Justified

by Jay Crownover

  And there was the falling-off-the-horse thing. She couldn’t forget about that.

  Casey seemed to be doing really well in Big Verde. He was happy, content, successful…and maybe he had a thing going with Anna. Who was she to waltz in and ruin it?

  Tomorrow, after the reading of the will at the lawyer’s office, she and Hope and Carmen would go back to Houston. Casey would remain in Big Verde. They were meant to be high school sweethearts and nothing more.

  Maybe you really couldn’t go home again.

  Chapter Twelve

  Casey drifted to the surface of consciousness and then promptly sank back into the warm, fluffy depths of dreamland. He’d been prancing around the arena on his horse while a nice set of pom-poms pressed into his back…

  Pom-poms.

  Jessica!

  His eyes flew open. He kicked off the covers and grimaced, remembering his back.

  Gingerly, he shifted his hips. Not too bad. He tried rolling over on his side, and that went okay too. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up, keeping his back straight.

  Hot damn. The muscle relaxant Anna had forced down his throat had done the trick. But just how long had he been out?

  The lighting in the room indicated it was early evening. Only the hue didn’t look quite right. Surely he hadn’t slept all night.

  He looked at the clock on the nightstand: 8:30 a.m.

  Shit! He absolutely had slept all night.

  He’d wanted to get to the Village Château at the crack of dawn. Had Jessica already left? No matter. If she had, he’d call into the office and tell them he wasn’t coming in. He was driving to Houston. He’d storm into that fancy spaghetti place she worked at and, well, he didn’t know what would come after that. But he wasn’t sitting around here wondering why the love of his life walked out. He’d done that once. He wasn’t going to do it again.

  He stood up, grabbed a clean shirt, looked at his dirty jeans—he’d slept in them to avoid having Anna take his pants off—and decided to just brush them off. Bending over to step into a clean pair might be pushing his luck. He was stiff as hell.

  Ten minutes later he headed for the door. He looked out the window and saw his truck parked in the driveway. JD must have driven it over.

  With relief, Casey reached for the doorknob. There was a sticky note staring him in the face, just below the peephole.

  Gabriel Castro called. Said for you to be at his office at 9:00. Very important. He says he has something of yours. Don’t be late. XOXOXO Anna

  Casey sighed in frustration. It’s like the entire world was conspiring to keep him and Jessica apart. He yanked the door open and walked to his truck. What the hell did Gabriel want? He was a lawyer, so nothing good.

  There was barely enough time to make it to Gabriel’s office, but Casey wanted to swing by the Château first. The damn lawyer could wait.

  His mood improved as he drove down the hill toward town. It was a gorgeous day, and he had a good feeling. He and Jessica had both felt the connection; he just knew it. She wouldn’t leave Big Verde for Houston without at least saying good-bye, especially since he’d fallen off his horse yesterday.

  His face heated up over that.

  But what could he say? That was the effect she had on him.

  She’d looked pretty worried.

  Casey grinned. A little.

  The Château was just on the outskirts of town. He looked around as he pulled into the parking lot. There was no red Porsche. His heart sank. Well, it was more like it took a dive straight to the pit of his stomach.

  He swung around the back of the hotel, drove around to the side.

  No Porsche.

  He pulled into a spot and parked. Then he just sat there.

  The weekend seemed like a dream. In the course of forty-eight hours, he’d rediscovered and fanned an old flame, thought he was a father, learned he wasn’t, decided he was in love and then…

  Well, hell.

  She’d left him without so much as a good-bye.

  Again.

  * * *

  Jessica sat nervously in Gabriel Castro’s office, flanked by Carmen and Hope. As hard as she tried, she didn’t recognize the name. There was a large Castro family in Big Verde, but she didn’t remember a Gabriel.

  “I just can’t place him,” she said out loud, chewing her lip.

  Carmen snorted. “Would you stop? It’s so funny to watch you go all small town on me. I’m absolutely positive there were people in Big Verde who floated under your radar.”

  “But there weren’t,” Jessica said. “You don’t understand Big Verde.”

  “I understand it has cowboys. Real ones. Like those twins. So, it’s all good in my book.”

  The Montgomery twins had come by the Château last night, and Carmen had joined them for a couple of drinks before they’d dragged her to Tony’s, a local honky-tonk. It was Carmen’s first time in a honky-tonk, and she’d had all kinds of fun. The kind of fun that involved twin cowboys.

  The bar food at Tony’s was surprisingly good,” Carmen said. “Nothing fancy, but really good. Tony gave me his mom’s recipe for buttermilk-battered mushrooms. Did you know she still works in the kitchen? She’s ninety-one!”

  Jessica tried not to be irritated by Carmen’s enthusiasm for All Things Big Verde. She’d been a great help this weekend, looking after Hope and providing emotional support. She was entitled to a little fun.

  “I wonder how much money Mavis left Hope,” Carmen said in a loud stage whisper.

  “How much what?” Hope asked.

  “Nothing,” Jessica and Carmen answered together. Because there was no point in explaining wills and inheritances to an eleven-year-old.

  Hope was Mavis’s only grandchild, and Jessica knew she’d be taken care of. If Jessica ever became ill, or too old to care for Hope…Well, it was an overwhelming relief to know Hope would have a nest egg.

  She looked at her watch. Lawyers. Why did they always keep you waiting?

  The door opened and a tall, handsome man in a crisp gray suit walked in.

  “Good morning, ladies,” he said. His smile radiated a warmth that lit up his eyes. He had a full head of thick, luscious hair, sparkling white teeth, and dimples that took the edge off of his nearly overwhelming sex appeal. “I’m Gabriel Castro.”

  He went straight for Hope. “I presume you are Ms. Hope Acosta?”

  Hope grinned.

  He looked at Carmen next. “Ms. Foraccio, I’m a huge fan. It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope you’re enjoying your time in Big Verde.”

  Carmen pumped his hand with enthusiasm. “I’m enjoying it very much.”

  Finally, he turned his brown eyes on Jessica. “And you must be Jessica, the most enthusiastic cheerleader the Big Verde Giants have ever had. At least that’s what I hear.”

  “I’m sorry. I know you’re a Castro, but I just can’t place you—”

  Gabriel laughed. “No relation. I married into the Big Verde community. I’m originally from Austin.”

  That explained it. “Oh? Who did you—”

  The door opened and Jessica turned. Casey!

  He looked just as surprised to see her.

  “I thought you’d left,” he said.

  Jessica stood, and Casey crossed the room in three quick steps. The next thing Jessica knew, she was in his arms. The world shrank to just the two of them, Casey’s heart beating frantically beneath her cheek while her own pulse pounded in her head. Hope giggled. Carmen sighed. Gabriel cleared his throat.

  It was quite possibly a full minute before Casey loosened his grip and took a small step back.

  “I wasn’t going to leave without saying good-bye,” she said. “I came by your house yesterday, but you were busy.”

  “Busy? I was probably asleep,” he said. “Anna made me take a muscle relaxant. It knocked me out.”

  “Yeah, I saw her.”

  Casey laughed. “Really? How did that go? Did y’all try to out high-kick each other?
”

  Jessica couldn’t help it. The idea of that made her snort.

  Whatever there was between Casey and Anna—if there was anything at all—it was obviously not romantic. And every cell in her body breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she was leaving for Houston today, and Casey was staying here.

  “We didn’t speak,” Jessica said. “I saw her and I just, you know, left. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

  “You could never disturb me.”

  They sat down, and Casey leaned over with a slight wince. His breath tickled her ear as he whispered, “Never with Anna. You know me better than that, Jess.”

  Anna had been her rival. And Casey was loyal beyond a fault.

  She shivered from the feel of his breath against her ear.

  Gabriel sat in his chair. “I hear you took a tumble yesterday, Sheriff Long.”

  Casey rolled his eyes. “I’ll never live it down.”

  Hope sat up straight in her seat. “Sheriff Long is my daddy!”

  Oh God. They were back to that.

  * * *

  Casey broke out in a light sweat. Why did Hope keep saying he was her daddy? It was jarring, to say the least. He looked at Jessica, and she merely rolled her eyes. She was irritated, but not surprised, so Casey relaxed.

  A little.

  “I know Sheriff Long is your daddy,” Gabriel said to Hope.

  What?

  Now Jess’s face went white.

  “Uh, Jess…”

  “And we’re here because your Grandma Mavis asked us to come together,” Gabriel said.

  “Her grandma?” Casey blurted. Then he looked at Jess.

  “Yes, Casey. That’s what I tried to tell you at the arena—”

  “Her grandma?” Casey repeated. “You’re saying Aunt Mavis is her grandma—”

  Aunt Mavis had one son. And it was his ass-wipe cousin or uncle or whatever he was, Wade.

  The room felt like it flipped sideways as things clicked into place. Casey jumped to his feet in a blinding fit of white rage. That goddamn asshole. He started to shake. He needed to punch something, but instead he pulled Jess to her feet, and through clenched teeth, he said, “He…touched you? How? When?”

  The room went totally still. She’d been eighteen. Eighteen! He wrapped his arms around her. No wonder they’d left town that way. Her mom had to protect her.

  “Casey, not me.”

  Jessica was saying something. He let go and stared into her eyes. Her sweet, sweet eyes. Swallowed down another lump.

  “My mom,” she said. “Hope is my sister.”

  Gabriel came around his desk. “Have a seat, Casey. I’m so sorry. I misspoke.”

  “I’m her sister,” Hope said, smiling proudly.

  Casey sat down. He had no choice, since his knees had basically given out.

  Jessica sat too, and her small hand took hold of his.

  He tried to wrap his mind around what he’d just learned. Wade had been having an affair—or something—with Jessica’s mom. He’d gotten her pregnant. And she had taken Jessica and left Big Verde without telling a soul where they were going.

  “Did you not read the letters, Casey?”

  Jessica’s face. He focused on that. Why were her eyes tearing up?

  “What letters?”

  “I suspect these are the letters right here,” Gabriel said, holding up five envelopes, all covered in hand-drawn hearts and stamped and addressed to Casey Long.

  All were still sealed.

  “Where did you get those?” Jessica asked.

  “From Mavis,” Gabriel said. He handed them to Casey.

  Eighteen-year-old Jessica’s swirly-girlie handwriting stared up at him. Casey took a deep breath, and with shaking fingers, he popped a kissy-lips seal that would have made him laugh on any other occasion.

  “Is it okay for me to read these?” he suddenly asked Jessica.

  “Yes, of course,” Jessica said. But then she looked at the envelopes with their hearts and flowers and kissy-lips and added, “But maybe not this very minute.”

  Casey wanted to rip into them as if they contained the secret to immortality or the cure for cancer, but Jessica’s cheeks were pink and getting pinker. So, he casually tucked them into his shirt pocket and gave them a gentle pat.

  “I don’t understand,” Jessica said. “How did Mavis end up with those letters?”

  Casey explored his memories from twelve years ago, the summer of his graduation. Everything was a blur of pain and panic, because Jessica had disappeared, but he remembered that his parents had gone to Europe. It was supposed to have been a graduation trip for Casey, but he’d been too crushed and depressed to go. He’d stayed home, and Aunt Mavis had come by every day to check on him and other things.

  Like the mail.

  Gabriel pulled another envelope out of his desk. “I suspect this will explain everything.”

  There was another letter?

  “I had assumed we were here for a reading of Mavis’s will,” Jess said. And then she quickly added, “Because of Hope.”

  Gabriel laughed softly. “That only happens in the movies. I mean, I have your copy of the will right here. And I’m happy to go over it with you, if you need me to. Mavis left Hope very well cared for. But you were both called here today because Mavis wanted you and Casey in the same room while I read you this.”

  Gabriel cleared his throat dramatically. “Dear Jessica and Casey, this is an apology for a terrible thing I have done…”

  * * *

  Five minutes later, everyone sat quietly, digesting what they’d just heard. Jessica anxiously bit her lip and tried to remain in her seat. Because what she wanted to do was jump up and down and stomp her feet, and that wasn’t appropriate at all.

  Mavis had intercepted the letters. She’d known about Wade’s misdeed and had been afraid Jessica would tell Casey, and then he’d tell someone, and they’d tell someone…

  Honestly, Mavis might have been right. They’d been teenagers, and there had been too much at stake. Way more than simply the Long family’s reputation.

  Casey sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, shaking his head. “I just don’t know how my family could have done yours any more wrong.”

  “In her confession, Mavis asked for our forgiveness. I loved her way too much not to give it to her,” Jessica said.

  Casey looked at her as if she had two heads. “You really did love her, didn’t you?”

  “I really did.”

  And Mavis wasn’t the only person she’d loved in Big Verde. What she’d felt for Casey had not been a teenage crush. And what she felt for him now was even stronger. From the moment he’d walked in the room and enveloped her in his arms, she’d felt safe. And for her, that was a strong and rare emotion.

  She’d been adrift for twelve years, and Casey was an anchor. She couldn’t stand the thought of leaving him again, but she couldn’t conceive of a way around it.

  “Man,” Carmen said. “You folks certainly know how to dish out the drama in this town.”

  Upon hearing the word drama, Hope put a hand to her forehead, as if she were about to swoon. Carmen had taught her to do that whenever someone was being overly dramatic. It made Gabriel laugh and relieved at least some of the tension in the room. And when Hope’s stomach chose that moment to growl loudly, that relieved the rest.

  “Somebody’s hungry,” Jessica said. “Should we head to Corner Café for a late breakfast?” She wanted to spend as much time as possible with Casey before heading back to Houston.

  A little spark of panic fluttered in her chest. She clutched his hand tightly, and it went away.

  “Can we make it brunch?” Carmen asked. “I have a bit of business with Mr. Castro here.”

  Jessica looked at Gabriel. Was Carmen kidding?

  “She’s my ten o’clock appointment,” he said.

  What possible business could Carmen need to conduct in Big Verde that involved a lawyer? Whatever it was, Jessica recog
nized her friend’s stubborn impish grin. There was no point in asking. She wouldn’t get it out of her. Not right now anyway.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jessica looked out the front window of the Corner Café. A girl who looked about sixteen was busy scrubbing off green shoe polish that spelled out BEAT THE BADGERS!

  “Well,” she asked Casey. “Did they?”

  “Did who what?”

  “Did the Big Verde Giants beat the Badgers on Friday?”

  Sally Larson, owner of the diner, refilled their coffee cups. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked, not even bothering to pretend she wasn’t listening to their conversation. “Darlin’, the last time the Big Verde Giants beat the Badgers was 1979.”

  “Oh. Well, there’s always next year.”

  “That’s the cheerleader spirit,” Sally said, pretending to wipe crumbs off the table. She’d been hovering around their booth like a bee bothering a honeysuckle vine since the moment they sat down. Big Verde had a weekly newspaper, but Sally Larson was the Official Town Gossip, a role she took seriously.

  “Homecoming is next week,” Casey said. “We’re playing the Sweet Home Beavers.”

  “Do they still write LICK THE BEAVERS! on all the windows?”

  “Now, Jess, why wouldn’t they?” Casey asked, feigning innocence.

  When they were in school, everyone had pretended not to know what it meant, and Jessica was pleased the tradition of playing dumb lived on.

  “Lick the Beavers!” Hope cheered.

  “Oh, dear,” Jessica said.

  Sally snorted and headed for the kitchen, where Rusty, the cook, had just hit the bell. “Order up!”

  Homecoming. There was just something about the Friday night lights of the field, the announcer’s voice echoing through the big speakers, the sharp drum cadence of the school fight song…

  “It sure would be fun to take Hope to a game,” she said.

  “Why don’t you come down?” Casey asked.

  “I don’t know. It’s typically pretty hard to get away from work on a weekend.”

  “I’ll get you a mum,” Casey said, blue eyes twinkling.

  “What about me?” Hope asked.

  “You too. The biggest mum I can find.”