Page 4 of Cowboys & Navy SEALs

“I need to check on her,” Jaxson argued.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Knox said. “Officer Williams said that she didn’t have any injuries that they could see.”

“The woman was standing in the middle of the road,” Jaxson uttered quietly.

Birdie’s eyes rounded. “What?”

“I turned the corner, and there she was.” He paused. “I swerved to miss her. I hydroplaned and hit the tree.”

Knox’s brows furrowed. “Why didn’t you just say that?”

He spread his hands. “It all happened so fast. I thought I’d imagined it.” He knew it was a flimsy excuse, but it was the best he could come up with at the moment.

A concerned look passed between Knox and Birdie. Jaxson could feel their concern. They could tell there was more to the story than what he was letting on. Was the woman Lemon? His mind began to spin. Jaxson felt like he was trying to tread water in a whirlpool. It was getting harder and harder to keep from getting sucked under. Maybe the woman resembled Lemon, and his brain had inserted the rest. That had to be it. Why was he so fixated on Lemon all of a sudden? Yes, he’d loved her, but she’d betrayed him. It happened so long ago. He’d moved so far past that event that it was merely a speed bump in his life.

And yet, he’d been seeing Lemon, thinking of her, mulling over what might’ve been. Jaxson forced the words from his lips. “Who is she?” he asked hoarsely.

Knox frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The woman. Who is she?”

“I haven’t the foggiest,” Knox said. “The officers didn’t know. The woman wouldn’t tell them her name.”

Birdie tipped her head. “That’s strange.”

“Stranger than you realize,” Jaxson muttered.

“What do you mean?” Birdie asked carefully, glancing at Knox before pinning her eyes on Jaxson.

He sighed heavily, ignoring the persistent pain in his ribs. “I thought I recognized her.”

“Who is she?” Knox asked. His posture was assertive, his eyebrows shooting down in a v, like he could somehow force the words out of Jaxson.

Jaxson looked at his parents. “This is gonna sound crazy.”

“Try me,” Knox said, squaring his jaw.

The air seemed to hold its breath, waiting for Jaxson to respond. He wondered if his parents remembered how hard he’d taken it after he and Lemon had broken up. She moved away shortly after graduating from high school and that was that … they went their separate ways.

“Spill it,” Knox demanded. “Who is she?”

Jaxson caught hold of the sheet and twisted it into a knot. “Lemon Massey.”

Birdie scrunched her nose. “The Lemon you dated in high school?”

“Yes.”

“I thought she moved away to some big city,” Knox piped in.

“Los Angeles,” Jaxson inserted.

“Maybe she’s back, visiting relatives,” Birdie said.

“Lemon doesn’t have any relatives in Franklin or Nashville,” Jaxson supplied. “She lost touch with her dad years ago. Her mother has Alzheimer’s. She’s in a care center in Los Angeles.”

Knox raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t realize that you and Lemon kept in touch.”

Jaxson clenched his teeth. “We don’t.”

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