Asking For Trouble (47 page)

Carlos was here with Susan, which surprised
the hell out of Jazzie. Those were two people she would never have
thought would have clicked, but Carlos seemed satisfied with
himself, sitting there with the lethal, but leggy blonde.

Jazzie glanced around at the other guests,
and beads of sweat popped out on her forehead. They were starting
the show with the kids, so their parents, or sitters, could take
them home early, so she needed to get the show on the road.

"Lucy, you ready, sugar?" she asked her
daughter softly. The pre-teen looked scared, but excited too.
They'd been working for three weeks solid on her solo, and the
group pieces, and the kids were doing fantastic...better than even
Jazzie had expected.

Lucy's beautiful dark hair was pinned up in
a chignon, and Jazzie had helped her apply light makeup. When
Jazzie had suggested it to her soon to be adopted daughter, her
face had lit up like Jazzie had offered her a trip to the moon.
That time together with her, teaching her how to be a young woman,
like her own mother had done with her, had been so special that it
brought tears to Jazzie's eyes. Lucy had gotten a little misty
too.

The new white lace dress that Jazzie had
bought her was perfect, and Lucy treated it like it was the most
precious thing she'd ever owned. It probably was, Jazzie thought,
and frowned. That was definitely going to change, she was going to
make it up to Robbie and Lucy for all the hell they'd gone through
their entire lives. She was going to prove to them that they
weren't throwaways, they were wanted and loved. Every child needed
that, deserved it.

Just like Beau had deserved it, but had
never received it. Her heart tweaked at the thought of the lonely
child he must've been. Being in a wealthy family hadn't meant he
felt loved and accepted. It was true, money didn't buy love, or
happiness. She finally understood that Beau's white knight complex,
was his attempt to find that acceptance, and his hesitance to
commit and love was because nobody had ever committed to
him
, or shown him how to give and receive love, not his cold
mother, or his untouchable father.

That was something else Jazzie was going to
make up for. She and Beau hadn't expressed a commitment to one
another, but he'd shown her he was committed to her and the kids
over the last month. He'd gone back to Lubbock for a week, to tie
up loose ends he told her, but when he came back, he had driven a
moving truck with all his belongings packed in the back.

Beau Bowman had left his job as a Texas
Ranger for her, so he could be with her and the kids in Bowie.
Since they didn't have a committed relationship, that had totally
thrown her off balance, but it touched her too.

Since he'd been back, he'd done nothing but
show her how good a father he could be to Lucy and Robbie, and how
much he loved her. Jazzie wasn't getting her hopes up that it was
going to last though. She was taking one day at a time, because,
although he was here today, he could change his mind and be gone
tomorrow. He hadn't ever mentioned forever...and she was trying to
be happy with for now.

Sucking in a deep breath, Jazzie moved from
the curtain and gathered the kids, then waited for them to be
announced. They'd practiced walking on the stage earlier, and where
and how they'd sit, and practiced their piece a few times. It was
as good as it was going to get, and that was pretty darned good for
beginners. The piece she'd selected for them to play was for
beginners, but it had enough meat that it would be impressive too,
and a solo in the middle for Lucy.

Dessert had just been served at the table,
and Beau thought the rich crème brulee must be good, because
everyone else was in ecstasy with every spoonful, but the decadent
mixture tasted like dust in his mouth. The little blue box in his
pocket was burning a hole there, and he was counting the minutes
like a man on death row. He didn't feel that way though, he felt
like a man with a new lease on life. Jazzie had made him feel that
way, the kids made him feel that way.

Beau had a purpose for his life now, to take
care of them and make sure they were happy. Quitting his job had
been the beginning. When he turned in his badge and gun, his boss
hadn't been surprised at his resignation, but had been sad to see
him leave. At that point, he didn't know what he was going to do
with his life, he just knew he couldn't continue the way he was,
because his heart was in Bowie, Texas, and that's where he needed
to be.

He had savings, and his inheritance from his
mother, so he'd been living on that for the last month, getting
settled into domesticity with his new family, and helping Jazzie
with her foundation. His heart was lighter than it had ever
been...because of Jazzie and the kids. She was like champagne
bubbles in his blood, the fizz in his life. Before he met her, he
hadn't realized it was missing. He did now, and he wanted to make
sure she was a permanent part of his life.

This was a big night for her, and he was so
damned proud of her. She figured out what she wanted out of life,
and grabbed that damned brass ring with both hands, and held on.
That's what he was going to do tonight too...as soon as she
finished playing the third song of the set with Jess's band. He'd
already talked to her daddy and to Jess, and they were both beyond
thrilled.

He'd been afraid Jess wasn't going to be
able to keep her mouth shut, but so far, she had. He glanced across
the table to Wade Roberts, who was holding their baby daughter,
Angel on his lap, spooning tiny bits of the dessert into her little
cupid bow mouth. She smacked her lips and giggled at her daddy.
That baby girl had that big man's heart wrapped around her little
pinkie.

Beau wanted that life, and he would have it,
with Jazzie. He and Jazzie had a ready made family now, but he
wanted more kids, a little girl that looked like a miniature of her
gorgeous mother. That is something he
never
thought he'd be
thinking, but he was, and he meant it. If they had a whole house
full of kids, he'd be one happy man. The more the merrier...the
more to love.

He glanced over at the table where the large
and happy Ramos clan was sitting, and smiled at Jazzie's mother,
who looked like what Jazzie would look like in thirty years or so.
He was so damned happy and thankful that he was going to be the man
who was going to get to grow old with her. A knot of emotion
clogged his throat, and he cleared it, then drank some water.
Someone slapped him on the back and not gently.

Beau coughed, then looked up into Carlos
Ramos's laughing black eyes. He was grinning from ear to ear when
he asked, "You nervous, man?"

Beau grimaced and told him, "No, I'm not
nervous...I'm impatient." Beau had told Carlos that he was going to
ask Jazzie to marry him tonight too.

"You should be...what if she turns you down?
Nothing like public humiliation, huh?" Carlos teased, then added,
"Maybe you should've done it in private, that way if she shot you
down, you could just disappear into the sunset...hey you could
always disappear now?"

Beau shot to his feet and grabbed Carlos by
the lapels and put his face right into his. "I. Am. Not. Going.
Anywhere
, amigo...I'm going to be your brother-in-law and
you're gonna
like
it, got that?"

Carlos shoved him and laughed. "I'm just
messing with you man...looks like now's not the time, huh?"

"No," Beau said shortly, then looked around
the table at the curious faces staring up at him. He smiled
apologetically, then straightened his jacket then sat back
down.

"Good luck, Beau...you're gonna have your
hands full, dude. Glad it's you and not me," Carlos told him with a
snort and squeezed his shoulder then walked over to the family
table and sat back down beside Susan.

Out of her black suit with her hair scraped
back, Susan didn't look half bad. Tonight, in the short black
cocktail dress, she actually looked beautiful...but she was still a
harsh bitch, in Beau's estimation. What Carlos saw in her, Beau
couldn't figure, but to each his own, and his brother-in-law seemed
to be enjoying her company. When the announcer got up on the stage
and warmed up the crowd for the show to follow dinner, Beau's heart
sped up and his palms moistened.

Carlos did have a point, what if Jazzie
turned him down? He hadn't even considered that possibility. There
were probably eight hundred people here tonight to witness his
humiliation...friends of his mother's even. Beau swallowed hard,
then picked up his half-full beer and downed it. If he went down in
flames, he was gonna do it spectacularly, that was for sure. Dallas
society would be talking about it for years, it would get back to
his daddy, he was sure.

Beau's nervousness ramped up to defcon-1,
but he didn't give a damn. That's probably why Carlos, who loved
harassing him, probably said that shit to him. He sat up straighter
in his chair and watched Lucy and the boys she was playing with
walk out onto the stage and get settled behind the music stands.
Lucy glanced backstage, he guessed to Jazzie and nodded, then
lifted her bow, and the boys did the same, then they started
playing the song he heard in his sleep now, she'd practiced it so
much.

It was obvious that practice had paid off,
because she was glowing as she played the music. It was also
obvious she was feeling the song, because her violin was singing,
and she didn't miss a note. Pride swelled in his chest and he
smiled up at her. The corner of her lips ticked up, then flattened
as she refocused.

She looked beautiful in the dress she and
Jazzie had gone shopping for a few days ago. Both Lucy and Robbie
were coming out of their hard shells under Jazzie's love. She was
like a magician, and he was under her spell as surely as the kids
were. He knew Lucy's solo was coming up and held his breath as the
boys bow arms stopped and they relaxed and looked at her. She
stepped from behind the music stand to face the crowd and poured
her heart into playing. The haunting melodic tune wafted through
the room and bounced off the high ceilings, and seemed to mesmerize
the crowd.

Lucy played with passion, and the boys
joined her for the last few notes, then the instruments went silent
and the kids looked to the crowd as if they just realized they were
standing on a stage in front of eight hundred people. For a full
minute there was complete silence, then monstrous applause erupted,
with whistles and shouts, then a few people stood and before he
knew what was going on everyone around him was standing for them.
Beau broke out of his daze and shoved up to his feet and clapped
and whistled louder than anyone. Jazzie walked out on the stage,
her amazing red dress swirling around her legs, making his mouth
water. She picked up a microphone from a mike stand and walked to
the center of the stage and waited for the applause to die down.
Her face was split with a proud grin, and when the crowd quieted he
sat back down.

"This is why we're here tonight, ladies and
gentlemen," she said then waved her hand back at Lucy and the boys,
and the crowd applauded again. "Your generous donations will assure
that every child who has the desire to learn and appreciate music,
has the opportunity. If they aren't given that opportunity, music
will cease to exist, because they are the next generation of
musicians...the future of music.

Think of where the world would be without
it...if Beethoven, for instance, had been told, I'm sorry you can't
learn to play the piano young man, because we just don't have the
money to teach you. Your donations will make sure that doesn't
happen. Thank you all for being here, and for your support of the
Future of Music Foundation," Jazzie finished.

The crowd applauded again and she and the
kids bowed, then walked off the stage. She caught his eye and
winked saucily, and he grinned. That was his girl, the woman he
loved, and she would be his wife, he couldn't be prouder.

Beau relaxed some as he watched her play
with the other musicians in the trio she'd assembled for the
classical portion of the concert, and they were fantastic, amazing.
Beau didn't even like classical music all that much, but he felt
it, because it was obvious they felt it. They put so much emotion
into their playing, how could he not?

He'd seen Jazzie play in the country band
with Jess, and she was spectacular, a show in and of herself, but
up there, playing that classical piece she was playing, she was
magnificent. Her face was flushed and he saw the passion she had
for her music. He could see why she'd gotten a scholarship to
Julliard...she was that good...better than that even. What he
couldn't understand is why she'd turned it down. She could be
playing at the Met...hell, anywhere in the
world
.

She did it, because she loves Jess and
wanted to make sure she was successful too
, his subconscious
whispered. That's the kind of woman she was, when she loved
someone, she did it with her whole heart, and her heart was bigger
than her store of common sense or self-preservation.

There wasn't a selfish bone in her beautiful
body, and God was he thankful for it, because if she had any sense
of self-preservation, she certainly would've stayed the hell away
from him. Instead, she'd loved him, until he loved himself again.
Beau swallowed down the emotion that shot up into his throat and
took a deep breath, so he didn't wind up blubbering like a damned
two-year-old. Now,
that
would be the height of public
humiliation.