Looking For Trouble (19 page)

She looked up at him and smiled brightly,
"Heck yeah, I am."

Jess was so excited about the new house they
were planning, she couldn't contain it. They had the preliminary
plans done, and Luke and Cassie had deeded them ten acres on the
backside of the Double B to build. She couldn't believe their
generosity, they were amazing people. They said they were glad to
do it, and wanted to keep Wade around for a very long time. He was
Double B family now, they'd said, and they took care of each
other.

Jess had never been exposed to such a tight
knit family or group of friends, or such generosity of spirit, and
she was loving it. The commune had claimed to be that, but it
wasn't. The leaders in that group just used the members to pad
their pockets, and her father had used her to contribute to them.
She wasn't used to people just giving her things...taking care of
her, because they cared, not because they wanted something from
her.

Now, if things went well with the demos she
was going to cut, she could finally make her own money, reap the
fruits of her labor, instead of giving it to other people. "You
like the new song, I wrote?" she asked Wade, wanting to know his
opinion. It had been so long, since she'd done it, she was a little
insecure.

"Is that the song you were singing when I
walked in?" he asked tickling Angel's tummy, and she let loose of
the nipple to smile and giggle at him.

"Yeah, I wrote it after I put Angel down for
her nap...it's been a long time, since I've done that."

"You fucking amaze me, sugar...you wrote
that song that quickly?"

"Yeah, it almost wrote itself," she told him
with a grin, "I had good inspiration...I'm going to call it Angel
and My Baby Girl."

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, then with insecurity
in his tone, he finished, "Who's the angel?"

"You, baby...you're my angel," she told him
in a choked voice, then leaned over and kissed his cheek.

CHAPTER NINE

Wade dropped Jess off at the bar, and was
keeping Angel this afternoon. Jess had wanted to go to the bar
early, so the band could do a run through on two new songs she'd
written. That way she could make tweaks if she had to, before they
played them live tonight. One was called Take My Breath Away, which
was a sexy, slow bluesy ballad with rich notes, and lots of
feeling, she'd written it right after she and Wade had made love
one night. The other one was Living the Dream, which was fast paced
and kind of ironic...a little funny twist on family life...then
there was Angel and My Baby Girl. She hoped the band liked
them.

Her other goal for today was getting Jazzie
forgive her...even if she had to get down on her knees and beg. She
missed her best friend, and didn't want to be sideways with her
anymore. Yesterday, she'd gone to the doctor in Henrietta, and he'd
given her a new prescription for birth control pills, and confirmed
what Wade had told her...she had the baby blues. That's why she had
been such a wild woman lately, and he assured her she would get to
feeling better if she rested, and took time for herself now and
again...and took the pills.

It hadn't been long enough for the pills to
kick in yet, but she already felt much better than she had a couple
of weeks ago, because Wade insisted that she take long baths, have
glasses of wine now and again, and just kick her feet up. Even
though she knew he was tired as hell having worked all day, he took
Angel over to Luke and Cassie's to visit Bella, and gave her some
space. Maybe if she explained what was going on to Jazzie, she'd
understand.

She went to the stairway behind the stage
and yelled up there for Jazzie, because there was no way she was
going to be able to climb them with the damned cast on her foot. It
took three times, before Jazzie poked her head around the corner at
the top of the stairs and said grumpily, "Yeah?"

"Hey, Chica--throw your clothes on, I need
to talk to you," Jess said chirpily, and gave her a big grin.

"I'm sleeping, Jess...what do you want?" It
was obvious she was still miffed at her, and Jess swallowed down
the fear that her best friend might not ever forgive her.

She sobered and said in a trembling voice,
"I really want to talk to you, Jazzie...I've got some things to
say...I love you and I can't stand us being crossways."

"You should've thought about that, Jess...I
can't deal with your craziness anymore," Jazzie told her then shook
her head and her thick black hair swept over her shoulders.

"I'll beg, Jazz...please hear me out," she
pleaded tearfully.

Jazzie hesitated a minute, then huffed out a
breath, and told her, "Give me fifteen minutes, I need a
shower."

Relief washed through Jess and her shoulders
slumped, then she said, "I'll be down here waiting, take your
time." Jess didn't care how long she took, she was just thankful
that her friend was going to listen to her.

She hobbled over to the table, and sat down
to wait. Twenty minutes later, Jazzie came down the stairs with her
hair in a towel, and a housecoat on. Jazz never let anyone see her
without her makeup, but here she was, bare faced, which meant she
was evidently eager to hear what Jess had to say.

Jess stood up and hobbled over to her when
she got to the bottom of the stairs and pulled her into a hug. Jazz
didn't hug her back, but she didn't pull away either, so with a
final squeeze, Jess pulled back and told her, "Thank you..." with
tears burning her eyes, then she went back and sat down again.

Jazzie took the chair across the table from
her, and although her eyes were wary, she looked vulnerable too.
"What is it you wanted to say, Jess?"

"First, I want to apologize to you
again...what I said was uncalled for, and totally out in left
field. You're the sister of my heart, and I shouldn't have said
those things to you."

Pushing up from the table, Jazzie's eyes
filled with tears as she told her, "You've said that already a
couple of times now Jess...I need to go get ready."

Jess shot up from her chair and said, "No
wait! There's more,
please
...."

After Jazzie eased back down in the chair,
Jess paced and told her, "I found out what's wrong with me...what
caused me to be so crazy, and I'm fixing it," she told her friend.
"The doctor says it's postpartum depression, baby blues...did you
notice this just started after I had Angel? I really
did
think I was going nuts."

Jazzie turned toward her in the chair and
asked hesitantly, "Really?"

"Yeah...Wade brought it up. Sabrina had the
same issue after Will was born, and he mentioned it, so I went to
see a doctor in Henrietta to get on the pill, and asked him about
it."

Jazzie snorted, "The pill huh? Sounds like
you and Wade are getting along pretty well..."

"We are...so damned good it scares me. I'm
waiting on that other shoe to hit me in the head. But, I'm taking
one day at a time, and things are great right now...Angel adores
him."

"I knew if I moved out, you two would
probably work things out. Looks like I was right," Jazzie told her
with a grin, which was something Jess was ecstatic to see.

"You were right in so many ways, Jazz...I
wish I would have listened, it would've save me a lot of trouble,"
Jess said with a chuckle.

"That's what I keep telling you, if you'd
just listen to me," Jazz told her then laughed.

Jess sobered and then went to sit back down
at the table, "Seriously, you were right...Wade
is
a good
man, and he loves Angel...and really is a big help. He takes her
over to Cassie and Luke's house to play with Bella, just so I can
have some down time...even though he's worked all day, and would
probably just like to kick back in front of the TV."

"Sounds like someone else might love him
too?" Jazzie asked with curiously.

"I don't know yet...I don't even know what
that feels like, but I feel
something
for him, and it's
pretty strong. He makes me feel good again," she told her friend,
the added with a huge smile, "I've even been writing again!"

Jazz sucked in a breath then leaned forward,
"No shit? That's fantastic...I'm proud of you Jess."

Jess looked down at her hands and emotion
filled her as she told Jazzie, "I'm proud of myself, Jazz...and
that's huge."

"Travis has been talking to a label in
Nashville...he said he sent them a demo, and they're really
interested, but want to hear more. I think they might send someone
down here to watch you perform."

Jess shot out of the chair and let out a
loud whoop, then went to Jazz and pulled her up by her hands, and
they danced around. "Travis is amazing!"

"Tell me more," her sleepy brother said from
the bottom of the stairs. His blond hair was rumpled and he had
sleep creases on his beard-stubbled face. The well-worn pajama
pants and Motley Crue t-shirt he wore were equally rumpled. "I had
to come down here and see what all the ruckus was about," he said
then walked over and kissed her cheek.

She turned and put her arms around him and
hugged him with all she had, "Thank you...thank you...thank you,"
she told him peppering his face with kisses.

He pulled back from her and put his hands on
her shoulders. "Wow, who are you and what have you done with my
grumpy sister?" he asked with a chuckle.

"The doctor and I sent her on a permanent
vacation, before she alienated everyone she loves," Jess told him
with a watery chuckle. "I'm sorry, Trav...I love you."

"Doctor?" he asked with concern and stepped
back and looked her over from head to toe. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is great...I found out why
I've been a crazy bitch, since Angel was born though..."

"Oh yeah? They have a pill for that now?" he
asked with a chuckle, but his eyes were serious.

"Postpartum depression, baby blues...the
doctor said I needed to rest more and take care of myself...and I
got on the pill, so that should help."

"Hallalujah!" he shouted raising his hands
to the sky, then he said with a laugh, "I need to take that doctor
out for a drink," then he kissed her cheek, "I'm glad you're
feeling better, honey...you know I'm just messing with you. How's
my baby girl?"

"She's doing great...and Wade is fantastic
too," she told him and felt blood rush up her neck and to her face.
It was one thing to accept that fact in her heart, but another to
say it out loud.

"He's a good guy, Jess...I tried to tell you
that," Travis told her seriously.

"I know, and so did Jazz, but the crazy
bitch was covering my ears...I owe everyone, even Tony, Big Mike
and Den a huge apology for how I've been acting. You guys are my
family, and I love you."

"We love you too, and have been so damned
worried about you..."

Jess felt her lower lip wobble, as she tried
to contain the emotions swirling in her gut, then told him, "I've
been worried about me too...but guess what? I told Jazzie...I've
been writing again, and the three songs I have so far are great! I
think you'll like them...or I hope you will."

Travis's eyes lit with excitement and his
smile was beaming as he said, "I'm going get the crew up, so we can
hear them!" He spun around and ran up the stairs two at a time.
Jess flinched hoping she'd be able to do that again soon, too. The
cast really did slow her down, a lot...and if there was one thing
Jess Sparks hated, it was being slowed down.

An hour later, after Jess had given them the
tabs for the new songs, and they'd played them all through a few
times, the band members all stared at one another on the stage
speechless, with big smiles on their faces. There was dead silence
in the bar, and it stayed that way for several minutes. Finally,
Den stood up behind the drum set and threw his sticks up in the air
with a huge whoop, then he ran around to Jess and picked her up,
twirling her in circles.

"That was fucking fantastic!" he boomed, and
she flinched, as it echoed off the walls of the bar.

Travis, who'd been sitting at a table by the
floor listening, jumped up on the stage and grabbed him, then said,
"Holy shit, Den, put her down before you break something else!"
then everyone started laughing, until they were bent over with
it.

"She's baaaaaaaaaaack..." Jazzie drawled
grinning, as she set her fiddle back on its stand, then walked over
to Jess and gave her a hug too.

"Which one did you guys like best?" Jess
asked breathlessly.

As one, they all said, "Take My Breath
Away," and Jess sighed, then smiled, as memories of what inspired
that song flashed through her mind...and he had, that was for
sure.

"Ya'll want to do one more run through, so
we have them down for tonight?" she asked and they all nodded, then
went back to their places. She saw Wade walk in the back door of
the bar with Angel in her car seat, and she smiled at him, then
motioned him to a table, and leaned back on her stool to whisper to
the band.

Wade hadn't heard the song yet, and she was
glad she was going to be able to sing it to him, without a crowd
right now. Denver started the beat, then Jazzie started playing,
followed by the others. She locked eyes with Wade across the bar
and started singing. It was a magical connection they had as she
sang to him, and a slow sexy smile slid over his face, as he
listened.