Looking For Trouble (25 page)

Karlie chuckled, "Those saddle bums will be
jealous for sure...you better keep a close eye on them."

Jess was eerily quiet beside him, while he
and Karlie joked around, and he cringed when she finally asked in a
low and lethal tone, "What did Karlie mean, Wade?"

Trying to delay the inevitable explosion, he
purposely misunderstood and said, "They'll be jealous because they
don't have such a beautiful girlfriend and little girl..."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it,"
she grated then pinned Karlie with her narrowed green glare, "What
did you mean Karlie? What's wrong with his back?"

Karlie's face flushed then she held up her
hands and said, "I'm sorry Wade, I thought you told her why you
quit riding..."

"I think he left a few details out, why
don't you tell me..." Jess told her sweetly, then gave him a glance
that could have set his hair on fire.

Sabrina walked up right then with a big
smile, which wilted a little when she evidently noticed the tension
at the table. Wade smiled at her and said, "Hey gorgeous, where's
my handsome godson?"

"He's in the office taking a nap," she said
then looked down at Angel and her smile lit up again. "Oooh,
there's my beautiful little girl. Will and I have missed you,
darlin'," she said then got on her knees beside the car seat and
kissed Angel's hair.

"You look so beautiful today...that dress is
just spectacular, you look like a ray of sunshine," Sabrina told
her, then put her finger in Angel's fist. Angel jerked it up and
down with her arm, then smiled at Sabrina. With a shake of her
head, Sabrina stood back up then said, "Jess you named her
right...she really is a little angel," she told her with a
grin.

Jess smiled at her, but Wade noticed it
didn't quite reach her eyes...they were glittering angrily.
"Thanks, Bri...we have to go see Will before we leave too. We'll
have ya'll to dinner, as soon as the house is finished...the
contractor says three months or so," she said.

"I can't wait to see the new house, I'll bet
you're excited, huh?"

"Very...it's gonna be awesome," Jess
agreed.

Sabrina looked around the crowded cafe, then
said with a smile, "I better quit dawdling...what'll ya'll
have?"

They all ordered the special, meat loaf,
mashed potatoes and butterbeans, with sweet tea, and Sabrina left
to go to put the orders in. Wade was about to sigh in relief,
thinking he'd dodged the question for a while, but Jess was like a
dog with a bone.

Looking back at Karlie, she repeated her
earlier question and Wade flinched, "So, Karlie, tell me about why
Wade quit riding," then put her chin on her fist starting at Karlie
intently.

Karlie looked at Wade with an apology in her
eyes, then swallowed and said, "He broke his back and the doctor
told him if he rode again, he could be paralyzed, so he quit...but
they said the surgery helped."

Wade heard Jess whimper, then she stood up
and it took a second to get steady on her feet, then she leaned
down and picked up the car seat. Without another glance his way, or
word, she walked out of the cafe.

"
Fuck
," Wade muttered then shoved up
to his feet.

"I'm sorry, Wade," Karlie said with tears in
her eyes, and Gabe put his arm around her shoulders.

"Not your fault, sugar...I'll work it out.
Cancel our orders will you?" he said then turned and hurried after
Jess.

By the time he got past the crowd waiting by
the door to check out and got outside, Jess was halfway down the
sidewalk to the bar, so he yelled her name then took off running,
but she didn't stop. The cast had her moving in rolling gait, and
she'd perfected it to move quickly now, even carrying the car
seat.

"Jess, wait!" he yelled again, then stopped
when he got beside her. She didn't look at him, or even acknowledge
that he was there. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but Karlie didn't
have it right. You know how rumors go..."

"I know how liars go...you lied to me,
Wade."

"I did not lie to you," he protested,
because he hadn't. He just didn't tell her about it, that was
different...and she hadn't asked. She assumed he'd quit because he
was too old, and he let her believe it.

She stopped and turned to face him, her face
was bright red, and her eyes glittered. "Okay, well you didn't tell
me...and don't you think that was an important fact to omit? The
fact that my baby's father could be paralyzed, because he's too
fucking stupid to stay off a wild animal?"

"Broncs aren't wild, Jess...they're trained
to be bucking stock. My daddy raised them in Arizona."

Jess snorted, then shook her head, before
she said sarcastically, "Tell that to the fucking horse that's
gonna put you in a wheelchair," then she turned and stalked the
rest of the way to the front entrance of the bar. She yanked on the
door and it was locked, so she walked around the corner toward the
back.

"Where are you going? Stop and talk to me!"
Wade yelled, then followed her.

"There's nothing to talk about...you made
your decision, and I made mine. I'm not sticking around while you
do something you know could get you killed."

Panic surged through him, and Wade grabbed
her shoulders and stopped her, then hissed, "You're
not
leaving me dammit!"

"Watch me. You ride in that event, and I'm
done, because I need a man who puts us first...doesn't take those
kind of chances. I'll be damned if I'm going to let you break my
heart, Wade Roberts...or Angel's. We don't need that shit," she
told him with tears in her eyes. "I love you, and if you love me,
you should give a crap about taking care of yourself for us."

Wade dropped his hands from her shoulders,
as anger replaced the fear he'd felt a moment ago. He didn't bend
to ultimatums, and that's damned well what she'd just given him.
Yeah, he loved her, but he wasn't going to be shoved around because
of it.

"I don't like ultimatums, Jess. Those don't
work real well with me," he told her in a low serious voice.

Her lips twisted sadly and she told him in a
voice barely above a whisper, "I'm sorry to hear that, Wade..."
then she opened the door and walked inside the bar, shutting it
behind her.

The urge to go after her was strong, but he
knew if he caved in now, she'd do it again, and he wasn't going to
live his life that way. If that was the kind of woman she was...he
didn't need it. His dad had been married to a woman like that, his
mother, and Wade had watched it growing up. He loved his mother,
but she was manipulative and used every tool in her arsenal to
control those around her.

With every threat that his father had bowed
to, he became less and less of a man, and more and more of a lap
dog. Wade wasn't going to live like that. He wasn't that man, and
if that's what Jess wanted, she
did
need to find someone
else, as much as it ripped out his heart to think about that.

Thinking about his mom, brought to mind that
he hadn't even let her know she had a grandbaby yet, or taken Angel
and Jess to meet her in Phoenix. Now, he didn't know if that would
happen...because he was going to ride this weekend, now if nothing
but for the principle.

Shaking his head, Wade walked back down the
alley and went back to where his truck was parked at the police
station. Maybe Jess would cool off and think about what she was
doing, he hoped so anyway. He hated to go into this weekend with
that weight on his shoulders. She should be supporting him, not
throwing around gauntlets, like he was supporting her singing
career.

The whole damned reason he was riding in the
event to begin with was to help her...make things right, so she
didn't have to worry.

***

Jess was a blubbering mess by the time she
got to the bottom of the stairs up to the living quarters above the
bar. She sat Angel's car seat on the ground then yelled up the
stairs for Jazzie. She needed her best friend to shore up her
confidence that she'd made the right decision. Regardless, she
wasn't changing it, because she and Angel deserved better than Wade
was giving them right now.

Sucking in a shuddering breath, she yelled
for Jazzie again, and finally, her friend appeared at the top of
the stairs with her hair in a towel, and one wrapped around her
body. When she saw her, she gasped then ran down the stairs,
holding the towels. "What's wrong, Jess?" Jazzie asked her then put
her arms around her.

"W-w-wade and I broke up," Jess wailed then
hugged Jazz to her.

Angel woke up with all the caterwauling and
started wailing too, and Jess groaned then stepped back from Jazzie
and bent to get her out of the car seat. "He's going to kill
himself this w-w-eekend at the st-st-stupid rodeo," Jess said
brokenly, as she pulled Angel up into her arms and hugged her
tightly.

"He's a professional rodeo rider, Jess...why
do you think he's going to get killed? And what event? Where?"

"D-d-dallas, and he's going to ride broncos
to get money to b-b-uy my contract from Ray."

"Um...what contract?" Jazzie asked in an
edgy tone.

"I signed a two year contract with that
record company where Ray works...and gave him rights to the three
new songs," she told Jazzie standing up with Angel in her arms.

"
What?!?!
" Jazz screeched then threw
her hands up in the air and yelled, "Why the
hell
would you
do that?"

"To get Wade out of jail...to get Ray to
drop the charges, and promise not to sue him...I had to do it."

"That's probably the dumbest thing I've ever
heard, Jessie," she told her then went and sat down at a table and
put her head in her hands.

"Wade wouldn't have gotten out...he'd have
probably gone to prison," Jess told her then went and sat down
too...he didn't have money to get out or hire a lawyer, because of
us and the house."

"There had to be
something
else you
could've done other than get hooked up with Ray again! Does Travis
know?"

"No, I haven't told him yet, either...it was
my decision to make, Jazz."

"Well, we have something to say about it
too, Jess...you're not a one woman show!"

"I know that, but the songs were mine, and
so is my career. If you guys want to leave me, I'd hate it, but I
understand. It's done, so there's nothing I can do, other than what
they tell me to do."

"Bullshit there isn't! That bastard stole
your other songs, and he stole all your money. He mismanaged you!
And now you're going to let him use you again...that bastard knew
what he was doing when he came here the other night."

"I know he did...he said he'd done it on
purpose. He laughed at me, but there's no way I can prove it. He
also said he'd sue Wade, and I can't let that happen, Jazzie...I
love him."

"If you love him, why the hell did you break
up with him?"

"He's gonna ride in that event this weekend,
even though he knows he might be..." her lips quivered and the word
didn't want to go past her throat, but she shoved it out,
"paralyzed."

"Paralyzed! What the hell?" Jazzie yelled
and shot up from her seat.

"He said he quit the rodeo, because he was
too old...but I found out today it was because he broke something
in his back, and the doctors told him if he rode again he could
wind up paralyzed."

"Holy shit!" Jazzie said then fell to her
knees beside Jess's chair. "No wonder you're upset!"

"Yeah, I couldn't make him change his mind,
so I told him that if rode, we were done...and he's going to do it
anyway."

Jazzie's eyes narrowed and she asked, "Is
that how you put it to him, Jess?"

With a wail, Jess admitted, "Yeah, I thought
that was the only way he'd change his mind."

"Jesus, Jess...you know men better than
that! If you do that, he'll do it just to show you he's not going
to let you control him like that!"

"That's exactly what happened, but I'm still
not going back on what I said, Jazz. He should have put me and
Angel first, cared more about staying healthy for us, than fucking
money," Jess told her then put a hand up to her mouth, because she
felt sick at her stomach.

"We'll get Red to find someone else to play
this weekend, and we'll go see the rodeo," Jazz told her then
squeezed her shoulder. "At least if something happens, you'll be
there for him."

"I don't know if I can watch it now,
Jazz...what if something
does
happen?"

"Then you'll just have to help him get
through it, Jess. He's doing this for you, whether you want him to
do it or not. Damn Ray Turner for forcing him into this...and damn
you for falling for Ray's tricks, Jess."

"I did what I had to do...and I don't regret
it. What's two years compared to losing Wade, and Ray taking him to
the cleaners?" Jess said then tears poured down her face again,
"But it looks like I'm going to lose him anyway."

"Not if I can help it," Travis said from
where he'd been standing on the steps listening. Jess didn't know
how long he'd been there, but his face was mottled with rage, and
his jaw was clenched. "Wade called me and told me what was going
on, he wants a copy of the disk with the financial records from
when Ray was your manager."