Jesse's Soul (2) (8 page)

“Yeah, Dad, I’m fine.”

Molly took her st
and with a raised eyebrow. “Uh-uh, ground rules. I already told you I’m going to take care of you. That includes keeping your dad aware of my concerns. You want to tell him, or do you want me too?”

Her dad settled a hip against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest…waiting. She’d seen that same pose more over the last few months than she had her entire childhood.

“It was nothing, Molly.”

“Um, standing up and almost passing out is not
nothing.”

“Damn it, Emery”—he slapped a palm on the counter top—“you have to tell me what’s going on, honey. And no lying.”

Emery felt Molly jump at the sudden noise, but Emery knew her dad well enough to know it was coming. “Dad, Molly was here.”

“Did you eat lunch?”

She didn’t answer her dad—she didn’t have to, the silence spoke volumes.

“That’s what I figured.”

“I slept through lunch, so there. Today you get eating or sleeping—I don’t have time for both.”

Molly scooted to get up off the bench and headed toward the opened doors. “Is Jesse out there, Reid?”

“Yeah, hon.”

Molly opened the trailer door just wide enough to poke her head out. “Hey, Jess, come here.”

Her breath caught in her chest. Shocked by her new friend once again, Emery’s brow was scrunched tight. “Molly, what are you doing?”

Molly looked over her shoulder. “It’s okay, Emery, just a second.”

“Hey, D, what are you doing here? Carter’s been looking everywhere for you.”

“Well, if you see him, tell him I’m here with Emery. In the meantime, would you please go to my fridge and get the leftovers from last night, make a plate, warm it up, and bring it here?”

“Everything okay?”

“It will be as soon as we get Emery here something to eat.”

She saw his fingers grasp the lower part of the door and slide it open further, not much, but enough to see her. He stood ground-level outside the door, but looked past Molly’s legs at her where she was still sitting on the bench seat. Concern washed over his face the instant they made eye contact. Wanting desperately to drop away from the worry in his eyes, she lowered her chin, but her stubborn streak kept the connection. Looking through her dark bangs was her only shield hiding her shame and embarrassment. She bit her lip, determined to stick to her self-imposed privacy and hoped he wouldn’t press her. The long minute turned into two before he finally spoke.

“You okay, Em?”

“I’m fine.”

Her voice was small, even though she was trying to be independent. She didn’t want to come across as ungrateful, but this was what killed her about getting sick.

“I’ll be right back.”

His chin tilted, the move so minute it wouldn’t have been noticeable had she not been looking straight at him. Add that to the subtle flinch of his eyes
, and his face said more than if he’d come in verbally demanding answers. His questions were there, they were just silent, and the fierceness in which he pinned her with let her know he wasn’t backing down this time. He’d want answers, and Emery knew he had read the situation correctly. The silence hung on too long, and the tic in his jaw unnerved her. Even from the doorway, his presence filled the entire space of the trailer.

Yet she couldn’t look away. His demeanor screamed
don’t tempt me
. Why, she didn’t know. However, in less time than it took order a coffee, she had felt the shift of power. It would probably come back to bite her in the ass, but she let herself believe that maybe he was different.

He was the one to slide the door shut.

“Wait, Jess,” she breathed out, but he was gone before she could stop him. “I could eat something from the around here. They’ve got that one concessions stand open.”

“You need real food, n
ot that crap. I know my cowboy—he’ll be back here in a split second with your plate, especially since he’s already been worried about you. You’re going to eat it, and then you’re going to go get ready because he already told me that you’re going to go out with us tonight, at least for little bit. You’ll have a good time, I promise.”

Molly patted Emery’s leg
and turned to Reid. “And I promise to not let her overdo it.”

“Thank you, Molly. I knew bringing you on the road with me was going to be a good thing for you
, Em.”

Her father being right was the last thing she needed. One of his personality flaws, it made him hard to live with for a good twenty-four hours. Emery laid her head on Molly’s shoulder, allowing Molly to comfort her. The relief of having a friend to confide came at an expense, allowing the exhaustion to seep in and be a visible sign to all that looked. To those who knew the details, that sign was in neon colors.

“I take it you’ve told Molly, huh?” Reid asked.

Emery snorted. “Yeah. She didn’t leave me much choice.”

“Excuse me? You about hit the floor. I told you that you didn’t have to tell me what was going on.”

“You threatened to go get my dad.”

“I told you that you didn’t have to tell me, but I was not about to leave you alone. I gave you the choice of him or me. You’re the one that chose me,” Molly replied.

“But, Em, I have a feeling Molly is going to keep me posted on how you’re
really doing.”

Jesse slid the door open just enough to slip through, immediately pulling it shut behind him. No one else seemed to notice. Maybe he hadn’t done it on purpose, but it meant a lot to her. His attempt to guard her privacy was another point in his favor.

Molly nudged her.

There wasn’t any
I told you so
to it. Just kindness. For Emery, it was going to take some time getting used to people caring for her that weren’t actually related to her. She’d had friends in high school before she pulled out to follow Riley, finishing with online classes. That seemed like a lifetime ago. Looking back, the friends and problems they had then were now almost laughable. At the time, boy troubles and missing curfews were the end of the world.

She hadn’t had more than a walk-by greeting with any of those kids in years. Today, seeing one of them occasionally in town was the extent of her
friendships
. She’d been busy. The whole getting sick thing really put a damper on any attempt to reconnect, had she wanted to.

Molly appeared to understand that. A little gentle prodding earlier had been it, totally out of compassion
, and she knew that was her own doing with the dizzy spell.

“See, Emery, I told you he’d be
back before you could blink.”

“Here, honey, do you
like lasagna?” Jesse handed her the plate and grabbed a fork out of the drawer.

Sitting upright, she pulled the plate closer. “Lasagna? In the pits? Seriously?” Emery asked as she cut into the food. “Oh my God, this is delicious, Molly. Dad, taste this.” Sliding the side of the fork through the noodles, she cut a bite and let the cheese ooze in between the fork and the plate, steam rising from both.

“One bite, but you have to eat.” He turned to Molly with the bite in his mouth. “This is to die for,” Reid said with his hand covering his open mouth full of hot food.

“Oh good lord, it
’s noodles, you guys.” Molly patted Emery’s leg again. “All right, my friend, you eat, then go get ready. I’ve got to go shower, and then we’re going out.”

“Thank you, Molly, for everything.”

“Just think about what I asked, okay?”

Reluctantly, Emery nodded, her answer, soft. “Yeah.”

Reid hugged Molly as she was ready to walk out of the bike trailer. “Thanks, honey.”

“It was nothing.”

“It was more than you know, kiddo.”

Molly stepped out of Reid’s arms and went to Jesse, reaching up to kiss his cheek.

“Thanks for helping me, Cowboy.” She put her palm to his cheek. “She’s okay, Jesse. I promise. ”

Holding the fork close, Emery watched, poised to take a bite should he glance her way, but it was easy to see he was searching Molly’s eyes for the truth. It was easy to read the fear in his face from a mile away.

“Anytime, D. You know that.”

Facing her, Jesse focused his attention solely on her after Molly shut the door. The moment of truth was upon her. Just
how many questions would he ask and how deep would they go? Panic tightened her stomach and she gently laid the fork on the plate, though a majority of the food was still uneaten.

From the previous night, she knew Jesse was well aware of how worried her father was. Generalities she probably would be able to gloss over, but Emery knew her dad would supply the gory details should Jesse press for more.

“You really okay, Em?”

Taking a fortifying breath, she straightened in her seat. “I’m all good now. Thanks for going and getting the pasta. I appreciate it.”

“Are you sure you feel like going tonight? I don’t want to push you if you’re really not up to it.”

Her dad was still leaning against the counter, one ankle stacked on the other, his arms back to their crossed position and his eyes taking in everything. The man missed not
hing, caught every nuance. When she and her brother were younger, he preempted every bit of trouble they even thought of getting into.

The green eyes he had gotten from his father, they were the same as her own
, and for the past two years, she had seen more pain in them than joy. Although she would have expected him to be skeptical of another man after what Collin had put her through, he wasn’t. The slight lift of the corners of his mouth were just enough to reach his green eyes, the extra lines he’d accumulated made the happiness easier to spot.

She couldn’t let him down. It wasn’t as if he was trying to marry her off. If she could do something, anything, to ease some of the stress she’d caused him, Emery felt like she owed it to him. It appeared that her dad thought her having a little fun would make things better. He was trying to help
, and his heart was in the right place.

“I’ll go.” She tried to sound optimistic, but her voice was tired. She’d momentarily forgotten to mask it.

~

Jesse knocked on Reid’s motor
home door at six sharp. In the four years he’d been on this team, Jesse had knocked on the same door countless times. Never once had he been as nervous as he was at that moment. Wiping his palms on his jeans, he popped his neck side to side and waited. Hearing footsteps come near, Jesse swallowed and tried to act his age and not like the anxious sixteen-year-old boy that he felt like.

“Jess, come on in.”

The coach was the same as it had been when he and Reid had watched a ballgame there three nights before. His manager had always been a bit of a neat freak, something Reid always joked and said he wished would rub off on Jesse. To date, it was still a no go.

Everything was tidy and in its designated spot, yet Emery was there.

“Hey, Reid.”

A woman’s jacket left lying on the back of o
ne of the two leather recliners and a pair of pink running shoes that Jesse had noticed by the door were the only pieces of evidence that someone else was in Reid’s personal space. But it was more than physical items, it was the whole of her. He could feel she was close by.

She had his system warring with itself. Knowing she was near brought a calm to his soul, but at the same time sent his libido into overdrive. Shaking the inappropriate thought from his head, Jesse tried to not think about what Emery may have or may not have been wearing behind the closed door.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

A potato sack. Please, Lord…let her wear something ugly. And
that covers every bit of skin.

“I’m good, thanks anyway.”

Faking a cough, he tried to cover as much of his cheeks as possible, the heat radiating off him was going to get him in trouble. It was wrong on so many levels to be thinking of Emery naked in the other room while he stood less than four feet from her father—also known as his boss.

Change the subject.

He was so damn lucky Reid couldn’t read minds.

Emery hadn’t come into the small living room yet, so Jesse lowered his voice. “Is she feeling better? I don’t want her to overdo it. I know I was pushy earlier.”

Jesse knew he had pressured her, effectively backed her into a corner, and had used her father against her. He couldn’t apologize for wanting to be near her and spend time getting to know her on a more personal level, but it had never crossed his mind that her keeping herself closed off had anything to do with something other than a broken heart.

The knowledge hung in the air, unspoken yet unavoidable, and without a word being said, he knew it was much more. So much more.

“Yeah, she’s okay. She has really low blood pressure and she’s still anemic, so today was just not a good day. Molly swooped in and took care of her.”

Jesse forced a tight smile, trying not worry, but he caught the word
still
that Reid had used twice now. He’d been beating himself up all day about how late she’d worked, but knowing she had almost passed out was making him sick to his stomach. He knew they wanted to keep whatever the problem was to themselves, but the not knowing was going to make him a nervous wreck.