Rugged Cowboy - Elana Johnson Page 0,70
another one in front of it. “His wife, uh, filed for divorce and left the kids at her sister’s house when he only had a few months left on his prison sentence.”
“Is he—?” Her mother’s voice muted as her brain caught up to her ears.
Jess looked out the window again, suddenly done talking about herself, her relationship with Dallas, or anything else really. “I’m tired, guys,” she said, closing her eyes. She wished some of the painful situations she was dealing with would go dark as easily. “Can I tell you more later?”
“Leave her be,” Dad said quietly as her mother pulled in a breath to surely ask another question, and Jess experienced a powerful sense of gratitude for her good father, and she kept her eyes closed the rest of the way to Bozeman and the ranch where she’d grown up.
Chapter Nineteen
Dallas wished the truck in front of him would step on the gas already. He’d left the ranch late, and he needed to stop and get the tacos for Remmy’s birthday. Once this party was over, Dallas didn’t have anything on his calendar until Martha’s treatment program ended.
He’d survived Christmas with the kids, and they’d enjoyed a quiet morning at home with plenty of pretty, wrapped presents. He’d made blueberry pancakes and told them how his mother had made them every Christmas morning for him and his siblings growing up.
Dallas wanted to start some better traditions for his kids; memories they could take into their adulthood too. They’d gone out to the ranch in the afternoon, and Dallas had eaten Christmas dinner with everyone at Hope Eternal.
Emma, Jill, and Hannah had put together a feast for anyone who didn’t have family to go visit on Christmas—and anyone else who wanted to come. Dallas had felt like he belonged on that ranch, with those people, but there was one extremely important person missing.
Jess.
He’d called her, and she’d seemed upbeat and happy in Montana. She’d been back for over a week now, and Dallas still hadn’t managed to take her out, just the two of them. There was so much going on with New Year’s celebrations and then the planning for this party.
Martha hadn’t shown up on his doorstep, and he called every other day to check on her. She couldn’t talk to him, and in a lot of ways, her drug treatment program was worse than prison. He’d at least gotten phone calls in and out of River Bay.
He could ask if she was still there or if she’d left the program. So far, she was still there. Dallas prayed for her every day, and he hoped the worst of her withdrawals had come and gone. Now, it was about learning how to live a regular life without the drugs once she got released.
Dallas knew exactly how this felt, and he’d written her a long letter about his feelings surrounding getting out of prison after thirty months. He’d had no idea how to lead a normal life, but he’d figured it out.
She could too.
He’d told her he wanted her in their children’s lives, and they’d sent her cards and drawings for Christmas.
The guy in front of him finally made a left turn, and Dallas was able to speed up. He pulled through the drive-through of the taco joint where he’d ordered the food for Remmy’s party and was given two long, covered trays.
The scent of seasoned meat and corn tortillas filled his nose, and his stomach roared. Before Christmas, he and Jess had usually spent their lunchtime together, but he hadn’t seen her once since she’d come back from Montana.
Something was wrong.
As he pulled back onto the street, he tapped a button on the steering wheel of his SUV and said, “Call Jess.”
The car dialed for him, and he listened to her phone ring and ring. She hadn’t answered his calls for a solid week now, and pure irritation rose within him. “What did I do?” he muttered to himself.
In his opinion, they’d had a sweet interchange before she’d left for the holidays. “Something must’ve happened with her family.”
He hated it when she went silent, and he ended the call without leaving a message. He immediately called her again, and when she still didn’t answer, he said, “Jess, I’m just double-checking that you’re still bringing the cake to Remmy’s party. She’s excited to see you.”
He paused, wondering if he should bubble-wrap his heart so it didn’t get shattered by this woman. “I am too,” he said anyway. “I feel