Country Love Page 6

  Paden didn’t usually mind doing live station appearances but she knew going back to that club would bring back memories of CJ. It had been over a month since she had seen or spoken to him and she knew going there was going to be difficult.

  As they talked about the logistics and details of the event, Russ said, not knowing that she and CJ had once had a personal relationship, “Oh, by the way, you’ll be happy to know that the Café Cowboys will be performing that night.”

  Immediately her heart started to speed up with anxiety but she kept her face neutral and her voice calm, responding back with a positive comment. As Paden left his office, she muttered “crap,” under her breath and knew it was going to be a very difficult night seeing him again even though they would both be working.

  Chapter Ten

  Because the radio station had sold this live appearance to The Cat’s Cradle after the publishing deadline of the weekly entertainment magazine Roxanne worked for, she was not aware the radio station was going to be there on Saturday night. Now that CJ was back in town, Roxanne was going to have him all to herself.

  Over the last month, she hadn’t been able to get out of town to follow him to his gigs, and night after night she fantasized about him missing her and being desperately sad and lonely without her. That week leading up to the Saturday gig at The Cat’s Cradle, Roxanne went shopping and took extra care buying a new outfit.

  As she tried on her new items, she fantasized about CJ telling her how pretty she looked and how much he wanted to take her clothes off and make love to her. She could actually hear his voice in her head and her mind swam with fantasies about how happy he was going to be when he saw her. Roxanne was giddy with excitement and compulsively thought of nothing else that entire week.

  Her obsession with CJ had risen to an all time high and she had lost all ability to separate what was real and what wasn’t. She was pretty darn sure she had been successful breaking him and the radio bitch up because the week after dropping off the dead rat, Roxanne followed CJ just about everywhere he went prior to going out of town and she didn’t see him with her once.

  Serves that damn bitch right for trying to encroach on her man! Little Miss Radio Pants was lucky it was only a rat in the box. Roxanne knew if she ever saw them together again, that skanky radio whore would really get what’s coming to her.

  ***

  When Paden and Neal, the sales person who had sold the live appearance to The Cat’s Cradle, got to the club, CJ and his band were already there setting up the stage for the night’s performance.

  When CJ saw her, his heart skipped a beat and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. She looked so beautiful and he missed her terribly. He was absolutely sure he had fallen in love with her, which made this entire situation even more tragic.

  CJ had gone to the police station to ask for advice on what he could, or should do about the situation but they said there was nothing they could do because no one knew who this person was.

  Ever since Paden had broken up with him, nothing suspicious had happened and he figured the same was true on her end. Trying to find out who was plotting to keep them apart was like looking for a needle in a haystack. As long as they stayed apart, they were both safe. It was cruel and unjust, but he didn’t know what else to do. Finishing his final set up, CJ headed to the bar where Paden and Archie were still talking. As he approached, he saw Archie glance his way, and feigning work to do, he moved away to give them some space.

  Coming up right beside her, CJ looked deeply into her eyes to try to gauge what she was thinking and feeling. When he saw her tenderly smile at him, he said, “Baby, I miss you terribly. Every day sucks knowing you’re not in my life and I want you so badly.”

  Paden was so grateful to hear those words. Part of her wondered if he was mad at her for ending their relationship and she wanted so much for him to not be upset with her. She had honestly felt there was no other choice and she didn’t want harm to come to either of them.

  Reaching out for one of his hands, Paden said softly, “I miss you beyond belief. Not a day goes by when I don’t think of you. I just don’t know what else to do.”

  At that point, people started flooding into the bar and they knew their time to talk was coming to an end.

  “Can we talk a little bit after the first set?” CJ asked.

  Having no reason to say no, Paden nodded her head. “I’d like that.”

  ***

  By the time Roxanne arrived at The Cat’s Cradle halfway through the first set, the bar was jam packed but she managed to find one barstool at the end of the bar next to the doors to the kitchen. From where she sat, the only thing she could see because of the standing room crowd was the stage and her beautiful man singing his heart out. She knew he was singing every word to her and she watched him with a faraway look in her eyes. She had dressed up in a new outfit just for him, gotten her hair cut, and knew he had dressed in his black jeans tonight just for her. She had convinced herself that after the first set, he would come looking for her and she was ready with a well-rehearsed speech of what she would say to win his heart forever.

  Finally, the last song of the set ended, and after reminding people that their CDs and T-shirts were for sale over at the WSIX radio table, CJ jumped off the stage and started walking in Roxanne’s direction. The bit about the WSIX radio table didn’t even register with her because her fantasy was so deeply embedded into her psyche that it drowned out everything else. As CJ continued walking in her direction, Roxanne’s smile got even wider as she watched his sexy body move toward her.

  Suddenly, CJ turned left through the crowd in a different direction. The smile on Roxanne’s face disappeared instantly, replaced by a pout and a scowl. As he headed away from her, she stood up and watched him with a furious expression.

  It was that sudden movement of Roxanne’s that got the brief attention of Archie, who had been working behind the bar all night. When he noticed her red hair, his memory went back to the conversation he and CJ recently had about the crazy redhead that dressed down Paden with her eyes at the Memphis bar. Being that the band was between sets, the drink orders were now piling in, and as quickly as he looked at Roxanne, his attention was drawn back to filling the drink orders.

  What followed next almost caused Roxanne to scream out loud and throw her drink across the bar. Now she understood where CJ was going! All at once she dialed in to what he had said on stage about the WSIX radio table. That radio bitch was here, in HER club with HER man and her whole body felt like it was on fire as she watched him sit next to little Miss Radio Pants and put his arm around the back of her chair. Watching the radio whore smile and flirt with her man drove Roxanne completely mad. As quickly as it takes to flip a light switch, Roxanne snapped and knew exactly what she had to do.

  ***

  Sitting and talking together had been wonderful for both CJ and Paden. They couldn’t take their eyes off each other and spent much of the forty-five minutes catching up with each other. It had been a long month since they had seen each other and even though Paden knew she would have to say goodbye again at the end of the night, she was grateful for the short rendezvous they had tonight in what they both thought was the safety of the club.

  When CJ and his band got back up on stage to begin their second set, Paden said to Neal, the salesperson with her, “I’ll be back in a minute. I left my sweater in the car and I’m a little cold.”

  Nodding his head in understanding, Neal gave her a little wave indicating that he would hold down the fort. As Paden walked past the bar heading to the front doors, Archie gave her a wink and a big smile. Paden understood completely why CJ liked him so much. He was not just a great bar owner, he was also a great guy.

  It was only a few moments later when reaching for a bottle of tequila to make a margarita, when Archie’s eyes crossed the monitor to the parking lot cameras. He could see Paden walking to what he assumed was her car, but coming up fast behind her was a redheaded woman holding what looked l
ike a hunting knife. Snapping his head around to look at the barstool where the redheaded woman had been sitting earlier, he could see she was gone. In literally seconds, it all came together that this was the same woman that was glowering at Paden in the Memphis bar and that Paden was in terrible trouble.

  Dropping everything, Archie raced out from behind the bar, heading for the doors. From the stage, CJ could see Archie running at breakneck speed, and looking instinctively for Paden, he became panicked when he realized she wasn’t at her table.

  As Archie barreled out the front door into the parking lot, he saw that the woman with the hunting knife was right behind Paden and her hand clutching the knife was up over her head ready to strike.

  “Paden, look out behind you!” Archie yelled at the top of his lungs.

  Hearing his warning cry, Paden quickly turned around, only to come face to face with the same evil looking red-haired woman she had seen over a month ago in Memphis.

  The woman was seething and her expression was one of sheer hatred toward Paden. It was then when Paden caught the glint of a knife in the woman’s hand and threw her arms up in self defense.

  “You filthy bitch!” the woman screamed.

  When Ray, the bar’s bouncer saw Archie running at top speed past him, he knew something bad was going on and followed right behind him. As they both raced across the parking lot toward the women, Archie could see they were too late and that the woman holding the knife had struck Paden and she was sprawled unconscious on the ground.

  Just at that moment, some people appeared in the parking lot on their way into the club and Archie yelled to them, “Call 911.”

  Immediately upon reaching the women, Ray tackled Roxanne, pulled her off Paden, and ripped the knife from her hand. Archie immediately went to Paden and dropped down on his knees to see how badly she had been hurt.

  There was definitely a lot blood on the ground, but when he checked her pulse, she was breathing and it looked like she had gotten deeply slashed in her upper right arm.

  As Paden lay passed out on the pavement, Roxanne continued screaming hysterically “Bitch, bitch, bitch!” It was all Ray could do to keep this deranged woman confined in his arms as she thrashed around, trying to break free. Roxanne then tried to spit in his face but missed, which only pissed off Ray even more.

  The next thing they knew, the police were on the scene, followed by a fire truck and ambulance. As the police handcuffed Roxanne, the EMTs lifted Paden up onto a stretcher.

  Even though the band had been playing, the volume of the sirens that came screeching into the club’s parking lot was easily heard and CJ stopped the band. He was overcome with a sick feeling of dread in his stomach because neither Paden nor Archie had come back inside.

  Telling the audience they would be taking a quick break, CJ moved very quickly through the club, trying his hardest to not break into a run. Some of the patrons were looking out the windows to see what was going on, but many others just stayed in their seats. As CJ plowed through the club doors to the parking lot, his heart jumped in his throat. He could see a redheaded woman in handcuffs being directed into the back seat of a police car, another woman on a stretcher, and Archie and the bouncer talking to police.

  As he came closer to the scene, CJ saw it was Paden on the stretcher and fear tore through every core of his body.

  Just as this realization was hitting CJ, Archie excused himself from the officer for a moment and was by his side. “She’s gonna be okay, CJ. She got pretty badly slashed on her arm and she was unconscious for a time, but outside of being scared and in shock, she’s going to be fine.”

  At the moment, CJ wasn’t interested in what happened. He’d find that out later. Right now, all he wanted to do was run to Paden. When he reached the stretcher, even in the darkness of night he could tell she was very pale and her eyes were closed. Trying to stay out of the way of the paramedics while they tended to her arm, he gently stroked her forehead and face.

  Feeling a familiar touch, Paden opened her eyes and gave him a weak smile. Looking at her in such a weakened state broke his heart. After asking the paramedics what hospital they were taking her to, CJ bent over, kissed her on the lips and said, “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”

  Giving him a nod, she whispered, “Okay, I’ll see you later,” and closed her eyes again.

  After the ambulance and the fire truck left, CJ walked over to where Archie and Ray had been talking to the police. The officers had just finished their questioning of the night’s events and were heading back to their car to take Roxanne to jail.

  Throwing up his hands, CJ asked, “What the hell happened?”

  As Archie recounted the story about looking into the monitor and seeing a woman coming up quickly behind Paden with a knife in her hand, CJ physically trembled. Archie explained how the woman kept yelling bitch hysterically and screaming how she wanted to kill Paden for stealing her man. It was at that moment when it became crystal clear to both of them that this redheaded woman was the one stalking them and she was also the same woman from Memphis.

  As they stood processing this information, Archie said, “You know, CJ, although it was terrible that she vandalized your truck that night, if it weren’t for that happening, I would never have installed parking lot cameras. That’s why Paden is alive now. Otherwise I wouldn’t have seen what was happening. Even with the cameras, I couldn’t get there in time to stop the first blow, but if Ray and I didn’t show up when we did, it’s very likely Paden would be in much worse shape, if not dead.”

  As CJ let that sink in, all he could do was reach out and hug his friend. What Archie said was exactly right and he thanked him from the bottom of his heart. He knew Archie didn’t have to go to the expense of installing those parking lot cameras just because his truck got wrecked. But the fact that he did made CJ admire the man even more than he already did.

  Giving Archie one more final clap on the back in thanks he asked, “I really need to get to the hospital for Paden. Can you tell Danny, my drummer, what’s going on and ask them to finish the show without me?”

  Telling him he would take care of it, Archie and Ray went back into the bar and CJ jumped into his truck and rushed to the hospital, feeling that perhaps their nightmare was finally over.

  Chapter Eleven

  After a few days of rest, Paden was feeling better and back to work. CJ had not let her out of his sight those first few days home from the hospital and insisted that she stay with him so he could take care of her. The doctor had put her temporarily in a sling because he didn’t want her moving the arm around and possibly busting the stitches. He also wanted her to have complete bed rest for a few days because her head had hit the pavement pretty hard when she was attacked. He wanted to make sure no signs of concussion arose. Because of this, she was grateful for CJ’s help because there was very little she could do with just one arm and on pain killers.

  Fortunately Paden was young and healthy and it wasn’t long until she started feeling better and returned to her house and resumed her regular routine. Rumors had spread like wildfire around the radio station about what happened to her and that made Bob Stanton even more furious for a couple of reasons. First, he hadn’t known that she and CJ were an item. He had remembered seeing how they looked at each other when CJ came in for the interview and he knew she had gone that one evening to The Cat’s Cradle to see the band play. At the time, Bob had thought she had gone just out of professional courtesy.

  Hearing that they were seriously dating and that CJ had put her life at risk had Bob crazy jealous and boiling mad. But as usual, he kept his mouth shut, acted cool around her, and just continued to surreptitiously watch her every move at work and fantasize about her.

  Two weeks had passed since the incident and now that Paden was feeling completely better, her old spunk came rushing back. CJ had been out of town most of those two weeks and she missed his wonderful smile and warm body. She was grateful he was back in town and lo
oked forward to seeing him.

  After putting on a long Reba McEntire song, Paden picked up her cell phone and texted CJ.

  Since you did such a great job taking care of me those few days, now that you’re back in town it seems like its high time I take care of you!

  Paden didn’t have to wait more than fifteen seconds until her phone chirped.

  Well now. This could be interesting with you only having full use of one arm. Perhaps I’ll have to brainstorm some new positions!

  Paden loved his sexy side and she knew he would be doing exactly that. She didn’t care about her injury. All she wanted was to be back in his arms and his bed. She texted him back.

  Perhaps I’ll just have to use other parts of my body to thank you!

  When his text quickly came back, she laughed.

  Yes you will. I know someone likes being bad.

  As the song was coming closer to the end, Paden sent one final text.

  Perhaps if I’m too bad, you’ll have to punish me again.

  CJ loved how naughty she was with him.

  You can count on that!

  Over the few days that Paden had been recovering at his house, CJ spent most of that time writing new songs while she napped. The drugs that the hospital had sent her home with made her sleepy, but it was just as well because they didn’t want her moving around that much.

  CJ knew he had fallen head over heels in love with her and began working on crafting a song that would express his deep feelings for her. He never made mention of this to Paden, because if he could ever write the perfect song, one day he would surprise her with it. During those three days that she stayed with him, everything started to calm down. The police had even stopped by and told them Roxanne had admitted to everything and that she was going to be put away for a very long time. Both CJ and Paden felt like a huge weight was lifted off their shoulders and resumed their relationship right where they had left off.