by Becky McGraw
She found her cell phone and called Roxanne to come and get her. Figuring the best defense was a good offense, she started the call by telling her to not ask any questions. Next, she told her that she realized it was the middle of the night, but she needed a ride, or she was leaving Wes's house on foot.
Rocky was coming to get her in two hours, which should give Wes enough time to go to sleep. Thank God her suitcases with all her clothes were still in the trunk of her car. She would be able to leave quietly, and not have to worry about lugging the heavy cases down the stairs again. That had been difficult enough the first time she had done it yesterday. So much had happened since then, it was mindboggling.
Tomorrow she would call and have her Mustang towed to the R & R Ranch, then she would figure out some way to get it fixed. Roxanne had insisted on paying her for the engagement ring that Lester had given her, and she had given to her sister. Maybe she would take her up on that offer now. Leigh Ann wasn't going to have much choice.
Things had come full circle again and she was unemployed and homeless.
Sitting on the edge of the bed Leigh Ann waited, watching every second tick by on the clock on the dresser, until she heard Wes's door shut about an hour later. She gave him a few more minutes to settle, then quietly crept out into the hall, down the stairs and outside to wait for Roxanne by the road.
***
Wes's first thought when he woke up to bright sunlight shining in his eyes through his bedroom window was he was an asshole. A piercing pain shot through his skull and he opened his scratchy eyes reluctantly. Trey being sick last night had not been Leigh Ann's fault. In a few days, Silas would be fine, and she had only used the shampoo, because he had been too lazy to dispose of it properly. He could use being exhausted as an excuse, but he wouldn't. He had been an asshole, pure and simple, and he owed her an apology.
That didn't mean he had changed his mind about keeping her away from his son though. Seeing them cozied up when he got home had put him in the mood that started the whole mess. If she wanted to stay in his home, she was going to have to put some distance between herself and Trey. He wasn't leaving Trey open to be hurt when she left. Leigh Ann said she didn't want to hurt Trey, so hopefully if he explained it right, she would understand.
He wasn't changing his mind about having a relationship with her either. He and Leigh Ann had no future together, and he didn't want to give her any false hope. Wes didn't want to hurt her either, and it was inevitable he was going to do that if she continued living there. That kiss last night had cemented the fact in his mind. He wasn't going to be able to keep his hands off of her if she was around to tempt him.
Wes peeled Trey's damp body from his where he was plastered, then threw back the covers and sat up on the side of the bed. He reached back to put his hand to Trey's forehead, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found it cool. His fever had broken, and it had only been a twenty-four hour bug evidently.
Wes glanced at the clock on his nightstand and realized he was late opening the office. He wondered why Leigh Ann hadn't woken him up. She was probably mad at him. She should be. He had been an ass last night. But he hoped that she had at least gone to the office to open it and catch phone calls.
Getting up he staggered to the bathroom for a quick shower. When he came back out, he wrapped a towel around his waist then walked into the hall to make sure Leigh Ann hadn't overslept too. He knocked on her door and there wasn't an answer, so he knocked again just a little louder, before he tried the knob. Last night he had heard her lock it when she ran down the hall, but it opened easily and he walked inside.
Her bed was made, but it had been made every day that she had lived here, so that didn't mean anything. Striding down the hall, he checked the bathroom to see if she was in the shower, but the light in the bathroom was off just like he had left it last night. The towel he had used to clean Trey up was still in the middle of the floor.
Dread settled in his chest, and Wes flicked on the light to see if her toiletries were still in the bathroom. The countertop was free of the honeysuckle body wash, her makeup bag was gone, then it hit him those things were probably in the back of her Mustang. Her car was probably still on the side of the road by the ranch where it broke down. Today, he would call a tow truck and have them tow it back here for her. He was pretty handy, so maybe he could fix it for her as an apology. Wes had canceled it the other night when she told him she didn't want it towed, though, and he didn't know if she had done it herself. Wes breathed a sigh of relief, then shut off the light and went to his room to dress. He would just have to catch her in the office, so they could talk.
Damn he wished he would have had more faith in her last night, and hadn't jumped to conclusions. He was bad about that with Leigh Ann Baker. When he was around her, he couldn't think straight because his body was so tuned into her. He made assumptions about her that were dead wrong a lot.
Because he expected her to fuck up. Because he expected her to act and react like his ex-wife. There wasn't one instance where she had done that. Even when he was rough with her, she smiled that smile that melted him, apologized and fixed what she had done wrong. There was a lot more substance to Leigh Ann Baker than he had given her credit for. Had Laura jaded him so bad that he had changed into a judgmental bastard?
It was looking a helluva lot like that to him.
Wes didn't want a relationship with Leigh Ann, but he could be nice to her, and show gratitude when it was warranted. He could have more faith that she could and would do a good job. And be more thankful for what she did. Like keeping Trey for him last night, catching up his billing, and straightening his office. Yeah she had made mistakes, but nobody was perfect. She was trying to do a good job, and help him. In addition to being a judgmental bastard, Wes had been damned ungrateful.
He hadn't even bothered to say thank you to her last night. Right after he apologized, he would correct that too. In his gut, he knew he had gone overboard with her, overreacted a lot, and she wasn't happy being his assistant. In the future, Wes would be nicer to her, and more careful of her feelings. They could work together, if he changed his tack with her.
After his mother picked up Trey to stay with her for the day, since he was sick, Wes headed over to the office. His first clue that something wasn't right was the light wasn't on in the office. When he tried the knob and found it locked, that dread he'd felt earlier dropped like a rock in the center of his chest.
He fished in his pocket for his keys and opened the door then flicked on the light in the reception area. Her desk was just as she had left it the day before. A few files were stacked in the corner, and her pens were all neatly organized in the pen cup near her stapler. Her stapler, her desk, but no her. Leigh Ann Baker had made the place her own. He had started depending on her to be here. Now she was gone. Because of him.
Leigh Ann had left him, just like Laura had. Probably for the same reason, because he was an abrasive ass who hadn't recognized she had been on the edge of leaving, so he had barreled headlong into an argument with her. Her reaction had been different though. Leigh Ann didn't argue, didn't throw insults in his face. She didn't even tell him she was leaving him and wouldn't be back, while she threw her suitcase in the back of another man's truck.
Leigh Ann had just left. He didn't know if that was better or worse.
Right now, he felt about the same.
"Two for two, Jepson. You're a dumbass," he muttered as he walked back out the door and slammed it shut. The panes of glass in the door rattled, and he cringed. His reaction to the situation would be different than it had been when Laura left. He wouldn't just wave at her on the way out of the driveway. Wes was going after Leigh Ann. She was worth chasing. And he had been wrong about a lot of things.
You don't miss something until it's gone. He had heard that old saying a lot in his life. When Laura left, after a couple of weeks, he hadn't missed her a bit. It had hurt, but he hadn't missed her chaos in his life. Leigh Ann had probably only been gon
e for a few hours, and panic is what he was feeling at the thought of never seeing her again.
That had to mean something. You're falling in love with her, his mind whispered. It scared the hell out of him that he didn't immediately reject the thought. He let it toss around in his head as he walked swiftly toward his truck. On the way he tried to call Roxanne, but she didn't answer her phone.
Leigh Ann didn't have a car, so she had either walked or called her sister to come and get her. If she walked, he would probably run across her on the way to the R & R to talk to Rocky. He didn't think she was the type to hitch hike, but that didn't mean someone hadn't picked her up. That thought caused a sharp pain in his chest that shot straight through his heart. "God, please keep her out of trouble until I can find her," he prayed, then threw his truck into gear, once his brain had finally engaged too.
He hoped she hadn't called Dylan Reed, or Trace Rooks to give her a ride. If she had made either of those choices, his job was going to be a helluva lot more difficult. She might never forgive him and agree to come back. One of those two guys would be helping her. What the hell would she need him for?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"What the hell did you say to her?" Roxanne demanded immediately as he walked into the barn. Stepping out of the stall, she propped the hay rake against the door and folded her arms over her chest.
Roxanne was pissed at him, but evidently Leigh Ann hadn't filled her sister in on what happened. Relief shot through him. "Is she here?"
"Yeah, she's here. I came and picked her up at three this morning. I took her to the big house and she's locked up in a room bawling. She wouldn't tell me what the hell happened."
Another brick of guilt dropped on top of the mountain he was building with it inside of him. "Can I see her? I need to apologize..." Wes asked with a huffed breath.
"I don't think she wants to see you," Roxanne's lips tightened and her gray eyes swirled like storm clouds. "Best thing you can do is just go back home."
"I'm not leaving until I talk to her," Wes informed her, crossing his arms over his own chest to mimic her stance.
"You are going to leave, because she has nothing to say to you. I don't know what you did to her, but whatever it is, I have never seen my sister so upset."
His arms loosened, then dropped to his sides as misery poured through him. "I'm sorry, Rox..."
"What the hell did you say to her?" Roxanne asked again.
Wes drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I blamed her--"
"Roxanne, where is your sister?" a shrill voice demanded from behind him and Wes spun around to see a woman that looked a helluva lot like Leigh Ann, only older and harder.
"I've come to take her back to Dallas...she has responsibilities," the woman informed, tapping the toe of her extremely high heels on the dirt-packed floor. Standing behind her, Wes saw an older man in an expensive-looking three piece suit with slicked-back white hair and a smug look.
Roxanne took a threatening step forward and shoved Wes behind her, "Mama, she's not going anywhere with you. She told you she didn't want you here."
"Her fiancé has come to take her back home, the wedding is coming up soon, and I'm beside myself trying to arrange everything. I need her help," she said firmly.
Wes watched daggers fly between Rocky and her mother. Wes almost got scorched by the anger radiating off of his friend, as she took another step forward to say, "She also told you she isn't marrying Lester Fallon." Roxanne's eyes darted to the man behind her mother, so that verified to Wes that was who the man was.
"Leigh Ann will do what she is told to do," Mrs. Baker informed her older daughter.
"Not anymore mother, I think she's finally done with you managing her life."
"Nonsense, she needs me...she isn't capable of handling her affairs. The USA state pageant director called, and the press wants her to do a media segment for this year's pageant. They also want her to be a judge."
"She isn't Miss Texas anymore, Mama. She doesn't have to make appearances on command like a trained seal. That contract expired four years ago, and so did their right to make demands on her. Just because they ask, doesn't mean she has to say yes." Her eyes slid to Lester Fallon again, seeming to throw the man the same message.
Wes's chest constricted and he found it hard to take a breath. "Miss Texas?"
Guilt flashed on Rocky's face at the same time her mother's face lit up with pride. "Yes, don't you recognize her? She was Miss Texas, USA, the best one they ever had according to the director. She would have won Miss USA too, but everyone knows that pageant is fixed," the haughty woman grumbled, lifting her chin.
Wes's eyes latched onto Roxanne and he ground out through his teeth, "I'm out of here." Roxanne had lied to him, both women had, by not giving him all the facts when he hired Leigh Ann.
The puzzle pieces that didn't fit with Leigh Ann Baker finally clicked into place. The pretty manners, her change from country girl to femme fatale when they went out to dinner, her practiced smile, all of the things that had been nagging him, finally explained things.
Leigh Ann Baker was a fricking beauty queen, a celebrity, not a vet assistant, definitely not used to getting her hands dirty. Wes hadn't been wrong at all. Leigh Ann Baker was exactly like his ex-wife, a lying conniving bitch. An attention hound looking for her next moment in the spotlight. No better than the actress that Laura had wanted to be.
Both women were stage performers who had fooled him with their skill.
And Roxanne knew. He thought Roxanne was his friend, an honest woman, looks like he had been wrong there too. Why she suggested her sister to be his assistant, he would never figure out. She knew Leigh Ann would be a disaster as his assistant. Suspicion fueled his anger as he breezed past a slick black Mercedes sedan parked near the barn toward his truck. Was Roxanne hiding her sister out at his place to protect her from her mother pressuring her to marry Lester Fallon? Hell, for all he knew Roxanne had intended for Wes to marry her to prevent that from happening!
He wouldn't put anything past the two women now.
Even though this morning when he discovered her gone, he acknowledged he had feelings for Leigh Ann, it didn't matter. There was no way in hell he would ever act on them now. Wes had been there and done that with another beautiful attention-seeking woman, and he wasn't going there again. She could stand in that spotlight all by herself, and fight her own damned battles.
Leigh Ann woke up and groaned, realizing she had slept all day. Well, she'd slept half the day, the other half she had cried uncontrollably. Being able to purge herself of the sadness and grief she'd carried with her when she left Wes's house this morning was a good thing mentally, but physically it made her feel washed out, drained.
The curtains were drawn, but she knew the sun had set, because not an ounce of light filtered into the room. Heart racing, she fumbled on the bedside table, until she found the switch on the lamp to turn it on. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and the light blinded her for a second. Through the swollen slits that were her eyes, Leigh Ann saw her sister sitting in a chair across the room.
Her arms were wrapped around her body, and the look on her face worried the crap out of Leigh Ann. Leigh Ann had never seen her tough sister look so heartsick. Bracing herself, she asked, "Why didn't you wake me up? What's wrong?"
Leigh Ann thought it must be something really bad. Considering her sister's dark expression, someone must've died.
"Wes hates us," she informed her flatly.
"That's not news, Annie...that's why I left his house," Leigh Ann told her with a short humorless laugh. "I made a mess of his office, corrupted his son and almost killed his dog."
"That's not why he hates us. I didn't tell him you were Miss Texas, and mama blurted it out when she showed up at the barn." Roxanne didn't smile, her lips pinched tighter, then she released them and told Leigh Ann, "Lester Fallon is with her."
Someone did die, Leigh Ann died, inside anyway. At least she wished she was dead,
so she didn't have to face the music playing outside the door. Her chest constricted with fear and trepidation as she asked, "Did you get rid of them?"
Roxanne snorted then said, "What do you think?"
Leigh Ann whimpered then fell back against the bed and covered her eyes with her forearm. "What do they want?"
"You...mama says you're going back to Dallas to marry Lester."
"Mama can kiss my lily white ass," Leigh Ann said hoarsely. That was going to happen when the moon fell from the sky and took out the trees like bowling pins. Leigh Ann wasn't going anywhere. And she wasn't marrying that disgusting old man, there wasn't enough money in the federal reserve to make that happen.
But what choice did she have though? She was homeless and unemployed again. It would be easier if she just caved in and let her mother control things. Leigh Ann sighed deeply, and removed her arm from her eyes to look at Roxanne. "I don't have much choice, do I?"
"There's always a choice, sister. You just have to find your backbone and make it."
"Where are they staying?"
Roxanne groaned, then told her, "Here, unfortunately. Mama booked into the spa for a week, and Lester signed up for the trail drive. I think she intends on him spending time with you to try and convince you to marry him. Maybe you could stay at Dylan's trailer until they leave?"
Anger shot through Leigh Ann and she nodded then made a decision that had been a long time coming. "I'm not running this time," she said firmly.
It was time she took control of her life and quit letting other people push her around. That was going to start with her mother and Lester Fallon.
