Page 13 of I Want Crazy (Loco, Texas 3)

Scrolling through her phone, she pulled up her dad’s number and called him.

“Hello.” His rough voice came over the line and Jessie started to relax.

“Hey, Daddy.”

“Jessie-girl, is that you, honey? How are you? How’s the new place?”

Guilt assailed Jessie. No matter how many times she cut him out and hurt him, her dad was always there for her, worrying. She didn’t deserve him.

“It’s a lot of work, but I’m doing well.” When her hands were finally steady enough to hold a paint roller, she started painting again. “How are you? How’s Silvie and the girls?”

“Really good. You know, Megan got into law school, and Laura is going to UC Davis in the fall. She wants to major in journalism…”

Her dad went on and on about his stepdaughters, and her good will diminished as she wondered what he said when people asked about her. Oh, Jessie, well, she got involved with this dirt bag and ended up in some pornos against her knowledge. She sued him and had him thrown in jail, and now she lives off the grid somewhere, only calls home a few times a year. So proud of her.

In her heart, she knew her dad wouldn’t say anything like it to other people, but it didn’t stop her from berating herself for letting him down. She had let jealousy cloud her judgment, and now karma had bit her in the ass hard.

“Jessie?”

Shit, she hadn’t even been listening, but she didn’t want to tell her dad that. “Sorry, Dad. I was painting, and my cheek hit the mute button. What did you say?”

Her father’s sigh told her he didn’t believe her. “It’s okay, I was just saying that I wanted to come out and visit you soon. I kind of like the sound of Loco, Texas.”

Jessie smiled at her dad’s teasing. “Oh, you’d love it. As soon as I find a house, you can come on out and play cowboy.”

“Play, hell, I could ride circles around those Texans.”

“On a horse?” Jessie teased.

“Hell no, on my hog. When you get to be my age, honey, just the thought of getting on a horse can make you hurt.”

Jessie laughed. “Well, all right, Dad, I’ll talk to you later. Got a lot of work left for today.”

“I love you, honey. Call me, no matter what time it is.”

Her heart squeezed. “Thanks, Dad, I will. I love you too.”

Jessie hung up the phone, and the loneliness of her situation really sank in. She had moved across the country, away from family and friends and everything she knew. She was truly alone, and suddenly, her grand adventurous dream seemed like the stupidest idea she’d ever had.

* * *

Red yelled as he woke up, wiping the ice-cold water from his face. When his vision cleared, he saw his mother standing at the end of his bed, an empty glass in her hand, and dressed in her church clothes.

/> “And may I ask why you were not in church this morning?”

“Couldn’t you have asked me that without trying to drown me?” he griped, wiping his face with his quilt. The air in the trailer was stifling, and he realized he’d forgotten to turn the heat down.

“I tried, but you just continued to snore, so I decided you needed a little encouragement.”

Red swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, realizing too late he was naked. Grabbing up the quilt, he wrapped it around his waist. “Shit.”

“Language, Albert,” his mother said.

She bent over to pick up his boxers and pants off the floor like he was still fourteen years old and handed them over. He took them from her outstretched hand and waited for her to turn around. When she didn’t immediately turn her back, he glowered.

“Can I get some privacy in my own place?”

“Oh, are we embarrassed now? I’m your mother, you know. It’s not like I’ve never seen your package before.”

---