by Amy Lillard
She turned the page but didn’t acknowledge Jessie’s words.
“I know you know where the keys are.”
Millie didn’t answer.
“It’s better this way,” Jessie said. “It’s time for me to go. All I want to do is start over. Millie?”
She turned another page, not taking her eyes off her reading.
Time to pull out the big guns. “I love him, you know. But it won’t work between us. We’ve tried.”
“I’m not taking sides, Jessie.”
“But if you’re not taking sides while I’m in jail, doesn’t that mean you are—in a sense—taking Seth’s side?”
Millie shook her head, but then she met Jessie’s gaze. “What?”
Jessie didn’t have time to answer as Dusty came into the station.
“You get everything taken care of with Chester and Amos?” Millie asked.
Dusty gave a quick nod, then looked from Millie to Jessie. “Are you kidding me?” he asked.
Millie shrugged. “I just work here.”
“Why did he arrest her this time?”
“Stealing his dog.” Jessie and Millie said the words at the same time.
Sadie barked.
Dusty muttered something under his breath that didn’t bear repeating.
Jessie cringed as he stalked to his desk, rummaged through the top drawer, and removed a key. Still muttering under his breath, he stalked over to the key cabinet, opened it, and retrieved the key to the jail cell door.
He unlocked it with more force than necessary, the ring of keys jingling like a string of bells.
“You’re free to go.” He stepped back from the door.
She had plenty of room but was hesitant. “Is this some kind of trick?”
“No.”
“Dusty,” Millie started. “I don’t think—”
“It’s okay, Millie,” Dusty said. “Come on, Jess. You want to leave, leave.”
When he put it like that, it made her seem cold and heartless. Didn’t he understand? She was doing this for her and Seth. But mostly for Seth. He deserved to find his one true love. Not the girl he got pregnant and had to marry.
“But Seth said—” Millie tried again.
“I’m not worried about Seth. Go on, Jessie.”
Left with nothing else, she slipped from the cell. “Do I need to sign anything?” she asked.
Dusty shook his head. “Just go.”
She nodded, her throat suddenly constricted with tears. She picked up Sadie and started for the door. The pooch didn’t need to stay with Seth any more than she did. They were the same; just a couple of strays that had once been Langstons.
With a sniff, she picked up her purse and started for the door.
“Why’d you do that?” Millie asked Dusty as Jessie reached for the handle. “Seth will kill you for letting her leave.”
Jessie paused.
“She won’t make it out of town.”
She pushed out of the sheriff’s office, looking first one way and then the other, Dusty’s words ringing in her ears.
It was leaving time. Yet how?
Seth had taken her keys. She didn’t have time to get another car. She needed to get out of town. Once that was accomplished she could take her time in building her life back one piece at a time.
Did Dusty think she had no means? Okay, so maybe she didn’t have any way of leaving now. But she still had a few friends in this town.
“Come on, girl.” She walked across the street to the Chuck Wagon, praying the whole while that Sheridan would still be at work.
She pushed into the restaurant, her gaze darting around until it landed on her friend.
“Honey, are you okay?”
Jessie swiped at her cheeks, only then realizing that she had been crying. “Yeah. I will be.” But how long it would take was still undetermined. Six months? A year? Forever?
“Come sit down. I’ll get you something to drink. You want a Coke?”
Jessie shook her head. “I need a ride. Can you help me?”
“A ride? Where?”
“To the bus stop.”
Sheridan pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Jessie.”
“Please,” Jessie begged, her tears starting anew.
Sheridan thought about it a minute; then Chuck came out of the back.
He took one look at Sadie and shook his head. “Jessie, get that mutt out of here.”
“Sheridan?” She turned her attention back to the waitress. “Please. I need your help.”
She shook her head. Her blond ponytail swinging from side to side. “Let me get my keys.”
* * *
You want to tell me about it?” Sheridan asked as they headed out to the bus station at the edge of town.
“No.” Jessie looked out the window and watched Cattle Creek roll by. How long had she dreamed of this moment? Forever. And now that it was here she didn’t want it anymore.
“He’s a good man, Jessie. Maybe you should talk to him.”
“It’s not about him.”
Sheridan stopped her car at the light at First and Main. Jessie could feel her gaze on her, but she kept her eyes trained on the sights outside the window.
Then the light turned green and they were headed out again.
“You know, I didn’t really know your mother that well. I mean, we were in the same class and all, but we didn’t hang out with each other.”
“You knew my mom?”
Sheridan looked at her for a second, then turned back to the road. “Yeah. But like I said, we weren’t really friends, but there was something about your mother that you couldn’t help noticing when you were around her.”
“What was that?” No one had ever really talked to her about her mother.
“Her bravery.” Sheridan smiled. “You make me think a lot of her. Your smile and spunk.”
“Thank you,” Jessie murmured, petting Sadie’s head and thinking about what Sheridan had just told her.
“You’re also the hardest-working person I know. So was she.”
Jessie could hear a “but” coming, though she didn’t say as much.
“But she never left this town,” Sheridan continued. “Not until she had to.”
Jessie tried to let those words sink in, but they kept bouncing around just out of reach.
Her mother had come back to this town from college, pregnant with no father in sight. She’d raised her the best she could in an unforgiving town. Jessie never remembered her mother’s chin being down. Donna McAllen lived as if each day was a gift. And somewhere along the way, Jessie had forgotten that about her. Her smile, her laugh, the way she smelled when she just got out of the shower.
“She would’ve never given up on something she wanted.”
But there was more to it. She had turned to tell Sheridan that when she caught sight of the water tower and an image that had her shaking her head and rubbing her eyes.
“Oh, honey.” Sheridan peered through her windshield, then pulled her older-model Chevy to the side of the road.
Jessie got out of the car and, standing in the V of the door, continued to stare.
“Is that really . . . ?” Sheridan asked.
“Seth,” Jessie whispered.
The sheriff of Page County was standing on the water tower’s catwalk. Next to the longhorn mascot in large red letters, he had painted SETH LOVES J. He had even spelled out the word loves. His paintbrush was working on the next e in her name.
“Oh, honey,” Sheridan said again.
She had doubted his love for her all this time. What a fool she had been.
“You still want to go to the bus stop?” Sheridan asked.
Jessie shook her head, unable to take her gaze from Seth.
“Good. Beca
use I wasn’t going to take you. Not after that.”
Jessie smiled and shaded her eyes to get a better look at her husband. He loved her. He had been telling her all along. But she couldn’t believe. Those were just words, and he was a man of action. This was his way of showing her.
“Thanks, Sheridan.” Jessie scooped Sadie into her arms, then went around the front of the car to give her friend a quick hug.
“I would say anytime, but I hope you never need another ride to the bus station.”
Jessie smiled. “I don’t think I will.” She was staying right there in Cattle Creek. Right where she belonged.
“Go get your man,” Sheridan said, then ducked back into her car.
Jessie carried Sadie over to Seth’s patrol vehicle and climbed onto the hood. He hadn’t looked down even once. He was wholly concentrating on the task at hand while her heart was near to bursting with her love for him.
A car drove by and honked.
Jessie turned and waved, registering in that split second that it was a carload of high schoolers showing their support.
A classic Lincoln pulled to a stop next to Seth’s truck and Miss Alma Brown got out. Miss Alma had taught almost every resident of Page County piano or violin at one time or another. She propped her hands on her pudgy hips and gazed up at the water tower. “Has he gone crazy?”
“No, ma’am,” Jessie said. “He’s just in love.”
“With who?” she asked.
Jessie smiled. “Me.”
Alma left, only to be replaced by the mayor, the principal, and Edward Ralston, who farmed tomatoes and sold them at the edge of town.
Everyone who passed by honked and waved, but for the most part, they were left alone. Jessie had needed a public confirmation of his love for her, but the town seemed to know that they needed as much privacy as a couple could get while painting the water tower in the middle of town.
Finally he finished his work with a big heart at the end and climbed down.
Jessie was waiting for him.
“Hey, cowboy, don’t you know you can get arrested for defacing public property?”
He set the paint can down and gave her that ornery grin she loved so much. “It’s okay. I know the sheriff.” He swooped in and captured her lips with his. “I love you, Jessie Langston. I’ve loved you since the day of your mother’s funeral. You were standing there looking all brave and tough.”
She shook her head. “But you argued with me that day. You said—”
“Not your grandmother’s. Your mother’s.”
“But that was—”
“Eight years ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were Chase’s girl.”
She shook her head again. “I was never Chase’s girl.”
“Never?” he asked with an indulgent smile.
“Not even from that first day. You helped me up, cleaned my scraped knees, gave me an ice pop. From that moment on, I was your girl. It just took me a long time to realize it.”
“Mine,” he whispered. “Always.”
His kiss sealed the deal. Regardless of the town and the rumors, the gossip and all the troubles that might be in front of them, they had each other. They always had, though it took her a while to understand that. They had each other and they always would.
“So you get it now?” he asked several minutes later when he raised his head. The love shone in his eyes. Love for her, Jessie McAllen Langston, wild child of Cattle Creek, Texas.
She shook her head, happy tears clouding her vision. “I get it. I’m sorry I didn’t get it before.”
“I know. You are a damned stubborn woman.”
“Are you going to be able to handle that?”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m looking forward to it.”
He threaded his fingers through her hair and pulled her in for another kiss, this one hotter than the one before. All she wanted to do was get him home, figure out which bed they would share, then stay in it for two days straight. But . . .
She pulled away. “Seth, it’s too soon for . . .”
He winced and adjusted his jeans. “I know. I’m just happy you’re staying with me. We can wait. I can wait. Just imagine how much sweeter it’s going to be.”
Jessie couldn’t imagine loving Seth being any better, any sweeter, but she could hardly wait to find out. “I don’t know what I did to deserve a man like you, but I’m glad, whatever it was.”
He laughed and hoisted her down from the hood. Sadie barked, demanding equal attention. Seth scooped up the pooch and placed her in the backseat. “Come on. It’s time to go home.”
“Home,” she said, swinging into the truck beside him. “I like the sound of that.” Her home. Their home. Where she would spend forever loving her lawman.
Epilogue
Four months later
But we’ve been married for almost six months,” Seth protested.
“I don’t care,” Jessie said. “You are not staying in here with me while I pee.”
He let out an annoyed sigh, then ducked out of the bathroom. It was his baby, and he had the right to know. Especially after all that they had been through.
He heard the toilet flush and rapped lightly on the door. “Jess?”
She wrenched it open. “You’re making me nervous.”
“How do you think I feel?” He pushed past her and into the tiny bathroom. “Where is it?”
Jessie pointed to the cabinet where the little white wand rested on a folded piece of tissue.
“Is it pink?”
She shook her head. “This one is supposed to turn blue.”
Seth raked his hands though his hair. “I wish they would make all these things the same. How am I supposed to keep up with what color it needs to be?”
He looked down into the tiny side-by-side windows. One was marked with a blue X and the other . . .
“Is that it?” he asked.
Jessie closed her eyes. “I can’t look yet. It’s too early. We need to wait another thirty seconds.”
“No, we don’t.” The blue checkmark they were waiting for had made itself clear. Bright and wonderfully clear!
“We don’t?” Jessie’s eyes flew open, her gaze darting from the test wand to him.
“We don’t.” He scooped her into his embrace, holding her as close as he dared. He wanted to squeeze her so tight she couldn’t breathe, but he knew that wasn’t a good idea. So he rocked her back and forth, basking in the joy they had found.
“Seth.” Her voice sounded a bit strained as she pulled away. “Can we wait a little before we tell everybody? I mean, you know . . .”
He knew, and he was so glad she didn’t actually say the words. Nothing was going to happen to this baby. He would take her to Austin if need be. Somehow he knew everything was going to be just fine. “If that’s what you want to do.”
“I think so, yeah.”
“Or,” Seth said, still rocking her from side to side, “we could tell everybody at Christmas.”
Her eyes lit up at the thought. Christmas was still a couple of weeks away.
“What a present for our first holiday together,” he said. Planting a quick kiss on her lips. “It would be sort of fun to tell the family when everyone’s here for Christmas.” At least Jake, Wesley, Grandma Esther, and his mother. Who knew if anyone else would make it in for the holiday?
“The best present ever,” Jessie said, tightening her arms around him and pulling him from his thoughts.
But Seth knew, he already held the best present ever right there in his arms.
Read on for a preview of the next Cattle Creek Novel,
Healing a Heart
Coming soon from Berkley Sensation.
It was official. Jake ripped off his leather work gloves an
d shoved them into the back pocket of his jeans. He was going to kill Jessie.
This was all her fault. And she was going to pay for it one way or another.
He raised his binoculars to get a better look at the little white car that had so recently pulled into his drive. A convertible Volkswagen Beetle. Not a ranch car by any stretch.
How many did this one make? Seven? Eight? He didn’t know. He’d lost count early on of how many “cowbride” wannabes had shown up on his doorstep—literally—to get a shot at Texas’s fifteenth most-eligible bachelor. Heaven help them all if he had scored any higher on the scale. They’d have been wading through women. He had a ranch to run. He didn’t have time to fend off ladies with wedding gleams in their eyes while his sister-in-law sat back and laughed.
Though this one seemed a little different. Field glasses still magnifying the scene, Jake peered at her. She wasn’t wrapped in some slinky, stretchy second-skin dress that showed off every curve. Instead she wore faded jeans and a hippie-looking shirt with elaborate stitching on the front. Her leather sandals weren’t appropriate ranch footwear, but it was a sight better than a pair of those god-awful heels women seemed to prefer these days. The word hippie sprang to mind once again.
He lowered his binoculars and cranked the four-wheeler, then whistled for Kota. His blue heeler perked up at the summons and ran ahead toward the ranch house.
Best he take care of this one on his own. The last time he’d left it up to whoever answered the door, Grandma Esther had invited the woman in and had all but interviewed her to be the next Mrs. Jake Langston. And down the aisle was one place Jake never intended to walk again.
She started for the door but stopped, apparently deciding to wait for him to greet her. She turned and shielded her eyes and his heart gave a painful thump. Something about the motion was so familiar . . .
He was only a few yards away when he recognized her. Austin. And that one fantastic night . . . But her name . . .
He killed the engine and slung his leg over the side of the four-wheeler, his hands suddenly sweaty, his mouth dry.
But she wasn’t here to find him because she missed him. Or wanted a repeat of that one incredible night.