Looking For Trouble (9 page)

Wade understood now, why Luke was so over
the moon for his daughter, Bella. He'd given Luke hell for all the
goofy, googly-eyed looks he always had on his face when he looked
at her, but he wouldn't be doing that anymore. He was sure his face
looked equally goofy right now, and he really didn't give a
shit.

"She's pretty amazing, huh?" Travis asked
and came to sit on the bed beside him.

"That doesn't begin to describe her...but,
yeah, pretty damned amazing," he looked up and agreed with a
grin.

"She has me pretty wrapped up, that's for
sure..." Travis told him, then took the formula and diapers out of
the plastic bag, and stuffed some in the diaper bag, then walked
over to put the rest on the table. "So, you're Angel's daddy...Jess
wouldn't talk about it, so I had no idea. I knew something was up
by the way she acted at the ranch today, though, sorry if I was an
ass."

"She didn't tell me either...but in her
defense, the night we were together, we didn't do much talking, and
didn't exchange names. I only knew hers, because Cassie told me who
the singer at the reception was. And we were,
um...responsible...but evidently, we hit the lottery."

"So, you're on board with the whole father
detail?" Travis asked and studied him intently from over by the
table.

"One hundred percent on board, for life,"
Wade vowed and looked down at Angel, silently making the same vow
to her.

"Good, then I can get Jess a recording
contract with a label, then get back to my life in San
Antonio."

"What do you do? I thought you were her
manager..." Wade asked in confusion.

"I'm a computer engineer, DoD contractor,
but I took a leave of absence so I could help Jess get back on her
feet, which is why I'm her
temporary
manager."

"I wish I could have helped...this whole
situation didn't have to be like this," Wade told him with sincere
regret. He could have helped Jess through the pregnancy,
emotionally, financially, all of it...done what her brother had to
do instead. "I promise you things are going to change, I'm going to
make sure Jess and the baby are taken care of...make up for not
being here for them."

"Jess may not go for that, she's pretty
damned independent, determined to do things on her own. She almost
had a fit when I showed up to help. I knew she'd resist, so I just
did it...she deserves the chance to have the career she was born to
have."

"I agree, she is very talented, and should
have that opportunity."

"She was just about there," Travis held up
two fingers very close together then dropped his hand and said
shaking his head, "But she didn't sign when she found out she was
pregnant...now she thinks she hasn't got a chance. I disagree."

"That's crazy...she has the same talent now
that she had before she got pregnant..."

"But she doesn't have the same confidence,
and she's worried about dragging Angel all over the country with
her on tour. That could be a problem, I agree, but if she wanted it
bad enough, she could work it out. Jazzie would help her, I know
she would."

"Well, I'm going to help her," Wade said
matter-of-factly.

"That is a four letter word to Jess,
remember that..."

"You get her the contract, then I'll make
sure she has, um, assistance. I'm going to start looking for a
house tomorrow. Angel needs a place to call home...and so does
Jess."

"She's never had that...our parents were,
ahh...travelers," Travis told him then his face flushed red.

"She told me about your parents and the
commune, so I get that."

"Jazzie has a small apartment where they've
been living in Dallas. As slow as the local gigs have been, they
probably won't be able to keep it. I've given them money to keep it
going, but I'm essentially out of work right now too."

"You need to go back to your job, Travis,
and I'll deal with this situation here," he told the man firmly.
"You get her set up with a contract, and I'll handle the rest."

"Well, the problem right now is, Jess is
laid up, and can't do any gigs...so money is going to be a real
issue. Her band is going to have to find other work...but that
won't help Jazzie and Jess."

"And the van is burned up, so that's another
thing to think about," Wade told him, because he didn't think
anyone had mentioned it to him.

"
What?!?
" Travis hissed in a fierce
whisper.

"Jazzie went to crank it at the ranch
tonight, and it caught on fire. That's why she was covered in that
white stuff."

"Holy, shit, when it rains it pours!" Travis
said then shoved a hand through his thick white blond hair, and got
up to pace at the end of the bed.

"No kidding...they're in tough shape for
sure," Wade told him then stroked Angel's soft hair with his
fingers. He couldn't keep from touching her, being near her, that's
why he didn't put her in the crib.

"Did the instruments get burned up?" Travis
asked with dread in his tone.

"No, thank goodness, they hadn't loaded them
in the van yet, so they're still at the Double B...but I don't know
where they stored them, since they probably already took the tents
down. We need to move them quickly to make sure they don't get
ruined."

"I'll see about getting a moving truck
tomorrow...I have no idea where I'll put them though, we can't
afford a storage unit."

"Don't worry about the moving van, we can
use my truck, and I'll see what I can do about storage. Is the
equipment all Jess's?"

"The amps, a guitar and the sound stuff,
yeah...and Jazzie's violin is hers. The other stuff belongs to the
guys, so they'll probably be taking that with them."

"Don't worry, I'll find a place for it..."
Wade told him, then he had an idea about what they could do to earn
money, while they were stuck in Bowie. "Maybe the bar in Bowie
would hire them to play while Jess is laid up, that way they don't
have to split up. I'll check with the owner tomorrow," Wade told
him and he saw Travis's shoulders relax a bit. "It'll all work out,
you just work on the big picture and I'll help with the
details."

"I don't know where they hell you came from
man, but I'm sure thankful to have some help," Travis told him then
walked over and stuck out his hand.

Wade shook his hand, then picked up Angel,
and kissed her cheek, before he reluctantly walked over and put her
down in the crib. "You need to get some rest, it's late...I should
be going."

After he laid the baby down and covered her
up, he walked over to the bed where Jess was laying, and bent down
to kiss her cheek, then smoothed her hair off of her face. "Nite,
sugar," he said softly, then turned to walk to the door.

He stopped then walked back to the night
stand and picked up a pad and pen and wrote down his name, cell
phone number and the number at the ranch, then tore it off and
handed it to Travis. "Here's where you can reach me...call the
ranch if you can't get me on my cell, there's no coverage out
there."

"Thanks..." Travis said then gave him all
three of their cell numbers and Wade plugged them into his
phone.

"I'll give you a call in the morning, after
I work out the things we talked about," Wade told him, then walked
to the door and outside, leaving a little piece of his heart inside
of that room.

Wade's mind was spinning ninety-to-nothing
when he hit the city limits of Bowie, and he knew he needed to
unwind somehow, or he'd never get any rest tonight. His mental
to-do list was about as long as the drive from Henrietta to Bowie,
and he had no idea how he was going to get it all done...but he had
to, for Angel.

He needed to talk to somebody, but he didn't
know who. Sabrina and Cole's place was too far, and they were
probably sleeping, or the baby was, the same went for Cassie and
Luke. Karlie and Gabe were newlyweds and were probably tearing up
the cabin right about now, so he finally decided to stop into the
bar for last call, and maybe see if he could talk to the owner.

Because it was so late, Wade didn't have a
problem finding a parking place, and pulled right up to the curb in
front of the bar, then got out and walked in side. The crowd was
still substantial, but he was sure it was a lot thinner than it had
been earlier. He walked to the bar and ordered a beer then asked
the bartender, "Is Red in tonight?"

"Yeah, he's back in the office, you need
him?" he said then handed Wade a longneck, and took his money.

"Think you can ask him if I could come back
there and talk to him?" It would probably be quieter back there,
Wade thought, more conducive to talking.

The bartender wiped his hands on a towel,
then said, "Sure, I'll go ask him...be right back."

Wade leaned back against the bar and took a
long swig of his beer, and it soothed the rawness in his throat,
along with his nerves. It had been a long day, and an even longer
night, and he was ready for it to be over. He huffed out a breath,
then finished the beer, and ordered another one. The bartender who
went to find the owner came back and told him, "He says he's too
busy right now, but to come back after last call."

Wade wasn't a music critic, but he knew when
someone could carry a tune, and he cringed when the singer at the
microphone hit a sour note. Jess sitting down on a stool singing
into a microphone, would be twenty times better than the jumping
bean up there on that stage slaughtering that song, he thought,
hell, karaoke would be better.

The band playing tonight wasn't anywhere
near the quality of Jess and her band, so that gave him hope that
Red would be open to a change. No band that he'd heard play here
before was as good as Jess and her band, so the odds of Red hiring
them temporarily, until Jess could get back on her feet, were
good.

Tomorrow, he was going to work on finding a
house to buy for Angel and Jess. She would probably refuse to live
with him under the same roof, and he couldn't really blame her,
they didn't know each other, and he hadn't been overly nice to her
since he'd seen her again. His plan was for Angel and Jess to live
in the house, and he would visit. If Travis got her a contract, and
she had to tour, he would stay at the house with Angel, while she
was gone.

It all sounded good in theory, now all he
had to do was convince Jess...and he knew that wasn't going to be
easy...because if he said black, you could bet she'd argue white.
She just didn't trust him yet.

The bartender stopped back a few minutes
later, and said, "Red said you can come back now, just go right
through that door," he pointed to a door around the side of the
bar.

"Thanks, man," Wade said then pushed him a
twenty, and headed for the door he'd pointed to.

When he knocked a gruff voice inside told
him to come in, and Wade took off his hat and went inside. He saw a
large man, thick with beefy shoulders, and bright red hair, sitting
behind a scarred wooden desk, with paper stacked high in front of
him. He knew now why the man was named Red, his complexion was
almost as red as his hair. The pinched look on the man's face told
Wade why the man's face was so florid, he was mad about
something.

Carefully, Wade walked over and stuck out
his hand. "Wade Roberts," he introduced himself and the guy sat
back in his chair and measured him up.

"What can I do for you Wade?" he asked
shortly.

"Mind if I sit down, I have a proposition
for you..." Wade asked and waved at the chair in front of his
desk.

"I'm not sure I'm in the mood to hear it
tonight, son. You might want to save it for another day," he told
Wade with a harsh chuckle.

"I'd like to, but I need to get an answer,
so I can move on if you're not interested."

"Shoot..." Red said then sat back in the
chair and folded his arms over his chest.

"You provided the liquor and bartenders for
the Sheriff's wedding last year right?" Wade remembered Sabrina
telling him that.

"Yeah, that I did...damned cute little girl
he married too," he said then he shook his head, "All that trouble
they had on their big day was a shame too..."

"Yeah, it was pretty rough...were you at the
wedding?" Wade hoped so, because maybe he'd been at the reception
too, and had heard Jess sing.

"Sure was...had to supervise my crew and
make sure they stayed stocked up," he said then leaned forward, and
asked, "You got a point here son? I have a lot to do before we can
get out of here tonight."

Blood rushed up Wade's neck to his face,
then he said, "Yeah, there's a point...did you go to the reception?
Hear the woman that was hired to sing at the reception?"

"Hell, yeah...she was damned good...too good
to be singing at weddings for sure. I asked Cassie Bell--um,
Matthews--about her, and she said something about the girl was
signing some big recording contract. Didn't surprise me."

"Well, that didn't happen...she didn't sign,
because she was pregnant. She had our daughter three months ago,
and is trying to revive her career, so she's looking for gigs right
now."