Page 61 of The Coppersmith Farmhouse (Jamison Valley 1)
Wes scoffed. “I’m not running that farm. And I don’t need help.”
I shook my head. We’d had this conversation too many times to count. No one could get through to Wes. Not his parents. Not his friends. Maybe we were all stupid for holding out hope that he’d turn his life around.
“What do you want, Wes?”
“You know, I’m just so happy for you, Brick. Finding Gigi. She’s stunning. And that little girl? So cute.”
My frame locked tight. What the fuck was he doing bringing up Georgia and Rowen?
“It just so happens I’ve been in the area lately when Gigi picks up the kid from school. It’s nice. To watch them together. So nice, I think I’ll do it every day,” he said.
I shot out of my chair and leaned over my desk.
“Stay the fuck away from them. If I hear you’re bothering her, you’re dead. Cop or not, I’ll end you.”
He sneered and started backing away.
Then he gave me a mock salute, flipped me the middle finger and bowed. Just like the man had done on camera the night he slashed the cruisers’ tires.
It had been Wes. I knew it.
And I couldn’t do a fucking thing about it.
I stood and watched him leave the station. Then I picked up a cup on my desk and sent it flying into the wall, the glass shattering on impact.
“Fuck!”
I gave myself a few moments to calm down. Then I grabbed a dustpan to clean up the glass before Oakley could cut his paws. When I was done, I hit the vending machine for a soda before sitting back down in front of my paperwork.
I was stressed to the max. Wes kept pushing me into a corner and all I wanted to do was push back. But I fucking couldn’t. My badge bound me to follow the rules. Most of the time, I liked those rules. The structure. Not today.
My fuse was short and I knew it wouldn’t take much for me to blow. I pitied the person who pushed me over the edge.
Gigi
The weekend was going by quickly. While Jess was at work, Rowen and I had spent time doing fall yard work. We had also cleaned the entire house and done the laundry.
It was nice to have a quiet weekend with my girl. We were settled from the move and getting into a good routine. Our lives were officially here in Prescott and it was starting to feel like home.
Rowen had made princess crowns this morning and instead of one for me, she’d made a “boy princess crown” for Jess. His was decorated with green and blue glitter pens, hers with yellow and pink.
She hadn’t seen him since our hike Friday and she’d been asking about him all day. It was Sunday afternoon heading into another busy week. Even though he was working, it would be nice to surprise him with a quick visit. Rowen could deliver her present and he could take a little break from the madness.
Roe fidgeted in her seat as we drove into town, barely able to contain her excitement. Her little legs kicked back and forth wildly the whole trip.
The station was dead quiet. The dispatcher up front was the only one in the building except for Jess.
I had a hold of Rowen’s hand as we walked through the bull pen, but when we got close to Jess’s office at the back corner, she pulled away and sprinted toward his door, waving his crown and shouting his name.
The front of his office had two big windows on either side of the door. It gave him an open view of the bull pen and deputies a view into his office.
Rowen’s shouting startled Jess. The second before she’d started yelling, he’d lifted a can of soda to his mouth. When she shouted, he flinched and fumbled the can, dropping it on his messy desk, spilling soda all over his sea of papers.
Eff.
He stood up from his desk so quickly, his chair went flying back, crashing into the wall.
Oakley got startled and started barking the second Rowen entered the office.
