Looking For Trouble (8 page)

Jazzie picked up the crutches beside the
wheelchair, and walked to the back door of the truck then threw the
crutches on the floor, "Put her in the back, so she can lay down,"
she ordered and he stepped off the curb to do just that when she
moved aside.

After he laid her gently on the seat, Jess
curled into a fetal position and her body shook, as she silently
cried as if her world had just come to an end. Wade's heart
clutched and he was tempted to pull her back into to his arms to
comfort her, but he didn't, he sucked in a deep breath then softly
closed the door and then went around to get inside.

After Jazzie got inside and put on her
seatbelt, he looked over at her and asked, "What hotel are you
staying in?"

"Motel...the Overnight Inn off of 148, south
of town," she told him. "It's a dump, but the best we could
afford."

Wade flinched, because he knew that hotel,
had passed it on the way to Henrietta numerous times, and it looked
like rent-by-the-hour place. He didn't say anything else for a
while, until he heard soft snores coming from the back seat, and he
turned on the radio low, figuring he'd take the opportunity to get
some answers from Jazzie, if she was willing to talk.

"Why is money so tight?" Wade asked her what
he'd been wondering, since Jess had been worried about losing her
boots, because they'd have to cut them off at the hospital.

Jazzie snorted, folded her arms, then told
him belligerently, "You try to pay for diapers and formula,
traveling expenses for six people, then ask that question."

"I thought you guys had a big contract
pending the last time you were in Bowie, that's what Cassie said
anyway...what happened?"

"Jess couldn't travel like that pregnant, so
she didn't sign. We laid low in Dallas, until she had Angel, and
she cut some demos."

"Couldn't she just call them now and sign?"
Wade asked wondering why she hadn't.

"It doesn't work that way in the music
business...they make an offer and if you don't sign, they move on
to the next greatest thing. Travis is starting from scratch trying
to get some interest stirred now."

Wade groaned and said, "I wish she'd have
told me..."

"How could she? She didn't even know your
fricking name, or where you were. Besides, she felt like it was her
problem, not yours...a freak accident that she was going to deal
with herself. That's how Jess is, she doesn't ask
anyone
for
help...not even me. If I see she needs help, I have to insist,
before she'll accept it."

"So why didn't she tell me once she saw me
today?" Wade wasn't buying into the martyr thing, because she'd had
every opportunity to tell him.

Jazzie looked at him and said bluntly,
"She's afraid you'll try to take Angel from her."

"I wouldn't do that, unless I thought the
baby was in danger, or that she wasn't a good mother..."

"Don't forget, she doesn't know you from
Adam...you were a one-night stand, which by the way, she'd never
had before. The last guy she was with screwed her head up pretty
badly, so it had been a damned long time, since she'd been with
anyone. I had to push her into pursuing you."

"She told me that..." Wade told her, and
he'd believed that at the time, but had rethought it today, after
what she'd done with Beau.

"Well, she told the truth...and you've
treated her like garbage...I know what you did with that
redhead."

"She's a friend, and I didn't
do
anything," Wade told her shortly.

"You were using her to make Jess jealous
tonight," Jazzie accused and flipped her hair over her shoulder,
causing white dust to float in the air.

"Yeah, I guess I was..." Wade admitted then
told her, "I tried to talk to her before the show and she shot me
down, so I was a little pissy." He pulled the truck up into the
potholed motel lot, then asked, "What number?"

"Eight...that's where she and Travis are
staying," she said.

That name had been bandied about a lot
tonight, but he didn't know who the man was. Fear that it might be
her boyfriend caused a lump to form in his throat, and he grated
through his teeth, "Who the hell is Travis?"

Jazzie looked at him with a smug smile and
didn't say anything for a minute, evidently letting him stew,
before she told him, "Her brother and her manager...tonight her
babysitter"

Wade huffed out a relieved breath then said,
"I want to meet my daughter," before he shut off the truck and got
out, going around to the back to carry Jess inside. Jazzie yelled
over the truck to him, that she'd be in room nine if he needed her,
and then walked off. He guessed she was going to give them some
privacy, and he was thankful. There would be enough drama in a
minute, without adding that spicy little woman to the mix.

When he opened the door, Jess opened her
red-rimmed, sad green eyes and her lips wobbled again. "Shut off
the waterworks, sugar, you're gonna make yourself sick," he said
gently, then told her, "We're at the motel." He pulled her
shoulders until she was at the edge of the seat, then put his arms
under her and lifted her into his arms.

"I can walk, just get my crutches," she said
brokenly.

"You're not going to walk though, I'm
carrying you, so just shush and enjoy the ride," he told her with a
grin, trying to coax a smile out of her.

She sighed then laid her head on his chest.
"Angel's probably sleeping, so be quiet."

Wade kicked the door shut, then walked to
the motel door with the brass number eight hanging drunkenly on it,
then kicked it twice. He didn't care if he woke the baby or not,
because he planned on doing that anyway. A soft mewl, sounded
behind the door, then it turned into a lusty wail, and he heard a
man curse, then the door was flung open. Now that Wade knew the man
was Jess's brother, he could see the resemblance between them, and
his heart did a little dance of relief in his chest.

"Lord, Jess,
what the hell
happened?!?
" he shouted when he saw the cast on her leg. He
stepped aside and Wade walked past him to gently lay her down on
one of the double beds, though he didn't want to when he saw the
nasty looking, stained comforter.

Searching around with his eyes to find the
source of the tiny whining still filling the room, Wade smiled when
he saw the top of a port-a-crib poking over the far side of the
other bed. He walked quickly over there and laid eyes on his baby
girl for the first time, and a swirl of emotions swept through him
like a tornado, taking his breath away. He felt tears burn his
eyes, as he saw her tiny fists flailing in the air.

She had her momma's temperament, he thought,
but her dark hair was his. Reverently, he leaned over the crib and
put his hands under her arms to lift her against his chest. When
she quieted then cuddled into his neck, he lost the battle with the
tears he'd been holding back. Rocking her gently in his arms, he
cooed to her and she sighed, then her little body relaxed against
him. Wade's knees got weak when a wave of love so strong it almost
overwhelmed him, crashed through him, and he reached behind him,
then sat down on the bed.

"What are you doing here, asshole?" Travis
piped up and walked over to face him, then tried to take the baby
from his arms.

"Back off, or I'm gonna make you wish you
had..." Wade gritted through his teeth. "Take care of your sister
and leave me and
my daughter
alone."

Wade heard Jess whimper from the other bed,
then rustling like she was trying to get up. He stood with the baby
in his arms and said, "Lay down, Jess...did the hospital give you
prescriptions you need filled?" He saw the pain on her pale face
when she tried to get up, and figured surely the doctor had given
her something for pain.

"Yeah, but I'm not filling them," she said
then sat up.

"Yes, you are...go get them butthead," he
ordered Travis, then tossed him the truck keys. "You can take my
truck to the pharmacy."

"I'm not getting them filled," she said
again, this time more forcefully.

Wade knew it was a money issue now, and he
told her brother, "Reach in my back pocket and get my wallet,
Travis. There's enough cash to take care of it. Get some diapers
and formula too," he told him.

Travis looked shell-shocked, but he got
Wade's wallet and took out some bills then threw it on the bed,
then he went over to Jess and held out his hand to her, "Give me
the scripts, sis." When her face pinched and she crossed her arms
over her chest, he leaned down in her face and said,
"
Now
--or I'm going to go in after them!" This guy was
starting to grow on him, Wade thought. At least he was being
cooperative, and knew how to handle his sister.

The baby squirmed in his arms, and sucked
her fist into her mouth, her bottom felt a little soggy too. He
knew what that meant from being around Will...time for a diaper
change, and probably a bottle. Wade sent up silent thanks for the
training Sabrina had given him, and asked, "Where are the
diapers?"

Jess pushed up to her feet, and pulled out
the prescriptions then handed them to Travis, and said, "I'll get
it, can you bring her over here?"

"You lay back down, I'll get it," Wade said
in a non-compromising voice, then asked, "Where are the diapers and
bottles?"

Jess huffed out a frustrated breath, then
laid back on the bed and folded her arms across her chest, but
didn't answer his question. Travis walked over to the closet and
took out a diaper bag and handed it to him, then he walked to the
door and left. Yep, he was definitely liking the guy.

When the door closed, Jess turned to him and
said through gritted teeth, "What the hell do you know about
babies? Bring her over here so I can feed and change her."

"I know enough to know which end to put a
diaper on, and which end gets the bottle, so you just lay back and
watch," he told her with a chuckle. She wasn't going to goad him
into getting mad again, he might
never
get mad again, he was
so enthralled with his baby girl. He got choked up again when Angel
opened her green eyes to look up at him in rapt fascination, when
he laid her on the bed.

"You're almost as beautiful as your momma,
sweetheart," he said running a finger along her soft cheek. Wade's
heart stopped beating when she cooed, then grinned at him and he
saw the dimple in her left cheek. He felt a tear run down his
cheek, and then it plopped down on the baby's chest, and he wiped
his eyes with his forearm.

My god, he needed to get a hold of himself,
but he was so filled with conflicting emotions, he didn't know if
he could. "Goddamn, I need to get grip," he said quietly, then took
a deep shuddering breath, before reaching into the diaper bag to
pull out a diaper.

Undoing the crotch of the pink onesie, he
pulled it apart then yanked the tapes loose and got the wet wipes
and cream out of the bag. Wade lifted Angel's chubby little feet in
one hand, replaced the old diaper with a fresh one, then wiped her
butt with a wet wipe, before slathering on a little cream, and
securing the new diaper.

He buttoned her back up then cooed, "There
you go, sugar...fresh as a daisy," and tweaked her little nose,
which caused her to giggle, and him to laugh and do it again. He
tickled her a little and she giggled harder, and he belly laughed,
because it was the most precious sound he'd ever heard.

Wade had never believed in love at first
sight, but he did now, because he was head over heels in love with
the tiny little girl that was his daughter. She sucked a fist into
her mouth again and started to whimper, and he reached into the bag
and took out a pre-made bottle, then took the cap off. Picking her
up in one arm, he sat back against the headboard, and put the
bottle to her lips, then glanced over at Jess. Her face was filled
with fear and love and tears tracked down her face.

"I'm not going to take her from you, sugar,"
he told her in a choked voice, "I just want to be a part of her
life...and I want to help you raise her."

Jess nodded, but she still didn't look like
she believed him. Wade knew he couldn't convince her in one night,
it would take time, and trust, he just hoped she'd give him that
time voluntarily. He smiled down at his daughter, and tucked her
more securely into the crook of his arm, and put his finger in her
fist.

CHAPTER FOUR

When Travis got back about an hour later, he
looked harried when he walked through the door with plastic bags in
his hand. "I had to find an all night pharmacy, so it took a while
sorry," he told Wade as she shut the door behind him.

"That's fine, did you get everything?" He
asked quietly, so he didn't wake Angel again. He'd laid her on the
bed beside him, and was snuggled up with her, because he couldn't
make himself put her back in the crib.

"Yeah," he said then glanced over to the
other bed where Jess was sleeping and said, "Looks like Jess didn't
need the pain meds after all."

"She's exhausted and they probably gave her
some at the hospital...but she'll need them tomorrow," Wade said
then gazed down at the beautiful little girl sleeping peacefully
beside him. Jess had picked the perfect name for her, because in
Wade's mind there wasn't a more perfect Angel.