Baby Stetson (Love and Music in Texas #1) (17 page)

Leaves crackled underneath his feet. Overhead, birds chirped loudly. The trees were so thick at this point. The pain from his ankle spread up his leg and didn’t subside.

Lucas groaned.

“Hey man, you all right?” a voice asked from behind him.

Lucas whirled around to see someone come up behind him. He recognized that face, but from where? Oh wait, wasn’t that the guitar player in Avery’s band? The one she’d been dating?

“Just fine,” Lucas grunted, studying him carefully. Jameson, that was his name.

There was no way this guy would have been behind this, was there? Maybe he’d seen Lucas with Avery and had a jealous streak or something.

“You’re limping pretty bad. I hardly ever see anyone in these woods. You lost?” Jameson weaved around the trees until he was at Lucas’s side.

“Yet you’re here.” Lucas gave him a once over.

Jameson pointed. “I live a quarter mile that way. So sometimes I come through the woods for some quiet time. It’s peaceful. I’m Jameson.”

“I know who you are. You play in Avery’s band.” Lucas hadn’t meant to blurt that out, but oh well.

Jameson studied Lucas. “Oh, I’ve seen you at the club. You and Avery...” Sadness flashed on Jameson’s face.

“I’m not quite sure what Avery and I are,” Lucas said quickly. Before this morning, he had a better idea, even though there still hadn’t been any assurance. But now, well...

“Avery’s something else,” Jameson said wistfully. “You need help? Where do you live? Other than recently, I haven’t seen you here before.”

“I’m staying at the inn. Went for a run, and someone tried to hit me with their car.”

Jameson’s eyes widened. “Say what? Are you sure? We don’t usually have that kind of stuff happen here.”

Lucas grunted. “Well, I’m sure. I jumped the fence, rolled, and I think I twisted or sprained my ankle.”

“And the car?”

Lucas lifted his shoulders. “Took off when they realized I’d come on this side of the fence.”

“And you have no idea who?”

Lucas shook his head. “None. I’m a stranger in this town. Why would anyone wanna hit me?”

“Couldn’t say. Let’s get you back to the inn. We can go to my place. It’s closer and I’ll drive you over. If you’ve got a swollen ankle, it’s best to get off it as soon as possible.”

A quarter mile versus close to a mile. As much as Lucas wasn’t sure about going with Jameson, it looked to be the best option. “If you’re alright hauling me to your place, then I guess that’s what I’ll go with.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Lucas thought Jameson would go on about Avery or give Lucas nasty looks because he was sort of involved with her. He was surprised when they had conversations about music instead. Jameson was actually a nice guy. Easy going. With their talking, the time flew by and soon Jameson commented that his house was right ahead. Lucas noticed it. A clearing in the trees, and a house came into view. “I have some wraps you can use for your ankle, then I’ll drive you over. Want something to drink? Water, Coke, a beer?”

“I’ll have some water. That’d be great,” Lucas said. The pain was so bad it was almost numbing, but he muddled through it anyway. Damn, it would be nice to get off his feet.

“Mom? You here?” Jameson called as they entered the house from the back. He gestured to a chair at the dining room table. “Make yourself at home. I’ll get you that water and a wrap.” Jameson opened a door to a stainless steel refrigerator and handed Lucas a bottle of water. “Be right back.”

Lucas pulled out a chair and sank into it. Relief washed over him as the pain eased up a bit from sitting down. He removed his shoe and sock to inspect his ankle. The swelling and purplish bruising indicated that he’d sure done something to it. He cringed and winced as he moved his ankle around.

“I guess my mom is napping. She’s had it rough. We lost my father about seven months ago. She’s been staying with me ever since.” Jameson handed him a wrap and held a bottle of anti-inflammatory pills in his hand. “You want some of these for the pain?”

Lucas nodded. “Sorry about your dad.”

Jameson slid the bottle across the table to Lucas. He uncapped it, shook out two pills and popped them into his mouth, downing them with the water. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” A shadow crossed Jameson’s face. “Hey, I heard about Avery’s mom. She going to be okay? Do you know?” He held out the wrap to Lucas.

“I think so. Avery’s probably at the hospital with them now. Last I heard they were running a few tests, but I don’t think it’s anything serious. She fainted yesterday.” Lucas unwound the wrap and worked it over his swollen area, careful not to wrap it too tight.

“I’m glad it’s not serious. Avery would be shattered if anything happened to them.”

“I know.” Lucas shifted in the seat, hoping to get off the subject of Avery. Not that he minded talking about her, but this was her ex, and that made it just a little too awkward.

Especially with the limbo he was in concerning Avery.

“You ready to head back?” Jameson asked, grabbing a water bottle for himself.

“Yeah. Thanks for this.” Lucas grimaced, but he managed to get his sock and shoe back on. He stood, stepping lightly on the foot.

Jameson led Lucas to his truck. On the ride back to the inn, neither said a word. Thankfully, it was a quick ride. Lucas decided he liked Jameson. He doubted that it was him in that car earlier like he’d originally suspected.

“I hope your foot gets better soon, man,” Jameson said.

“Thanks. So do I.”

Jameson pulled into the inn’s parking lot, right in front of the entrance.

“Hey, Lucas?”

Lucas had his hand on the door, poised to push it open. He turned to look back at Jameson. “Yeah?”

“Two things. One, what do you think of that Rodney character, the one that may be her biological father?”

Lucas shook his head. “Honestly, I’m not sure. He appears decent enough, but something about him ... I just don’t know.”

“Yeah, me neither. But Avery seems so happy, it’s hard to express my concerns without shattering that bubble. I’ve already caused a lot of heartache for her.”

There’s another thing the men had in common. They cared about Avery, then they broke her heart. “What’s the second thing you wanted to say?”

Jameson gave him a hard stare. “If you care about Avery, don’t break her heart. I can’t stand to see that girl so sad, so if you’re going to be with her, take care of her. I should have done better.”

It might be a little too late for that, but Lucas was not about to fill Jameson in on the latest with that. “Duly noted. Thanks again for the ride.” This time he pushed open the door and hopped out of Jameson’s truck. Once the door was closed, Jameson sped off.

Avery was a lucky woman for having so many people watching over her. Lucas wished he had at least one person to have his back.

He hobbled into the inn. Would Avery be working the front desk? He’d give anything to see her right now. As he looked around, it was that other woman, the one that seemed to follow him with hungry eyes every time he was around. Right now, she was doing it again, smiling, her gaze warm and inviting. That was one road Lucas did not want to go down. When she noticed his limp, she gasped and ran around the desk to his side. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just a running injury. Do you have an ice pack or something I can use?”
Just please, don’t hover all over me.

“Oh, sure. I can do that right away! Why don’t you sit down right here and I’ll bring you that ice.”

Lucas complied, only because of the pain, and waited. He kept an eye on the door, hoping for Avery’s entrance. If only he had her number. He wanted to call her, talk to her, hear her voice. Plus, he wanted to know how her mom was doing, and how things were going with her sister, or whatever that Paula woman was to her.

And then, there she was. Avery, walking through the door, distracted. Her head was down and she walked in a rushed pace. She stopped short at the sight of him. Her eyes, they were cold and emotionless when looking at him. That was a stab to the gut. Before, she’d looked at him with such passion. “What are you doing out here?”

To make matters worse, that was the moment the other woman made it back out with the pack of ice. “Here ya go, honey. Here’s that ice you requested,” she purred, handing Lucas the ice and sending a look over at Avery. “Oh hey. How’s your mom? She getting released yet?”

Avery blinked in surprise, looking from Lucas back to her again. “Um, yeah, she got released. She just has to get some rest. She’s overworked. But with her age, they wanted to make sure it was nothing more. She’s home now, and Dad is with her, so I came to check on things here.”

“Oh, that’s good.” The woman smiled at Lucas again, standing way too close. Her flowery scent filled Lucas’s nose, making him want to sneeze. Blech. Too much perfume. Why do women overdo it so much? This one seemed way too eager to get in someone’s bed. She wasn’t going to get anywhere with him, that much was for sure, but the way Avery watched them, Lucas had a feeling she thought that was the case.

Why should he care? He shouldn’t, but it didn’t mean that he didn’t. He cared about what Avery thought. He cared about Avery all together. Damn it, he hated the empty stare he received from her now. What he’d give to put a smile on her face, for her to look at him with affection. Anything but this coldness.

He deserved it, though. He’d been an ass, told her he could be trusted, and then laid a bombshell on her. What else did he expect?

Maybe once she calmed down, she’d talk to him again.

One could hope.

“What happened?” Avery asked, eying the ice.

“I went for a run this morning and had an interesting chase,” Lucas said simply. He wasn’t about to get into details with other ears listening. Avery’s brows climbed, but said nothing.

“Want me to help you to your room?” Alice asked.

“Uh, no. I’m good. Thank you for the ice.” Lucas stood, holding the pack in his hands.

“Anytime, sugar. Just let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you.” She winked, then walked back to the desk.

Avery’s face twisted into a disgusted frown.

“Avery-” He started, but she lifted a hand and cut him off.

“I can’t now, Lucas. I’ve got a million things to do.”

“We have to talk about this some time.” He gripped the pack so hard, he thought he’d squeeze the contents right out of it.

“Actually, we don’t. I think we said all of it this morning.” Her tone dripped with ice. She faced him with rounded, furious eyes.

“You might have, but I still have plenty to say. But fine. I’ll let you be. I’m not going anywhere, Avery. I can’t undo things, but damn it, I still care about you.” With that, Lucas hobbled off, leaving Avery behind.

Right now, there wasn’t much more he could do. He needed to let her cool off.

He was not about to give up.

“Looks like a pretty intense conversation between you an’ Lucas,” Alice smirked.

If she could get away with it, Avery would smack that look right off the woman’s face. How sickening, for her to throw herself at every young guy. Why couldn’t they hire better helpers here?

So, you must still care if you’re fuming over Alice hitting on Lucas.

No. No I don’t care.

Lie! Outright lie!

Great. Now she was arguing with herself. And to top it off, lying.

She cared. She cared a lot. That didn’t stop the hurt or anger, but she couldn’t shake Lucas off that easily.

“So what? Don’t listen in on other conversations. I think you’ve caused enough drama lately,” Avery snapped, tossing her purse on the desk with a loud thump. Alice actually jerked back like Avery had hit her or something.

Whoa. So the girl deserved to be yelled at, but it didn’t mean Avery should have done so.

“Sorry. I’m a little on the agitated side. So much going on.”

“Well you don’t have to take it out on me.” Alice huffed haughtily.

“And I just apologized for doing it! Look, Greg is coming in later with a new trainee. If you have things under control, I’m going to check a few other things and then get home to Mom and Dad. Call the land line if you need anything.”

Avery slung her purse over her shoulder and got away from Alice as fast as she could. Her bad mood aura was evident, as she seemed to be scaring people off left and right today.

“This place hasn’t changed much,” a voice said from behind her.

Avery gasped. “Oh! Paula, you scared me.”

The woman laughed, which sent her into a hacking cough. When she finally stopped, the woman grimaced. “I apparently have that ability lately.”

Avery didn’t have a response to that. She just kept walking down the hall. She needed to stop in the office for a few things and then be done for now. Hopefully, Paula wouldn’t follow her around.

It had been an interesting day, to finally meet the sister that had never been a part of Avery’s life. Paula’s attitude toward her hadn’t changed all day. She acted like a jealous sibling, hovering over Mom and Dad and trying to push Avery out of the picture. It hurt, stung, and pissed her off, but in a small way, Avery understood. Who was she to try and overstep any boundaries?

But you were officially adopted. You have every right to be there just as much as she does.

So why didn’t it feel that way?

Hot tears pricked her eyes, and she quickly pushed them away. Things were getting to be on the confusing side lately. Lucas, Rodney, Paula. The strangers kept arriving, each one having an impact on Avery’s life.

Paula still followed.

“Do you need anything?” Avery asked as calm as possible. Hopefully she pulled it off. The last thing she needed was to piss another person off. Paula already hated Avery, she didn’t need to make the situation worse.

“Not really. I just haven’t seen the inn for so long.” Paula flipped a lock of hair behind her carelessly.

Whose fault is that?

Okay, so maybe Avery had a twinge of jealousy herself. Mom and Dad were over the moon about Paula’s arrival. It was like this big old family reunion, except add a bunch of tension. Yep. That’s exactly what happened. Avery had to leave the hospital room for awhile just to clear her head and get away from it all.