Give My All to Jessie (Third in Outlaw Series)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Jessie was determined to make believe she was fine. While it was a hopeless lie and she knew how false the cover was, Jessie was desperate to keep the rest of the world from seeing it too.

Jessie hated the daytime on days like today. Days when the cloudless sky shone and bright the same deep blue as Langley's eyes. She also hated the nighttime—every nighttime—because it was then that she longed for Langley's arms the most. She would dream of lying against his chest, hearing his heart, and when she awoke alone it would tear her heart apart all over again.

She hated every person she saw with red hair. She hated freckles.

Jessie sighed. The simple truth was that these days she hated everything.

Hadn't Jessie been the one to decide that things needed to be over with Langley? Hadn't she been the one to let him walk away? And hadn't she decided that she had good reason to do what she'd done?

Jessie nodded as she plodded along slowly on her mare. The answer to those questions was yes and yet for some reason it was getting harder and harder to justify her decisions as time went on.

As odd as it was, Jessie was on her way to see her mama. She had only see the woman a handful of times over the years but Jessie knew where to find her. No matter how tough Jessie wanted the world to think she was, right now she needed someone to lean on. Langley was gone, her pa was dead and that meant the only other person Jessie had to choose was her mama—even if the woman was a no good, lying, cheating whore.

Jessie tightened her duster coat against the chill in the air. It was late October and winter was coming—even in east Texas.

She saw the town appear in the distance and her stomach clenched. She always felt apprehensive and a bit nauseous when she knew she'd be seeing he mama. Jessie hitched her horse at the saloon and headed in to get some liquid courage before she headed to the brothel.

Jessie had no real hope that she and her mother would have a true heart to heart moment. Leah Burke had never been a real mother to Jessie and probably wouldn't have any idea how to help her through her heartbreak. But the ache still remained inside Jessie to have a mama.

Or maybe it was simply an ache for a cure to her loneliness. Being without Langley had taught Jessie the meaning of that word.

Jessie cursed under her breath. Self-pity wasn't something that Jessie had ever had much use for. She downed her beer and then headed to a poker table. After losing several hands and deciding her mind was too distracted to stay on the game, Jessie stood and left the saloon.

It was time to find her mama.

She walked on stiff legs down the street to the fancy two story building on the corner of town. Her mother had been working in that building for as long as Jessie could remember and her pa had avoided this town as if he'd been afraid he'd die just from stepping foot inside it.

Jessie stopped at the heavy wood door and wiped her damp palms on her worn buckskin pants before taking a deep breath and stepping inside.

"Can I help.. Jessie!" Madame Francine exclaimed as she came out from behind the velvet draped counter and breezed across the entryway toward her.

Jessie stood there stiffly as the elderly woman hugged her. It was easy to tell by looking at Francine's clear complexion and her girlish figure that she had been quite beautiful back in her younger days.