Cowgirls Don't Cry (Rough Riders 10)

He and Jessie were in the boot section of Tisdale’s, trying to figure out if rubber boots worn over shoes were a better choice than simple snow boots. Since neither he nor Jessie had shoe shopped for a toddler, getting Landon to sit still proved a major obstacle.

“No. Put those back. We don’t want anything with laces.”

Brandt held up the camouflage boots. “But they have drawstrings on the top. They’ll stay tied.”

Landon reached for them with a possessive grunt.

“See? He loves them. They’re hip. And manly.”

Jessie grumbled and let go of Landon for two seconds. The kid was off like an antelope.

“Dammit, Landon, get back here.” Shit. He wasn’t supposed to swear. He snagged the boy by the waist and hung him upside down on the trip back to the boot department. Landon shrieked, the good kind of shrieks, but still, he was awful damn loud.

“Now sit on Jessie’s lap and be a good boy so we can get this over with, okay?”

Landon nodded and Brandt grinned. The kid was already getting better at communicating and it’d only been a few days.

“Brandt?”

He whirled around and looked into the beady eyes of Margene Hieb. Margene and her husband Larry lived up the road from his folks. They’d been friendly neighbors for years until their oldest daughter, Pandora, became the walking wounded due to Luke’s heartbreaking ways. Consequently, Margene took every opportunity to run her mouth off about anything less than flattering about the McKay family—and there always seemed to be plenty to talk about.

“Margene.” Brandt peered over Margene’s shoulder. “Where’s Larry?”

“At home.” She sidestepped Brandt and stood in front of Jessie. “Oh my. It is true. I wasn’t sure, you know how rumors are, never know how they get started.”

Usually by people like you.

“He really looks like his father, doesn’t he?”

Jessie said not a word.

Margene sighed. “Such a shame that Luke won’t be around to watch him grow up. It’s an even bigger shame…” She shook her head at Jessie. “I don’t know how on earth you’re just sitting there, holding him, like he was your own. Granted, he is a cute little boy, and you were married to his father, but I don’t see

how you can overlook the fact he was born on the wrong side of the sheets.”

“She can overlook that fact, Mom, because Jessie was used to Luke cheating on her, like he cheated on everyone before her.” Pandora, mean, nasty Pandora, tossed her fat head and Brandt thought he might’ve seen a snake or two trying to slither out of her hair. “Honestly, the only thing that surprises me?

That more of his secret spawn haven’t shown up. The man couldn’t keep his pants zipped to save his life.”

Brandt looked back and forth between mother and daughter, mentally trying to slap a lid on his temper before his mouth opened and he said something he’d regret. But it didn’t work. “Did that crack about Luke’s character make you feel better, Pandora? You’re still bitter that Luke dumped you…what?

Ten years ago?”

“There is no time limit on the effects of infidelity, Brandt, as Jessie well knows,” Pandora sneered.

“But there is a time limit on my patience and you’ve reached it. Now get out of here before I tell Pastor Jones you both need a personal sermon on learning and practicing forgiveness.” Brandt looked over his shoulder. “I saw him around here someplace.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would happily relay everything you just said and then some.”

Huffing and whispering, they took off.

Brandt looked at Jessie. He started to say I’m sorry, but she shook her head.

“That’s the first, Brandt, but it won’t be the last.” She pointed to the boots, the pair of snow pants and the University of Wyoming tasseled hat. “We’re done.”

After they’d paid and loaded Landon in his carseat, Jessie said, “I should’ve driven into town because after that fun time, I’m ready to go home. And no offense, but I can’t stomach the thought of riding out to your folks’ house with you.”

“Okay. But my mom is expecting him—”

“Just take me to Dewey’s. I’ll grab something to eat while I’m waiting.”

He started to reach for her hand, but stopped himself. “I’ll keep it a short visit. But it’ll be at least an hour.”

“I can entertain myself, Brandt. I’ve gotten used to it in the last two years.”

He pulled up in front of the Sandstone Building and she bailed out with a mumbled, “Later.”

Landon was fairly good at his parents’ place, considering his mother insisted on holding him all the time. And from what Brandt had seen of Landon, he wasn’t the snuggliest kid. Brandt cut the visit short when his dad started in on him about prepping for calving season, which was still several months away.

Plus, he was anxious to get back to Jessie.

He texted her: You ready 2 go?

Her response was fast: Already gone. Walking home.

What the f**k?

Panicked, Brandt called her. “Jess? What do you mean you’re walkin’ home?”

“I couldn’t stay in there another second. So I left. I figured you’d catch up with me.”

Do not yell at her. “Where are you?”

“By the Shell station.”

“Stay put. I mean it. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

It took him eight minutes to reach her.

Jessie climbed in his truck without a word. She didn’t turn around to check on Landon, who was asleep. She stared straight ahead. He was so freaked out about her f**king walking when it was fifteen degrees out, that he didn’t say anything for fear of saying the wrong thing.

They’d gone about three miles in brutal silence, when she said, “Stop. I feel sick.”

He eased the truck to the shoulder and she practically jumped out. He gave her a minute before he cut the headlights and checked on her.

With no moon, city lights or sodium glow from the interstate, everything was pure black—the sky, the ground, the hillside on the left, the sweeping valley on the right. The cold bit into him with sharp teeth.

No, the chill in his bones was from something else entirely. Fear.

Jessie teetered on the edge of the road, arms wrapped herself, nearly lost in that dark void.

Brandt moved in behind her. Close enough if she needed him, far enough away to offer the illusion of space.