skulking around.”
“I wasn’t skulking. I just wanted to check on Tamara.”
Jess’s eyebrows lifted but he didn’t say anything.
“We need to talk to her, find out what she’s thinking, what she’s going to do.”
“You ready to have her put the shoe on the other foot?”
Jax knew exactly what his brother meant, but didn’t want to let fear keep him away from the woman. He told himself he could handle the worse, even though his stomach somersaulted at the idea of her asking point blank about Bailey. He had a hard time deciding what would be worse to hear—Tamara telling them she had no intentions on staying and wasn’t serious about them or Tamara asking what illness her father actually suffered. .
Jess reached out to cup his shoulder, tightening his grasp slightly, either bracing himself or bracing Jax for what he wanted to say. “You know I’m behind you.”
If anything his brother would take the lead as soon as the opportunity presented itself, Jax thought. It’s what Jess did. It surprised Jax that Jess hadn’t taken the initiative already. Maybe his brother was just as afraid as Jax of what Tamara had to say, especially after that last scene in the hospital.
Jax understood her non-communicative attitude but couldn’t countenance it forever.
He needed to know.
“Thanks.” Jax nodded then turned and closed the space between himself and Tamara’s room, Jess on his heels.
Jax paused between knocking and just turning the knob and walking in. His sense of entitlement and p
ossessiveness won out and had him just opening the door without giving her a chance to send them away.
“You’re feeling really bold, aren’t you?”
“Just thinking positive.”
They found Tamara sitting up in bed, covers clutched to her breasts as she turned on the bedside light. She frowned at them while they stood on the threshold of the room, unmoving.
She didn’t look sleepy either, Jax noted right before Tamara asked, “What the hell do you think you’re doing just bursting into my room in the middle of the night?”
“It’s morning and we dropped in to chat,” Jax stated.
“This is my room while I’m here, and I didn’t invite you in—to chat or otherwise.”
“Since when do we need an invitation?” Jess asked, stepping from behind Jax to stalk across the room, making his move.
Tamara didn’t back down an iota. On the contrary, she flung back the covers, leapt from the bed and closed the space between herself and Jess in a blink. Even with her head tilted back, her nose didn’t reach much past his sternum, but it didn’t stop her from staring him down and poking her index finger in his chest. “You’re not my keeper. Neither of you are.”
“Speaking for myself, I don’t want to be your keeper,” Jess murmured, and it sounded like he tried to keep a rein on his anger.
It took a lot to make his brother angry and evidently a contrary, disagreeable woman topped the list of things that could bring Jess to a slow boil.
“Actually, we thought ourselves a little more to you than keepers,” Jax said
His quiet words seemed to take a little of the wind out of Tamara’s self-righteous sails.
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and stepped back a couple of feet. She took another deep breath then opened her eyes to look at them in turn before finally resting her gaze on Jess. “What do you two want?”
“That should be fairly obvious. We need to talk, and I think we’ve waited long enough for you to come around,” Jess said.
“I’m really not interested in what you think.”