Twin Cowboys for Tamara (12 page)
“When she found out Tamara and I were together she said
jungle
fever
.”
“Oh man.”
“Yeah, my reaction exactly. That and speechlessness.”
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“Did Tamara hear her?”
“No. Tamara waited on one of the sofas while I went to get us drinks at the bar. That’s where I met your friend.”
Jax mentally disavowed the blonde as a friend of his. Women he slept with weren’t always his friends, though a couple laid claim to friends-with-benefits. Most turned out to be one-week-stands, which amounted to the length of most of his relationships. And it wasn’t like he went around vetting potential bed partners regarding their political views or religious beliefs. Jax let his physical desire lead him, plain and simple. He wasn’t looking for a wife or life mate, after all.
However, one look at his brother told him Jess wouldn’t go for Jax’s reasoning. The blonde was just one in a long line of women that demonstrated how cavalier and irresponsible Jax had been in his past choice of women, proof positive to Jess that his brother couldn’t be trusted to treat a woman like Tamara with the proper respect.
He could see the thoughts written all over Jess’s face. His brother had tried and convicted him on the basis of his past choices, and Jax really couldn’t blame Jess. He would probably feel the same way in his brother’s shoes.
“Jess, I’m not that blonde. You know I don’t feel that way about Tamara.”
Jess sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “I know that. It’s just that her attitude, her words caught me totally off-guard. They made me think. They made me doubt.”
“You? Doubt?” Jax teased.
“I tried to put myself in Tamara’s place, feel how she feels being surrounded all day by people who aren’t like her. And you know what? I couldn’t do it.”
“Not many people would be able to.”
“If I can’t empathize with who she is, with what she goes through every day, how can I ever hope to make her see that I care about her?”
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“It doesn’t matter that you can’t empathize. What matters is that you’re willing to, that you
want
to know how she feels. That’s half the battle.”
“Why does it have to be a battle?”
Jax shrugged. “Hey, love is a battlefield, to quote Pat Benatar.”
Jess chuckled and punched him in the arm. “Asshole.”
“But I got you to laugh.”
“You always do.”
They stood in comfortable silence for several moments, then Jax put an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “So, you’re in love with her then?”
“I never said I’m in love with her.”
“You never said you weren’t.”
“I care about her, Jax. I always have, maybe more than I should.”
“How much is that?”
“You know what I mean. I cared about her when it wasn’t always right to care about her the way I do—like an adult.”
“You know what I think. I think you’re substituting
care
for
love
.
Admitting how you feel is the other half of the battle.”
“Since when did you become such a wise philosopher?”
“I told you. I’ve been a good boy. Part of that is maturing and not playing with childish things anymore.”
“Okay, Mr. Mature Good Boy, let’s hear in more detail this plan you have to get Tamara not to hate me anymore.”
“Before we do this, you’ve got to know, you’re not just going to be battling Tamara to get back in her good graces. You’re going to be battling society too. The blonde probably won’t be the last with an attitude and something to say.”
“We’re not getting married. I just want to be with Tamara and see where things go.”
“Seems to me, you’ve already been with her. That’s the problem.”
“You know what I mean.”
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“Yeah, I do.” He didn’t envy his brother. The man clearly loved Tamara and had a difficult time admitting it, especially in the current environment. Not to mention, Jess didn’t like to just see where things went. He liked to plan, organize. He liked to map things out, strategize how to get from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible. He liked to know exactly where he headed and exactly what he would do once he got there.
He’d never been in love, but Jax knew enough to understand his brother couldn’t organize or plan it. He couldn’t compartmentalize love into neat little boxes marked The Way I feel About Tamara Carpenter, The Way Tamara Carpenter Feels About Me, and The Way The World Feels About Tamara Carpenter and Jess Reynolds Being Together. Love fell on the outside of efficient and tidy. It got dirty and messy in the worst of times and confusing and unmanageable in the best of times—all the things that got Jess’s back up big time.
Jax still didn’t understand how his brother had gotten on Tamara’s bad side to begin with. The actions his brother described were
so
unlike the meticulous Jess that Jax knew. Sounded like he’d been a reckless man too in love to care what anyone else thought as long as he got the woman he wanted.
Clearly, Jess was too far gone already and Tamara was too pissed to care.
Jax definitely had his work cut out for him.
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“I don’t appreciate being ambushed.”
“What ambush? I told you I had a surprise comin’ for you.”
“You didn’t tell me it was the daughter I haven’t spoken to in nearly twenty years.”
Jeremiah paused on the front doorstep, slammed his fists on his hips as he turned and faced Bailey. “Now is that my fault? Besides if’n I had told you Tamara was comin’, it wouldn’t have been a surprise, now would it?”
Bailey growled. “Does she know about—”
“—the cancer? No. I ain’t told her…yet.”
“Are you threatening me, you interfering old coot?”
Instead of responding to his long-time friend’s question and insults, Jeremiah said, “I just told her about your accident fallin’ off your horse. I didn’t tell her how or why.”
Bailey nodded. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I want you to be civil to the gal.”
“I’ll be civil.”
“Nice wouldn’t be bad neither.”
“Wouldn’t that get her suspicions up?”
Jeremiah stared at Bailey, a man who was practically like a brother to him—his only brother. He couldn’t believe they stood there as if it was just any other day of the week, discussing Bailey’s estranged daughter’s long overdue homecoming and Bailey having an inoperable brain tumor that would kill him soon. “Well, how long do you think you’re goin’ to hide your illness from her while she’s here?
You have to go for chemo, and—”
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“I’m not the one who asked her to come here!” Bailey threw up his hands as much as he could while cradling two crutches under his arms.
“If you don’t hold it down, everyone’s goin’ to know what’s goin’
on for sure and long before you want ’em to.” Jeremiah watched as Bailey closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, jaw muscles working as he gritted his teeth.
“You think you and the boys could keep her occupied while she’s here?” Bailey opened his eyes and looked at Jeremiah with a silent appeal shining out of his brown gaze.
“I’ll do my part. And I’m sure the boys will too. You know we all love her. But you’re goin’ to have to talk to her sometime. And sooner or later, plain old curiosity and concern is goin’ to bring her around in your neck of the woods to talk to you whether you want her to or not.
She is your daughter.”
Bailey sighed, leaned on one of his crutches, bent his head and pushed a hand through his long silver hair. “I know I’m stubborn, all right? And I know I ain’t exactly been fair to the child, but—”
“There’s no buts about it. Either you’re goin’ to reconcile with her while she’s here, or she’s goin’ to know everything before she gets ready to go.” Jeremiah opened the door and held it for his friend, ignoring all the grumbling and cussing he heard in his wake. “It’s up to you how and from whom she finds out.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a pushy cuss?”
“Not for a couple of hours.”
Bailey chuckled despite the gravity of the situation. “What am I going to do with you?”
“The question isn’t what you’re goin’ to do with me, but what you’re goin’ to do with your daughter and how soon.”
“Seems like someone beat me to the punch and done something with my daughter already, at least
to
her.” Bailey pointedly arched his brows and Jeremiah rubbed his fingers over the grizzled hair growing out of his chin and jaw.
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“Yeah, about that…”
“Did you plan for them to sleep together along with everything else you planned?”
“I know what you’re doin’, and it ain’t goin’ to work.”
“What, pointing out facts?”
“You’re trying to turn the situation around to bein’ about me and my boy when it ain’t about us. It’s about you and Tamara.”
“Looked like Jess had a little something to say about that.”
“You just worry about your daughter. I’ll worry about that fool son of mine.”
“Which fool son would that be, Pop?”
* * * *
Jax watched each man as they slowly turned to him in the vestibule and wondered what he had walked in on the tail-end of. His pop and Bailey looked right uneasy to say the least. But the latter man took no time rebounding to his usual cantankerousness.
“The fool son who upset my daughter ‘fore she even set foot on the property. And seeing as I can tell you two troublemakers apart, I’m guessing that wouldn’t be you,” Bailey said and gave him a pointed look. “Where’s your brother?”
“Out at the barn and stable. He’ll be in directly.”
“Not so sure he’ll be welcomed.”
Jax shot up his eyebrows. “By you?” It wasn’t like Bailey could demand Jess be fired like he had with Noah. The Double R wasn’t only Jess’s home. Jess owned part of the venture,,more responsible for its popularity and increase in revenue the last few years than anyone else Jax knew. Noah, on the other hand, had been a wrangler with no real ties in the community besides the ranch and the misfortune to fall for the progeny of the owner’s trusted confidant and friend. The man hadn’t had a chance.
“By Tamara,” Bailey said.
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Jax put his arm around Bailey and felt the man’s hard brown gaze on him as Bailey cut him a look. “You don’t have anything to worry about with those two. I happen to have it on good authority that everything is going to work out just fine.”
“Let me guess who the authority is.” Bailey rolled his eyes, but Jax could see that he got to him, saw the man’s smirk turn into a slight smile.
“Trust me. Those two will be making beautiful music together in no time.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Bailey grumbled.
Jeremiah said, “Well, I’m not wastin’ any more time with you two fools. There’s a piece of cake and some ice cream callin’ my name and a right pretty gal I ain’t hugged in a coon’s age. I’m intendin’ to rectify that as soon as possible.”
Jax and Bailey both laughed as Jeremiah clapped and rubbed his hands together as if preparing to get into some serious devilment.
As soon as his father left, Jax turned back to Bailey with a grin and squeezed his shoulder. “So, going to tell me what top secret meeting took place between you two?”
Bailey just politely shrugged off Jax’s hug, chuckling and shaking his head as he grasped his crutches and haltingly followed behind Jeremiah to the kitchen.
Jax watched him go, knew the old man had something up his sleeves and figured he’d find out what sooner or later. Weren’t too many people that could keep a secret from him once he turned on the charm, much like there weren’t too many women who could resist him. If he needed to learn something, he promised himself he’d learn it. But not before he started working on getting Tamara and Jess back on speaking terms.
Jax followed the path Pop and Bailey had taken to the kitchen and thought luckily it was a big kitchen that could handle two people in it who really wanted to avoid each other without seeming too obvious.
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He watched Bailey take a seat at and rest his crutches against the island in front of him while Maria and his dad bustled around the kitchen getting everyone a plate and bowl for their ice cream and cake.
Jess—always one to stand up and admit when he made a mistake and never one to avoid an uncomfortable situation just because it would be easier for him—sat at the end of the island farthest away from the doorway. Tamara sat on the opposite end a few feet away from Jax.
He sidled behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently massaging before he leaned in to give her a friendly peck on the cheek. “Welcome back, Tamara,” Jax whispered and spied the intense look Jess gave him. He felt his brother’s barely reined in aggression and wondered how Jess managed to keep his seat and not leap across the island to slug him, especially when Tamara reached up to cover then squeeze one of Jax’s hands before turning to smile at him over her shoulder. “Hey, Jax.”
