Cowgirls Don't Cry(121)

Chapter Twenty-Five


Day 1


Brandt hadn’t stopped by. He hadn’t called. Jessie went about her Sunday routine as usual. Cleaning.

Washing clothes. Paying bills. Feeding the animals. Cooking a pot roast with all the trimmings—enough food for two.

Day 2


Brandt hadn’t stopped by. He hadn’t called. Jessie took advantage of the Monday holiday to work with her horses. Then she fed the animals. She drove to the store for ice cream. She watched TV. She called her mother. She fell into bed alone.

Day 3


Brandt hadn’t stopped by. He hadn’t called. Jessie couldn’t face going into work at Sky Blue so she called in sick. And she was heartsick. She curled up on the couch with Lexie. She drank tea and ate toast.

Between the bouts of sniffles, she checked her phone to make sure the damn thing was working. She fed the animals. She heated up a can of soup and shuffled off to bed alone.

Day 4


Brandt hadn’t stopped by. He hadn’t called. Just how much time did the man need? But Jessie couldn’t face Skylar or India or Kade or Kane or Ginger or Simone without breaking down completely. She needed another day. Despite the guilt, she called in sick.

Jessie assumed the person rapping on her door at ten a.m. would be Skylar. Jessie considered ignoring it, but it’d be easier to ’fess up here, rather than in an official capacity at Skylar’s office. She shushed Lexie and opened the door.

Joan McKay stood on her porch. She looked different but Jessie couldn’t put her finger on what it was about her that was off.

It hit her. Jessie grabbed Joan’s arm. “Has something happened to Brandt?”


Joan shook her head. “As far as I know Brandt is fine.”


She sagged against the doorframe. “Thank God.”


“Haven’t you heard from him?”


“Not at all.”


Sorrow flickered in Joan’s eyes. “Can I come in?”


“Ah sure.” Jessie poured two cups of coffee while Joan took off her coat and settled on the couch. She handed her a cup. Did she sit next to her former mother-in-law? Or keep her distance, like she always had?

“I imagine you’re wondering why I’m here.”


Jessie sat beside Joan on the couch. “You never were one just to stop by to chat.”


“How sad is that? Anyway, I wanted to clear a couple of things up before I…” She set her cup down on the coffee table with a resounding thud. “Actually, I want to apologize.”


“For what?”


“For not standing up to Casper after Luke died. I’ve convinced myself I was so lost in grief I wasn’t thinking straight. But the truth is, making waves wouldn’t have changed anything, Casper does what he wants and to hell with everybody else. That was how I justified my ‘head in the sand’ behavior when it came to you and everything else in that situation. I’m sorry.”


Jessie didn’t know what to say. She watched Joan struggle, this woman she’d always seen as torn between her duty as a wife and as a mother.

“And I should’ve tried harder to have some kind of relationship with you, Jessie, after you and Luke got married. Casper didn’t like you, and I figured after you lost the baby early on, he’d do everything to break you and Luke up.” She distractedly rubbed the center of her forehead. “I felt bad for you, but us being friends would’ve just pissed Casper off even more and he would’ve taken it out on both of us. And Luke. Trust me.”