Page 3 of Cannon

“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 readpregnant. 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 naïve 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.

Chapter Three

Jesse sat in the chair closest to the hall in the surgical waiting room. Cannon had still been in surgery when they arrived. War’s face had closed off when she’d walked in. Did he think she didn’t deserve to be here?

From what she’d pieced together, because none of the guys were talking to her, was that Flick had flown in the medevac with Cannon. Then Roam had stayed in Bluff Creek, along with Scoop, to make sure everyone was safe.

Jesse hid her smirk, thinking of Scoop keeping people safe considering Beth had snuck in the house, taken Jesse out of the house and he hadn’t woken up. She hoped Roam was keeping a better eye on the compound.

War and Bear walked over and stood in front of her. Both stared at her, not saying anything. Screw them. She’d played don’t blink with her sisters for years. She cocked her eyebrow, letting them both know she’d wait for them to speak as long as she needed.

“We think you should head home. We’ll let you know how Cannon is.” War said.

“Oh you do?”

Jesse didn’t say anything else because she was curious why they thought she should head home.

“We’re worried this is the start of something. We’re going on a lockdown, and you’d be safer at home,” Bear said.

“We’re standing in a hospital. I think if anything happens, then I’ll be okay.”