Cowboy Up(85)
Not knowing how long he’s going to be, I decide to start putting together a quiche. Nothing crazy, but at least it’ll keep me busy. If it weren’t the middle of the night, I would call one of the girls to talk me through my worry. I take my time cutting the onions and bell peppers, the mindless task not taking my mind off my worries at all.
“This isn’t workin’,” I mumble, dumping the diced bits into the bowl.
I grab the piecrust I had already prepped and start to add all the ingredients, my eyes moving to the clock every five minutes or so. I blow out a breath, pick up a handful of peppers and onions, and scatter them on the bottom of the pie tin, covering the crust completely. As satisfied as I can be with my mind in such a jumbled state, I pick up the egg, cheese, and spice mixture and pour that into the crust.
Picking up the quiche, I turn from the island and start to walk to the double ovens. Two steps in and the deafening sound of glass shattering breaks the silence. I scream, my whole body jolting in fear. The pie tin hits the floor, the sticky yellow contents splattering my bare legs and the area all around me. I glance down, confused, seeing the mess before another sound by the back door reminds me what startled me enough to drop the quiche in the first place.
“Hello, Caroline.”
The heinous heat in those two words slams into me, and without looking, I know this is going to be bad. I just hope and pray that whatever happens here, Clayton won’t be harmed.
“Look at me, you stupid bitch!”
I fill my lungs with a deep breath and say a silent prayer. Then I look up from my egg-soaked mess and into the evil glare of Clayton’s ex, Jess. Jess, who is pointing a gun in my direction with wild hair and even wilder eyes.
This is it, Caroline. Time to fight for the beauty you’ve found. No more letting fear win. Not now. Not when it isn’t just your life that’s in jeopardy here.
“Clayton’s going to be back soon,” I tell her, proud of the calm I don’t actually feel in my voice.
She tosses her head back and laughs sinisterly. The gun jerks in her hold while she takes obvious enjoyment out of her crazy thoughts. “Oh, no, he won’t. I made sure he’d be busy for a while.”
“What did you do, Jess?”
My worry for Clayton barrels into me, but I push it aside . . . for now. I focus on where I am in the kitchen and weigh my options while hoping to keep her distracted with questions. If I can just move a little to the left, I can reach the knife block.
“What did I do? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No.” I shake my head. “I’m not kidding you.”
“You’ve got some nerve, whore. You show up, move in on my man, and even though I was nice enough to give you a few warnings, you still didn’t listen! Not even when I finished what I didn’t accomplish the first time.”
“You set those fires?” I take a step back slowly when she looks away briefly.
“God, you’re dense. Of course I did. I would’ve taken care of you with the first one, but he assured me you weren’t worth it. He said you wouldn’t stick around. HE SAID I WOULDN’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT YOU AND MY MAN!” She wipes her mouth as spit falls down her chin. “He said all you’d need was a little warning and you’d be too scared to leave the house. WHY DIDN’T YOU LISTEN!”
Good heavens, she’s insane.
“Who, Jess? Who said that to you?” I take another step back, my heart thundering in my chest when I almost slip on the sticky mess at my feet.
She moves away from the broken back door, kicking the rock she must’ve thrown through the window out of her way. As the barrel of her handgun gets closer, I feel panic rising in my throat.
“John, you dumbass. He seemed to think you wouldn’t be a threat. One fire, he said, would be enough to make the timid little turtle go back into her shell. I thought he was right. You didn’t come sniffin’ back around my man for a while. But, then you had to go and fuck it all up, didn’t you? Shoulda trusted my gut the first time I saw you with Clay at that piece-of-shit bar. Shoulda slit your throat when you left that motel, like I wanted to.”
I shake my head, blown away by what she’s saying. “The motel?”
“The first time I saw you with my man. I left it be because you stayed away and I gave you some time to make sure you wouldn’t go sniffing back around what is mine. I knew Clay would get bored of your used goods. I knew he’d come back to me. But then you had to go and move your trash into my house with my MAN! That’s when I knew you needed more of a reason to run far away from Pine Oak—and Clay. John didn’t want to help me again, but he did when I reminded him who was in charge. No matter what we did, you didn’t take a hint. You were supposed to leave!”