Savage in a Stetson (Crossroads #4) - Em Petrova Page 0,2
you have the same love for the rodeo as he did. If you can get out, listen to your grandfather…then you should do it, Dom.”
Her words sank in, one by one. Leave the rodeo, return to Crossroads for good. To do what? Be a ranch hand on the Bellamy Ranch like before? He wasn’t cut out for that work long-term.
She squeezed his hands.
“What would I do if I’m not ridin’ bulls?” he asked.
She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “You make some fine barbecue. Maybe you find a place and start a restaurant. Whatever you do, Dom, I know you’ll find a better way to spend your life than being beat up by bulls.”
His mind flashed with an image of Jackson under the hooves, being dragged by the rope that still bound him to the massive animal. Of Dom trying to disentangle his friend but it was too late. He failed Jackson and he failed his pretty little wife.
“You hear me, Dom? Get out while you can. For everybody who loves you. For Jackson.”
“I hear you.” His throat clogged off.
Sadie put her arms around him and squeezed. He held her, patting her fragile back, and then she returned to the funeral while he walked off to his truck.
Crossroads. People he loved. A different life. For his friend.
His mind only conjured disjointed fragments of thought, but soon he found himself on the road back to Georgia.
And from that day, he let his beard grow in order to cover the scar that reminded him so much of his loss and his failures.
* * * * *
The tinkle of the little bell over the shop door announced Jada’s presence, but bells didn’t echo her feelings at the moment. For her mood, she needed much gloomier music, like a pipe organ.
Joss looked up from her sewing machine, and the small crinkles of concentration between her brows vanished as a smile spread over her face. “Hey, sis. I didn’t know you were dropping in.”
Jada looked around the shop. “You’ve made some changes.”
“You know me. I’m always moving things around and updating displays.”
“Well, show me around.” Jada hoped to buy a bit of time before Joss detected her reason for stopping in had more to do with how depressed she felt.
Joss stood from her sewing station, stretched her golden-tanned arms and bounced up to hug her. Jada hadn’t seen her sister in a week, and she gaped at her in shock.
“Holy crap, you practically exploded!” She pointed to her sister’s midsection and her baby bump.
“Gee, thanks.” She placed a protective hand over her bump and caressed it with a soft, dreamy look on her face. “I’ve hit the home stretch.”
“That baby looks to have doubled his weight.” She put both hands on the bump to size up her nephew who would make his appearance in about six weeks.
Joss beamed. “Cort and I have another Lamaze class tonight.”
“So exciting.” She was so happy for Joss and Cort…but she couldn’t help but feel left behind. Her baby sister was a wife and soon to be a mother. She was just Jada, going to the nursing home every day and feeling less and less motivated to get up in the mornings.
“C’mon. I’ll show you the new dresses I made.” Joss looped her arm around Jada’s and led her across the small boutique to the far wall. A metal hanging bar displayed Joss’s fashions, and the pale yellow dress hanging there caught her eye.
She reached out to touch a dress. “Wow, this is gorgeous! Look at those details. The buttons and ruffles on the sleeves are stunning, Joss!”
“It’s for my spring collection. The buttons are vintage. I couldn’t believe my luck when I ran across a lot of them at an online auction. I practically designed the dress around them.” She touched her fingertip to a lemony yellow pearled button on the cuffed sleeve. Suddenly, she turned to Jada. “Do you want to try it on for me?”
“Oh.”
“Please? I couldn’t try it myself, with Cort the third in the way.” She wrapped her arm around her baby bump.
“Sure I will.” She couldn’t deny her sister a model just because she wasn’t feeling in the mood for anything but climbing under her covers and having a good cry.
Joss bustled her into the dressing room and closed the deep green curtain. Jada faced the yellow dress on the hanger and then the mirror leaning against the wall. For Jada.
She slipped out of her nurse’s scrubs and let the cotton dress slip over