Royal Trouble (30 page)

Quickly, she scooted to the back of the truck bed, where she found a tarp piled in the corner.  Lifting the heavy tarp, she climbed underneath, then curled into a ball making herself as small as possible, so nobody would notice, then pulled it over her head. 

Hot and oppressive didn't even begin to describe the air under the tarp.  It also smelled like it had been previously used to cover a dead animal or something.  Leigh Ann's stomach rolled at the thought.  In a few minutes the sun would be overhead, and she knew the heat under the tarp would become unbearable, so she hoped that Wes would hurry up.

How in the hell had her life gone so far down the toilet? 

Now she had nobody, not her mother, not her sister and surely not Wes Jepson.  Leigh Ann felt confused and alone, but she would figure this out.  Figure out where she needed to go, and what she needed to do to stop ruining people's lives, including her own.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Wes pressed his foot down on the accelerator, and the truck jerked then shimmied on the loose gravel of the driveway at the R & R Ranch.  A man with a camera who had been about to cross the drive, jumped back behind his van and waved angrily at him. 

He should have hit the bastard, Wes thought with a twist of his lips, as he turned the wheel and pulled out onto the paved road.  That would have just delayed him getting home to meet the school bus though.  And he'd been out at the ranch so long, Trey would be at home alone if he didn't hurry.  Wes was
not
going to call his mother to get Trey.  She probably already had enough questions to fill a bucket.  There was no way in hell she had missed the broadcasts on television, everyone in the country was probably watching.

How the hell had his peaceful life come to this?

Leigh Ann Baker had dropped into it like a tornado in June and stirred it up, that's how.  Razed to the ground the carefully laid foundation he had created for him and his son.

While they worked together on the animals in the barn, Wes had told Roxanne exactly what he thought of her sister too.  And he'd had plenty of time to vent.  One horse had needed stitches in two places, and the other one had nearly needed them. 

Because of Leigh Ann Baker.

Wes fought the anger burning inside of him, and tried to pay attention to getting out of the driveway without killing anyone.  The beehive of activity at the ranch had settled down some now, and the crowd had dispersed, but there were still a helluva lot of people harassing Terri and Joel Rhodes. 

Because of Leigh Ann Baker and her antics. 

His anger resurfaced as he thought about all the people she had affected by showing up here.  It wasn't only his life she had wrecked.  By showing up, Leigh Ann had brought her glory hound mother here too.  Roxanne was a hot mess trying to deal with it all and her mother at the same time. 

Somehow, the abrasive woman had been trying to spin the situation into an opportunity to shove her youngest daughter into the spotlight, instead of trying to calm things down.  As fast as Terri and Joel tried to put out fires, Trudy Baker was setting more.  A few times, he thought for sure that Roxanne would pull out her shotgun and pick her mother or a reporter off of the porch, but instead she finally dragged her inside and threatened to do just that if she didn't stay there.  As mad as the female ranch hand had been, her mother evidently realized she was serious and shut her trap and stayed out of it.

Lester Fallon at least had the sense to get out of the middle of the mess, while the getting was good.  He had a helicopter land in the middle of the yard to pick him up, and every camera there had recorded that action too.  He was sure the media would brew up some story to explain his presence at the ranch to ratchet up the drama.

Wes huffed out a breath, and kicked on the air conditioner to cool off.  As if the hell at the ranch hadn't been enough, the temperature outside was almost record-breaking today.  His shirt was stuck to his back, his hair plastered to his head under his hat.  Reaching up, he plucked it off of his head and tossed it onto the seat beside him, enjoying the cool blast from the vent that cooled his skin.

As he pulled into his driveway, Wes's phone rang in his pocket.  He reached inside and pushed the button, "Hold on," he said as he pulled up under a tree near his office.  He turned off the engine then glanced at the screen to see it was Roxanne.  "Yeah?"

"Have you seen Leigh Ann?" she asked with worry in her tone.

"No, and I don't want to," he replied gruffly.

"I need to find her...Mrs. Rooks said they left her in the truck and she was leaving, but the truck is here and she isn't."

"I saw her, before I met you in the barn, but haven't seen her since," he informed with worry settling in his own chest.  Why the hell he should be worried, Wes didn't know, and it irritated the hell out of him.  When he finished treating the horses, he hadn't even thought about the woman again, didn't want to think about her.

Roxanne groaned, then the line went dead.  Wes shoved his phone back into his pocket and decided to focus on his own problems.  Let Roxanne deal with finding her sister, Wes was done with the whole mess, done with Leigh Ann Baker.  He walked out to the end of the driveway to wait for the bus and get his mail. 

Normalcy
, that is what Wes wanted more than anything.  And that is what he would find again.  His life was going to get back to where it had been before Leigh Ann Baker showed up on his doorstep.

Even if that was bankrupt, stressful and boring, he thought as he pulled out the mountain of bills the mailman had left for him.  The mailbox was practically overflowing with them.  These days, this was the least exciting thing happening in his life, which totally amazed him, considering the serious hole he was digging for himself financially.

Wes heard the grinding of gears and looked up to see the yellow bus making its way slowly down the street.  That was normalcy, his son getting off of the bus.  One step toward getting things back in order.  One step at a time is what it was going to take to get things on even ground again, and that is what he was going to take.

"Hey, sport..." Wes said ruffling his son's hair, before putting the arm that wasn't loaded down with bills around Trey's shoulders.  "Have a good day at school?"

Trey danced from under his arm and turned to face him, walking backwards as they made their way back up the drive.  "Yeah!  Billy Thomas got spended today, because he punched Kyle right in the eye for taking his cookie!" Trey told him exuberantly punching his fist in the air to demonstrate.

"Fighting isn't cool..." Wes told him sternly.  He knew a boy would think that was the coolest thing ever, Wes had felt the same about it when he was that age, but he wanted Trey to know it wasn't acceptable.

"I know, daddy, but Kyle is a bully, so I didn't mind that it was him that got punched," Trey told him, his face and eyes serious.

Wes wanted to groan, because if that was the case, he felt the same way.  Karma was a good teacher, and the kid probably deserved the black eye.  "Fighting is never acceptable," Wes told him though.

"Okay, daddy..." Trey said then turned away and ran ahead of him.

"Trey!  I need you to help me unpack the truck, I had a farm call," Wes yelled after him.  He needed a shower, something to eat and peace, but he had medication in his kit that needed to be put back in the refrigerator in the office, or it would go bad.  Wes couldn't afford to waste things now, he needed to save every penny he could.

Silas bayed from the porch, and bounded down the steps to run across the yard toward Trey.  Trey dropped his backpack to kneel and welcome the dog.  The dog knocked Trey off balance and they rolled in the grass.  Trey squealed as Silas bathed his face with his tongue. 
Normal
. 

Wes let out a breath, the tension in his shoulders easing a little as he drew near his truck.  He let down the tailgate then yelled, "Trey come help me!" as he leaned in to reach for one of his kits. 

A soft moan reached his ears and Wes searched the bed of the truck trying to find the source.  The tarp he'd thrown in the back corner rustled, and he scrambled up into the truck figuring an animal had gotten into his truck and become trapped under there.

Swiftly he crawled to the canvas heap, and yanked it aside.  What he revealed wasn't an animal at all, and sent his heart skidding to a halt in his chest, before it raced out of control.  A red-faced, Leigh Ann Baker, her hair and clothing soaked with perspiration, struggled for every breath she took.  She didn't open her eyes or speak, so Wes put a hand to her damp forehead then jerked it away.  In this heat, she could be in the throes of a heat stroke, her core temperature frying her brain. 

Wes scooped her hot body up into his arms and scooted toward the tailgate.  Trey skidded to a stop at the edge of the truck and his eyes widened.  "Is that Miss Leigh Ann?" he asked fearfully.

"Yeah...run into the house and go upstairs.  Fill the tub with cold water--
quick
!" he told his son and watched him run toward the house with Silas at his heels.

Wes had to get her cooled off fast, or get her to a hospital, he wasn't sure which yet.  If she didn't become responsive after soaking in the tub and drinking some water, he would call an ambulance.  He needed to call Roxanne too, and let her know he'd found her sister. 

Dumb woman
.  What person in their right mind covers themselves with a thick tarp in this kind of heat? 
A desperate woman
. 

Guilt washed through him as he dropped to his feet with her in his arms and walked quickly toward the house.  Maybe if he had just taken the time to move his damned truck instead of venting his anger on her, she wouldn't be near dead in the back of his truck. 

No, you are not responsible for this woman's actions--any of them
.

Wes made his way inside the house and up the stairs, struggling to hold Leigh Ann's sweat-slick body in his arms.  When he finally reached the bathroom, Trey stood there and the bath was running.  "Go get me two bottles of cold water out of the refrigerator," he told his son as he sat down on the toilet with Leigh Ann. 

His fingers trembled on the zipper of her dress, as he slid it down then shoved the straps of the dress off of her shoulders.  Adjusting her in his lap, Wes slid the dress down and over her hips, then ran his hands down her legs and pushed off her shoes.  They plunked to the floor, and he stood with her in her underwear and leaned over to ease her into the tub, holding her head above the rapidly rising water.

Leigh Ann moaned, but didn't open her eyes.  With his hand at the back of her skull, Wes eased her head into the water too, and splashed cool water over her face.

Trey ran back into the room with two bottles of water held out to him.  "Here, daddy."

"Set them down by the tub, and go watch TV for a little bit," Wes told him needing his son removed from this situation.

"No, I want to help, Miss Leigh Ann too," Trey said belligerently, folding his arms over his chest.

"Then get me the thermometer out of the cabinet, and the bottle of ibuprofen," he instructed and reached down for one of the bottles of water.  He uncapped it and held her head up to press it to her dry lips.  Her mouth opened and he tipped the bottle to give her a small sip.

She moaned again and her mouth moved.  A good sign in Wes's estimation.  He put the bottle to her lips again.  "Leigh Ann drink some water," he encouraged and tipped it to pour in another small sip.

Wes heard Trey rummaging through the linen closet, then a drawer, before he brought Wes the thermometer and bottle of ibuprofen. 

"Here, daddy..."  Trey sat the items down beside the second bottle of water.  "Is Miss Leigh Ann going to be okay, daddy?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"I hope so, sport.  We need to get her cooled off..." Wes said and poured more water down her throat.

"Go call grandma and see if you can go stay at her house for a little while," Wes instructed.  "I know you want to help, but I need you to get your homework done, and that will help me be able to focus on helping her."

Trey hesitated and Wes shot him a frustrated look.  After a minute, he nodded then left the bathroom, and Wes continued feeding Leigh Ann sips of water, until the first bottle was empty.  A few minutes later, he heard Trey talking to someone downstairs then groaned when he heard footsteps on the stairs.  He had hoped his mother would just take Trey and leave, but it looked like she wasn't going to do that.

"Mom, can you please just take Trey for a little while?" he decided a preemptive strike, before she could start the questions was the best thing he could do.  Wes didn't have time to explain everything, he needed to get Leigh Ann awake...or to the hospital quickly.

A bright flash of light blinded Wes and his grip on Leigh Ann slipped.  Her head went under the water and he blinked trying to regain his sight, then pulled her head up. 

"
What the hell?!?
" he shouted when his vision cleared and a strange man stood there with his camera to his eye, about to take another picture.  There was a woman beside him dressed in an ugly black suit, with a smug smile on her lips.

"You were right, Leon...it
was
her getting in the back of that truck.  It's a good thing we waited, now we'll have an exclusive.  Good work."

Wes lifted Leigh Ann out of the tub and laid her gently on the floor, before he stood and stormed over to the man and shoved him hard.  He staggered back toward the door, bumping into the woman he was with. 

"Get the hell out of my house!" Wes shouted and shoved him again, seeing everything through a red haze.  The best thing these two could do was run for the front door as fast as they could.  In his entire life, Wes had never felt so angry and out of control.

"Hey dude, watch my camera!" the guy shouted as his camera banged on the door frame.  Like a bull about to charge, Wes's chin lowered, his fists clenched, and he took a stride toward the man.  The weasel shoved the woman aside and darted for the stairs.