One Southern Cowboy - Jennifer Youngblood Page 0,4
that he’d seen Lemon Massey standing in the middle of the road? Her image was branded into his memory. She was wearing jeans and a white long-sleeved shirt that clung to her body.
A shiver ran through him. No way could he admit to seeing Lemon. Daddy and Mama would think he was losing his marbles. Was he? His heart began to pound. This was the second time in a matter of weeks that he’d seen Lemon. This go-around caused him to have an accident. What in the heck was happening to him? The woman in the road had been so real. It was Lemon! Yet, it made no sense. Why would Lemon be standing in the middle of the road?
Jaxson swallowed the dryness in his throat. “I was driving back from the wedding.” His voice was scratchy. A tight strip of tension was forming over the bridge of his nose, signaling that a headache was coming on. The nurse, a cute, peppy redhead, had offered Jaxson something for the pain, but he’d refused it, not liking how out-of-it heavy-duty painkillers made him. However, some ibuprofen or Tylenol was sounding pretty enticing right about now. He’d ask for some when the nurse returned.
Knox stroked his chin. “You left the church about thirty minutes before we did.”
Jaxson nodded, rushing on. “It started pouring rain. I hydroplaned and tried to correct it.” His words lost air. Carefully, he took in a breath so as not to hurt his ribs. “The next thing I knew, I hit a tree. I must’ve blacked out. I vaguely remember being lifted out of the truck. I came to in the ambulance.”
Horror washed over Birdie’s features. “Do you have a head injury?”
“I don’t think so.” Jaxson took an assessment of his head. It was okay, for the most part. “The doctor didn’t say anything about that.”
“I’m sure he would have said something,” Knox piped in. “You don’t look like your head is hurt.”
Relief wafted over Jaxson as he smiled faintly. “That’s good news.”
“How’s the woman doing?”
Jaxson’s heart lurched. “Woman?” he stammered, looking to Daddy for an answer.
“Officers Williams and Phillips were the first policemen to arrive on the scene. A woman was there. She seemed dazed and unable to answer any of their questions. At first, they wondered if she’d been in the truck with you, but then they found her car a mile up the road from the accident. It seems that she had a flat tire and was walking to get help.”
Jaxson’s heart began to pound. “Where is she?”
“Here, at the hospital. They’re checking her for injuries.”
Jaxson tried to sit up. He groaned as the movement sent jabs of pain through him.
“What’re you doing?” Birdie demanded, touching his arm. “You need to lie still.”
“I need to check on her,” Jaxson argued.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Knox said. “Officer Williams said that she didn’t have any injuries that they could see.”
“The woman was standing in the middle of the road,” Jaxson uttered quietly.
Birdie’s eyes rounded. “What?”
“I turned the corner, and there she was.” He paused. “I swerved to miss her. I hydroplaned and hit the tree.”
Knox’s brows furrowed. “Why didn’t you just say that?”
He spread his hands. “It all happened so fast. I thought I’d imagined it.” He knew it was a flimsy excuse, but it was the best he could come up with at the moment.
A concerned look passed between Knox and Birdie. Jaxson could feel their concern. They could tell there was more to the story than what he was letting on. Was the woman Lemon? His mind began to spin. Jaxson felt like he was trying to tread water in a whirlpool. It was getting harder and harder to keep from getting sucked under. Maybe the woman resembled Lemon, and his brain had inserted the rest. That had to be it. Why was he so fixated on Lemon all of a sudden? Yes, he’d loved her, but she’d betrayed him. It happened so long ago. He’d moved so far past that event that it was merely a speed bump in his life.
And yet, he’d been seeing Lemon, thinking of her, mulling over what might’ve been. Jaxson forced the words from his lips. “Who is she?” he asked hoarsely.
Knox frowned. “What do you mean?”
“The woman. Who is she?”
“I haven’t the foggiest,” Knox said. “The officers didn’t know. The woman wouldn’t tell them her name.”
Birdie tipped her head. “That’s strange.”
“Stranger than you realize,” Jaxson muttered.
“What do you mean?” Birdie asked carefully, glancing at Knox before pinning her