A Wedding in Red Creek: Rori and Jackson (The Sons of Dusty Walker Book 9) (5 page)

Shit, she shouldn’t have gone into that detail. “What I mean
is, that’s what the job…” She looked at the ceiling, not knowing where to go
next with this.

“You really want to do this.” His voice grew louder. “You’ve
thought about it to the point of planning out your weeks.” He stared out the
window. “And you were afraid to tell me about it, why?”

“Not afraid.” Well, maybe a little cautious. “Not afraid to
tell you, I just didn’t think, with how busy you were with work and the arena
and the house and the wedding, that you’d want to worry about one more thing.”

His lips tightened into a thin line and he sucked in a sharp
breath. “You didn’t think I’d want to know that my wife was going to be gone
half the summer?” He spoke each word clearly, letting his tone go sharper with
each one.

She was making a real mess of this, but his bossy attitude
did not sit well with her. “
Your
wife
has her own career to think
about, and if my looking into options for the future upsets you that much,
maybe you need to look at your own attitude toward marriage.”

His mouth dropped open. “Okay, explain to this dumb ol’
cowboy exactly what you mean by that.”

This wasn’t something she wanted to have hanging between
them, so they’d best get it out now and clear it away before their marriage
began. “Jackson, I know you’re an old-fashioned guy, and I love you for it.”
She held out her hands, palms up. “But why do you get to make all the rules for
our lives? Why do you get to say when we have sex in our new house? Even on
Valentine’s day, you made us come back to the apartment before we got busy in
bed.”

His jaw snapped as he clamped it closed, his gaze locked
with hers.

Great, he wasn’t going to say anything? Fine, she’d let
everything out of her tank and see what he had to say about it then. “And why
do we have to wait two years to have children?” She gestured a little wildly.
“I’m okay with it, but you came to me with the plan, and I really had no input
into it.”

His breath nearly whistled through his nostrils as he
visibly held back his temper.

Softening her tone, she spoke the last thing from her list
of grievances. “And why do you get to tell the world about your rodeo arena
idea before talking to me about it, and when I’m corresponding with my mother
about a teaching position, I’m in the wrong for not discussing it with you
first?” She pressed her fingers on her throbbing temple. “My teaching idea is
just as important as your rodeo scheme.”

“Scheme?” He looked away for a few seconds, then pierced her
with a laser gaze. “My
scheme
will bring revenue and jobs and taxes and
notice to Red Creek.” He gestured over his shoulder. “You taking a job teaching
is going to…what…close Cyber Wise for days at a time? Take you away from me for
six goddamn weeks?”

He made a fist and knocked on his forehead. “No, sorry.
That’s not where I wanted to go with this.” With a deep inhale, he looked at
her, his eyes softening. “It’s not about Red Creek, it’s about us, our
relationship, and our respect for each other.”

“Jackson. I don’t want to fight.” Things had gotten a little
out of control, thanks to her.

“We’re not fighting. We’re reevaluating our choices.”

Her heart stopped for a second. Oh damn, what was he saying?

Reaching out, he took her left hand and looked at her
engagement ring. “We haven’t known each other for long. Just over six months.”
He met her gaze, his brows drawn together. “That’s why the waiting period
before we start a family. But maybe we chose the wrong way to do this.”

“Jackson. No.” He was having second thoughts about marrying
her? Fear choked her throat and burned behind her eyes.

“Listen, Rori.” His voice cracked and he cleared his throat.
“I don’t want to be the reason you don’t achieve your dream of teaching. The
one you’ve wanted since you were a child, and are now just realizing you don’t
want to leave behind.”

“That’s not what I said.” Her hand trembled in his. She’d
done this, with her words and by keeping things from him.

“No, you don’t have to say it. I can see it clearly now,
where I couldn’t before. You are meant for greater things than a little store
in a small town, and the wife of a man who barely finished high school.”

Gripping his fingers, she stepped forward and set her hand
on his chest. “Don’t think that way. I love you so—”

“I don’t want to stand in your way.” He stood taller, taking
her other hand in his. “I can’t let myself be that selfish.” He kissed her
fingers. “You’re right, I did come up with all the rules for our lives, I
planned everything out the way I wanted it without letting you make decisions.”
He frowned at her. “But why didn’t you stop me? Why didn’t you tell me I was
being
dictator-ial
?”

She closed her eyes. Why hadn’t she? Why did this all come
out now? Had she thought she could never find a man as amazing and perfect as
Jackson? Had she kept quiet because she didn’t want to scare him off? She
opened her eyes and tears flooded in. “Because I love you, and I want you to be
happy.”

“Aw, darlin’. I won’t let you sacrifice your ambitions for
me. We need to rethink our timeline.”

“Timeline?” Her head hurt from trying to figure out just
what his words meant. “Our wedding?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe. Have we gotten
caught up in everything happening between us?” He let out a bitter laugh.
“Everything happening to me, more likely. I settled down here because of dad’s
company, my brothers, and…” He swallowed hard. “And you, Rori. The only woman
I’ve ever loved. Ever wanted to be with. But am I rearranging your life to fit
neatly into mine?” He looked so frightened, she wanted to cry.

“You know that’s not true. I want to be with you, no matter
what.”

He jerked back as if she’d punched him in the chest. “No
matter what?” He released her hands and turned away.

What had she said? “Jackson, that’s not what I meant.”
Sometimes she was so inept with her words, she barely knew what would come out
of her mouth next. Now, she’d hurt him.

“You’re right.” He walked into the dining room and stared at
the table covered with all the wedding paraphernalia and the house drawings.
“It’s too much too fast. We need to slow the roll and think about this.” He
walked into the bedroom.

She followed, panic making her dizzy and breathless. “Wait.
I didn’t mean to say that you were overpowering me.”

He pulled a duffle bag from the closet and set it on the
bed.

“You’re leaving?” The words screeched from her throat.

“I am overpowering everything. I’m rushing forward, hauling
you along with me, because I’m settling down I think you have to, too.”

She stumbled sideways and realized she hadn’t been
breathing. “No.”

Grabbing her shoulders, he walked her to the bed and sat her
on the edge. Taking a knee in front of her, he set his hands on her thighs.
“You have things you need to do, Rori.” He tried to smile but it was not
working. “Unfinished goals that I won’t be the cause of you not reaching.”

“Don’t walk away.” Tears tracked down her cheeks. “Let’s
talk this out.”

“What more is there to say?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it when nothing came to
mind. How had this one mistake turned into a complete disaster?

He stood and kissed her forehead. “A couple days of quiet
will give us time to really consider what we want to focus on.” He tossed a few
things into the bag, zipped it shut, and carried it to the bedroom door. He
stopped, not turning around. “It’ll give me time to look back at the decisions
I’ve made for us that I should have made
with
you.”

“Jackson.” The whisper barely carried across the room.

He walked through the dining room, opened the door, and
clomped down the steps. In seconds she heard his truck engine start and drive
away.

Rori didn’t know where the words she’d spoken had come from.
Was she angry all this time, and just bottling it up? Could he be right, that
she’d gotten so caught up in his great quest to settle down? Why had she said
the things she did to him?

Rori curled into a ball on the bed. Had their love been
blinding them from tackling the conflicts that they should have discussed? Were
they rushing into this permanent commitment without having a good, solid base
of communication? “I really hate it when he’s right.”

She woke after sunset with a headache. She needed some
advice, and she needed it right away. Grabbing her phone from the nightstand,
she called Jackson’s mother.

“Rori. Hello, dear. Is everything okay? Things seemed a
little tense at lunch.”

Of course Sapphire could read Jackson well. “Can we get
together and talk? Do you have time to meet me? Maybe someplace where my
parents won’t know we’re meeting?”

Sapphire went silent for a moment. “Oh, dear. That bad?” She
sighed. “Of course, let’s meet at that restaurant in town. Half an hour?”

“Okay, thanks. I appreciate it.” Rori ended the call and
forced herself out of bed. She was bringing in the big guns, now. The concerns
she’d spoken with Jackson about earlier had not opened the lines of
communication as she’d hoped. Instead, they’d sent him running, and left her
questioning their relationship. Sapphire would know what to do.

The women met inside the front door of Cubby’s, and took a
seat at a booth well away from the other three couples who were having a late
supper.

“I don’t know what to do.” Rori explained what had happened
earlier in their apartment, and how Jackson hadn’t wanted to discuss the
issues, but instead had bolted in the middle of their talk. She didn’t mention
that he’d packed a bag.

As she was finishing her story, her phone rang. She grabbed
for it. “Sorry, let me see if it’s…” Not Jackson. Lexi’s name and picture
appeared, and Rori declined the call. Seconds after, a text came in.

What is going on? Why did Jackson check into the hotel?
Please tell me this is only something for the wedding, like the two of you
having a few days separation before the big, romantic wedding night.

Rori squeezed her eyes shut. She’d just assumed he had gone
back to Dusty’s, or into their new home. But the hotel? What was he thinking?
This was a small town, and everyone would be talking.

“Hell.” Who cared what people thought? But she didn’t want
to involve Lexi, who would also call Kit and Zoe, then this would get back to
the Walker brothers, and she didn’t want that. She texted back,
Yes,
something to do with the wedding.
She set her phone to silent, propped her
elbow on the table, and dropped her head onto her palm. Word would get around
soon enough, so she may as well let Sapphire know. “Jackson moved into the
hotel.”

“Oh, no.” Sapphire reached out for Rori’s free hand and gave
it a squeeze. “What you talked about, I can see why he reacted the way he did.
My son doesn’t like surprises. When your mother brought up the teaching job,
including your moving to Kansas City for the summer, it would have been more
than a surprise. It would have been a shock to him.”

Rori nodded. “He’s told me some of his history. But I want
to understand him better. I’m not asking you to betray any confidences, but
please, would you share your thoughts with me?”

“Of course. You’ll be married soon. I want you to understand
my boy. When Jackson was just fifteen...” Sapphire stared into a dark corner.
“I let slip that his father had a wife here in Red Creek, and my son ran away
from home. I didn’t mean to tell him while he was at such an impressionable
age, I regretted it until I realized he had to know sooner or later, and karma
said that was the day he needed to know.”

Rori had heard the story from Jackson, and her heart had
broken then. Now it broke again, hearing his mother retell it.

“When he came to Red Creek to hear the reading of Dusty’s
will, he met the three brothers he never knew he had. That was a shock. It
turned out okay, which was a blessing, but when Jackson called me on his way
home, I thought he was going to run again. We spoke on the phone for hours, and
I think that’s what kept him from leaving this town and never coming back.”

Rori didn’t realize how strongly that day had affected her
fiancé, but she should have. And she would make a point of drawing him out if
he mentioned it.

Sapphire leaned closer. “You don’t know how much Jackson
loved his father. How close the two of them were despite Dusty being gone so
much. My boy didn’t think his dad could do anything wrong. When he learned that
was not true the first time, he had me to help him through it, and with my
urging, Jackson did reconnect with Dusty. The second time, once he got to know
Killian, Rogue, and Dylan, Jackson had them to ease him through the blow.”

She glanced out the window, then gazed at Rori. “Now, he
feels he’s out there alone, with no one to guide him, and I’m afraid that…”
Sapphire pressed her lips together.

Rori hadn’t thought of that, and the implication scared her
nearly to death. “Do you think he was going to…?” Had Jackson been leaving town
today? Was the hotel a last-minute decision? Halfway gone, but still clinging
to hope?

“I don’t know.” Sapphire pressed her fingers to her lips. “I
pray not, but I don’t know.”

“What should I do?” Panic made her voice squeak.

Sapphire sat forward. “My advice is to give him tonight. If
he doesn’t come back to you, you go find him. Don’t be weak, don’t give him the
impression you’re caving in because he left you. Make him understand that in
every marriage there will be times one of you wants to run away, but your
wedding vows, your love for one another, is what makes you stay and fight for
your relationship.”

Rori blinked a couple times. This woman was so insightful.
“I see what you mean. He needs me to be strong for both of us, and to show him
just how strong he is, too.”

“Exactly.” She widened her eyes. “Rori, my dear, you are an
amazing and loving woman. You will bring out the man in him, and he’ll leave
that frightened boy behind. He will make you happy, and I’m so glad you two are
together. You’ll figure out the formula and make it work for sixty or seventy
years.” She smiled.