The Cowgirl Rides Away (Bluebonnet Texas Book 1) (18 page)

"About earlier," she began, "I won't say anything about Travis. I just wanted you to know that."

"Thanks."

"It's not my place."

He let it go, unwilling to get into another fight with her about it.

***

Their evening at the dancehall, as the previous few had, went off without a hitch. Despite her strange mood, Jessa still managed to work the crowd and only Zack knew that something was wrong. On their last break, he dragged her out of the crowded bar and into the beer garden, anxious for a few minutes of quiet.

After two sets Jessa seemed calmer, if not a hundred percent herself as Zack led her to a secluded spot under a live oak tree. He pulled her into his arms, his body automatically responding to her warm curves.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, resting the palms of her hands against his chest..

"Me, too."

"I just—" before she could finish her thought, the sound of a nearby argument interrupted them.

"Wrong, cowboy. It is my business."

"Is that Ty and Rhea?" Jessa hissed, eyebrows pulled together in a frown.

He nodded and sighed.
So much for quiet makeup time
.

"Stop it, Ree."

"Fuck you!"

At his side, Jessa stiffened, her fingers digging into his arm. "Zack?"

Torn between his desire to help Ty and his need to comfort Jessa, Zack shushed her, tightening his arm around her and waiting.

They were so close, he could hear Ty's heavy breathing. "No, fuck
you
! Listen, bitch, I've
had it
. Twelve years of your shit is enough! I'm starting counseling on Wednesday. You can go with me or you can move out. I don't care!"

"You're what?" Rhea started to laugh. "And what's the town gonna think when they find out one of their favorite son's is 'in therapy'?"

"I don't care."

"Yeah you do," was followed by an ugly laugh.

"Rhea, I love you, but…I've had it," Ty began, his voice calmer now but shaky, "I can't do this anymore."

"You want a divorce?
Really?
"

Zack wanted to cheer at his brother's words. Instead, he glanced down at Jessa. "It's okay," he whispered. She nodded but refused to look at him. And then on the other side of the hedge things turned drastically worse.

"You know me better than that. I want us to work things out, and I want us to have a family." Even as the words spilled from his brother's mouth, Zack knew what Ty didn't:.

Jessa pushed away before Zack could stop her, disappearing into the dim light, and while he debated whether to go after her or help Ty, the quarrel turned to children and grew more heated. His marriage was a lost cause and he had no business having children with someone like Rhea. It ended seconds later with the sound of a sharp slap followed by a scream from Rhea.

Decision made for him, Zack quickly located the couple, nearly mowing down his aunt. In the dim light all he could make out was Ty rubbing his face and Jessa holding a handful of Rhea's hair in a painfully tight grip as her free hand connected with the other woman's face.

"Jessa!
Stop
!"
Jesus Christ!
He stepped forward but his aunt grabbed his arm. He shrugged her off and kept going, intent on pulling them apart before Jessa got hurt. Rhea was taller and heavier and Jessa had a bad shoulder and a bad knee.

Ty yelled as Jessa pushed Rhea against an old oak tree. Rhea immediately charged, and then Zack was yelling as Jessa's fist connected with Rhea's face yet again. Rhea lunged and Jessa swung again, connecting with her nose.

"That's enough!" Ty stood between them now, scowling down at both women. "Get off her, Jessa!"

Zack pulled Jessa aside and wrapped his arms around her, a move she didn't appreciate judging by the way she shrugged away from him.

"He's right, that's enough." This from Aunt Susie, who now stood flanked by two of her bouncers. "Get Rhea out of here. Now."

As they led her away, Jessa turned to Ty. "You okay?"

He rounded on her, his face twisted with anger. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"She hit you," Jessa said.

"That's my business. Mine and my wife's, not yours!"

Zack shook his head, trying to process it all, trying to figure out how much damage this was all going to cause if Momma found out, and odds were she would, then so would the rest of the town. Rhea might be a piece of work but Jessa was an outsider. "Go get cleaned up, Jessa."

***

Zack woke up the following morning to the feel of Jessa's lush backside pressed against his erection. Eyes closed, he let himself caress the smooth skin of her bare hip while he replayed the last twelve or so hours in his head. They'd come home and made love, the hot desperate kind that people had when words failed them, showered and curled up together. Not one word said about the altercation with Rhea or Travis or whatever else was bothering her.

He'd meant to wake her and drive her back to Aunt Susie's before his mom got up but fatigue had won out. And maybe he was being selfish. He picked up her hand, running his fingers over her busted knuckles, wondering what he'd gotten himself into. He was in so far over his head with her but he wasn't ready to let her go. He didn't want to but…if he was honest, he'd realized last night that she was almost too much for him. She hadn't needed his comfort, hadn't been upset, or afraid, she'd been angry, she'd been asking him if she should step in, and when he hadn't said anything, she'd taken matters into her own hands.

Just then, Jessa arched her bottom against his groin, and sensing her desperation, Zack pushed her panties down. He grabbed a condom off the nightstand and sheathed himself as she turned to look up at him, her eyes bright in the dim bedroom light.

"Don't tease me. Not anymore."

He paused to study her for a long, heavy moment, then settled her on his cock. She closed her eyes and smiled as a shiver worked its way up his spine. He let her find her own pace, and she tried everything from long, slow strokes that left both them gasping for air, to a heart-stopping, mind-bending, bed-shaking pace that left him unable to think past the feel of her milking his cock and his hands on her body. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. Zack kissed her back, deeply, his body demanding a faster pace, demanding more. The deeper they kissed, the faster they went until finally she moaned loudly against his mouth, her body locked around his as she climaxed.

He met each thrust of her hips until finally, he followed. Afterward, they both lay there trying desperately to catch their breath.

Finally, she gave him a harshly whispered, "Sorry." She untangled her hands from his hair.

He gently nudged her head back and smoothed her hair off her face. "Why are you crying? Was I too rough?"

"No." She ducked her head and dragged a hand across her face.

He forced her to look at him again, his grip on her face gentle but firm. "Are you alright, sweetheart? What happened? What's going on?"

"I'm scared," she finally whispered. "This is all…fast."

"I'm not in any hurry. Are you?" he asked, a part of him terrified at the thought of losing her, despite everything that had happened in the last few days.

"I'm sorry about Rhea. I lost my temper and I just wanted to help Ty."

He sighed, relaxing against the pillows. "I'm not saying she didn't deserve it, but the town, and with my mom…"

"Why doesn't your family do something to help him?" She turned to face him, head propped on her elbow, the sheets tucked around her. "I'd never let anyone treat Jace like that."

His face warmed at her admonishment. "It's…complicated."

"Yeah," she said, then laughed almost to herself. "I got that."

"Momma pretends it doesn't happen. The rest of us have tried to get Ty to leave but…he's stubborn."

"I met your mom the other morning when I went riding with your dad and Travis. I can see why you say she's difficult."

Difficult was putting it nicely. He chuckled softly and squeezed her hand. "She's not the only difficult woman in my life."

Jessa, at least, had the grace to blush.

Chapter Seventeen
Jessa

The Boudreaux family barbecue hung over my head and left a rock sitting in my stomach. I hadn't bothered going into details with Zack about my run-in with his mother, but after my run-in with Rhea, I knew I'd have to be on my best behavior. I consoled myself with the reminder that Susie would be there, too. I'd insisted he bring me back to his aunt's so I could grab some clean clothes, and buy myself a little time to gatherer myself before I had to officially 'meet' Mrs. Boudreaux.

I ran a brush through my hair one more time and slicked on a coat of lip gloss, only to get stopped at my bedroom door by the ringing of my phone.

Leaning over, I glanced at the caller ID. "Not today, cuz." I declined the call with a swipe of my finger and tossed the phone on the bed, facedown.

It wasn't until I reached the bottom of the stairs that I realized I was favoring my bad knee and leg. Not because they hurt, but because I'd been thinking about my fake knee and the steel rod and all of the other injuries I'd suffered over the years. I'd been thinking that none of it had to happen.

Turning around, I headed back upstairs, grabbed my phone off the bed and then sent a quick text message:

You should have told me, Kane. You were my best friend.

***

Zack met me halfway to the Boudreaux's main house. "I was getting worried." He took my hand with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I'm good," I said around the lump in my throat. I still didn't know how to tell him about Kane, so I skipped that part. We were already on pretty unsteady ground after my fight with Rhea and our fight about Travis. My throat worked and my mind waffled back and forth between train wreck and blank slate. I sighed, hard.

"You can skip dinner if you want."

"No, no, that's not what I meant. It's just, I bake when I'm upset."

"…and my mom upset you."

I nodded, then frowned at the sight of Ty and Rhea just ahead of us. "I thought she'd left."

Zack sighed. "Nope. And you can't fight with her again."

"Like your mom won't notice her black eye?" I softly questioned while watching the other couple disappear around the side of the house.

"—and busted lip," Zack added.

His tone was beginning to irk me. Enough so that I stopped and turned to face him so I could speak my mind in peace. "You know, if someone was hurting Jace or even Caron and Colby, I'd be all over them. So would the rest of my family."

"Really? Because I seem to recall you crying about them leaving you in Las Vegas?"

He had a point, but that was low. "There's a big difference between getting your ass kicked by a twelve-hundred-pound horse and getting your ass kicked by your wife." I stood there, staring at him for many pointed seconds, a bit sad over the realization that Zack and I had a problem. A problem that I could
not
quite put my finger on.

We were saved from saying anything else by Susie who, appeared at the side yard. "Come on, you two." She waved us over, a smile on her face. I'd miss her after I was gone. I'd miss her a lot.

Ty and Rhea were just taking their seats at the long picnic table while Zack and Susie led me toward the porch and Mama Boudreaux. She stood as regal as queen, an oversized mixing bowl tucked under her arm. Her faded red hair was still pinned up for church and she wore creased denim jeans and a yellow shirt that probably would not have dared to show a wrinkle while still on her person. Even her apron was crisp, if faded.

Her expression could only be called disapproving, and for a few frightening seconds, I was thirteen again and being chastised for nothing much by my step-mother Marlene who stood on the porch, Daddy at her side, Caron and Jace around her staring down at me, disapproving and hateful simply because I wasn't hers. Never mind that I'd tried to ride one of Daddy's ponies while he was learning to tolerate the feel of a saddle. She didn't care about that. Or even that I could have been hurt.

"She bet me ten dollars she could do it, Mama," my baby brother had yelled while dashing for the safety of his mother.

I glared at him—the little liar. Defending myself wouldn't do any good. Marlene always sided with him while Daddy played like Switzerland—neutral.

It was so many years ago and so many miles away, but still, it felt the same as standing below Zack's mother who muttered something under her breath that sounded like, "Dear God."

Jerrod stood just a few feet away, looking pale under his permanent tan. He clamped down the lid on a huge smoker-grill that filled the air with the scent of brisket and then came to join me on the porch steps. "Maggie, you promised."

Rather than wait for Zack to do the honors, I climbed two steps and held out my hand and introduced myself. "Ma'am. How do you do?"

"I've been better."

I nodded. "That's understandable, I suppose. Would you like a hand in the kitchen? I'm quite good with a knife."

From behind me came the sound of Susie choking on her own laughter. I smiled innocently, my big blue eyes wide.

"How about you, Mr. Boudreaux? Do you need a hand?" I turned toward him, determined to prove to Maggie Boudreaux that I could do more than cause a scandal and beat up Rhea—who'd damn well deserved what she'd gotten.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" he asked, holding out a hand, "It's Jerrod."

I put my hand in his, wincing slightly as he ran a callused thumb over my busted knuckles. "Jerrod."

"I heard you had quite the night last night."

"Yes, sir…Jerrod."

Maggie snorted, catching both our attention. Obviously, from the scowl on her face, she was not amused over my fight with Rhea.

"Matter of fact, I was telling Zack on the way here that I'd never let anyone do to my brothers what Rhea did to Ty.
Ever
. That's just unacceptable."

"Unacceptable—" Maggie took a step toward me.