One Night with a Cowboy - Sara Richardson Page 0,136

through this before and knew what to do. Warm compresses. Cold compresses. He’d try to avoid the muscle relaxants, since they made him wonky and he needed his mind clear.

There was much thinking to be done.

Last night he’d been in a downright state of shock and panic when Hope had called him Daddy. She’d seemed pretty damn sure about it, after all. But he believed Jess when she said he wasn’t the child’s father.

Then who was?

Wondering made his jaw and head hurt even more than his back. Jessica had been gone for almost twelve years. If she hadn’t been pregnant when she and her mom had stolen out of Big Verde in the middle of the night without leaving so much as a note, then she’d become pregnant very shortly thereafter.

But somehow, he knew it was the reason they’d left. Jess had been pregnant. In high school. But it didn’t make sense, unless she’d slept with someone besides him. And while he knew folks made mistakes, particularly young folks, he just didn’t buy it. Not Jessica. She’d been levelheaded and practical, even at eighteen. The most foolish thing she’d ever done was him, and nothing in her behavior during their time together had indicated she was anything other than head over heels in love with him.

And he’d felt the same.

Jessica had come back to Big Verde for a reason, and he thought he’d figured out what it was. But he’d been way off.

He walked down the hospital’s short hallway and out the back door where the ambulance had deposited him earlier. The bright sunlight hurt his head, and Doc might be right about that slight concussion. He reached in his pocket for his keys and looked around for his truck.

Shit.

The truck was at the arena. How the holy hell was he supposed to get home?

A silver Lexus pulled up.

Jesus Christ, not now.

The tinted window rolled down slowly, and there sat Annabelle Vasquez. She wasn’t the only woman in Big Verde who regularly pursued him, but she was no doubt the most aggressive. And she was wearing a goddamn candy striper uniform.

Blue Jays. That’s what the hospital volunteer ladies called themselves.

Now would be a good time to make a dash for his truck, only he couldn’t dash if his life depended on it, and there was no truck.

“I heard about your little accident,” Anna said with a smirk. Her eyes roamed the full length of his body. “You didn’t hurt anything on your way down, did you?”

Why did everything she say sound so dirty?

“No, ma’am. It wasn’t until I hit the dirt that everything started to hurt.”

“Hmm. Well, I’m early for my shift. Do you need a ride home?”

“That’s mighty nice of you to offer, but—” He looked around. It wasn’t like he had many options.

Anna raised an eyebrow, then leaned over and opened the door.

And Casey got an eyeful. He could see clear down to her belly button in that getup. Surely the old ladies like Mrs. Dunbar and Miss Mills didn’t wear the same outfit?

“Is that the official hospital volunteer uniform?”

“It’s the same general idea,” Anna said. “I had mine altered a bit.”

Casey got in the car, feeling like this was the beginning of a very bad slasher film where you just knew it wasn’t going to end well. Or, as Anna reached across him to help grab the seat belt, “accidentally” touching his arm, shoulder, thigh, chest, and lap, the beginning of a low-budget porno.

“Okay, Sheriff,” she purred. “Get ready to ride.”

He gulped and stared out the window.

As they pulled out of the parking lot she added, “Nice chaps.”

* * *

Jessica followed a winding road to the top of Lookout Hill and stopped in front of a private lane. The number on the fence post matched the address JD had given her.

They’d gone by the hospital only to discover that Casey had been released nearly as soon as he got there. The doctor had told them he had some bruised ribs and was perfectly fine—HIPAA laws apparently hadn’t reached Big Verde—but Jessica wanted to see for herself.

She peered down the lane at the white rock house. For some reason, her hands were sweaty. Casey was going to have some questions, and she wasn’t sure she was up to answering them. Hope was a Long, but Jessica had never intended on anyone knowing. Mavis had loved her only grandchild, but she had never suggested bringing Hope home to Big Verde.

Maybe Mavis was ashamed. Just like Jessica had been ashamed