by MJ Fredrick
He should have called Liz last night, but he wanted to see her face, wanted to look into her eyes, maybe feel her touch.
He shook the thought off and walked across the street to the diner. Once he settled himself at his regular table, he noticed a stranger at the bar. Not unusual, with the oilfield workers who came into town, but this one was louder than most, and sitting with Angie Simon. They were laughing, and talking, and Killian’s stomach tightened. Was Angie drinking again? She’d quit a few months ago when she found out she was pregnant.
But no, her daughter Cassidy was working today. She wouldn’t let her mother indulge, though she was casting glances in the direction of her mother and her friend.
“Who’s the man with Angie?” Killian asked Darlene, who placed his unsweetened tea on the table in front of him.
“Rafael Salazar. Sophia’s ex.”
He stilled. “Liz’s dad?”
Darlene shrugged as she tossed a straw in front of him. “I guess.”
He was back in town. Did Liz know? Jesus. Had they been in contact in the years he’d been gone? Killian felt like he should know that.
He watched the man at the bar. Big guy, muscular, but he didn’t see any resemblance to Liz. Maybe Brianna, a bit. He didn’t know the whole story, vaguely remembered her father hadn’t been around when she’d hung around Maggie in high school. He vaguely remembered his mother talking about Liz acting out because of father issues. But he didn’t know if he’d been back in the interim, if she’d made peace with him.
He sure seemed to be making peace with Angie, and she was eating up the attention.
Maybe it was good Liz wasn’t working today. He didn’t know what she would think, seeing her dad with another woman.
He almost wished his sister would come in so he could ask her the situation, but he didn’t want to have that conversation here in public, at the table where he invited others to sit and talk. But even as he visited with the occasional farmer and business owner and waitress, he couldn’t stop watching Liz’s father and wondering why he was here.
“We’ve got someone from the Rangers coming to look into those gambling halls,” Sheriff Treviño said, joining Killian at the table. “He should be here later today.”
Killian blinked. “What’s he going to do that you can’t do?”
“Find out who is behind them, or else they’re going to keep popping up. It’s been like playing a giant game of whack-a-mole, if you even know what that is.”
Killian smiled and sat back as Darlene delivered his salad. “I know what it is.”
“I’ll bring him by your office when he gets here. You can ask any questions you might have.”
Killian nodded and drizzled the dressing on his lettuce. “I just want to be kept in the loop. You know what you need from him.” He couldn’t hold onto his curiosity any longer. He inclined his head toward the bar. “What do you know about Rafael Salazar?”
Sheriff Treviño glanced over his shoulder at the bar. “Ah, so he’s back. Been gone about ten years.”
“Good man?”
The sheriff lifted a shoulder. “Not a bad man. Could get his drink on.”
“Why’d he leave?” He knew he shouldn't be asking the sheriff, should wait and ask Liz, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Just took off one day.”
And left three girls behind. So why was he back now?
*****
Liz was surprised to look out her kitchen window and see Killian’s convertible pull up. He swung out of the car and headed toward the house, bouncing his keys in his palm, like he had more energy than he knew what to do with. She turned down the burner beneath the pasta and stepped out on the porch.
“Hey. I didn't think I’d see you today.”
“Yeah, I…I missed you.” He stopped and leaned his hip against the front of her car. “Wanted to see if you wanted to go for a ride or something.” He jerked his thumb behind him.
“It’s my night to cook dinner.” She motioned back into the house. “Do you…want to stay? It’s not low-cal or anything.”
His eyes were bright as he pushed away from the car. “Sure, I’ll stay.”
“I’ll see if maybe we have something—“
He caught her around the waist and pulled her against him. “I’ll be just fine.” He cradled her head in his hand and kissed her, softly at first, then deeper before she wriggled against him, freeing herself.
“My sisters.”
He arched a brow. “I’m not worried.”
She rolled her eyes. “You wouldn’t be. Come on.” She took his hand and turned to lead him into the house, trying to remember the last time they’d done a good cleaning. How would it look to Killian, who’d grown up in the Victorian just off of Main Street? Tiny? Cramped? Messy? Her fingers tightened a bit on his in anticipation of his reaction.
“My mom has those.” He pointed to the set of colorful mixing bowls on the shelf by the refrigerator. “I think she paid a small fortune at an antique store in Buda.”
“Oh, well, ours aren’t antiques. I mean, maybe they are, but we’ve been using them for years. Would you like some tea? Gracie makes sun tea every morning before she heads out to San Marcos.” She crossed to the plastic jug on the counter.
“Sounds great.”
She shoveled ice from the ice maker into a gas station glass and remembered his refrigerator had an ice maker in the door. He pulled out a chair and sat, and she set the glass in front of him, swiping at some crumbs from someone’s lunch.
“I met someone you know in town today.”
She stiffened and met his gaze. That could have a whole number of meanings.
“Your dad. Did you know he was back?”
“He came by on Sunday.” She tried to keep her tone casual but had a feeling she didn’t do a very good job.
“And that went okay?”
What did he suspect? “He’s working in the oilfields now, has some money, wants to give it to the girls.”
“But not you?”
“I don’t want anything from him.”
He nodded.
“Where did you meet him?” She didn’t want to ask but had to know.
“The Coyote. He came up to say hello to the sheriff.”
The Coyote. Terrific. Now everyone in town would know he was back. “On the plus side, now they won’t be talking about you and me anymore.”
He captured her hand. “I have no problem with them talking about you and me.”
She pulled free when the front door opened, and turned back to the stove. “I might be able to cook you up a chicken breast. It might take a while to thaw, though.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said again as Sophia walked through the door. He stood. “Hi, Mrs. Salazar. Liz invited me to stay for dinner. I hope that’s okay.”
Liz wanted to giggle at how young he sounded, not at all like the mayor.
“That’s fine, Killian,” Sophia replied solemnly, and widened her eyes at her daughter behind his back. Liz lifted a helpless hand.
“I’m going to go change. Gracie’s not home yet?”
Liz looked past her. “She didn’t pick you up?”
“I got a ride home from Laura Jean. Brianna?”
“In her room working on her binder.”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “Why is that girl so single-minded?” Without waiting for an answer, she left the room.
“So what did you do today?” Killian asked Liz as she broke up the spaghetti into smaller bits and dropped them into the boiling water.
“We looked at venues for the quinceañera. Some of those places need a lot of work.” She shook her head. “I don't think even Brianna’s ideas for decorating can save the VFW or the civic center in Alice. The only place that was half-way decent was the church hall, and they want double what the VFW charges.” She could lay the bill at her father’s door, like Brianna wanted to do, but the idea of asking him for anything choked her. Besides, she couldn’t be sure he meant what he sa
id. “We can’t do anything else until we decide on a location. Once we have that and the date, we can do the invitations and decorations.”
“What about doing it outside in the town square?”
Sophia made a face. “Too hot. That’s always been the problem with Brianna’s birthday—right in the middle of the hottest month.”
“Just trying to think outside the usual places,” he said. “Anything I can help you with?” he asked Liz. “Set the table or something?”
Did he really want to get out of here that bad? “I’ve got it covered. Don’t worry, since I cook, I don’t have to stick around for clean-up.”
“I’m not worried.”
Gracie walked in then, and her expression as she looked from Killian to Liz was the mirror of Sophia’s reaction.
“Mr. Mayor.”
Liz stiffened, but Killian just grinned. “Gracie, just call me Killian. You helped me haul all those boxes the other night.”
“Right, but…” She looked at her sister again. “You’re eating with us?”
“Ah.” He glanced at the stove. “Maybe. Is that okay?”
“Um. Sure.” She looked from him to Liz again. “It’s just…Liz has never brought a man home before.”
He twisted in his chair to grin at Liz, who just scowled at him.
She resisted touching him as she set the table around him. He took up so much space in the tiny kitchen, looked so out of place. She wished Gracie hadn’t told him that she’d never brought a man home before. She didn’t want him to think he was anything special, wasn’t ready to give him that power. Wasn’t ready to give any man that power.
But here he was, in her kitchen, straightening silverware, folding napkins, pouring tea. Her mother and sisters sat around him warily. Her mother said the blessing, during which Killian bowed his head. Killian then picked up the pot of spaghetti and served it to the women, even spooning a small serving for himself.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Sophia asked him.
“Carbs are not my friend,” Killian said. “I have to be careful about slipping back into old habits. But I’ve never had anything Liz has cooked before.” He winked at her.
“Don’t be expecting much. None of us like to cook.”
“I don’t mind it,” Brianna said.
“You can have my turn,” Graciela said without missing a beat.
“What will you give me?”
“When did you become such a mercenary?”
“Girls.” Sophia’s face reddened and she glanced at Killian.
He waved a hand. “It’s kind of nice. I eat alone most of the time, and the last family dinner I went to, well, there wasn’t a lot of affection.”
He looked over at Liz, and this time his smile didn’t reach his eyes. What had happened at that dinner? Then he turned back to Gracie. “Are you getting excited about college?”
“Nervous,” she said with a laugh.
“Ah, well, yeah. Normal. Liz says you’re moving into the dorms. I lived in the dorms my first two years. Honestly, the first month I couldn’t sleep. There’s a lot to get used to—not having your own room, having to share a bathroom, the constant noise, especially after living in a quiet town like Evansville.”
“You’re not helping,” Liz said, watching Gracie’s shoulders tighten.
“No, but it gets better. Turns out it was fun going to the football games, and sitting in the study room, and getting to know my neighbors. I was better friends with the guys next door than with my roommate, so no matter what you read or see on TV, you don’t always end up BFFs with your roommate.”
Hearing Killian say “BFFs” made the girls giggle.
“But you went to A&M,” Gracie pointed out.
“Sure, and I loved it, but a lot of the experiences are the same. Go to the football games, learn the traditions of Texas State, don’t just sit in your dorm room and wait to graduate. And don’t come home every weekend.”
Sophia gasped, and he cast her an apologetic look.
“Sorry. But this experience only happens once. You’ve worked hard to get here. Sure, you’ll be homesick, so maybe come home once a month, but don’t miss the chance to hang out with your friends. How many hours are you taking?”
The longer Killian and Gracie talked about college, the larger the knot in Liz’s stomach grew. He sounded so damned happy talking about his years there, an experience she’d never share. Even if she decided this minute that she wanted to go to college, she’d never live in the dorms, or hang out with friends. She had a business to run.
Lord, she hated being jealous of her little sister.
*****
Less than an hour later, they were out on the road, the convertible’s top down. Liz had quickly braided her hair so it wouldn’t be a tangled mess.
“Where are we going?”
“We have a Ranger in town, here to check out the gaming rooms I told you about. I want to drive around a get a look at them myself.”
“Why?”
He lifted a shoulder. “So I can feel like I know what’s going on in my own town, so I can feel like I’m in the loop.”
“We’re not going to go in any of them, are we?”
“Maybe. I don't know.”
“Because it would be just my luck that the place would be raided while I was in there. Just what you need, being arrested for being in a gaming hall.”
“The town needs something new to talk about.” He grinned over at her. “Missed seeing you the past couple of days.”
She drew her legs up to sit cross-legged on the seat and turned the conversation back to him. “How was your family dinner?”
He gave a rough chuckle. “About what you would expect for people who don’t like each other who see each other once a year. I talked to my mom afterwards and asked her to stop putting us all through it, but she apparently promised my father to keep us in contact with my other siblings, so she feels it’s her duty, even though it makes us all miserable.”
“I don’t understand. Other siblings?”
“You know my dad was married before? Had three kids? That my mom is younger than his oldest child?”
“I didn’t know that.”
“See, I have scandal in my family. My dad was still reelected even though he cheated on his wife and married my mother because she was pregnant with me.”
“Probably not an advisable path to follow.”
“I’m not saying I’d cheat or anything like that, but I’m not afraid of scandal.”
Meaning her. “Because you haven’t personally lived through it. Be careful what you ask for.”
He reached across the car and took her hand. “I know what I’m asking for. And I know it will be worth it.”
What would be worth it? They were already sleeping together, already seeing each other in public. Was there something more he wanted? The idea gave her a thrill, deep in her belly, but she shoved the idea that they could have a relationship aside. Hadn’t he just proven they had nothing in common?
He released her hand to consult his phone, then turned the signal on his car and pulled off onto a dirt road.
“Seems like you’d have to be pretty determined to gamble to come down here,” she said, gripping the car door as the vehicle jounced over the uneven road.
“A lot of these guys have big trucks, so the road is no worry. They prefer not being noticed, apparently.”
Suddenly the road opened up and Killian braked in front of a metal building, hastily constructed, with a sign proclaiming “Amusement and Games Inside.”
He put the car in park and looked over at her. “You up for it?”
“Why are you doing this and not the sheriff?”
“The sheriff has shut down plenty. I just kind of want to see what they’re about.” He rested his hand on the door handle. “You game? We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
“I’m not scared.” Exactly.
Four trucks were parked outside the windowless building, and the one door was
tucked in the corner. Killian took her hand and led her across the gravel parking lot.
She half-expected the door to have a sliding peephole so that someone would have to verify their identification before admitting them, but no, it just swung open and they walked into the dimly lit hall.
Four men sat at slot machines along the back wall. Two looked up at their entrance. Another man hurried forward to greet them. Liz thought he’d be a little suspicious, or maybe recognize Killian, but he just started into his spiel about what prizes they could win, and how much tokens were. Without a word, Killian pulled out a twenty in exchange for tokens. He poured some into Liz’s cupped palm and motioned to two machines side by side.
She had to admit, she could see the appeal of pulling the lever and watching the spinning fruit, the frustration as two windows stopped on the same fruit and the third spun past it to land on an orange or something. She burned through her tokens faster than she expected, and turned to watch Killian, who pulled the lever deliberately, then glared at the machine as if willing it to land on the combination he wanted.
“You can’t stare it into submission,” she laughed when he lost.
“Want to bet?” He spun again, and this time all three fruits matched. Bells and lights went off over his head, and she couldn’t help a laugh of delight when he jolted. He grinned. “Told you.”
He collected his winning—a gift card to a big box store he’d have to drive an hour to get to—and split the rest of his tokens with Liz. She never did win, but he won again.
“As if I needed proof that I’m not lucky,” she said as they walked out.