7. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

B eth unlocked Scoop and Sarah's door, then keyed in the alarm code. It was one in the morning. Sarah had started a group text earlier between the sisters but hadn't included Jesse. It was basically opinions on should they or shouldn't they wake Jesse up and notify her of what happened to Cannon. Remi and Winnie, along with Sarah, had said Jesse needed rest. Although Beth hadn't agreed, she'd been outvoted. But in the hour and a half since the others had said they were heading to bed, Beth hadn't been able to sleep.

What if Cannon didn't survive? Beth had been with her sister on this pregnancy journey from the very first. Beth had been sworn to secrecy when she figured it out and had even taken Jesse to her first OB/GYN appointment.

Remi, Winnie, and Sarah, as the older three, had always wanted to protect Jesse and her, but they were all adults. Beth walked lightly down the hall to the spare bedroom, silently opening the door, then closing it behind her. She leaned over Jesse and placed her hand across her mouth while instantaneously whispering in her ear. "Cannon was in a motorcycle accident. He's been medevacked to Wichita. Do you want me to take you to check on him?"

Jesse nodded, then sat up after Beth removed her hand. "Do you know how he is?"

"My last update was an hour ago from Flick that they'd taken Cannon into surgery."

"An hour ago?"

Beth picked up Jesse's shoes and placed them on the bed, ready for Jesse when she walked back out of the bathroom. Beth could use the excuse that she didn't want to wake Scoop and Sarah, and that's why she didn't answer while Jesse was in the bathroom. The real reason was Beth knew Jesse was going to be mad. Heck, if her sisters had kept something like this from her, Beth would be livid.

Jesse finished buttoning up the shirt and she came out. She cocked her eyebrow and Beth refrained from rolling her eyes. Her best bet was waiting until they were in the car to talk.

"Let's get in the car so we don't wake up the household. I've got snacks in the vehicle and extra clothes for both of us if needed. I stuck up the closed sign with today's date on the garage, so anyone dropping by will know you won't be there."

Beth hoped it was enough to keep Jesse quiet. She flicked off the light in Jesse's room before opening the door to the hall. The light outside in the driveway cast enough into the room that she and Jesse could get outside without turning anymore lights on.

Beth opened the door, letting Jesse go first out to the car. Then she set the alarm and closed the door. Heading toward the vehicle, she prepared for Jesse to scream and yell a little bit. She may not have agreed with keeping it from Jesse, but she had gone along with it for a while. Whatever Jesse wanted to say, Beth would listen to because she deserved it.

Beth opened the door, sat down, put her seatbelt on, and slid the key in the ignition. She started the vehicle and was back out and on the road out of the compound in seconds. She didn't want Scoop to come running out and slow them down.

"Okay, Beth, spill it!"

Jesse waited for Beth to explain what had gone on. Her sisters had been equal parts mad at Cannon and mad at her. All except Beth but that was because she'd guessed and helped keep it a secret.

But regardless, if her baby daddy was hurt, she deserved to know.

"Well, Cannon and some of the guys went on a night ride to clear his head. While they were out, a black Ford F-350 came from the side road, running into Cannon. All the guys agree it was on purpose. The truck hit him and then raced off. No plates or any identifying marks. Flick deemed Cannon's injuries were bad enough that he needed to be medevacked to Wichita."

Beth paused and turned to stare at Jesse. Beth knew her so well. Jesse was someone who needed time to absorb things. Consider all the options. She swallowed to ask the question she wasn't sure she wanted an answer to.

"How bad is he hurt?"

"Compound fracture in the leg and arm, both on the side he was hit on. Cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. Flick said they were able to insert a tube, and he was stable when they landed in Wichita."

Jesse sat in the silence of the vehicle on the road. Beth didn't turn on the radio, just left it quiet. Jesse thought through everything that had brought them to here. If she had told Cannon before today, he wouldn't have been so angry. If he wouldn't have been angry, he might have been watching closer and not been hurt.

"I feel guilty," Jesse whispered.

"Why? You didn't run the truck into him. Though I have to say when you were so sad a couple weeks ago, I considered doing something to him."

"If I'd told him earlier, it might not have happened."

"You can worry about all the woulda, coulda, and shouldas, but it's not going to help anything," Beth said.

Jesse smiled when she didn't think she could. "How many times did Mom say that to one of us?"

Beth chuckled. "Oh man, it seemed like a million. Mom seemed to live life with no regrets."

Jesse sniffed, then pulled a tissue out of the console, wiping her nose and eyes.

"I miss her too. I can't imagine how you feel going through this without her."

Jesse nodded. She'd never missed her mom more than when the stick read pregnant . Jesse wasn't the only one. There had been many an evening since Winnie and Bear had become parents that the sisters had all talked about missing their mom.

She wasn't sure why things happened the way they did, but she was sure she'd give just about anything to walk in the door and get a hug from her mom one last time. She only hoped she could be half the mom for her baby that her mom was for her and her sisters.

She still remembered coming home after she'd gotten into a scuffle when she was twelve. She'd been debating whether going to the garage and telling her dad or going into the house and notifying her mom about why she had a black eye would be the better choice. At that time, Jesse had thought she and her mom had different ideas about how ladies acted. Jesse had just been too young and na?ve to understand the nuances of behavior. That day had cleared a lot up and cemented their relationship for the future.

Jesse and her mom disagreed what exactly acting like a lady meant before that day. Kathryn Franks believed that a woman should be strong and know how to defend herself, whether with a gun or with her hands. But she also thought that discretion and caution should be used more than Jesse did.

Jesse had thought her mom didn't understand that Jesse tried, but those three boys had constantly bothered her for years. Jesse had been so tired of the bullying and their words had crossed a line. When they'd made a tangible threat, things had changed. She had listened in on the bail bonds meetings and had known that Scotty needed to be stopped before he was braver. So what if she got suspended. The teachers that thought she needed to take Home Economics didn't know the household she grew up in. She could sew, but she could also change the oil in a car.

If she closed her eyes, she could still see her dad's face. Add in his brothers Rascal and Baron were there too. They'd all gone ballistic when they'd seen her black eye. Scotty hadn't gone quietly when she'd decided to make sure he understood to leave her alone.

"What are you thinking about?" Beth asked, bringing her out of the memory.

"When I showed Scotty he wasn't going to do anything to me."

Beth nodded. "Man, Scotty had no idea how close he came to dying. Didn't Mr. McClain leave after that school year?"

Jesse giggled. "Oh, yes, he did. I can't imagine how scared he was when Dad, Baron, and Rascal showed up to chat with him about his comments. I kind of want to know what happened to him. I mean, telling a twelve-year-old girl she shouldn't tempt the fourteen-year-old boy was all kinds of screwed up."

"I know I don't have kids, and may not for a while, but I want our kids to know we have their back just like Mom and Dad had ours."

"Yeah, Mom's voice when she told Dad to take care of it or she and Regina would take care of it themselves still sends chills down my spine. You know, she also told me that day that I was a brave girl for standing up to someone who outweighed me by at least forty pounds and was easily eight inches taller. She also said she wanted me to hear something and remember it. She said I got to be the woman I wanted to be. If I wanted to work in the garage, do it. If I wanted to catch jumpers for our bail bonds, do it. If I wanted to sew, bake, whatever, do it because I wanted to. To not let someone else's view of how I should be change who I was. She said I was unique, beautiful, and a gift to her and Dad. She wanted all of us to choose our own destinies. Man, she was amazing, and I miss her every freaking day."

Jesse could hear Beth sniffling beside her. Some days, the grief welled up and almost took her under. Other times, she'd go weeks without thinking about how much she missed her mom.

"We should totally have Sarah run a search for Scotty and for Mr. McClain, just to make sure they are both on the straight and narrow path, not abusing women," Beth said.

"Agreed. How much farther?"

"About thirty more minutes. It's crazy how life can change in an instant. One minute you're riding along. The next you're fighting for your life. I guess we should cherish each moment because we never know when it's our time."

Jesse agreed. Cannon may have been an ass, but she had to put herself in his shoes. He'd reached over and felt her hard belly where their baby was. She'd be mad too if someone kept it from her. When she thought about what she wanted out of her life, she realized she wanted time. Time with her baby to watch them grow up. Time with her family to love on her niece and nephews and everyone else. And she wanted time with Cannon to mend what was broken. This baby deserved not only the best version of herself but also to have both parents in his or her life.

Once she knew Cannon would be okay, then she could go home. When he got out of the hospital, they could see what type of relationship they could have. She was hoping for an amicable co-parenting relationship where their baby was going to be put first. She knew Cannon didn't want any more than the one-night-stand they'd had, but he wasn't a bad man. He just wasn't the man for her, even if she'd hoped he'd be.

Her mom had always drilled it into their heads to not judge someone on their worst day. Today would have been considered probably one of Cannon's worst days. He'd been in shock over the pregnancy. She'd had weeks to come to terms with the baby. He'd had seconds. She owed it to him to not judge him until they'd talked.