Jenna's Cowboys

by Laura Jo Phillips

  “You thought you couldn’t have children?” Cole asked.

  “I thought it very unlikely. That’s what I was told after the attack. There was too much damage, too much scarring. Doc says I healed better than anyone could have expected, but I didn’t know that then.”

  “Well, you’re pregnant now, and that’s what we need to focus on,” Cole said. “Please come home with us and let us take care of you.”

  “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Jenna said, rubbing her forehead again.

  “Why not?” Dillon asked gently.

  Jenna tried to think of a way to explain how she felt, but she was tired, in pain, and there was just too much to sort through so she gave up and fell back on what she knew. “I really think it’s best if I go home and take care of myself. I’ve gotten this far, and I’m sure I’ll get the rest of the way somehow. I know I asked you to keep me safe, but I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time. I’ll manage just fine on my own like I always have.”

  Cole opened his mouth but once again Dillon shook his head sharply, so he closed it. “Jenna, I know there’s lots of hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and questions between us, and I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to forgive us for what we did. But that’s not something you need to worry about, or even think about right now. The urgent issues are your health and safety, and the health and safety of those babies you’re carrying. How about we all agree to focus on that, and let the other stuff rest for now. Can we do that?”

  “All right,” she agreed tiredly.

  “Thank you,” he said with a little too much relief, forcing her to focus when what she really wanted most was to close her eyes and sleep. “We all heard Doc. You can’t go back to your apartment alone, Jenna. On top of your physical restrictions you’re going to be in a lot of pain until your injuries heal. The plain and simple truth is that you can’t take care of yourself any more. But we can. I swear, we’ll take real good care of you, we’ll keep you safe, and we’ll do everything we can to earn your trust again. Please let us do this.”

  Jenna frowned and rubbed her head again, wishing she could trust what her instincts were telling her, but knowing she couldn’t. She studied Dillon’s face carefully, then Cole’s. For the first time she noticed that they both looked tired, with dark circles under their eyes and lines of strain around their mouths and eyes that hadn’t been there before. They’d lost weight, too.

  “As hard as the past few months have been for me, they’ve been just as hard for you, haven’t they? I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner.”

  “It’s our own fault,” Cole said. “But as rough as it’s been for us, it’s been a helluva lot rougher for you.”

  “Let us take care of you, Jenna, please,” Dillon said. “I swear you won’t regret it.”

  “What about the shop?” she asked, rubbing her temple again.

  “No stress, honey,” Cole reminded her. “We’ll help you work it all out, I promise.”

  “All right you two,” Meg said as she stepped into the room. She and Jack had been standing outside for a minute, so they’d heard the last part of the conversation. She walked around the bed, waited for Dillon to step back, then took his place before bending over to kiss Jenna on the cheek. “How you feeling, Sugar?”

  “I’m okay, Meg,” Jenna said, smiling tiredly as she grasped Meg’s hand. “I’m real glad to see you, but I hear you’ve been here all night. You look exhausted.”

  “Nothing a couple hours of sleep won’t cure,” Meg said.

  “Thank you for staying,” Jenna said, trying to blink back a fresh wave of tears. “No one’s ever done that for me before and it means a whole lot to me. But I’m fine now, and the babies are fine, so you need to go on home and let your men take care of you.” She shifted her gaze to Jack and put on the sternest expression she could manage. “If you don’t, I’ll have to rethink your grandpa status.”

  Meg grinned, but Jack scowled as he waved Cole away and took his place on the other side of the bed, then kissed her on the cheek, too. “That’s just not fair, Jenna,” he said. “You have no idea how stubborn that woman can be sometimes.”

  “Sure I do,” Jenna said, her voice slipping down to a whisper though she still smiled. “It’s one of the reasons I love her so much.”

  “All right hon, you’re fading fast so let’s get down to the bone.” Jenna sighed but nodded. “These are your choices. One, you come stay at our place and let us take care of you and keep you safe. Two, you go home, we hire someone to guard you while I stay to help you until Susie arrives, then she can take over. Three, you go home, and let Cole and Dillon hire people to take care of you. Or four, you go home with Cole and Dillon and let them take care of you. Time to choose, sweet-pea.”

  Jenna’s mind raced through the choices Meg had given her in about two seconds. Meg had a business to run and so did Jack and Hank. She wasn’t going to have them waiting on her for who knew how long, and she couldn’t abide the thought of putting them in danger. So that was definitely a no. She couldn’t afford a bodyguard, she wasn’t going to have Meg nursing her since she had her own business to run, and Susie was coming to be a partner, not a nursemaid, so that was also a no. The idea of having people she didn’t know and therefore couldn’t trust in her home and responsible for helping her dress and bathe and everything else didn’t appeal to her either. The very thought caused her to shudder. Between that and letting Cole and Dillon take care of her, she preferred the latter. She spent a few more moments searching for other options, but there weren’t any that she could think of.

  She turned toward Jack and met his gaze steadily. “Is it safe?” she asked in a whisper so soft he had to read her lips to know what she said. He leaned over and whispered back so only she could hear.

  “If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be an option.”

  “Thank you.” She nodded, something inside of her relaxing. She didn’t trust herself, or the surprisingly strong desire she had to let them take care of her. She trusted Jack, though.

  “All right, Meg, I got it,” she said, catching and holding Meg’s gaze. Meg smiled, gave her another kiss, and said, “You call me any time, day or night, got that?”

  “Yes ma’am,” Jenna said. “Well, soon as I get my phone back.”

  “Where’s your phone?”

  “It was in my purse which was in the Bronco.”

  “Oh,” Meg said, frowning.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Dillon said. “We’ll make some calls and if necessary we’ll make sure she has a new phone by tomorrow.”

  “Good, that makes me feel better, Dillon, thank you,” Meg said, patting Jenna’s hand. She looked up at Jack and arched a brow at him. “You taking me home or what?”

  Jack rolled his eyes. “Jenna, don’t worry about the shop or Susie. I’ll keep in touch with her and make sure she gets moved without a hitch, and I’ll put a sign on the door of Senses to let people know you’ll be closed for a couple of weeks. Anything else you need, you call us.”

  “I’ll go over with Jack and put a few things together for you to get through a couple days,” Meg added. “I’ll put ‘em just inside your door so they just need to stop and grab ‘em.”

  “Thank you Meg, and you too, Jack,” Jenna said. “Tell Hank thanks for me too, please. I appreciate all your help.”

  “We know you do,” Jack said, then kissed her cheek before collecting Meg, shooting Cole and Dillon a warning look, and leaving.

  “I’m not real sure what just happened,” Dillon said, frowning.

  “Me neither,” Cole said. He moved back to Jenna’s bedside and looked down at her worriedly. “You look real tired honey, and you just woke up an hour ago. We need to settle things so you can rest. Are you gonna let us do this?”

  Jenna looked at each of them, her heart thumping a little too fast. “Yes,” she said. “But only until Doc gives me the all clear, and you have to promise me, right now, that you’ll take me home if I ask.” Their reactions shocked h
er. Their entire faces lit up as they smiled and laughed, reminding her a little too much of their reactions when she’d agreed to go on that date with them.

  “We promise, baby, if you wanna leave we’ll take you,” Cole said. “We’re just gonna make real sure you don’t wanna leave. Thank you for giving us a chance, Jenna. I promise you won’t regret it.” Jenna was surprised by the strength of the relief she felt now that she’d agreed. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or not, but she was too tired to work it out at the moment.

  “You need to close your eyes and get some rest now,” Dillon said. “We’ll make some arrangements and then we’ll talk to Doc. We’ll have you home safe and sound just as soon as we can.”

  “No, I can’t rest yet,” she said. “I promised Doc no more skipping meals, and I haven’t eaten since yesterday morning. Do you think maybe one of you could ask a nurse if they’re gonna serve breakfast any time soon?”

  Dillon stared at her in surprise, then clenched his jaw. “Doc just got done telling us she needs to eat and here we forgot already,” he said to Cole. “We need to do better than this.”

  “Don’t worry, Dillon. We’ll do fine. You go on down to the nurse’s station and find out when they plan to serve breakfast. If it’s not gonna be real soon, head to the cafeteria and get her something. I’ll stay here and make some phone calls.”

  “Good idea,” Dillon said, leaning over to kiss her. “I need to call Luke again anyway.” She didn’t like them kissing her whenever they wanted, but she was too tired for another discussion.

  “If you’re calling Luke, can you ask about my purse, please?”

  “Sure angel,” he replied with a smile before leaving the room.

  Cole pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and opened the top drawer of the bedside table. He pulled out a pen and a small notepad, then walked over to the window on the other side of the room and started dialing with his back to her. Jenna took a slow, deep breath and pulled herself up, refusing to give in to the pain the movement caused. When she was fully upright she paused to steady herself, then pushed the covers back and started to slide her legs over the edge of the bed.

  “What are you doing?” Cole yelled as he hurried toward her, dropping the phone on a chair before actually leaping to the side of the bed, blocking her with his big body.

  “I’m getting up to go to the bathroom,” she said tiredly. “And stop yelling at me.”

  He shook his head and slipped his arms beneath her, lifting her off the bed as though she weighed nothing, careful not to jar her or touch the few scrapes and bruises down her left side that weren’t covered in bandages. “When you need to get up for something, no matter what it is, you call me or Dillon,” he said as he carried her around the bed to the bathroom. “You need to remember that, baby. It’s important.”

  “Doc said I could walk to the bathroom,” she pointed out.

  “There’s no need if I’m standing right next to you,” he said in what he clearly thought was a reasonable tone. Jenna started to object, but they’d reached the bathroom and she had more urgent matters to see to. Cole set her carefully on her feet next to the toilet, removing his hands from her slowly as though he thought she’d topple over without his support. When he glanced at the toilet, then reached for her waist, her face flushed bright red.

  “Cole Howard, if you don’t get your ass out of this bathroom right this second I will not be responsible for the consequences,” she hissed between clenched teeth, wishing she had enough energy to yell at him.

  Cole stared in surprise. It was the second time he’d seen her display anger, and the first time he’d been too angry himself to notice how cute she looked. Like a kitten baring its tiny little claws. Her eyes narrowed and he managed, just barely, to hide his smile. “Now, Jenna,” he began.

  “Out!” she shouted as loud as she could which, since it was barely more than a whisper, wasn’t really all that loud. The anger in her tone was enough to silence him though. For a moment. He realized suddenly that Doc’s orders not to argue with her might be a tad more difficult to comply with than they’d imagined.

  “You’re not supposed to get riled, baby,” he said, then took a reluctant step back when she looked around, picked up a bottle of liquid hand soap from the sink, and drew back with her good right arm to throw it. He relented, backed out of the bathroom and closed the door.

  “You call me if you need help,” he said through the door.

  Jenna was shocked at herself for threatening Cole, even though she never would have actually thrown the thing at him. If he hadn’t backed off he’d have discovered that for himself. As it was, she saw no reason to confess it. She grumbled softly under her breath while returning the soap to where she’d found it, wondering if this was what she had to look forward to for the next few weeks.

  She forgot about Cole when she discovered it was going to be a lot more difficult, and a whole lot more painful, to lower herself onto the toilet than she’d expected. Nowhere near painful enough to make her reconsider letting Cole help her, of course. The very thought made her shudder with horror.

  When she glanced in the mirror over the sink after washing her hands a few minutes later, she winced. She really did look terrible. Worse than usual, even, and not because of the scrapes and bruises on the left side of her face which weren’t really all that bad, or the messy, blood spattered braid that hung over her shoulder.

  Weren’t pregnant women supposed to glow? she wondered. She looked like hell warmed over. She also felt weak, tired, dizzy, light-headed, and her entire left side from her head to her ankle was talking to her and it wasn’t saying anything nice. In fact, it was using some really bad language at the moment.

  Looking away from the mirror, she dried her hands and carefully walked the two steps to the door. The moment her hand touched the handle the door swung open and Cole was there, lifting her into his arms again. She let her head fall against his shoulder this time since she was simply too tired to do more.

  “That’s right, baby,” he said. “You just relax. I’ve got ya.” He carried her to the bed and laid her down, then started to pull the covers up over her.

  “Wait a second,” she said, then bit her lip, wondering if what she was about to do was a mistake.

  “What is it?”

  “I’m wondering if you can tell me how bad my side looks. I can’t twist around enough to see it for myself.”

  “Of course,” he said. He reached for the hospital gown she wore and tugged it aside, then gently raised her left arm which had gauze wrapped lightly around it from her shoulder to her wrist. The movement took her breath away even with Cole’s help, and she had to concentrate hard not to react to the pain. After a long silent moment he eased her arm back down, tucked the gown into place, and pulled the blanket over her, all without raising his eyes to hers.

  “Cole?”

  “It’s pretty bad, baby,” he said, his voice sounding choked.

  “Oh,” she said uncertainly.

  Cole leaned over, pressed his lips to her forehead, then rested his chin lightly on top of her head, one hand stroking her long thick braid. “I’m so sorry, Jenna. I shouldn’t have said such awful, mean things to you that morning no matter how angry and hurt I was. Even if you had been in love with someone else, we had no right to treat you that way. If you decide one day to forgive us, I know we’ll both be grateful. But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself. If we hadn’t treated you so badly, none of this would have happened. We’d have had you safe and sound with us all this time.”

  The pain in his voice brought a lump to her throat and she couldn’t help trying to soothe him. She reached up to pat him on the arm which was all she could reach. “I’m okay, Cole. It’s not your fault I got hurt.”

  “You’re black and blue all over, baby,” he said, raising his head and smoothing the blanket over her. “It’s gonna take a while for those bruises to fade.”

  “Bruises are better than broken bone
s.”

  “They hurt just as much, if not more. Close your eyes and rest until Dillon brings you some food.” She nodded tiredly and closed her eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t know why I’m so tired.”

  “Don’t you dare apologize,” Cole said fiercely. Her eyes popped opened at his tone. He brushed a few wisps of hair off her forehead with trembling fingers. “You’re tired because you were just a little bit of a thing to start with, and you’re even smaller now. You’ve had to do everything alone and we’ll never be able to make that up to you. But we’re here now, and we’re gonna do everything we can to get you strong and healthy, and keep you safe. That’s a promise, honey.”

  “Thank you, Cole,” she said, her eyes starting to close again.

  “Jenna.” Something in his tone demanded her attention, so she dragged her eyelids back up again. She was surprised by the expression on his face. He looked…vulnerable. “Thank you for keeping our babies. For wanting them, and loving them, even though we treated you so badly.”

  “There was never any thought of doing otherwise,” she whispered, too tired to make the effort required to speak louder.

  “I know, baby,” he said. “I just wanted to say thank you. Now, get some rest while I make some calls.”

  “Okay,” she said, letting her eyes close again. She heard Cole talking, though she was unable to make out what he was saying. Strangely, just the sound of his voice comforted her and she drifted into a doze

  Chapter 11

  Jenna relaxed in Dillon’s arms as he carried her into a big, airy living room and laid her gently on a butter soft, chocolate brown leather sofa. “We’ll get you settled in your room just as soon as we can, angel,” he said while spreading a light blanket over her legs and tucking a couple of throw pillows under her head. “Right now we’re having an intercom system installed so there’s a few men scattered around the house.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Jenna started to object. Dillon’s face tightened, then he sighed and crouched down in front of her.