Royal Trouble (26 page)

"Would water help?" she asked hopefully.  Maybe he just had indigestion.

"Don't think so.  Nana usually gives me pink stuff when my stomach hurts."

Leigh Ann sent up a silent thank you that the kid knew what she could do to help him.  "Do ya'll have any?" she asked pushing up to her feet.

Looking up at her, Trey shook his head. "Daddy gave me the last spoon when I had a bug in my stomach." 

Suddenly, his face paled, his eyes widened and watered, before he clamped a hand over his mouth.  He spun on a dime and sprinted toward the bathroom, and Leigh Ann ran after him.  He threw back the lid on the toilet then became violently ill. 

Wes was going to kill her, she wanted to kill herself. 

Darting to the linen cabinet, Leigh Ann pulled out a washrag and wet it in the sink.  Once Trey finished, he stood back up and staggered weakly.  Her hands trembled as she wiped his face, then she noticed how red his skin was.  She put her hand to his forehead and it was scorching hot.  Maybe this was about more than the popcorn, he could have the flu or something.  His whole body shook with a chill and concern rocked her. 

"Does anything else hurt, baby?" she asked softly, pushing his damp hair from his forehead.

"Head hurts too," he groaned and sank to the floor, holding his skull. 

Leigh Ann sat down beside him on the cool tile to pull him onto her lap and cradle his head against her breast.  "It's okay...we'll find something to make you feel better," she promised with a kiss on his forehead.  Comforting him was the only thing Leigh Ann knew how to do.  At least she could do that right, until Wes came back.  Another shiver racked Trey, and Leigh Ann hugged him tighter.

"Gonna be sick again," Trey said weakly and pulled out of her arms to lean over the toilet.  Leigh Ann held his waist as he heaved, wishing she could be sick instead of him.

"What the hell is wrong with Trey?" Wes asked angrily from the doorway.

"I think he has a virus," she informed.

"What did you feed him tonight?" he asked gruffly.

"We had some popcorn while we watched the movie..."

"Wasn't the popcorn," Trey said and dry heaved.  "Don't yell at Miss Leigh Ann, Daddy," he said and gagged again.

"Leigh Ann, just go to bed and I'll deal with this," Wes ordered shortly. 

His tone made it clear he thought his son was sick because of her too.  Leigh Ann was sure the popcorn hadn't helped matters, but it wasn't what made the kid sick.  Or at least she didn't think it was.

"I want to help."  There had to be something she could do to help.  If he would just tell her what to do, she would do it.

"Oh, I think you've
helped
enough, just go to bed," he repeated, a muscle working at his square jaw. Hearing the disgust behind his words, seeing the disappointment in his eyes, sent Leigh Ann staggering back into the vanity.  Wes turned his back on her and Leigh Ann spun to run back to her room.

She slammed the door and locked it behind her then flipped on the light switch.  The faster she could get out of here, the better.  She wouldn't wait until tomorrow, she was leaving here tonight.  Her car was still in the shop, because she didn't have the money to get it fixed yet, but Leigh Ann would walk if she had to so she could get away from the man who seemed to blame her for everything wrong in his life.  She would start to believe him if she stuck around.  This job, and this man were not for her. 

She found her cell phone and called Roxanne to come and get her.  Figuring the best defense was a good offense, she started the call by telling her to not ask any questions.  Next, she told her that she realized it was the middle of the night, but she needed a ride, or she was leaving Wes's house on foot. 

Rocky was coming to get her in two hours, which should give Wes enough time to go to sleep.  Thank God her suitcases with all her clothes were still in the trunk of her car.  She would be able to leave quietly, and not have to worry about lugging the heavy cases down the stairs again.  That had been difficult enough the first time she had done it yesterday.  So much had happened since then, it was mindboggling.

Tomorrow she would call and have her Mustang towed to the R & R Ranch, then she would figure out some way to get it fixed.  Roxanne had insisted on paying her for the engagement ring that Lester had given her, and she had given to her sister.  Maybe she would take her up on that offer now.  Leigh Ann wasn't going to have much choice.

Things had come full circle again and she was unemployed and homeless.

Sitting on the edge of the bed Leigh Ann waited, watching every second tick by on the clock on the dresser, until she heard Wes's door shut about an hour later.  She gave him a few more minutes to settle, then quietly crept out into the hall, down the stairs and outside to wait for Roxanne by the road.

***

Wes's first thought when he woke up to bright sunlight shining in his eyes through his bedroom window was he was an asshole.  A piercing pain shot through his skull and he opened his scratchy eyes reluctantly.  Trey being sick last night had not been Leigh Ann's fault.  In a few days, Silas would be fine, and she had only used the shampoo, because he had been too lazy to dispose of it properly.  He could use being exhausted as an excuse, but he wouldn't.  He had been an asshole, pure and simple, and he owed her an apology. 

That didn't mean he had changed his mind about keeping her away from his son though.  Seeing them cozied up when he got home had put him in the mood that started the whole mess.  If she wanted to stay in his home, she was going to have to put some distance between herself and Trey.  He wasn't leaving Trey open to be hurt when she left.  Leigh Ann said she didn't want to hurt Trey, so hopefully if he explained it right, she would understand. 

He wasn't changing his mind about having a relationship with her either.  He and Leigh Ann had no future together, and he didn't want to give her any false hope.  Wes didn't want to hurt her either, and it was inevitable he was going to do that if she continued living there.  That kiss last night had cemented the fact in his mind.  He wasn't going to be able to keep his hands off of her if she was around to tempt him.

Wes peeled Trey's damp body from his where he was plastered, then threw back the covers and sat up on the side of the bed.  He reached back to put his hand to Trey's forehead, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found it cool.  His fever had broken, and it had only been a twenty-four hour bug evidently. 

Wes glanced at the clock on his nightstand and realized he was late opening the office.  He wondered why Leigh Ann hadn't woken him up.  She was probably mad at him.  She should be.  He had been an ass last night.  But he hoped that she had at least gone to the office to open it and catch phone calls.

Getting up he staggered to the bathroom for a quick shower.  When he came back out, he wrapped a towel around his waist then walked into the hall to make sure Leigh Ann hadn't overslept too.  He knocked on her door and there wasn't an answer, so he knocked again just a little louder, before he tried the knob.  Last night he had heard her lock it when she ran down the hall, but it opened easily and he walked inside.

Her bed was made, but it had been made every day that she had lived here, so that didn't mean anything.  Striding down the hall, he checked the bathroom to see if she was in the shower, but the light in the bathroom was off just like he had left it last night.  The towel he had used to clean Trey up was still in the middle of the floor.

Dread settled in his chest, and Wes flicked on the light to see if her toiletries were still in the bathroom.  The countertop was free of the honeysuckle body wash, her makeup bag was gone, then it hit him those things were probably in the back of her Mustang.  Her car was probably still on the side of the road by the ranch where it broke down.  Today, he would call a tow truck and have them tow it back here for her.  He was pretty handy, so maybe he could fix it for her as an apology.  Wes had canceled it the other night when she told him she didn't want it towed, though, and he didn't know if she had done it herself.  Wes breathed a sigh of relief, then shut off the light and went to his room to dress.  He would just have to catch her in the office, so they could talk.

Damn he wished he would have had more faith in her last night, and hadn't jumped to conclusions.  He was bad about that with Leigh Ann Baker.  When he was around her, he couldn't think straight because his body was so tuned into her.  He made assumptions about her that were dead wrong a lot.

Because he expected her to fuck up.  Because he expected her to act and react like his ex-wife.  There wasn't one instance where she had done that.  Even when he was rough with her, she smiled that smile that melted him, apologized and fixed what she had done wrong.  There was a lot more substance to Leigh Ann Baker than he had given her credit for.  Had Laura jaded him so bad that he had changed into a judgmental bastard?

It was looking a helluva lot like that to him. 

Wes didn't want a relationship with Leigh Ann, but he could be nice to her, and show gratitude when it was warranted.  He could have more faith that she could and would do a good job.  And be more thankful for what she did.  Like keeping Trey for him last night, catching up his billing, and straightening his office.  Yeah she had made mistakes, but nobody was perfect.  She was trying to do a good job, and help him.  In addition to being a judgmental bastard, Wes had been damned ungrateful. 

He hadn't even bothered to say thank you to her last night.  Right after he apologized, he would correct that too.  In his gut, he knew he had gone overboard with her, overreacted a lot, and she wasn't happy being his assistant.  In the future, Wes would be nicer to her, and more careful of her feelings.  They could work together, if he changed his tack with her. 

After his mother picked up Trey to stay with her for the day, since he was sick, Wes headed over to the office.  His first clue that something wasn't right was the light wasn't on in the office.  When he tried the knob and found it locked, that dread he'd felt earlier dropped like a rock in the center of his chest. 

He fished in his pocket for his keys and opened the door then flicked on the light in the reception area.  Her desk was just as she had left it the day before.  A few files were stacked in the corner, and her pens were all neatly organized in the pen cup near her stapler.  Her stapler, her desk, but no her.  Leigh Ann Baker had made the place her own.  He had started depending on her to be here.  Now she was gone.  Because of him.

Leigh Ann had left him, just like Laura had.  Probably for the same reason, because he was an abrasive ass who hadn't recognized she had been on the edge of leaving, so he had barreled headlong into an argument with her.  Her reaction had been different though.  Leigh Ann didn't argue, didn't throw insults in his face.  She didn't even tell him she was leaving him and wouldn't be back, while she threw her suitcase in the back of another man's truck. 

Leigh Ann had just left.  He didn't know if that was better or worse.  

Right now, he felt about the same.

"Two for two, Jepson.  You're a dumbass," he muttered as he walked back out the door and slammed it shut. The panes of glass in the door rattled, and he cringed.  His reaction to the situation would be different than it had been when Laura left.  He wouldn't just wave at her on the way out of the driveway.   Wes was going after Leigh Ann.  She was worth chasing.  And he had been wrong about a lot of things. 

You don't miss something until it's gone
.  He had heard that old saying a lot in his life.  When Laura left, after a couple of weeks, he hadn't missed her a bit.  It had hurt, but he hadn't missed her chaos in his life.  Leigh Ann had probably only been gone for a few hours, and panic is what he was feeling at the thought of never seeing her again.

That had to mean something. 
You're falling in love with her
, his mind whispered.  It scared the hell out of him that he didn't immediately reject the thought. He let it toss around in his head as he walked swiftly toward his truck.  On the way he tried to call Roxanne, but she didn't answer her phone.

Leigh Ann didn't have a car, so she had either walked or called her sister to come and get her.  If she walked, he would probably run across her on the way to the R & R to talk to Rocky.  He didn't think she was the type to hitch hike, but that didn't mean someone hadn't picked her up.  That thought caused a sharp pain in his chest that shot straight through his heart.  "God, please keep her out of trouble until I can find her," he prayed, then threw his truck into gear, once his brain had finally engaged too.

He hoped she hadn't called Dylan Reed, or Trace Rooks to give her a ride.  If she had made either of those choices, his job was going to be a helluva lot more difficult.  She might never forgive him and agree to come back.  One of those two guys would be helping her.  What the hell would she need him for?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"What the hell did you say to her?" Roxanne demanded immediately as he walked into the barn.  Stepping out of the stall, she propped the hay rake against the door and folded her arms over her chest.

Roxanne was pissed at him, but evidently Leigh Ann hadn't filled her sister in on what happened.  Relief shot through him.  "Is she here?"

"Yeah, she's here.  I came and picked her up at three this morning.  I took her to the big house and she's locked up in a room bawling.  She wouldn't tell me what the hell happened."

Another brick of guilt dropped on top of the mountain he was building with it inside of him.  "Can I see her?  I need to apologize..." Wes asked with a huffed breath.

"I don't think she wants to see you," Roxanne's lips tightened and her gray eyes swirled like storm clouds.  "Best thing you can do is just go back home."

"I'm not leaving until I talk to her," Wes informed her, crossing his arms over his own chest to mimic her stance.

"You are going to leave, because she has nothing to say to you.  I don't know what you did to her, but whatever it is, I have never seen my sister so upset."