A cowboy never quits, p.25
A Cowboy Never Quits, page 25
“There are a lot of reasons to give up, sure.” Ma pushed to her feet and pinned him with her serious look. “You’ll have to decide if there are enough reasons to fight.”
* * *
Jess had taken one of the trucks into town, not because Wade would’ve demanded she do so, but because the last thing she wanted was to end up high-centered or stuck and have to rely on his help.
After finishing up the breakfast dishes, she’d snuck out the side door. As she’d driven away from the ranch, she’d seen the feed truck heading toward the field, the back loaded high with bales of hay, and experienced a twinge at not being there in the cab between Wade and Brady.
It wasn’t as if they legitimately needed her, though. They’d managed before she arrived, and they’d be fine once she left.
Somehow she’d ended up in the kitchen of the Silver Saddle Diner, wrist deep in pie dough.
After Jess had fought with an apple pie for a good thirty minutes, Winona had given her an extra-large mug of coffee and sent her out front to sit at the counter. The only thing more depressing than being a single rider on a horseless saddle was being alone at a table for one, but only slightly less so.
A plate was set in front of her with a clink.
“Banana cream?” she asked, because it wasn’t what she’d expected.
“Plus chocolate.” Winona swept her long, black braid over her shoulder and slid a napkin-wrapped set of silverware toward Jess, the bottom of her large turquoise ring making a slight scraping noise.
“It looks amazing, but I thought I’d wait and have a piece of the apple pie I helped make.” Her mouth watered as she took in the layers of the pie, banana and a layer of chocolate, topped off with freshly whipped cream. “Actually, you’re right. I’ll eat both.”
Winona glanced around, like she didn’t want to quite meet Jess’s gaze. “You know I simply adore you, hon, and I’m always happy to give you lessons in the kitchen, but I’ve got a reputation to uphold, and that apple pie you made…” She grimaced and then softened her expression. “Pies require patience and a light touch, and most of all, they need to be made with love. That pie you threw together was made with…frustration and sorrow.”
Those emotions twisted through her again, confirming Winona had a point. Jessica had rolled the crust thin, exactly as Winona had done with the crust she was working on. But it hadn’t come up clean, the dough stretching and breaking. She’d gotten irritated and lost her patience and sort of thrown the remains onto the top of the apple mixture in blobs. Then she’d tried to smooth it over, doing her best to pinch the crust together where she could. It…hadn’t looked pretty, but she figured it’d taste okay, considering she’d only rolled the dough Winona had already made.
“Did I ruin the entire thing?” she asked, embarrassed at being on the verge of tears so easily. But Winona had been so nice to take one look at her sad face and give her something to do that’d keep her hands and mind busy.
“Not at all. I whipped up a wad of dough, and after it finishes chilling, I’ll put a nice lattice crust over the top of the apples.” Winona pushed the plate closer. “Eat. Chocolate will help, and I’ll be back to check on you in few.”
About twenty minutes later, Jess had finished off her pie and was on her third—fourth?—cup of coffee.
“I might need to cut you off,” Winona said, setting the pot out of reach and then folding her forearms across the counter on the other side of Jess so they were eye-level. “Are you shaky yet?”
“No,” Jess said as she reached for the mug with a shaky hand.
Winona arched an eyebrow, making it clear she’d noticed.
“I had that piece of pie, so it’s not like I’m drinking on an empty stomach.” Jess thought her joke comparing the coffee to booze and Winona to a bartender was pretty funny, but the diner owner only gave her a sympathetic look.
“I’m fine.” After all, she was fine. She was breathing, and her daughter was good, and life was just peachy. Sure, it looked like it’d be another sixteen years before she had sex again, which wasn’t depressing at all. By then she might as well just embrace old maid status and give up on men altogether.
She was about ready to do so now.
Except…that damn cowboy made it impossible to simply throw up her hands and say Oh well, no big deal we didn’t get the chance to see how great we could be together.
More than that, she could see a few of the points he’d made last night, even if her stubborn side didn’t want to admit it. She sincerely hoped the program could change teens’ lives for the better, and more than that, she’d seen a change in Chloe. Which meant yes, Aiden could’ve changed, too. Jess was sure he had, and that he was a better person than when he’d first arrived. Even she felt like a better person after her time at the ranch. She was more open-minded. More open in general. Happier in a lot of ways.
But she still didn’t want Chloe jumping from a bad relationship to one that wasn’t meant to last.
Kind of like Wade and me.
“This wouldn’t have anything to do with the tall cowboy you danced with at the Tumbleweed, would it?” Winona asked as if she could read minds—and Jess wasn’t one-hundred percent sure she couldn’t. She reluctantly nodded. “You want me to convince you he’s a good one, or that’s he’s no good?”
“Think you could do that? The second one?” Not that she wanted that. Did she?
Winona flashed her a consoling smile. “Judging from the look on your face, you’re already a goner, so it wouldn’t do much good.”
Jess groaned.
Just when she’d seen Wade’s point about Aiden during their heated argument—and had almost admitted as much—Wade had given his decree. Admittedly, she’d be offended if anyone implied Chloe wasn’t good enough for their kid, which was what she’d basically done with Wade.
Ugh, ugh, ugh. I suck. If there weren’t so many witnesses, she’d thunk her head against the counter a few times, although then she’d still be frustrated, as well as have a headache.
Instead, she took another swig of coffee, trying to focus on the burn and not her depressing thoughts. “I’m getting saddle sore. From a post.”
“That’s why I put those in. They’re kitschy and bring in the tourists, but they also keep them from staying too long.”
Jess snorted. “And the creepy cow skull?” She lifted her eyes to stare into its blank ones.
“Bob isn’t creepy. He’s good luck.” Winona tipped her chin up to address him. “Aren’t ya, Bob?”
Jess rubbed her fingers across her forehead. “You were right. I’ve definitely had too many if people are talking to their decorations like that’s normal. I’m gonna call it.” She stood, tossed a couple of bills on the counter, and fought the urge to rub her sore backside. “Thanks for the coffee and the pie. And for letting me mangle some dough.”
“Anytime,” Winona said, and then she leaned over the counter and gave Jess a much-needed hug. For such a slight thing, she could really squeeze.
With nowhere else to really go, Jess climbed inside the truck. Wade drove it enough that it smelled like him, a mix of his cologne and sunshine and diesel, and she inhaled because suddenly she found the smell of diesel sexy.
The main problem was that seeing a few of Wade’s points didn’t change anything in the long run. She was down to two tiny weeks. The last sands were about to fall to the bottom of the hourglass. At the same time, she didn’t want to leave things badly with Wade—or anyone else at the ranch, for that matter.
She had more than enough regrets, and she didn’t want to add wasting her limited time with Wade to the list.
* * *
Aiden glanced up as Wade pushed open the door to his bedroom and stepped inside. He continued to loop the red-and-white lead rope around his hand to his elbow so he could hang it up in the stables later, nice and neat, on the hook where it belonged.
“If I need to go, I understand.” Aiden was proud of how steady the sentence had come out. It’d been on his mind since last night, and he’d been alternatively dreading and wanting to get this moment over with.
Wade’s eyebrows came together. Aiden could handle any punishment, but he couldn’t handle disappointing Wade or the rest of the Dawsons. He couldn’t bring himself to regret kissing Chloe, but he regretted that he’d let them down.
“You think I’d tell Brady, Trace, or Nick to leave the ranch if they made a mistake?”
Each thump of his knotted heart ached, and again, Aiden worked hard not to let it show. “No, but they’re your brothers.”
Wade locked eyes with him. “You’re my brother, Aiden.”
The words made his chest too tight in a strangely pleasant yet uncomfortable way.
“I was afraid you’d be hard on yourself, and that’s why I came to talk to you.” Wade sat on the foot of Aiden’s bed. “Have a seat.”
Aiden sat next to him, his rapid pulse throbbing through his head.
“There are rules.”
Aiden’s stomach bottomed out. “I know. Don’t cross the line with the people who come to the ranch. I tried not to like her, I swear. But she’s funny and smart, and she gets me. She was dating this prick who didn’t treat her right for way too long, and I wanted her to break up with him because of that, but once she did, all I could think was that I couldn’t let her go without telling her that I cared about her. I usually keep that kind of stuff to myself, but she deserved to know.”
Wade didn’t say anything, and he looked up at him, trying to get a read.
“Sorry. Did I need to add a ‘with all due respect’ or something like that?”
Wade huffed a laugh. “No, what you said just made me think that…I could learn a thing or two from you. About telling people I care.”
It took Aiden a couple seconds, but then he put it together. “Chloe’s mom?”
“She’s…” Wade lifted his hat off his head and raked a hand through his hair. Then he shook his head. “I can’t lecture you on not crossing the lines, not when I started crossing them the second Jessica showed up. I’m not going to punish you for liking Chloe, or even for kissing her.”
The stress that’d been churning through Aiden since last night slowly leaked out of him.
“But,” Wade added, and that made Aiden tense up again. “You guys broke the rules when you came back from helping Ma into the house. I appreciate you watching out for her, and I even get taking your time on the way back so you could talk to Chloe. But we can’t let you guys wander off alone—especially since she’s in the program right now.”
“I’ll take her punishment. I’m the one who slowed us down. I wanted to talk to her alone while I could.”
“I respect that, but it’d set an unfair precedent. We’ve decided that you two have stall-mucking duties for the rest of the week, both your usual, as well as the other kids’. You’re also grounded from being together, save classes. But you can’t linger, and you’ll be sitting apart. That’s what was decided, and I’ll enforce it.”
“Math tutoring?”
“Nope. Not this week. We’ll reassess next week.”
Aiden didn’t ask if that meant no riding together. He knew it did, and that made everything inside him deflate. It was fair enough, and better than he deserved, but it meant he and Chloe had just lost a week, and that only left one more where they’d still be constantly monitored. “How mad was her mom?”
“Pretty mad,” Wade said.
“Are they fighting again? I’d rather Chloe hate me than her mom.”
Wade placed his hand on Aiden’s shoulder and squeezed. “They’ll be fine. You just worry about you and your studies for now. If you need help or someone to talk to, come see me.” He stood. “And no more talk of leaving, you hear me?”
His home was safe; they didn’t regret letting him stay. Chloe was okay. It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t as bad as he’d worried. Regardless of how many times the Dawsons had shown up and stuck by him, it still managed to surprise him. “I hear you. Night, Bro,” he added as a joke, but there was something real and raw in there, too.
Wade paused in the doorway. “You know that I…” He cleared his throat. “I love you, kid.”
Aiden couldn’t say it back. Not because he didn’t feel the same way, but because his throat was too tight to speak.
Chapter 29
Wade had just stepped out of the shower when he heard the knock on his door.
What now? After a long day, he’d contemplated flopping into bed and going to sleep so he could wake up and see if tomorrow was magically better. But he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. His mom’s words had run through his head all day, and he’d decided he wasn’t ready to give up on him and Jessica quite yet.
Aiden’s words about telling people you cared only drove the point that much further.
They might not have much of a future, but Wade didn’t want Jessica leaving before he could make things right. He was going to march over to her place and apologize and see where he stood.
He jerked on his jeans and buttoned them, and another knock came as he grabbed a shirt out of his closet.
The fabric caught on his wet skin, not wanting to cooperate, and he’d only managed to get a couple buttons fastened by the time he made it to the door. He flung it open, prepared to put off whatever “emergency” the messenger was bringing to his doorstep, if at all possible. He couldn’t spend another day with the rain cloud that refused to go away constantly dumping on him.
Jessica stood on the other side of the door, and her eyes widened as she took him in. At least that bought him a few seconds to figure out what he was going to say. He’d figured he would plan out more of his apology on the walk over.
“Funny, I was about to go over to your place.”
She jerked her gaze up to his. “You were?”
“Yeah. Been working up the guts to go over and apologize all day.”
“I’m the one who should apologize,” she said, throwing a hand to her chest. “I’d be mad if anyone talked about Chloe like that, and I’m sure Aiden’s a good kid—especially since he has you. I just panicked when I saw her kissing him, and I thought ‘I can’t go through this again.’ And I know it’s not fair to let the bad decisions I made when I was her age turn me into a paranoid lunatic who locks her in a tower, but she’s already dealing with so much, and I don’t want a boy to get in the way of the progress she’s made. I’d feel the same about any boy.”
His mouth hung open a few inches as he processed everything she’d said. He’d never expected her to apologize, and it meant so much that she had, which made it easier for him to make a go of it. “I pushed too hard there at the end. A big part of me wanted to comfort and assure you, but then I realized I wouldn’t do that with another parent. It’s like when you feel the truck sliding in the wrong direction, and you jerk the wheel and overcorrect and end up in the ditch on the opposite side because you went too far.”
“And then you have no one to call for help because you’re already there?”
He chuckled, then slowly reached out and snagged her hand. “I’d call you.”
“So you’re saying you want to stay in the ditch forever?”
“With you in there with me, it wouldn’t be so bad.” He tugged her inside the house and kicked the door closed, and the knot that’d overtaken his chest loosened when she threw her arms around his waist.
Her silky hair brushed his bare skin as she tipped her face toward his. “You know, I was just fine before I met you. So it makes me kinda mad that all day I felt”—she pursed her lips together—“not fine.”
A tight band formed around his lungs.
“But I still am fine,” she said. “I don’t want you to feel guilty or like I expect you to make my life complete.”
Amusement rose up, mixing with the affection and the certainty that this was worth fighting for, even if he only got to experience it for one more week. “Is that you taking back your apology? Or is it just taking a weird turn?”
“I am sorry, no takesies backsies,” she added with a smile. “I just wanted it to be a no-pressure apology.”
“Because you’re fine?”
She gave one sharp nod, but her arms tightened around his waist. “Yes.”
“Well, I think we can do a lot better than fine.” He lowered his lips to hers, backing her up against the door and pinning her there with his body as he delved his tongue inside for a better taste.
“Wade,” she gasped, and the sound sent all his blood rushing south. He moved his lips to her neck, lightly sucking the skin there, reveling in the way she arched against him.
She tugged at the few buttons he’d managed to fasten, undoing them and then shoving his shirt open and down his arms. He groaned as she dragged her hand up his abs to his chest and then slowly back down.
A vixen smile curved her lips when she reached the waistband of his tightening pants, and she dragged her finger back and forth, driving him right to the brink of insanity.
“Jessica?”
“Wade,” she practically purred. Oh, if she wanted to play dirty, he could play dirty. He circled her wrists with his fingers and brought them up over her head. He lowered himself onto her, cradling his erection against the apex of her thighs, and she whimpered. He readjusted his grip, holding both of her wrists in one of his hands so that he could free his other to explore.
Hooking his thumb on the hem of her shirt, he slid it up, up, up, stopping at the lacy cups of her bra to drag his thumb over her hardened nipple. She bucked against him, taking him from hard to rock hard, and he repeated the move on the other side.
