Lone Star Blues. Delores Fossen

       CHAPTER THREE

      “DO YOU REMEMBER when you got that tat in Singapore?” Theo asked her.

      With a question like that, Jordan knew where this phone conversation was heading. It was going to be a mini life lesson. One that she wouldn’t want to hear but Theo would tell her about anyway.

      The tat had indeed been a huge mistake. It’d not only gotten infected and ruined the rest of their vacation, but the inker had also botched it big-time. The Chinese symbol was supposed to be for “military” but instead looked like a stick figure with an enormous engorged penis. Worse, the penis pointed in the direction of her butt, making it look like a sordid sexual invitation to anyone who got a glimpse of it.

      “Well, I think this is an even worse mistake than the tat,” Theo concluded. “It’s not a good idea for you to make this trip.”

      And therein was the mini life lesson Jordan had been expecting while she drove from the San Antonio Airport to Wrangler’s Creek. Theo was right, though. It wasn’t a good idea. But it wasn’t as if she had options. No. Dylan and Adele had seen to that.

      “I can be there in Wrangler’s Ridge in a day or two. I’m sure I can get leave, and I can help you deal with this situation,” Theo added. He’d already made that particular offer twice. It had preceded the tat reminder.

      “Wrangler’s Creek,” she automatically corrected. “And really, there’s no reason for you to fly all this way.” Especially since Theo was stationed in Germany. Also, he’d eaten up a lot of his leave to be with her during her so-called recovery.

      “Yes, there’s a reason for me to be there. A damn good one. You,” he argued. “You don’t know what you’ll be facing there. Adele can be so...unpredictable.”

      Theo knew that firsthand, as well. He’d met Adele a few years back when they’d all ended up in San Antonio while Jordan was on leave. Adele had gotten mixed up with a group protesting a cause that Jordan couldn’t even recall. Things had gotten out of hand, rocks had been thrown, windows of an office building had been damaged. The only reason her cousin hadn’t been arrested then was because Theo had stepped in to talk the cops out of hauling her off to jail.

      Theo had this whole rescue/hero thing down pat.

      “Do the people there in Wrangler’s Creek even know you’re coming?” Theo asked a moment later.

      Once she’d arrived at the San Antonio Airport, Jordan had texted Dylan to inform him that she was on the way, but she hadn’t checked her messages since then. She didn’t want to give him the chance to tell her not to come.

      “It’ll all be fine,” Jordan assured her, though at best that was wishful thinking. Or possibly a whopping big lie.

      Theo must have picked up on her doubt because he made a sound that he wasn’t quite buying it, either. “I hate that you have to go through this alone.”

      Jordan knew Theo had her best interest at heart, but there was nothing that would stop her from making the drive so she could see Adele’s son and confront Dylan. She certainly wasn’t going to wait a day or two, either. She had waited long enough with the layover in Atlanta and the flight itself to San Antonio. And she’d seethed every minute of the delay. First for Adele not telling her that she’d had a child and second for Dylan screwing around with someone in her own family.

      The man had no boundaries.

      Of course, Jordan could say the same thing about Adele, but Dylan was six years older than Adele. He should have known better and kept his jeans zipped when she was around. Of course, from the bits and pieces she’d heard over the years, Dylan frequently unzipped.

      But Dylan and Adele’s son wasn’t the only concern. There was the issue of Adele’s arrest.

      Jordan had yet to find out the charges because she hadn’t wanted to call Dylan to ask him the specifics. A conversation like that was best face-to-face, but whatever Adele had done, Jordan needed to start working on getting her out of jail. That meant hiring a lawyer if she didn’t already have one.

      “Are you still there?” Theo asked.

      That’s when Jordan realized she hadn’t responded to the last thing that Theo had said. She was too busy bashing Dylan and Adele in her head.

      “Yes, I’m here,” Jordan answered. “I just have a lot on my mind. And I’m trying to focus on the traffic.”

      That last part for sure was a big fat whopper. Because there was no traffic to speak of. However, she wanted to get this call finished so she could gear up for the battle ahead.

      “I won’t keep you on the line then because I don’t want you to get in an accident,” Theo said, and he paused again. “Look, I know the timing for this is all wrong, but have you given any more thought to what we talked about last week?”

      Obviously, he was keeping her on the line despite his worry about an accident. But yes, she had thought about it, along with the swarm of information and memories. The swarm moved so fast sometimes that it was hard to catch onto only one piece. Well, except for the bad stuff. The bad memories had a way of lingering longer than the rest.

      “You know how I feel about you,” Theo went on, “and after what happened, it’s made me realize that life’s too short not to hold on to the things we have. God, Jordan, I could have lost you.”

      By things, he meant love. Theo loved her. Jordan had no doubts about that. He’d risked his life to rescue her, and he would do it again if necessary. Since her rescue, he’d made it clear that he wanted marriage. Jordan wanted that, too.

      But she didn’t love him.

      “I’m still thinking about it,” she settled for saying. She hated blowing him off like that. He deserved better. But right now, her emotional energy was spent. Any energy she could muster would be to work out this mess with Adele and Dylan.

      Now it was Theo who hesitated. “Just promise me that while you’re there, you’ll keep taking your meds.”

      Yes, that. Jordan was sorry she’d told Theo that the doctors at the base in Ramstein had prescribed her anxiety meds. And she’d taken them, too, while she was there for medical evaluation and debriefing. She’d also taken some on the flight because being in closed-in places made her feel on the verge of a panic attack.

      But Jordan wasn’t sure about continuing the drugs.

      They made her feel out of it, as if she weren’t quite herself. No need to have pills do that since she already felt that way.

      “I brought my meds with me,” she said, and hoped that Theo wouldn’t say anything more about it.

      He did.

      “I just don’t want the flashbacks to hit out of the blue and pull you down,” he went on. “The meds will help you stay ahead of things.”

      In this case, things meant the fear that kept coming back. It washed over her in waves, and yes, it did hit out of the blue.

      Often.

      And