Jessica's Cowboy Daddy - Melinda Barron Page 0,29
let go of the need to fend for myself. I let Hawk be my Daddy, which is taking care of me in all ways. Except for the emotional ones that I’ve kept bottled inside. I have to let go. But how do I do that? Maybe I should ask him what he thinks I should do.
Jessica had struck out those last words, and now she wondered why. If she expected to give herself to Hawk emotionally she needed to ask for his help, didn’t she? She wasn’t sure how to do it on her own.
Without making a new entry she closed the composition book and got up. After she’d cleaned the kitchen she took a shower. Once dressed she sent a text to Hawk, asking when he might be back. There was no answer, so she decided to do things on her own for now. A drive out to the Spellman farm to look around might give her an idea of what he had in mind for them as a possible living space.
She got in the SUV and started to back out of the driveway; but then she remembered last night, of how angry he’d been when she’d left without telling him where she was going. So she sent him another text, telling him where she was going. She waited for another answer but didn’t get one. Should she stay home? Or should she follow her original plan and go for a drive?
Despite what they’d discussed last night, she didn’t think Grant was out to hurt her. If he’d hurt his mother, that was one thing. But hurting her would take away his scapegoat she told herself. Whether she was right or not she didn’t know.
She was still sitting in the driveway, trying to decide if Hawk would see her trip as disobedience, when her phone buzzed. She looked at Hawk’s text.
“Stay there. Holt and Aurora are on their way and they will go with you. It wasn’t a wreck, but it was a fatality, and it will take a while to get through.”
Jessica said a silent prayer for the person, or persons, they’d found, then got out of her SUV and went back inside her house. She didn’t see how going to the Spellman’s was any different than being here alone, but she kept her thoughts to herself. She sat at the table and wondered what Hawk had meant about it not being a wreck, but being a death. Had they found a body? Was it a murder? Her stomach churned as she thought about Matilda Dobbs. She quickly pushed the thought away because, surely, he would have told her if that had been the case. The one thing she knew about life with a lawman was it would never be boring. There was a new thing to deal with every day.
Holt and Aurora arrived about twenty minutes later. Jessica had spent the time making a marinade for the wings, which were still frozen, then put it all in a plastic bag and left it in the refrigerator to thaw, and hopefully soak up the spices she’d used.
“Smells good in here,” Holt said as the two came inside.
“I’m making wings for dinner,” Jessica said. “Shall I pull out more and y’all can stay?”
“Sounds delicious,” Holt said. “I’m going to the bathroom.”
He left as Jessica pulled out more wings. She bought a lot because Hawk really enjoyed them. She was glad to have them now.
“I’m so sorry about last night,” Aurora said when he was gone. “I didn’t mean to get you into trouble.”
“It was a good thing,” Jessica said. “Hawk and I had a much-needed talk. So I should thank you, really.”
“I’m so glad to hear that,” Aurora said. “I worried he’d spanked you.”
“That wouldn’t have been a bad thing.” Jessica giggled as she put the second set of wings in the refrigerator. When it was done they got into the truck and Holt drove them to the Spellman Farm.
“I like it out here,” Aurora said. “So open and airy.”
“Airy?” Holt asked.
The two laughed together, and Jessica started to walk around, examining the ranch house and wondering if it would be better to tear it down and start over, or find a different place all together.
“The house looks like it might fall down in a strong gust of wind,” Jessica said.
“That’s just the roof,” Holt said. “No, it just needs to be redone. And de-snaked.”
“Excuse me?” Jessica said.
“Don’t move,” Holt said.
Jessica looked down to see a snake slithering past