“And you thought I’d be made of weaker stuff?” Adelia asked, amused. “I am my mother’s daughter, after all. You can’t bully me into talking.”
Her brother sighed heavily. “I just want to help.” He held her gaze. “Does Carolina need my help, Adelia? The truth?”
“Not yet,” Adelia said, praying it was true. “But the minute she does, I promise you I’ll come to you. Can you let that be enough for now?”
“You swear it?”
She sketched a mark across her chest. “Cross my heart.”
“Okay, then.”
He stood up, and Adelia thought she might be home free, but he turned back. “Is this thing between you and Gabe getting serious?”
“I haven’t even confirmed there is a thing with Gabe.”
“I’m not blind or stupid,” he said. “And as long as he’s good to you, I’m in your corner.”
“That’s very sweet,” she told him. “But you have nothing to worry about. Just concentrate on your own family.”
“You’re my family, too. So is Carolina. I have plenty of time to worry about all of you.”
She walked over and gave him a hug. “And that’s why you’d win brother of the year in this town every single time if we had such a contest. In fact, I think that’s why no one’s ever suggested it. It wouldn’t be fair to have the same winner over and over.”
Elliott gave her a wry look. “The flattery’s nice, but I see through it, you know. You just want me gone.”
She grinned. “How’d you guess? I have work to do. Love you.”
“Te amo,” he said.
How lucky was she? she thought as he walked away. It seemed she had two men in her life she could count on in a crisis. The only thing worrisome was how soon she—or Carolina—might need them.
* * *
Once Elliott had gone, Adelia started worrying in earnest about Carolina. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that she ought to check on her, not by phone but in person. It would be far too easy to lie over the phone.
She went into the boutique’s office and called Raylene. “Are you busy?”
“Not unless you count sitting around with my feet up to try to make the swelling in my ankles go down as work,” Raylene said, then lamented, “I used to have such nice ankles.”
“And you will again,” Adelia assured her. “In just a few more months.”
“I suppose. So, what’s up? Did you need me for something?”
“Could you come in for an hour? I need to check on someone.”
“Absolutely,” Raylene said eagerly. “Give me fifteen minutes to walk over there.”
Adelia hesitated. “Raylene, I’m not taking advantage, am I? This isn’t the first time I’ve called you to cover for me lately.”
“Who else should you call?” Raylene said. “It’s my business. I count on you to handle way more than you should have to. Covering for you when something comes up will never be a problem, unless I’m in labor or something.”
“Well, thank goodness you’re not in labor just yet,” Adelia told her.
While she waited for Raylene to get there, she totaled her receipts for the day so far and made a note of that. Raylene would need the figures if Adelia turned out to be gone longer than she expected to be.
The second her boss came in the door, Adelia grabbed her purse. Raylene stopped her before she could leave, her expression worried.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but is everything okay? I never thought to ask on the phone if there was some sort of crisis.”
“I hope there’s not,” Adelia told her, then drew in a deep breath. “Actually it is something I’d like to discuss with you, but could we do it when I get back?”
“Of course,” Raylene said. “Do you need backup? I could call someone to go along with you. Or to stay here, so I could go. Any of the Sweet Magnolias would be happy to help.”
“Thank you so much, but I’ll be fine. It’s just a bit of a family situation. I won’t be gone long. I promise.”
“Take as long as you need,” Raylene said, her expression still concerned.
“I’ll call if I’m going to be gone more than an hour,” Adelia promised.
Grateful that she’d driven her car to work this morning, rather than walking, she headed for Carolina’s. Her sister’s car was in the driveway, but when Adelia rang the bell, no one answered the door. Adelia pulled out her cell phone and called her sister, first on the house phone, then on her cell. Both went to voice mail. Adelia tried the cell phone again.
“What?” Carolina finally snapped.
“Where are you?” Adelia asked, keeping her own voice level. “Your car’s in the driveway.”
“Maybe I went for a walk.”
Since her sister’s aversion to exercise was even greater than Adelia’s own, the response didn’t ring true. “Did you?”
“What do you want, Adelia?”
“I want to see you.”
“It’s not a good time.”
“That’s what you said yesterday. I understood then that you were trying not to anger Ricky, but what about now?”
“Just go away, Adelia. I’m not your problem.”
“You’re my little sister. You will always be my problem. And in case there’s any doubt in your mind, our brother is worried about you, too. You’re a whole lot better off dealing with me than you would be with Elliott. If he finds out what’s going on, Carolina...” She drew in a deep breath. “Well, I don’t have to tell you what will happen then.”
“Elliott can’t find out about any of this,” Carolina said, real panic in her voice.
“Then let me in,” Adelia said emphatically. “Once we’ve talked and I’m satisfied that you’re okay, I’ll do what I can to keep Elliott out of this.”
“What if I’m not okay?” Carolina asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Now Adelia was the one in a panic. “What do you mean you’re not okay? Let me in this minute, Carolina, or I swear I will call Carter Rollins and have him break down the door. That will put an end to all of this. Maybe it’s what I need to do, anyway.”
“No, please,” her sister pleaded, opening the door a crack. The chain on it remained in place. “Let it go, Adelia.”
“Sweetie, I can’t do that. You know I can’t.”
“Okay, but don’t freak out. Promise me you won’t freak out.”
The plea wasn’t enough to stop Adelia’s gasp when the door opened and she caught a glimpse of the black-and-blue marks on her sister’s face. “Oh, my God,” she whispered, even as rage tore through her. “Ricky did this to you? Because I was here yesterday?”
“No,” Carolina said at once. “I thought about what you’d said. I told him that I wasn’t going to take it anymore. It’s because I listened to you and tried to stand up for myself. He lost his temper. He said he wouldn’t have you interfering in our marriage, that you needed to learn your place.” Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. “He said Ernesto was lucky to be rid of you.”
“And then he hit you?” Adelia whispered. “To teach you a lesson, so you’d know what to expect if you tried to leave?”
Carolina nodded.
“And you stayed after that?” Adelia asked incredulously.
“What choice did I have?” Carolina asked, her tone flat and defeated.
“What about this morning, after he’d left for work? You could have packed up then and taken off.”
“Where could I go like this?” Carolina asked. “To Mama? It would kill her. She flipped out over a couple of bruises on my arm when she caught a glimpse of them yesterday.”
“You could have come to me,” Adelia said, brokenhearted that her sister didn’t realize that.
“And listen to you g
loat?”
Adelia merely stared at her, wondering how things between them had deteriorated so badly. There’d been a time, when they were young, that they’d been so close. She’d dried Carolina’s tears when she’d scraped her knees falling off her bike, when her first boyfriend had broken up with her.
“I’m so sorry you feel that way,” she told her sister. “Do I seem to be gloating now? Carolina, I love you. It tears me apart to see what’s happening here. I just want to help.”
“Then go away. That’s the only way to help. Stay out of it.”
“You know I can’t do that, not after this. Come with me. Raylene’s at the boutique. She can tell us how to get help. Or we can go straight to Carter. With pictures of your injuries and your statement, he’ll handle Ricky. Your husband will never hurt you again.”
“You’re so naive,” Carolina said. “My marriage is all I have. I’m not strong like you. I don’t have job skills. Ricky would fight me for custody of the kids and he’d probably win. I’d be all alone.”
“Never,” Adelia said fiercely. “Helen would make sure you have sole custody. No judge would award those children to a man who’s beaten his wife.”
“Okay, let’s say you’re right,” Carolina said. “Then what? Should we all move in with Mama?”
“We can figure all of that out,” Adelia assured her. “The first step is to leave.”
“I can’t.”
“Of course you can. You must. You have children,” Adelia reminded her. “Do this for them. Walk away, while you still can. They need their mother.”
“They need both parents,” Carolina contradicted. “The way it was meant to be.”
Adelia was struck by a sudden sickening thought. “What exactly has Ricky told you would happen if you tried to leave him? Did he threaten to kill you, Carolina?” she asked, thinking of Raylene’s ex-husband, who’d gone beyond threats to actually trying to kill her.
“No, of course not,” Carolina replied unconvincingly.
“I don’t believe you. He hit you last night. Tell me the truth. Has he threatened to do worse?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Carolina said, sounding thoroughly defeated. “I’m staying.”
One of the blessings and, it seemed, curses of being born a Cruz was pure stubbornness. Adelia knew she was fighting yet another losing battle. She reached out and gently stroked a finger along the bruised and swollen curve of her sister’s jaw.
“It makes me physically ill that you’re allowing him to do this to you,” she said softly. “You’re too good to be treated this way, Carolina.” She sighed. “But if you don’t want to go, I can’t drag you away from here.”
Carolina didn’t reply, but she held the front door open a little wider, as if to encourage Adelia to leave.
Adelia hesitated on the front stoop. She faced her sister and took a risky but necessary stance. “I will warn you about one thing, though. If I ever see another bruise on you, I will unleash the hounds of hell on Ricky myself.”
Alarm flashed in her sister’s eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh, yes, I would,” Adelia told her. “I’m already terrified that I’m waiting too long as it is. Next time I won’t ask you first. I won’t plead with you to leave. I’ll just make sure that Ricky gets what’s coming to him. I don’t know if you’re staying out of fear or some twisted idea of love, but either way, perhaps you’ll reconsider and get out before he winds up in jail or you wind up in the hospital. Those are only two of the potential consequences of staying.”
Carolina frowned. “What could possibly be worse than sending my husband to jail?”
“Letting him take out his anger on one of your children,” Adelia suggested. “Or letting our brother in on what’s going on in your marriage.”
“Ricky would never hurt the kids,” Carolina said again, but she didn’t sound quite as convinced as she had the day before. “And you would never tell Elliott about any of this.”
“Wouldn’t I? Try me.”
“But if Elliott did something crazy to defend me, he’d be the one in jail. You wouldn’t take that risk.”
“I think Elliott might agree with me that it would be worth it,” Adelia said. “Don’t test me, Carolina. If you won’t accept help from me, ask someone else. But don’t let this escalate. Please. Think about your kids. Think about Mama. But most of all think about yourself.”
It took every bit of resolve Adelia possessed to turn and walk away then. She still wanted desperately to throw her arms around her sister and forcibly drag her from the house. Since that would be only a temporary solution, good only as long as it took Carolina to break free and go back home, Adelia resisted the temptation.
What she needed now was Raylene’s advice on the next step. Thankfully that was waiting for her just a couple of miles away.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Gabe wandered into the boutique hoping to catch Adelia, but found Raylene there instead.
“Looking for a special gift?” Raylene taunted, her eyes filled with mischief. “Or were you looking for a special someone?”
“I had a few things to discuss with Adelia,” he improvised quickly. “About the renovations at her place.”
“Really?” Raylene asked, her skepticism plain. “And these things came up out of the blue overnight?”
He frowned at her. “What are you suggesting?”
“Just that I happen to know you were over there last night. Were the two of you especially busy, too busy to discuss these important things?” There was an unmistakable and worrisome twinkle in her eyes when she said it.
Even though Gabe recognized that Raylene was deliberately baiting him, he reacted with exactly the sort of exasperation he knew she was hoping for. “And how would you know a thing like that? Were you out spying on your friends?”
Rather than taking offense, she chuckled. “Carter and I went for a long walk, just like we do every night. We strolled through Swan Point,” she explained, then added pointedly, “just like we do every night.” Her smile spread. “And your truck was parked in Adelia’s driveway, the same as it has been on a lot of nights lately.” She gave him an innocent look. “Or did it just break down there?”
Gabe’s scowl deepened. “How is this any of your business?”
It seemed his annoyed tone finally registered with her. Her expression sobered at once.
“Adelia’s my friend,” she said with a hint of defiance. “As are Lynn and Mitch. I’d like to think we’d be friends, too, if I knew you a little better. So, yes, I pay attention.”
“And you feel entitled to poke around in our lives?” he concluded.
Her winning smile returned. “Pretty much.”
Gabe shook his head. “I knew this would happen sooner or later. This town is going to drive me nuts. This is exactly why I left all those years ago. People didn’t know how to mind their own business.”
Somehow all those years of moving from place to place had lulled him into thinking that maybe Serenity hadn’t been as bad as he’d thought, that his memories were tainted by the pain of a kid constantly in trouble for defending his mom against gossip. Since it had been the last place he’d had any family to speak of, he’d wanted to give the town another chance. It occurred to him now that he’d been yearning for family even before he’d met Adelia and fallen for hers.
The gossip and meddling, though? He hadn’t been yearning for that.
“Maybe I need to start thinking about moving on again,” he said, not even trying to hide his frustration.
“Don’t say that,” Raylene protested urgently, clearly regretting having pushed him too far. “There are great people here, Gabe. You have family here. And Adelia’s here.”
“Sometimes I have to wonder if that’s enough,” he said. “Just tell her I dropped by, ok
ay?”
“You don’t want to wait?”
“And let you pry some more? I don’t think so.”
The bell over the door tinkled merrily as he left, the sound oddly jarring given his suddenly sour mood.
This was the Serenity he remembered, a town where people poked their noses where they didn’t belong. Things were already complicated between him and Adelia. How could they possibly figure anything out, if everyone started interfering?
Gabe could respect the fact that Elliott cared about his sister. He could even deal with Mitch and Lynn and their questions. They were family, and he actually believed they might want the best for him.
But everybody else? Didn’t they have better things to do than dig around in his personal life? Pressure wasn’t going to help anything. He was already stressed out enough over feelings he didn’t quite understand and wasn’t sure he wanted to be experiencing. If he and Adelia were constantly under a microscope, no matter how well-meaning, he figured they were pretty much doomed.
He worked himself into a real lousy mood just between the boutique and the bakery. He should have turned right around and gone back to the work site down the block, but instead he opted for coffee. With any luck, he could pour himself a cup, leave some money on the counter and get out before Lynn was even aware of his presence.
Naturally that was not the way it went. When he opened the door, Lynn was standing right there, a phone in her hand and a speculative gleam in her eyes. She carefully returned the cell phone to her pocket.
“Raylene says she’s sorry,” Lynn reported, her eyes narrowing. “What does she have to be sorry about?”
“Nothing,” he said tightly, unwilling to open that particular can of worms.
Lynn nodded knowingly. “It must have had something to do with Adelia then.”
“Don’t go there,” Gabe warned.
“Why? Because you can’t take being teased?”
Gabe was about to snap back a quick denial, when he realized the evidence would contradict him. Whatever Lynn had heard or guessed clearly suggested that he’d lost it over something that had only been spoken in jest. And he’d overreacted, because he was suddenly very sensitive on the topic of Adelia.
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