Asking For Trouble (42 page)

"We'll go back to town now and do some
shopping, so you can reach us on my cell phone when you hear
something."

CHAPTER TWENTY

Once the agent had her signature on the
purchase agreement, he drove them back to town and dropped them off
at the Blue Bird. Jess and Jazzie walked down to a little boutique
that sold kids clothes, and Jazzie bought Lucy and Robbie some new
clothes to surprise them when they got home. After that, they went
to the western store by the bar and she got jeans for both of them,
and a new pair of boots for each. Lucy's boots had cutouts with
pink insets and rhinestones, and Robbie's were shiny and black,
true cowboy boots. By the time they finished with their shopping
spree, Jazzie was worn out, and anxious, because it was two
o'clock.

"Okay what do we do now?" Jazzie asked and
plopped down on a bench outside the western store.

Jess's eyes lit up, and she told her with a
conspiratorial grin, "I say we go inside the bar and say hey to
Red, and have a nice cold beer to relax."

Jazzie started to push up off the bench,
then sat back down, as a thought that wouldn't have occurred to her
two weeks ago popped into her mind. "I can't," she said.

"Why the heck not?" Jess asked in confusion
and sat down beside her and dropped her packages to the ground.

"The kids...I don't want them smelling beer
on me," she told her friend.

"Honey, adults drink, and as long as you
don't overdo it, there's no harm in them knowing it," Jess told her
and patted her arm.

"They've been through a lot, Jess...I don't
want them to be afraid."

"Yeah, I guess you're right...so no beer
then, how about a cold drink?"

"That sounds like a plan," Jazzie told her
with a smile, then stood up and picked up her packages, and they
walked across the street to a place they'd worked for a few weeks
when Jess had been down with a broken ankle.

It seemed like it had been eons since then,
but the place hadn't changed a bit, she thought when they walked
inside the dim bar. The same midday regulars were sitting at the
long bar, sipping their drinks. Once her eyes adjusted, Jazzie saw
that band equipment was set up on the stage, which must mean Red
had a regular band there now.

"Well, if it isn't country superstar, Jess
Sparks..." Red said from behind the bar. "Come in to slum, babe?"
he asked with a chuckle.

"Never, Red...I came to see your crotchety
old ass...some things never change, huh?"

He wiped his hands on a bar towel, then
walked from behind the bar and over to them, where he
unceremoniously grabbed Jess in a bear hug. "How the hell have you
been, sugar?"

"Doing great...we just thought we stop in to
say hello," she said and nodded toward Jazzie.

"Well, hello, darlin'...you look beautiful
as usual, you burn that fiddle up yet?" he snorted.

"On my third one since we left," Jazzie told
him smugly.

"We don't have celebrities in here much, so
how bout I buy you girls a drink?" Red said and led them over to
the bar. He asked what they wanted and poured them each a Coke in a
tall glass with ice and slid it over to them.

"No celebrities in here now, Red...just good
old country girls talking to a friend. How's business?" Jess asked
him with a grin.

"Not as good as it was when you were here,"
he told her honestly. "You in town for a while?"

"A couple of months, but the guys have gone
to see their families," she told him.

"You could always come in and do a solo
set," he suggested hopefully. "Or Jazzie could always play fiddle,
and you could do guitar and vocals."

"We'll think about it," Jess said
noncommittally. Jazzie knew it was because they couldn't really do
that, they were under contract. Red probably knew it too, he was
just fishing.

"So how's that cute little baby girl of
yours and your mean ass husband?" he shook his head, "Still can't
figure how that ugly ass cowboy made such a pretty little girl, and
hooked himself such a beautiful wife."

"She looks just like him," Jess said with a
snort.

"Nah, she's got black hair, but that's about
it. She's the spittin' image of her mama, thank the good Lord."

Jess's phone rang in her purse, and Jazzie
jumped, then her stomach clenched. Her friend unzipped the huge bag
quickly, and dug around in it. With a smile, she pulled out her
phone and pressed the button to connect the call.

"Yeah?" she said with excitement.

Jazzie's stomach turned, because she figured
it was the real estate agent, and she leaned closer to see if she
could hear what was being said. She couldn't, but she could read
Jess's facial expressions, and they said that the news wasn't
good.

"Offer them ten thousand over the asking
price, and we pay closing, but that's our final offer," she said
then disconnected.

Jazzie's Coke lurched up and down a few
times, then she swallowed and asked, "They turned it down?"

"Yeah, but they won't turn this one down, if
they do, they don't wanna sell it. Their sticking point was the
furniture," she said.

"Hell, for ten thousand dollars I could
furnish two houses," Jazzie snorted.

"Yeah, but it's already set up, and it looks
good in there, and you could move right in with no hassle," Jess
told her.

"Whatever you say...I just don't want to
lose the house over it," Jazzie said and huffed out a breath.

"You're not going to lose it, relax...trust
me," Jess told her, then downed her drink and sat the glass down on
the counter. "Let's blow this popsicle stand, sister." Jess waved
at Red who'd gone to the other end of the bar to draw a beer.

"Where are we going?" Jazzie asked her.

"We're going to camp out at the real estate
office, until that guy does his job and gets us that house," Jess
said smugly.

Two hours later, they had a signed purchase
agreement, because Jess had insisted she be allowed to talk to the
Seller directly. That guy didn't know what hit him when she got
finished with him. He'd even agreed to allow her possession
immediately, when Jess told him to keep the five thousand dollars
earnest money as rent.

Money talked and bullshit walked, as the old
saying went, and Jazzie guessed that was definitely the case here.
"I need to call my mama and papa and tell them!" Jazzie squealed
and grabbed Jess and danced her around in a circle.

"Have you told the kids yet, what you're
planning?" Jess asked her.

"No, I didn't want to get their hopes up
yet, but I guess I have to now, since we have a house. I just hope
the adoption works out..." Jazzie said and gnawed her lip.

"It's going to work out, trust me. We'll do
what it takes to make sure of it," Jess told her confidently.

Jess's confidence bolstered Jazzie's own,
and she was never so thankful to have her on her side. Maybe this
crazy plan of hers would work out after all. She and Jess had
always been a dynamic team. Together, they could do just about
anything. Against all odds, they'd made the band successful in a
business that ate people like them for lunch. Of course it didn't
hurt that Jess could sing like a bird, either. Jess was right, they
could make this happen.

Jazzie took a deep breath, then let it out
slowly. "Tomorrow, we go see the attorneys, and kick some legal
ass," Jazzie said with a chuckle.

"We're gonna walk out with a foundation and
two kids," Jess agreed then stuck out her pinkie to her friend.
Jazzie hooked her own with Jess's finger and pulled. A pinkie swear
could never go wrong.

***

Beau had never been more miserable in his
life. He missed Jazzie so badly, it was a physical ache inside of
him. Worry for her and the kids plagued him twenty-four hours a
day. He'd gone back to work sooner than he'd said he would, just to
have something else to think about.

A distracted cop was a dead cop, how many
times had he heard that at the academy?

Evidently not enough, in his boss's
estimation, because he was sitting here listening to him preach
about it right now.

"You have to keep your eye on the ball, you
know that Beau...you're one of the best Rangers I have, but you
sure aren't acting like it. What the hell is the matter with
you?"

"Nothing's wrong," he said and sat up
straighter in the hard chair in front of the desk. The hot seat is
what everyone called it, and Beau's ass was sure on fire from the
chewing he'd just received.

"You almost blew your cover and put you and
your partner's lives on the line. That can't be
happening...whatever is stuck in your craw, you need to get it
out."

It was true, he'd zoned out and called his
partner by his real name, instead of his cover name during a drug
buy from a mid-level member of a cartel they were trying to take
down. Thank god his real name was Bud, and he could play it off, as
a common southern handle, instead of his real name. It had been a
close call for sure, and he didn't blame Bud for being pissed.

"I don't want to suspend you, but you've got
to get your head right. You still have time left, take it and fix
whatever is wrong," his chief said with disgust then told him, "Get
the hell out of here, before I change my mind."

His boss couldn't be any more disgusted with
him, than Beau was with himself. He was letting his personal life
invade in his professional life, and that was something he'd never
done before, not even when Jenny left him. He'd carried on at work
just like he always had, but not this time. His chief was right,
Beau wasn't going to be able to function, until he figured out what
was going on with him, and until he checked on Jazzie and the kids
to make sure they were okay. His daily calls to Gabe hadn't told
him a damned thing, other than she'd bought a house and the kids
were living with her there.

"Yes, sir," Beau said then stood and left as
quickly as he could.

When Beau got outside of the station, he
took a deep breath, then dropped his head and released the breath
slowly. He was a damned mess, physically and emotionally. He hadn't
slept well in the three weeks, since he'd left Bowie. He wasn't
eating right, he was just cramming whatever was handy in his mouth
to keep from dying, and half of that had come back up. Beau was
sure he had an ulcer, his stomach burned so bad sometimes lately,
it doubled him over. When that didn't double him over, the pain in
his chest did.

His old life before Jazzie was over. There
was no way he could recapture the peace he'd once known with his
job and his solitary life. Beau had done the unimaginable,
something he swore he'd never do again, he'd gone and fallen in
love with her, head over heels, never gonna get over it love, and
being without her was slowly killing him. Denying it hadn't done
him any good, running away from her hadn't done him any good, the
only thing he could do to fix things was go to Bowie and find some
way to tell her, because she wasn't going to settle for less.

With determination in his stride, Beau
walked to his truck and got inside. The weight that had been
pressing on his shoulders for the last two weeks eased a little
when he cranked the truck and pointed it toward Bowie...and
Jazzie.

If he put the hammer down, he could be there
in a little over four hours, but he had to stop by his apartment
first and pack some clothes. He wasn't coming back until he'd
resolved the situation with her, one way or another. She was pretty
pissed when she told him to leave, and said she never wanted to see
him again. Well that was too fucking bad, because she was going to
see him, and he was going to tell her that he loved her, and wanted
to be with her. It took the misery he'd been through the last three
weeks for him to see things clearly.

Whether she still wanted to be with him, was
another story. His declaration could be too little, too late. Beau
swallowed down the fear that shot through him at the thought she
might turn him away. Hell, she might be seeing someone else by now.
She was a beautiful, vibrant woman, and enough men had been
sniffing around her that he knew she wouldn't be alone long. That
thought sent blood rushing to his head and it made him
lightheaded.

No, she couldn't be with anyone else, Jazzie
was his, she said she loved him. One of the only people who'd ever
told him that in his life, and he had basically thrown it back in
her face, but she'd kept saying it anyway. God, he didn't deserve
her, he was an idiot, he thought, and slammed his fist against the
steering wheel.

***

"Robbie, can you grab that bag out of the
car and bring it inside, baby?" Jazzie asked her soon-to-be adopted
son.

"Yes ma'am," he told her and picked it up
from the back seat and shut the door.

It was Friday, and Lucy was at a friend's
house for the night. She was making so many friends here, it was
like she was making up for lost time when she wasn't able to make
friends, because her life had been so transitional. With Lucy gone,
it was only Jazzie and Robbie at home tonight.