Texas Two Step: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 1

by Cynthia D'Alba

  In the restaurant, she was given a booth on the far side of the room, perfect for safely stowing her crutches. While she didn’t need them at home, being on her feet so much today required a little support. But her leg was getting stronger every day. To celebrate her impending recovery, she ordered iced tea and chicken Caesar salad, then she settled back to enjoy not being a mom for the next hour or so.

  It was difficult to tell how many people were in The Red Rose. Separation barriers between the booths were high and solid up to criss-cross latticework near the top. The arrangement provided for visual privacy, but like any public setting, conversations tended to float over the top of the dividers.

  As she’d been led to her table, she’d noticed a couple of women drinking tea who looked to be in their mid-thirties. After she was seated, she realized her table was directly beside theirs, separated only by the wooden partition. Once she’d listened in on a table of male cross-dressers discussing a recent Victoria Secret foray and learned way more than she ever wanted to know on the subject. Since then she’d tried to shut out conversations around her in public places. However, the room was small and the tables were close, making it almost impossible not to overhear the conversation at the nearest table.

  “I hear his son looks just like him,” said one of the women.

  “Really? Then that must be one cute kid.”

  “Must be. Can you imagine finding out you had a five-year-old son you knew nothing about?”

  Olivia’s heart lurched. Were they talking about Mitch and Adam? She focused her hearing on that conversation, trying to shut out others around her.

  “Well, Joanna should be here any minute and you know she’ll have all the scoop.”

  Oh my God. They were discussing her son.

  “Where is she, anyway? She’s always late.”

  “This time she’s got a good excuse. She’s meeting with Mitch’s lawyer.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t have the whole story, but if I understand it correctly, she and Mitch are going to give their marriage another try. She’s helping Mitch gather the information he needs to sue for custody of his son.”

  Olivia’s heart almost stopped. The room blurred and swayed in her vision as a thick bolt of nausea shot through her. Mitch had been planning behind her back to sue for custody? She swallowed the golf ball forming in her throat.

  “I swear Joanna’s a saint. I don’t know if I’d be willing to take on my husband’s illegitimate son.”

  Olivia dug in her purse for twenty dollars to pay for a meal she hadn’t received and couldn’t have eaten if she had. She’d leaned over to retrieve her crutches when another voice stopped her dead.

  “Hi, y’all. Sorry I’m late.” Joanna’s voice floated over the top of the wall. “You know how lawyers are. Always wanting to chat, chat, chat and run their bills up.” She laughed. “But what the heck? Mitch can afford it.”

  Olivia sat up and leaned against the wall. There was no way to get to the entrance without Joanna seeing her.

  “I was just telling Helen how impressed I am with you. I’m not sure I could take on my husband’s illegitimate son.”

  “Well,” Joanna said, the reek of self-satisfaction coloring her tone. “I’m not a saint…at least not in Mitch’s bedroom. And trust me, he likes it that way.”

  The three women laughed. Olivia shut her eyes as her heart shattered into a million tiny pieces.

  “Here ya go, honey.” An older woman with “Madge” on her nametag sat Olivia’s chicken Caesar salad on the table. “Can I get you anything else?”

  Olivia signaled with her finger for the waitress to lean closer. “Is there a back way out of here? There is someone I don’t want to run into.” She slipped the twenty across the table. “I believe this will clear my bill.”

  The waitress pocked the money and nodded. “Follow me.”

  Olivia gathered her crutches, slid from the booth and made her way toward the kitchen, which fortunately had a door and was close to where she had been seated. She didn’t dare look back at Joanna’s table, but the women’s chatter and laughter accompanied her through the kitchen door.

  She made her way back to Mitch’s truck as fast as she could. Before she started the engine, her forehead hit the steering wheel with a thump. How could she have been so stupid? So duped by Mitch? The conversation with Magda had circled through her head all day on a continuous loop. During her massage, when she was fully relaxed and the stress of the past few weeks was seeping from her, she’d made the hard decision to give her love for Mitch a chance and give Drake a definitive negative answer to his multiple marriage proposals.

  She’d decided to talk with Mitch about selling her business to Mark and Nancy and moving lock, stock and barrel to the Lazy L. Adam thrived here with Mitch. Any concerns about bikes and schools for Adam had minimized in light of his relationship with his father. Walking into The Red Rose Café, she’d been confident of her future. Now?

  She bumped her forehead on the truck’s steering wheel. She was such a fool to consider changing her life when Mitch hadn’t moved an inch to change his. Now that she thought about it, he was asking her to make all the big life-changing sacrifices, asking her to rearrange her and Adam’s lives to fit into his life and what exactly had he sacrificed? Sitting up, she steeled her resolved. There was no way she would let Mitch take her son away from her. And while there was breath in her lungs, she’d never allow Joanna St. Claire to have any role in raising her child. Never.

  There was only one way she could think of to protect Adam.

  She pulled her phone from her purse and dialed a familiar number.

  “Hello?” a deep, southern male voice said.

  “Hi. You busy?” She sniffed back the tears.

  “Olivia?”

  “Yeah.” Her voice cracked.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

  Drake’s soft voice calmed her racing heart, made her believe that everything would be fine. Made her believe the Joannas and Mitchs of the world didn’t always win.

  She took a deep breath. “Drake, I will marry you. Come get us as fast as you can.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The drive back to the Lazy L was difficult, what with having to see the road through teary vision. But Olivia used the time to think, to plan…and to get angry. Mitch was a low-life bastard. All Joanna’s surprise drop-ins and private conversations in Mitch’s office now made sense. All the puzzle pieces fit and she could see the picture clearly. While Mitch had been lulling her into a false sense of security with soft words and hot lovemaking, he’d been working behind the scenes to steal her son. He’d even fooled Magda. He’d given an award-winning performance.

  Bastard.

  And to think she’d begun to plan for Mitch to be in her life for the long haul. Well that wasn’t going to happen.

  Once she and Drake remarried, Mitch would have a much harder time persuading the courts that he should have custody and would make a better parent than Olivia. She was a wonderful mother with a secure and intelligent son, and she’d be married to a full professor at Southern Methodist University. She and Drake would be model parents.

  So what if the love she felt for Drake didn’t rise to the Mitch level? Like Drake said, he loved her enough for the both of them. She would make this marriage work. For Adam’s sake, she would make herself love Drake. What choice did she have? She had to protect her son and this was the only way she knew how.

  U-turning on the two-lane highway, she returned to a gas station she’d passed a couple of miles back. She sat in the truck for a minute before slamming her fist on the steering wheel. Damn it, Mitch. Why couldn’t he have given them a little more time to work things out?

  Until Drake arrived, she’d not let Mitch, or anyone, know she’d discovered the legal proceedings going on behind her back. She dried her eyes, put on her poker face and stiffened her back and her resolve. To continue to pretend to feel love and trust for Mitch would take an award-win
ning performance of her own, but she’d do anything for her son. She stepped from the vehicle and headed into the gas station.

  The ladies’ room was not the best but she’d been in worse during her rodeo days. The cold water she splashed on her face helped reduce the redness and cool her swollen eyes. When she came out of the bathroom, the female clerk behind the counter gave Olivia a sympathetic nod of the head, as if she’d been there and had her heart broken too.

  “Here,” the clerk said, handing Olivia a cup. “Get some ice and water to go.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Whoever he is, I hope you make him sorry.”

  Olivia mouth quirked up on one side. “I will. I promise.”

  By the time she pushed the remote control for the garage door, an emotional numbness made facing Mitch possible. As she walked into the house, she heard high-pitched little-boy laughter mixed with low-pitched adult-male chuckles coming from the family room. The accompanying beeps and tweets suggested a video game contest in progress.

  “Can I ask you something, Daddy?”

  “Sure, buddy. What?”

  “Are you really going to name that baby cow after me?”

  “Absolutely. Adam’s Bull. What do you think?”

  “Nope. Cowboy Adam’s Bull.”

  Mitch chuckled. The sound of his laugh could still make lust coil in her gut like a snake ready to strike, and she hated herself for letting the sound get to her.

  “Cowboy Adam’s Bull, huh? Yeah, I like that. We can use the initials and call him CAB for short. What do you think?”

  “Yeah!”

  She stood outside the door listening to Mitch teasing Adam and Adam’s responding giggles. Her heart ached with the knowledge Mitch couldn’t be trusted and with fear that her child could get caught in an ugly adult war of words in the future. She sighed, forced her shoulders down into a relaxed position, checked her poker-face smile and prepared to enter the room. But Adam’s next question stopped her.

  “Can I ask you something else?”

  “Anything.”

  “Are you going to come home with us?”

  Olivia’s breath caught. She strained to hear the rest of the conversation.

  “No, pal. I live here. I have to take care of CAB, but you’re not going home soon.”

  “But I want to go home.”

  “You do?”

  “Uh huh.”

  Relief flooded Olivia and she backed down the hall a couple of steps and called, “Adam? I’m back.”

  “Momma!” Adam rounded the corner in a run. He wore a bright grin and a new short cropped haircut. He wrapped his arms around her legs.

  Brushing the palm of her hand on top of his head, she expected it to be bristly but the ends were soft and tickled like thick-pile velvet. “Wow. You got a haircut today.”

  “A cowboy haircut like Mitch’s,” Adam said, his head tilted back to look up at her.

  “Hi, Olivia. Did you have a good day?” Mitch’s deep voice boomed down the hall and bounced off the walls, wrapping her in the sound.

  She looked down the hall. Mitch sported the same super-short cut. As much as Adam had favored Mitch before, with identical haircuts the facial similarities were striking. The effect tied Olivia’s gut into a knot.

  The lying smile on Mitch’s face said he was glad to see her, and how she wished it were true. Her heart cried since her face couldn’t. Instead, she pasted on a smile in return.

  “Yes, I did.” She wiggled her fingers at her son. “Aren’t they lovely?”

  Adam giggled. “They’re pink.”

  Olivia gasped. “Of course they’re pink. I’m a girl.”

  Adam looked at Mitch and rolled his eyes. “She always says that.”

  “Well, son, it’s true. She is.”

  Olivia froze. Son? Mitch said the word with so much pride Olivia was surprised the buttons didn’t pop off his shirt.

  “What are you two doing?”

  Adam grabbed her hand and began pulling her toward the family room. “Daddy bought me a Wii today. Come see.”

  “Wait, Adam. Don’t pull me. I’m coming.”

  Mitch could see the displeasure written all over Olivia’s face when Adam announced the video game, but there needed to be some games for Adam here at the ranch. Hopefully there’d be some lazy afternoons where he and Olivia could play their own games in their room while Adam was occupied with his in his room. An excellent plan, if he said so himself.

  “Now, Olivia. Don’t be mad,” he said, following her into the living room. He noticed she was down to using only one crutch and could bear weight on her injured ankle. Since her plan was to leave as soon as she could walk, he elected not to comment on her healing progress. “Every boy needs his own video game console.”

  “Yeah, Momma. I need it.”

  “Uh huh. You need it like I a need a third arm.”

  Adam laughed. “You’d look silly with three arms.”

  Olivia gave him a stern look. “Adam Montgomery Gentry. Did you ask Mitch to buy you this? You know better.”

  Mitch slipped up alongside Adam and put his arm about the boy. “No, he did not. It was all my idea, right?”

  Adam put his arm around Mitch’s waist, which meant Adam’s arm was stretched nearly straight. “Right.”

  Olivia’s eyes narrowed as she studied them, then met Mitch’s gaze. “I’ll talk to you about this later.”

  Mitch and Adam exchanged glances and Mitch struggled to keep a straight face.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Mitch said.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Adam echoed.

  “For now, why don’t you go put on your swim trunks and let’s go for a swim, okay?”

  “Okay!” Adam replied with loud enthusiasm. He raced from the room.

  Finally alone, Mitch moved over to where Olivia stood, took her face in his hands and kissed her. He noticed immediately that she didn’t return the kiss. He backed away. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said on a sigh. “Just tired, I think. Plus—” she tapped the rubber tip of the crutch on the floor, “—I’m sick to death of these crutches.”

  Of course she was. He knew he’d never have been as patient as she’d been.

  “I know, babe.” He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “But you’re doing better. Another couple of months here and you’ll be good as new.” He leaned back enough so that he could look into her eyes. “Until then, however, I don’t mind picking you up and carrying you to my bed if you need me to.”

  She didn’t laugh like he’d expected. Instead, she frowned and pushed him away.

  “I don’t think so. I need to get my suit on before Adam gets back. Thanks for giving me a break today. I needed a little time alone.” She backed up and turned toward the door.

  “No problem. In fact, it was my pleasure. Adam and I had a great time.” Mitch stepped in front of her. “Olivia. Wait a minute. Are you sure everything is okay? You seem a little…quiet.”

  She smiled, but it was fake and he could tell. When Olivia smiled, she glowed. This phony smile darkened her face.

  “No, no. Everything’s fine. If you see Adam, tell him not to go into the pool until I get out there.” She moved quickly toward the door. “In fact, I’d better get a move on. Thanks again for today.”

  Then she was gone. Mitch stood there, confused about what just happened. She was thanking him for spending the day with their son? That was crazy. She could deny it all she wanted, but he knew something had happened today to upset her. He didn’t know what or who, but he’d find out and set things right.

  Olivia made it to her room without breaking into tears. It was a contest which was causing the most pain…walking on her ankle without flinching or the rending of her heart into pieces. Either way, she could show no weakness to someone like Mitch, who could stoop so low as to make love with a woman all the while making plans to steal her child.

  She changed into a two-piece bikini and hobbled over to the dr
esser. Somewhere in here Magda had stored those powerful pain pills the doctor had prescribed. She hadn’t had one since the day after the accident, but if she wanted to continue making everyone think her ankle was healing quickly, she had to have something to dull the pain.

  In the top drawer, she found the bottle shoved into a back corner. The directions for usage recommended one table every four to six hours as needed. She poured two pills into the palm of her hand, recapped the bottle and replaced it into its hiding place. She dry-swallowed both tablets then made her way toward the bedroom doors that led to the pool. Tomorrow, she’d get Magda to help her get everything repacked and ready for when Drake arrived.

  By the time she got outside, Mitch had changed into a pair of swim trunks and was outside watching Adam paddle around in the shallow end. She’d told Mitch not to let Adam get into the pool until she got there, but Mitch had deliberately ignored her instructions. She ground her teeth and drew in a deep breath. If Mitch was successful in his parentage case, this would be what the future would look like. Her instructions to her child ignored while Mitch did whatever he wanted.

  Drake couldn’t get them out of here fast enough.

  Mitch glanced toward Olivia and whistled. “Looking good.”

  At the last minute, she elected to not fight the parenting battle here and now, especially in front of Adam. The last thing she needed was him to learn to play one parent against the other.

  “Thanks,” she said as she made her way to a lounge chair. “Adam. Stay in the shallow end, okay?”

  “Oh, Momma. I can swim. Watch this.” He put his face into the water and kicked his legs while moving his arms. He swam toward her and grabbed the blue mosaic tile around the edge of the pool. “See?”

  “I see, but—”