Rodeo Daddy: Book 3 in the Stubborn Texas Siblings Trilogy

by Faith Loveright

  Dana looked pained and Mandy decided to pull out the big guns. “Did you even know that he’s probably got dozens of kids out there? He’s been a regular donator at the local sperm bank here for like twelve years. You don’t see him seeking any of THEM out and demanding time with them. The only reason he’s doing it to you is because he knows he can use Alexis as a way to guilt you into warming his bed while he’s injured and away from his stream of buckle bunnies. Face it, Dana… you may THINK you love the guy… but I’m here to tell you, you don’t even know him.”

  Tears streamed down Dana’s face as she picked Alexis up and ran back to her bedroom, slamming the door. She yanked her suitcase out from under the bed and quickly tossed their things back in it. She then went back out to the living room and looked guiltily at her sister.

  “I’m sorry Mandy… but given the circumstances… I can’t stay here… I’m going back home where I belong. Keep the baby stuff here… I’ll buy new things for Alexis when I get home. She’s outgrown most of it anyways. When Jeff comes looking for me…” She couldn’t hold back the tears now as she shifted Alexis from one hip to the other. “Tell him I’ll do what I promised as far as making sure his name is on Alexis’ birth certificate because it’s the right thing to do… and then when he asks about me… which I can pretty much guarantee he will… tell him I finally wised up and realized I can’t tame a man set on living like the wild beasts he works with and gave up. He should be relieved… no more having to pretend he cares about me … or our daughter. If he asks… don’t tell him where I went, only that I left. More likely than not… I’ll probably end up selling the condo and moving anyway. It’s time we got a fresh new start somewhere… If Jeff Schmidt wants a child so badly, he can just go bother one of the many women he sold his sperm to.”

  Having said that, she turned and ran out the door, wailing just as loudly as Alexis was. Hearing about Jeff’s regular donations to the sperm bank had been heartbreaking and had made her face some pretty bleak facts. Her sister was right. She didn’t really even know the man she’d fallen in love with. Alexis would be better off being raised away from a man who could look a woman in the face and act like he cared so much about the child they’d created when in fact, he most likely had dozens more out there somewhere that he’d never even bothered to meet.

  Dealing with the knowledge that he’d slept with God only knew how many other women had been hard enough for Dana. Worrying that he’d go right back to it once he went back to the rodeo had been even worse… but this… this was no different than him sticking his big fist directly into her chest cavity, grabbing hold of her heart and jerking it out of her body only to crush it in his hand. The pain was that intense.

  Everything he’d said to her from that moment he’d realized that Alexis was his daughter had been one big fat lie. He didn’t care about her. He was just trying to cover his sexy ass so his siblings and the rest of the town didn’t chew him a new one. The fact that he’d been able to get a little nookie while he was laid up had been an extra added bonus, she thought angrily as she slammed her car door shut after buckling Alexis into her car seat.

  Wel l, she was finished catering to Jeff Schmidt’s sexual needs. As of right now, her body was strictly closed for business as far as he was concerned. She turned the key in the ignition and the car revved to life. Her foot was heavy on the gas pedal as she spun the tires on her way out of her sister’s driveway. It would be nice to put Texas firmly in her rear view mirror… right along with that no good lying scoundrel she’d foolishly fallen in love with.

  Alexis fell blessedly asleep a few miles down the road. They hadn’t even hit the interstate before her daughter was softly snoring. Dana let out a sigh of relief. It was hard enough keeping her tears at bay enough to be able to see so she could drive as it was. Listening to Alexis bawl, crying out for her daddy had been almost impossible for Dana to deal with. Her own heart was crying out for Jeff too… Knowing she was driving away from him with no intention of ever seeing him again was breaking her heart.

  As she wiped the tears from her eyes, she managed to miss seeing the truck that was coming right at her until it was too late. The car spun out of control as the vehicle sideswiped her. She slammed her foot down on the breaks as hard as she could and the car slid on the ice that was built up under the snow covered road. The next thing she knew they were slamming into something hard. The car jolted to a stop and her neck jerked forward as her forehead and then her chest hit the steering wheel.

  Her brain felt foggy as panic filled her. There was no noise coming from the backseat where Alexis was. The last thing Dana thought before everything faded to black was that if Alexis survived and she didn’t, at least she had Jeff to raise her... She wouldn’t be stuck with some stranger. Then as the last of consciousness slipped away from her, she saw the wide expanse of Jeff’s chest in her mind’s eye… Memories were funny that way; the clarity they tended to come with. A tiny smile came to her face. It seemed fitting, if she was going to die, that the man she loved would be at the center of her final thoughts.

  Chapter 14

  Jeff pounded on Mandy’s door late that night, holding a bouquet of roses he’d paid through the nose for. This time of year they were bloody hard to come by. He smiled at the frail woman who answered the door. “I’m here to see Dana, and I won’t take no for an answer,” he said boldly.

  “You’re too late. She’s gone.” The words were said harshly as the woman attempted to shut the door in his face. “What do you mean gone?” he asked in con fusion, putting his foot in the way so she couldn’t close the door. “Has she gone to the store in town to get you more meds?”

  “No. I convinced her to leave town. It’s for her own good,” she explained as he opened his mouth to demand an explanation. “She needed to hear a few home truths about the man she was wasting her time with. It took a lot more than I figured it would, but after I told her that you most likely had dozens of kids you’ve never even bothered to look for out there because of your frequent donations to the sperm bank, she couldn’t seem to get out of here fast enough.”

  “In this weather? Are you insane?” he asked, looking frantically over his shoulder, dropping the flowers onto the porch with a soft plop. “If she’s upset in the least she won’t be able to focus worth a shit, and it’s almost impossible to see through this wall of snow falling anyway. You may as well have just signed your own sister’s damn death warrant woman… Which way did she go?”

  Mandy paled as she realized what she’d done and s he weakly lifted her arm to point in the direction of the freeway. “She was headed back home. By now, she could be miles down the interstate… Oh God… what have I done?”

  By this time Jeff was running back towards his truck. He knew there was no time to waste. He picked up his cell phone and shakily dialed his brother’s number. At a time like this, he needed Eric’s help and support. If ever there was a time when his older brother would understand what he was going through, this would be it, given what had happened to Eric’s first wife.

  His voice was full of sleep when he answered and Jeff felt guilty. Eric had three small children at home, a wife and a ranch full of animals he had to be up early to take care of the next morning. If he hadn’t needed the help so badly, he would have said he was sorry and found another way, but he did need help.

  “Eric, I need you, bro,” he said gruffly as he ca refully maneuvered the truck out onto the road. “Dana and Alexis are out in this shit storm somewhere, and thanks to Mandy, she’s upset. She could be in serious danger… I need all the help I can get to find her. Mandy said she was headed towards the interstate. … Please….” he sobbed hysterically. “I can’t lose either one of them.”

  “Say no more,” Eric said grabbing his jeans and pulling them on while holding the phone up to his ear. “Give me four minutes and I’ll have my gear in the truck and I’ll be headed your way. Don’t worry little brother… we’ll find them.”

  Jeff was frantically sea
rching the sides of the road for any sign of a vehicle in trouble. There were no other headlights or taillights anywhere as far as he could see. No one else was stupid enough to go out in the middle of the blizzard they were having. The further he went without any sign of Dana, the more freaked out he became. He was about as jumpy as a kitten on crack cocaine and he knew it.

  Suddenly an ambulance seemed to appear out of nowhere from behind him and went zipping by him so fast, Jeff could have sworn the tires were on fire. A lump of fear formed in his throat and he guided the truck to the side of the road carefully to pick up his phone so he could update Eric on what he’d just seen. If that ambulance was heading for an accident, it was a good chance it was Dana… and the speed that the driver was going in almost whiteout conditions couldn’t mean anything good for the accident victims.

  After telling Eric of his concerns, Jeff hung up and pulled back out onto the road. He had to know one way or the other if the ambulance was responding to a call that involved Dana and Alexis. They were his world… his future, and if he had anything to say about it, he wasn’t going to lose them now.

  Eric and Jeff got to the scene of the crash at almost the same time and Jeff’s legs collapsed out from under him when he saw the condition of Dana’s car. They had used the Jaws of Life to peel the roof of the vehicle off to get Dana and Alexis out of it. Jeff’s eyes were wild as he scanned the scene for some sign of the two most important females in his life. “Where are they?” he asked desperately. “God, Eric… Where the fuck are they?”

  The EMT came over to them and cleared his throat importantly. “Nothing to see here… move on boys.” “But…” Jeff argued with crazed eyes; the desperation in his voice as clear as the day was long. Eric wrapped his arm around his little brother and patted his shoulder reassuringly. “The woman and child from that car… where are they?” he asked patiently.

  “I’m afraid I can’t …” the EMT began to explain. Eric interrupted him before Jeff could do it, since he knew that if his brother did anything, it would be to deck the ambulance driver first and explain himself after the fact.

  “They’re my brother’s family,” he said kindly. “Give the guy a break will you, and just tell him where his daughter is?”

  “And Dana…” Jeff said desperately, looking around again. “Please… I can’t lose them.” The EMT nodded his head, finally understanding the situation. “Your daughter was lifeflighted about five minutes ago… I’m afraid your wife’s condition was much worse… she was taken by lifeflight first.”

  Jeff almost fell over again and Eric caught him. “Could you see that my brother’s truck is towed back to the mechanic’s garage? Our sister will know what to do with it and she’s there. I’ll drive my brother in to the hospital so he can be with his family. Thank you for your help.”

  “I wish I had better news,” the EMT told them as they scrambled back into Eric’s truck. Jeff was as white as a ghost as Eric drove towards the hospital. His fingers clutched at the dash as Jeff stared blankly out at the still falling snow. “I never even told her I loved her,” he said desperately. “God… What if she dies not knowing? I can’t lose her, Eric… What the fuck am I going to do? I’m not strong enough to go through what you did with Vic… I’m just not.”

  “Pray,” Eric said honestly. “Pray harder than you’ve ever prayed before… and the second you do see her, don’t waste a damn minute. Life is entirely too short to let time go by without telling the ones we love how much we care as often as we can… and when you’re not telling them, show them. Believe me, brother. I learned the hard way. I kiss my wife every chance I get, and I tell her how special she is… how much I love her and how my life would be nothing without her. I cherish my family, Jeff and they know it, because I make damn sure they have no doubts.”

  “I’m sorry I’ve been such an ungrateful bastard all these years, Eric,” he said, as a tear slid down his face. “I was a heartless coward… too afraid to let love destroy me to allow anyone in. I fought you tooth and nail when you tried to get me to see the error of my ways… and now because of that, the woman I love may very well die not knowing how I feel about her. The last thing she heard about me was that I made countless donations to that damn sperm bank and never bothered to look for any kids that may have been born because of me. Dana thinks I’m a monster that doesn’t care about his kid.” Jeff broke down then and sobbed uncontrollably. “God, that couldn’t be further from the truth. If anything happens to Alexis….” He couldn’t finish that sentence. The thought was too terrible to give voice to.

  “God will protect her,” Eric said confidently as he pulled into the hospital parking lot and found a place to put the truck. “We’ll pray together when we get inside, and we’ll call and wake Laurie too. The more prayers we can send up at the same time, the better. You know what they say…whenever two or more are gathered in His name…”

  “If that’s the case, why did Mom die?” Jeff asked tearfully. “God knows we were all desperately praying she’d pull through. The tailspin it sent Dad into killed him and again, all of us kids were praying for him.”

  “It was their time to go,” Eric said sadly. “God answers prayer, Jeff… Just sometimes, we have to learn to accept that the answer has to be no. After Mom went, Dad was miserable. Had God answered our prayers to keep him here with us, it would have only extended his misery. This is a little girl we’re talking about here. It isn’t her time yet. We have to keep the faith that God will take care of her.”

  Jeff gave a shaky sigh and walked into the emergency room entrance with Eric right on his heels. He walked over to the woman at the desk and prepared to do battle if need be in order to be allowed to see Dana and Alexis. He realized that unmarried, he had no rights as far as Dana went, and they still hadn’t fixed Alexis’ birth certificate, so he had no legal rights there either. It wasn’t a happy moment for him when he recognized the fact that this woman could very well deny him access to both of his girls and there wasn’t a bloody thing he could say or do about it.

  “I’m looking for Dana and Alexis Miller … they were brought in after a car accident, via lifeflight.” The woman at the desk looked up at him and offered him a harried smile of condolence. “I’m sorry… but I can’t give you any information… Family only.”

  “Alexis is my daughter,” he said desperately. The woman’s eyes got big and she swallowed hard. Nodding to her left. “She’s in the children’s wing… third cubicle on the left. I have to warn you… it isn’t pretty.”

  “And Dana?” Jeff asked, wanting to go to his daughter, but needing to know about the woman he loved too badly to walk away without asking.

  “Your wife sustained some pretty nasty injuries,” the woman said kindly. “So far, her prognosis is shaky. We found a little something that the doctor’s worried about though…. You should know … she’s about three weeks pregnant by the look of things. It could go either way at this point. With the extent of her injuries, it doesn’t look good for the fetus.”

  Jeff felt unsteady. As much as he found he wanted that baby, he wanted Dana more. “Do whatever you have to do… just keep her safe. We can always have more babies. Her health and wellbeing is much more important.”

  The woman nodded. “Because of the severity of her condition, I’m afraid I can’t allow you to see your wife until she wakes up. But you’re free to go see your daughter. Just be prepared… like I said before. It’s not pretty…. Just remember, it isn’t as bad as it looks.”

  The words were said kindly as Jeff pushed past his brother and hurried down the hall towards Alexis’ room. He didn’t have to be told twice that it was alright for him to go to her. In that moment, he was pretty sure that the worst bull he’d ever tried unsuccessfully to ride wouldn’t have been able to keep him out of that cubicle. His daughter needed him. Since there was nothing he could do for Dana right at the moment, he needed to see to Alexis. When the woman he loved woke up, she’d thank him for making sure their daughter got the best p
ossible care. Assuming she didn’t slap him for what her sister had told her about him and then demand he get out of their lives.

  Chapter 15

  The sight he found when he got into Alexis ’ room scared him alright. There were tubes and wires coming out of every orifice of her tiny little body. The oxygen mask that covered her mouth and nose was so big, it dwarfed her. His heart broke when he saw the bandages wrapped around her shaven head. Those red curls he loved so much were gone to be replaced by bloody gauze and medical tape.

  Jeff fell into the chair by her bedside and picked up her tiny hand in his own. “Oh, baby… Daddy’s here…” he soothed tearfully. As bad as his daughter’s injuries were, he was even more frightened for Dana. The EMT had explicitly told him that she was in much worse shape than Alexis had been. And she was pregnant with his child…. Again.

  He swore in that moment that if she made it through this and the baby was still okay, he would be there for every minute of every day. He wasn’t going to let even a minute go by this time around, not being by Dana’s side. His decision made, he picked up the phone in the room that sat beside the machine that beeped every time his daughter’s heart beat in her chest. The noise was the most blessed sound he could remember ever hearing in his life. It told him that despite all the ugliness of her wounds, his daughter was still with him.

  When the head of the National Rodeo Association answered his call, Jeff cleared his throat loudly. “Yes, this is Jeffry Schmidt. I’m calling to officially retire effective immediately. My injuries are worse than we’d first believed and I will be unable to ride again. I’m sorry I can’t come back and defend the championship one more time, but I understand if that means you have to strip me of the title and give it to the second place winner. Just let me know what you need me to do. My time in the rodeo is officially over.”