The Texan's Bride (13 page)

His cell rang and he clicked on.

“Mr. Cadde, come home fast. Miss Jessie’s hurt bad.”

“What!”

“Just come home. I have to take care of Miss Jessie.”

What the hell? He weaved in and out of traffic, breaking the speed limit. An ambulance, siren blasting, passed him. He followed it all the way down the county road. As it turned into the Murdock house, Cadde’s stomach roiled with a sick feeling. Something was terribly wrong. Was Jessie having a miscarriage? Was she okay? Rosa had said Jessie was hurt. How could that be? He’d just talked to her.

The ambulance roared up to the house and Cadde was out of his truck, running for the opened front door before the ambulance could even stop. His heart lurched into his throat as he saw Jessie lying in a pool of blood. No, no, no! The right side of her face was black and
blue. Oh, my God! Rosa cooed to her in Spanish and Cadde’s knees gave way and he fell down by her. “Jessie.”

“Cadde.” Her right hand clutched for him and he grabbed it.

“The baby,” she cried.

“What happened?” he asked in a voice he didn’t recognize.

“She said the man who beat her was Vernon Lynch,” Rosa replied. “If I hadn’t stopped him he would probably have killed her.”

What! They’d just talked about the man. Anger rose up in his chest.

The paramedics rushed in.

“She’s three months pregnant,” Cadde told them.

“Let’s get her to a hospital.” They put a C-collar on Jessie and loaded her onto a stretcher.

Jessie clutched his hand tighter. “Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t,” he told her. “I’m right here.”

He crawled into the ambulance with her, never letting go of her hand. A paramedic checked her vitals and Cadde covered her with a blanket, still holding on to her hand.

The paramedic examined her. “She’s going into premature labor. Hurry, Cal,” he shouted to the driver.

“Take a deep breath, Mrs. Hardin. Try to calm down.”

Cadde rested his face against hers. “Stay calm. I’m right here.”

“The baby,” she cried in a voice that squeezed his heart.

“Shh. We’ll be at the hospital soon.”

“I thought it was you. That’s why I opened the door.”

“Shh.”

Cadde knew it only took minutes but it felt like hours. Once they reached the emergency room things happened fast. They whisked her away to labor and delivery. He held her hand the whole way, trying not to look at the blood on the blanket.
Please don’t let her lose the baby,
he prayed as they rolled her into a room.

Dr. Barnes came in. “Cadde, would you like to step outside? We have to try and stop the labor and stabilize Jessie.”

“No,” Jessie yelled. “I want him here.”

The doctor nodded and Cadde rested his face against hers again. “I’m here.” The doctor and two nurses worked. Cadde averted his eyes, but not before he saw the bruises on her side. Oh, my God! The man must have kicked her. Son of a bitch! He gulped a breath and focused his concentration on Jessie. Their hands were locked on the bed and he saw how bloody they were. His chest contracted in pain.

He was aware of machines being pushed into the room. The nurse attached a monitor to Jessie’s stomach and his eyes swung to the machine. A heartbeat was visible on it. He looked at Dr. Barnes. “Is that…”

The doctor pulled down his mask. “It’s the baby’s heartbeat. We’ve stopped the labor but the baby is still in distress. Now we wait and pray.”

Cadde couldn’t take his eyes off the monitor, the little beeps and the uneven line that signaled their baby
was still alive. “Jessie, look.” He pointed to the screen. “There’s our baby’s heartbeat.”

“Oh, Cadde.” Tears slipped from her eyes.

“Shh.” He cradled her face.

Cadde knew they’d injected something into the IV to relax Jessie. She slowly closed her eyes. He reached for his phone to call Chance. For the first time in his life he truly needed a connection to family. He needed support. After he’d told Chance what had happened, he called Rosa and Felix to let them know how things were going. Then he laid his face against Jessie’s and watched the monitor.

Jessie woke up. “Cadde.”

“I’m here.” He kissed her bruised face. “I’m watching the fetal monitor.” They both stared at the machine and Jessie dozed on and off.

Cadde was beginning to hope the worst had passed when the monitor shrilled and nurses ran in. He gazed at the blips as they became slower and slower and then a solid line slashed across the screen. A nurse turned it off.

No!

“No!” Jessie screamed. “No, no!”

He caught her face and held it, his forehead against her. “Cadde, make them turn it back on. Cadde,” she begged, and his heart broke into jagged tiny pieces.

The doctor rushed in. “We have to get her to an operating room.”

“No.” Jessie began to fight and he had to hold her down.

“I’m sorry, Cadde,” the doctor said as politely as he could. “The baby didn’t make it.”

“Cadde.” His name echoed around the room with a chilling effect. The nurse injected something into the IV and Jessie went out. Then they quickly rolled the bed from the room. Cadde stood there as if someone had ripped out his heart. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t do anything but feel the pain.

Their baby was gone.

Jessie.

Chance walked in and pushed him into a chair. “Cadde.”

“The baby died,” he said in a voice that seemed to come from deep in his gut.

“Oh, God. I’m sorry.” Chance looped an arm around his shoulder. “Where’s Jessie?”

“In the operating room.”

“I’m sorry, Cadde…”

“That lunatic killed our baby. There are bruises on her side and on her face. The bastard must have kicked her.” He stood in an angry movement because he could no longer remain still.

Chance patted his shoulder. “The police are outside. Do you feel like you can talk to them?”

“Damn right.” He hit the door and found two deputies in the hallway.

“Have you caught him?”

“We have an All Points Bulletin out on Vernon Lynch. We have someone at his house and at his work-place, but, no, we haven’t located him yet.”

Cadde pointed a finger in the deputy’s face. “You find him or I will.”

Chance laid a hand on his shoulder. “Cadde.” He wanted to knock it away. He didn’t need sympathy. He needed them to find Vernon Lynch.

The other deputy pulled a small notebook out of his pocket. “We spoke to Rosa Delgado and she said the man didn’t break in. Mrs. Hardin must have let him in.”

“She thought it was me,” Cadde yelled. “I talked to her about five minutes before.”

“Does she know Mr. Lynch?”

“Jessie counsels his wife, trying to get her out of that abusive relationship. I don’t know why Lynch targeted my wife or felt a need to destroy her. Or how in the hell he got our address.”

“I can answer that,” a woman said.

Cadde turned to look at a woman he’d never seen before. “I’m Fran Turlock from Rachel’s House. I’m so sorry, Mr. Hardin.”

“Do you know anything?” was all he could say.

“After I heard what had happened to Jessie, I called Nina and she confirmed what I feared for a while now. She’s obsessed with Jessie. She wants to look like her, wear nice clothes like her and have a loving husband like her.”

“How does she know anything about Jessie? Isn’t everything supposed to be private? First names only?”

“Yes, but with the media and the internet it’s very hard to keep that privacy.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“When Roscoe Murdock died, there was a photo of
him and Jessie in the paper. Nina recognized her and began searching on the internet for anything she could find about Jessie. She had a folder full of information on Jessie and Vernon must have found it after he was served divorce papers.”

“Did Nina Lynch have a physical address for Mrs. Hardin?” a deputy asked.

“I asked her that. She said all she could find was a county road and that Roscoe Murdock had built a castle for his daughter.”

“Son of a bitch!”

A nurse walked by and glared at him, but he didn’t care. He wanted to physically hurt someone. How insane could this get?

Cadde got in the woman’s face. “You knew the woman was obsessed with Jessie. Why in the hell didn’t you do something?”

The woman paled and Chance pulled him away. “Let’s go to the waiting room. Jessie will be out soon.”

He let Chance lead him away because he knew at any minute he was going to lose it. Anger was bubbling in his system like a pot of water about to boil over.

Plopping into a chair in a waiting area, Cadde buried his face in his hands. “Jessie’s probably not going to remember about the baby. I’ll have to tell her all over again. How am I supposed to do that?”

Oh, God, how am I supposed to do that?

C
ADDE SAT WATCHING THE CLOCK
and trying to keep his anger under control. He paced, ran his hands through his hair, jiggled the change in his pocket, but nothing eased the pain.

“Kid will be here any minute,” Chance said.

Cadde didn’t answer. The walls were closing in and he wanted to run until he had no breath—until there was no more agony.

Dr. Barnes came into the room in blue scrubs and Cadde rushed to him. “Everything went well and Jessie’s resting comfortably. They’ll take her to a room in a few minutes. She’ll be out for a couple of hours.” The doctor pulled off his surgical cap. “I don’t know if you want to know, but the baby was a boy.”

A choked sob clung in Cadde’s throat and the pain seared all the restraints he had on his temper.

“Do you want the fetus or do you want the hospital to take care of it?”

What! For a moment he was paralyzed with what the man was saying. He cleared the sob in his throat. “We’ll bury him. Jessie would want that.” He wasn’t letting his son be thrown away like garbage.

“I’ll let the appropriate people know.” The doctor fiddled with his cap. “I’m sorry, Cadde.”

Cadde nodded, unable to speak.

“Are you okay?” Chance asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Again, he didn’t respond.

Chance’s cell rang and he turned away to talk to Shay.

Cadde hit the door leading to the stairwell, taking them two at a time.

“Cadde!” Chance shouted, but he kept running. Once he reached the ground floor, he called for a cab and went to Shilah. He took the private elevator up to his office. Losing no time he opened the safe on the wall and pulled out Roscoe’s Glock with a clip. He jammed a clip in. Laying the gun on his desk, he sank into his chair.

Vernon Lynch was going to die tonight.

Chance and Kid burst through the door. They looked at him, the gun and then at each other.

“What are you doing?” Kid asked.

“I’m going to put a hole right through Vernon Lynch’s dead heart.”

Chance and Kid exchanged glances again.

“Cadde…” Chance moved toward him.

Kid grabbed the gun. “I’ll do it. You have to get back to the hospital. Jessie’s in her room and she needs you.” Kid took a breath. “I’ll kill the bastard for you and I can do the time.”

Chance yanked the gun from Kid. “Nobody’s killing anybody. The police haven’t even caught him yet.”

Abruptly, Cadde stood and his chair went flying backward. “Give me the gun. I have to do this for Jes
sie. When she wakes up, I have to tell her that bastard is dead.”

“No,” Chance replied. “You’re not thinking straight.”

Cadde leaped on his brother, determined to get the gun. Kid jumped on his back and they wrestled around the room, the gun slid beneath a table. Furniture crashed to the floor and two steel bands held him down. Then he did something uncharacteristic of a Hardin. He cried.

Tears rolled from his eyes and his chest shook with sobs. The steel bands wrapped around him now in soothing comfort. Nothing was said for some time.

Cadde finally stood, wiping at his eyes, his momentary insanity gone. “I have to go to Jessie.”

Chance drove him back to the hospital. Rosa, Felix and Myra were there. Jessie was still out.

“Where have you been?” Myra asked in a harsh whisper.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he pulled a chair to Jessie’s bedside and took her lifeless hand in his. He waited. Everyone waited.

Suddenly, Jessie’s dark eyelashes fluttered open. They were filled with undisguised pain. His stomach clenched.

“I…I’m…not pregnant anymore, am I?”

He swallowed. “No.”

A guttural cry left her throat and she pulled her hand away.

“Jessie.”

“Please leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

Myra walked up to the bed. “Hey, Kiddo…”

“Everybody get out of my room,” she screeched, and a nurse came in.

“Mrs. Hardin, are you okay?”

“Make them leave.”

The nurse looked at Cadde. “Maybe it’s best if y’all give her some time.”

Against every instinct in him, he did, but he didn’t leave. He sat in a chair outside her door just in case she needed him. But she didn’t. For three days, he sat and only left to shower and change his clothes. Jessie remained distant, not talking to anyone.

Fran from Rachel’s House came by and told Jessie about Nina’s obsession with her. She said she was sorry, but once again Jessie only stared ahead, not looking at the woman.

Outside in the hall, Fran spoke to him, “I’m sorry, Mr. Hardin. I feel so responsible.”

“Yeah, me, too. I wish I had come home earlier. I wish Jessie had never gotten involved with Rachel’s House, but she’s so loving and giving…” He closed his eyes. “She’s shutting me out. She’s shutting everyone out.”

“It’s going to take time.”

“Yeah.” He drew a heavy breath, wanting to blame the woman, but he couldn’t. Now his only concern was Jessie and her well-being.

“Ms. Delgado called me. I offered to testify against Vernon Lynch when they catch him and the trial is set.”

“I’ve been so concerned about Jessie I wasn’t aware
she was working on the case, but I hope they put that bastard away for life.”

“I’ll do everything I can to make sure he stays locked up.”

“Thanks.”

He sat in the chair, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped between them. Chairs scraping against the tile drew his attention and he noticed Chance and Kid sitting beside him. They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to. They were his support system and he felt he was going to need them more than he ever had in his life.

C
ADDE HAD HAD THE BABY
taken to a funeral home in Giddings. When the doctor released Jessie, he told her about the burial arrangements. All she said was, “Tell Rosa to bring my black suit.”

He knew she was suffering and he didn’t know how to reach her. Kid drove them to Shilah, where Chance waited with the helicopter. Myra was there, too, wanting to help Jessie. But Jessie wouldn’t look at anyone nor did she speak. She sat in the chopper, drawn into herself, away from a world that had caused her so much pain. In her hand, she clutched the yellow booties Rosa had made.

Chance landed the chopper in High Cotton’s country cemetery. Cadde planned to bury the baby next to his parents. His mother would have loved a grandson. A hearse was waiting and a small grave had been dug. He had asked Chance to tell the family to stay away. Jessie couldn’t handle a crowd and he wasn’t sure he could, either.

The cold north wind blew as he stepped off the chopper, scattering dried leaves against his feet. He tried to help Jessie off the aircraft, but she wouldn’t let him touch her. Her reaction cut deep and he didn’t understand it.

They gathered beneath two stately cedars that had stood the test of time. A man from the hearse carried a small coffin about the size of a shoe box and placed it in the ground. Cadde was numb as a preacher from a nearby church read a verse from the Bible. After he finished, Jessie knelt and dropped the booties on top of the box. He thought she’d cry, show some emotion, but she didn’t. She stoically walked back to the chopper and boarded.

He’d given Chance instructions to drop them at the house. He hoped once she was home she’d cry and release her pent-up grief. But there was no emotion as she walked into the house and headed for the stairs.

“I don’t know how to reach her,” he said to Rosa.

“Mr. Cadde, she’s grieving. She needs time to get over this tragedy.”

“But why is she shutting me out?”

Rosa shrugged. “I don’t know, Mr. Cadde. She’s hurting.”

Cadde walked toward the stairs to see if Jessie was okay. He opened the door and came to a dead stop. Jessie was throwing clothes into a suitcase.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving.”

“What?”

She turned to him, her eyes wild, her hair even wilder. “I’m the reason our baby is dead.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Who do you think put the idea of marriage into Daddy’s head?” She poked a finger into her chest, her voice rising with each word. “It was me.”

“What?” He felt a sucker punch to his gut.

“When he knew he wasn’t going to live much longer, he kept saying if I had any problems or fears I was to call Cadde. He’d take care of everything. Cadde’s a good man.” She zipped the suitcase and swung back. “I saw this as my opportunity to get what I wanted. I’ve been in love with you since the first time I met you, but you never noticed me. And I wanted you to notice me, so I said to Daddy that I might as well be married to you, and he was off to the races with the idea just like I wanted him to.”

He frowned. “Did you suggest how to split the shares?”

“No, Daddy did that.” She lifted the bag to the floor. “Even after the marriage you kept your distance, but since I’m like my manipulative father I offered you another deal—a baby for Shilah. How could you refuse? It was what you wanted, control of Shilah. But you can’t make someone love you no matter how much you manipulate the situation, as my father found out. You’ve never loved me. When we were at High Five and I was playing with the kids, you walked over and kissed my cheek. All I wanted to hear was ‘I love you.’ But you didn’t say the words. You never have.”

“Jessie.”

“Oh, please, do not say them now and insult my intelligence.”

He just stared at her, trying to take in everything she was saying. But he just saw a woman overwrought with pain.

“So you see, Cadde, I brought all this misery on us because I tried to play God.” She picked up the bag. “You’ll receive divorce papers in the mail and the transfer of the share into your name.” She pushed past him.

Divorce papers.

I’ve loved you from the first moment I met you.

You’ve never loved me.

You’ve never loved me.

It took a few minutes for him to come to his senses and then he tore from the room. In the kitchen, he asked Rosa, “Where’s Jessie?”

Tears filled Rosa’s eyes. “She’s gone, Mr. Cadde. I don’t think she’s coming back. She told me to take care of Mirry.”

Cadde ran into the garage, but Jessie’s Suburban was gone. Jessie was gone. Where would she go?

He reached for his cell and called her number. It rang and rang and then went to voice mail. She wasn’t taking his calls. Dammit!

He dashed back to the kitchen. “What’s Myra’s number?” Rosa gave it to him and he quickly dialed.

“Myra, Jessie’s left and she might be coming to you. Call me when she gets there.”

“She’s in no condition to drive.”

“I know. That’s why I’m so worried. Just call me.”

“Wait. They arrested Vernon Lynch. He was hiding out at his sister’s.”

Somehow that didn’t make anything better. Jessie was gone. He had to find her. Running to his truck, which was still parked in the front yard, he prayed he could catch her. He watched the highway for the silver Suburban, but there wasn’t a sign of it all the way into Houston.

Not knowing what else to do, he called his brothers and told them what had happened. They immediately started searching, too.

Frustrated, he called Myra again and again, but she still hadn’t heard from Jessie. As the darkness ushered in colder temperatures, he drove home, hoping Jessie was there.

She wasn’t.

Chance and Kid called. They hadn’t found Jessie, either, and wanted to come out to be with him. He told them no. There was nothing they could do, and he had to be alone to face his own shortcomings.

Where would Jessie go? He racked his brain.
Gavin.
Grabbing his phone, he searched for the man’s number. Jessie had spoken to Gavin from his phone so it had to be on his cell. He finally found it and called the number.

“Gavin, this is Cadde Hardin.”

“Oh, I heard about the attack on the news. Is Jessie okay?”

“Jessie’s very depressed and she left. I can’t find her. Have you heard from her?”

“No. Not a word.”

Cadde wasn’t sure he was telling the truth. “Man, don’t lie to me. If she’s there, just say so. Jessie needs medical attention.”

“I wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

By Gavin’s concerned voice Cadde knew he wasn’t lying. “If she calls or shows up, please let me know. We’re all worried about her.”

“I will.”

Cadde walked into the living room in a daze. Where was Jessie? Falling onto the sofa, he stared at all the decorations Jessie had strewn about. This was his fault. How could he have never said the words? Didn’t she feel them?

It didn’t matter about the arranged marriage. He didn’t care whose idea it was. Their relationship had gone way beyond that. They’d bonded in a way he had never thought possible. All he thought about was her. He couldn’t even focus on the oil business. Didn’t she see that?

Running his hands over his face, he knew the answer. Jessie was in so much agony she wasn’t thinking. The pain was all she could feel. She blamed herself because of the arranged marriage and his failure to say the words she wanted to hear—the words that would have made their marriage valid were never said.

Oh, God.

He didn’t know how long he sat there, but it had grown completely dark outside. He called Myra once again. Jessie wasn’t there. In her state of mind, where would she go?

A whimpering caught his attention and he looked down to see Mirry at his feet. “Hey, Mirry.”

The dog whimpered louder.

He knew that sound. “You have to pee. Okay.” He picked her up, carrying her out the front door. Mirry played around in the grass and he noticed blood drops on the tiled porch. His stomach clamped tight. But, just then, his attention was riveted by headlights at the entry.
Jessie!
The car drove on and he sank down on the step. It wasn’t Jessie.

Mirry whimpered again, not liking the colder temperature, and Cadde settled her in his lap.

Was Jessie ever coming back?

She had to. He couldn’t survive without her.

J
ESSIE RAISED HER HEAD
from the steering wheel and stared out at Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham. What was she doing here? It was late and the ice cream company was closed, but she could see lights inside.