Showdown

by Amy Elizabeth

  “Alec, you listen to me and you listen close.” He lifted his sleeve to his face and wordlessly wiped away the dark smear of blood. “I love you like a brother, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you. So you’d better fix whatever’s wrong with you, and you’d better do it fast. You’re not going to like what happens if you don’t.”

  Then he turned away and climbed into his truck, and Alec could do nothing but stare as he disappeared across the open plains.

  Chapter 25

  As with most dreams, the details were vague.

  It started with Rebecca crying and trying to talk to someone, but she had no concept of where she was or who she was speaking to. All of a sudden, everything was quiet and she found herself alone in the lounge. She sat up on the couch and started fumbling through the cushions for her keys, convinced for some odd reason that she needed to drive her truck.

  The next thing she knew, she was staggering through the snow…barefoot. The dream was so real that she could actually feel the icy burn radiating up her shins. By the time she reached the farmhouse, she was shivering so violently she almost stumbled into the foyer.

  The last part of the dream involved her crawling up the stairs, sliding under the covers, and reaching for her husband. Only when he rolled over to face her did she realize that it wasn’t Alec.

  It was Tommy.

  Rebecca jolted awake to find herself alone–no Tommy, no Alec, not even Dakota. Sunlight poured in through the window, illuminating the empty side of the bed. Before she could even begin to analyze the dream, she felt an excruciating stab of pain between her temples.

  Then her stomach clenched, sending a violent wave of nausea into her throat. Hurriedly she leapt from the bed and raced into the bathroom, but nothing happened. She knelt beside the toilet to wait for the queasiness to pass, wincing when her entire skull began to throb.

  What on earth did she drink last night?

  Even in Vegas–even in Southie–she’d never had a hangover like this. Her legs felt shaky as she clutched the counter top and pulled herself to her feet. Then she saw her reflection in the mirror and frowned in confusion.

  Why was she wearing her backless dress? Had she and Alec gone out last night?

  No, they’d stayed home. She was going to make dinner. And after dinner she was going to slip into her new lingerie and surprise him…

  Well, clearly that hadn’t happened.

  Rebecca racked her brain for more details, but the throbbing was too intense. She opened the medicine cabinet and popped two aspirin into her mouth, washing them down with a handful of water from the sink. Then she pulled her hair back and frowned again when she noticed the streaks of mascara on her cheeks.

  Did she forget to wash her face? She must have. She peeled off her dress and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water beat against the tense muscles in her neck. By the time she dried herself and pulled on a sweatshirt, the pain in her head had subsided to a dull ache.

  Dakota was waiting for her in the foyer, ecstatically wagging her bushy tail. “I need coffee first,” Rebecca said, leaning over to kiss the puppy’s head.

  She downed two cups and added fresh grounds to the coffeemaker, already knowing that she needed more caffeine. While she waited for it to brew, she searched the kitchen for any clues as to what she’d been drinking last night. There was an empty wine bottle in the trash can, but that wasn’t much of an answer. Even if she’d downed the whole bottle, it wouldn’t give her a hangover like this.

  Rebecca took a seat at the breakfast table, letting her gaze drift across the ranch, and she frowned in bewilderment when she spotted her truck.

  Why on earth was it parked by the lodge? Did she go out last night?

  Yes.

  All of a sudden she remembered that her plan for a romantic evening had completely backfired. She’d left the house frustrated and disappointed, intent on driving into town. But instead she’d stopped at the lodge and made her way into the lounge…

  Well, that explained it. With a full bar at her disposal, she must have wasted no time drowning her sorrows away. More details of her dream came rushing back to her–waking up in the lounge, searching for her keys, walking barefoot through the snow–except now she knew that it wasn’t a dream at all.

  *

  History has a way of repeating itself.

  The phrase echoed inside Alec’s head like an unwelcome mantra. It was a warning his father gave last summer about him and Shania–a valid concern, he supposed, given their history. But Alec didn’t have it in him to be unfaithful to his wife; he’d never be able to live with himself after the fact.

  Up until a few minutes ago, he’d assumed that Rebecca felt the same loyalty towards him.

  Alec sat on the tailgate of his truck late into the afternoon, turning Tommy’s words in his mind. All these years that they’d lived and worked together…how could he not have seen that Tommy was in love with Rebecca? It was so obvious now that he thought about it. But as much as Tommy’s insinuations cut him to the core, his father’s warning pained him more.

  Twenty-one years ago, Walter lost his wife to his best friend. Was the same thing about to happen to Alec? Even worse, had it already happened? Was that what Tommy was trying to tell him…that it was already too late?

  I found her down in the lounge.

  What the hell did that mean?

  He cringed when the answer came in a vivid, uncensored image of the two of them together. Alec squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head, wondering if he was going to be sick.

  His wife and his best friend.

  The two people he trusted most in this world.

  When he finally lifted his head, he was startled to see that the sun was nearing the horizon. As much as he never wanted to go home again–and as much as he didn’t want to face the truth–he didn’t have a choice. He left the fence posts and barbed wire where they were and climbed into his truck, forcing himself to turn the key.

  As he rounded the base of the hill, he saw Tommy’s truck parked beside his cabin. That surprised him; after their fight, he’d assumed that Tommy would be long gone.

  A sudden, even more chilling thought gripped Alec…what if Rebecca wasn’t in the farmhouse right now? What if she was down in Tommy’s cabin? Was that where she’d gone last night? And the night before? Alec had been so detached lately that Rebecca could have been down there every night for the past six months and he wouldn’t have known the difference.

  How did he let this happen? How had he let himself get so disconnected that he couldn’t see what was happening right under his nose?

  He killed the engine and clutched the steering wheel, watching the blood drain from his knuckles. There was one detail from the morning that didn’t make sense; one piece of the puzzle that didn’t fit. Tommy was certainly geared up for a fight–he was the one who started it–yet when Alec hit him, he didn’t fight back.

  That had to mean something, didn’t it? But what?

  Alec left his keys in the ignition and stepped out of his truck. The world seemed to spiral around him as he made his way up the steps and placed his hand on the doorknob. The house was quiet when he entered the foyer; then he heard the sound of the refrigerator door opening and closing. Alec took a hesitant step forward and glanced into the kitchen, where Rebecca was pulling a pot from the rack above the sink.

  He stopped in his tracks, but it wasn’t her he was seeing. All of a sudden he was thirteen years old, reliving that terrible day when he discovered that his mother was having an affair with Shania’s father. He’d stood in this same place, watching her move breezily around the kitchen like she had nothing to hide.

  Rebecca moved the same way now, filling the pot with water before she set it on the stovetop. Only when she turned towards the pantry did she notice him standing there.

  “You scared me.”

  “I’m sorry,” he replied, though his response was stiff.

  “It’s okay. I didn’t hear you come in.” She se
nt him a brief smile as she opened the pantry door. “I just woke up from a nap. I had such a bad headache this morning…”

  Her voice trailed off when she noticed his expression. “What’s the matter?” she added.

  Alec didn’t respond. He couldn’t respond, even if he wanted to. The volume of noise in his head reached a deafening roar; a tumultuous blend of voices that had tried to warn him of this very moment.

  History has a way of repeating itself.

  I’d keep a close eye on my head wrangler if I were you.

  The next time your wife throws herself at me.

  The next time…which meant there had already been a first time.

  Rebecca frowned and took a step towards him, prompting him to take a step back. “I have to go,” he said, practically choking on the words. “I can’t be here right now.”

  She opened her mouth, but he never heard her response. Instead he turned and fled through the door, racing for the sanctuary of his truck. The tires spun wildly beneath him as he floored the gas, sending a spray of mud high into the air.

  The last thing he saw was his wife standing on the porch in bewilderment as he backed down the hill and headed for the open road.

  *

  Tommy’s stomach sank when he heard the squeal of tires from the barn office. He glanced through the window just in time to see Alec’s truck peeling through the parking lot and disappearing down the driveway.

  What have I done?

  He’d been sitting here all day waiting for the inevitable. What the hell was he thinking, spouting off like that? Even worse, he’d incriminated Rebecca right along with him, making her look guilty when she hadn’t done a single thing wrong. Now he’d gone and screwed up not only his own life, but Rebecca and Alec’s relationship, as well.

  Not that their marriage wasn’t already on the rocks. Last night simply confirmed what he’d suspected since Las Vegas–that Alec had withdrawn from her physically as well as emotionally.

  Every time he closed his eyes, he could still envision Rebecca’s lonesome face, imploring him with those soft, willing lips. It would have been so easy for him to give in…but he hadn’t.

  Didn’t he get any credit for walking away from the one thing that would have destroyed all three of them? And didn’t he get any credit for restraining himself this morning, when all he wanted to do was break Alec’s jaw?

  No. He didn’t and he wouldn’t, because he was the one who was coveting another man’s wife. No matter how he tried to justify it, it would never be right. And no matter which way he turned it, he would always be the bad guy and Alec would always win. Even if Alec lost everything, he would still win…because he had Rebecca’s love.

  And Tommy never would.

  He dropped his head onto the desk, wishing for the thousandth time that he’d simply turned around and left Rebecca alone.

  You knew this was going to happen. You were getting too involved. It was only a matter of time before it caught up with you.

  A scatter of paws clicked across the floor of the office, signaling Dakota’s arrival. Tommy cringed when he felt the puppy clambering at his leg, because he knew Rebecca wasn’t far behind.

  Sure enough, he heard her quiet voice a moment later. “Hey.”

  And so it begins.

  She was going to want to talk about what happened last night, and he still didn’t have the slightest clue what he was going to tell her. When he finally lifted his head, he saw her standing in the doorway.

  “Did you see Alec at all today?” she asked.

  He gave her a blank stare. “What do you mean?”

  “He was acting really strangely when he got home,” she said, taking a step into the office. “Now he just stormed off and didn’t say where he was going.”

  Tommy was too startled to speak. She doesn’t remember.

  One look at the confusion in her eyes told him that she didn’t have any idea what was happening right now. She’d been the catalyst for the most gut-wrenching night of his life…and she didn’t even remember it. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or infuriated.

  When he failed to respond, she frowned. “What happened to your lip?”

  In the midst of everything, he’d all but forgotten about his busted lip. One more thing to explain to Liz, he thought, pushing himself to his feet. Maybe Alec had the right idea. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the need to get away from the ranch himself.

  A flash of realization crossed Rebecca’s face. “Did he hit you?”

  Again Tommy didn’t respond. It felt like his head was going to explode as he tried to brush past her. “Tommy, wait,” she said, reaching for his arm. “Tell me what’s going on.”

  Last night her touch had been heaven; today it felt like a one-way ticket to hell.

  “I’m sorry, Bec. I can’t,” was all he said before turned and he fled down the aisle.

  Chapter 26

  Rebecca stood in the barn long after Tommy disappeared, trying to put the pieces together. What would Alec and Tommy fight about? She’d never even known them to argue, let alone throw fists. And why did neither one of them want to be around her right now?

  Something happened last night. Something to do with me.

  But what?

  Alec was certainly in a bad mood yesterday, but it wasn’t like they’d had an argument. Each of them was totally calm when she left the farmhouse. She’d gone down to the lounge alone and woken up alone, too, so nothing had happened there, either…

  An eerie shiver traveled down her spine as she recalled the final detail of her dream. She knew this part was a dream, because Tommy obviously wasn’t in her bedroom when she returned home.

  But why had she dreamt of him in the first place? And why was he behaving so strangely this morning? Had he shown up in the lounge last night? Had something happened between them?

  No. Even if she’d downed an entire case of liquor, there was no possible way she could forget something like that.

  Her cell phone buzzed, bringing her back to the present. She flipped it open and frowned when she saw her sister-in-law’s text message:

  So? How did it go?

  Rebecca ignored the message and dialed her number instead. “This has gotta be good if you’re calling me,” Allison greeted.

  “Actually, it’s not.”

  Her friend listened as Rebecca explained every detail she could remember. “And then they each just…left. It’s like neither one of them could even look at me.”

  Allison was silent for a moment. “I have no idea what to say.”

  “Yeah. That makes two of us.”

  Finally Rebecca hung up the phone and made her way down to the lounge. Her shoes were sitting by the fireplace, but it took her a moment to locate her keys. She pulled them from the bar top and gazed around the lounge, trying to recall any other details from the night. When she couldn’t, she gave a quiet sigh of defeat and returned to the farmhouse.

  All evening she sat in the kitchen, waiting to see headlights rolling up the driveway. There was nothing but darkness, though, and the echo of her own heart pounding in her ears. At some point she dropped her gaze to her phone, startled to see that it was ten-thirty.

  Was Alec coming home tonight? She could just call him and ask him why he was so upset. Something, though, told her not to. He’d never stayed away for an entire day before, so she figured he had a good reason for doing so.

  What on earth happened last night?

  She turned it over again in her mind–the dress fitting with Liz, coming home to start dinner, Alec’s conversation with Bonnie, her tearful journey to the lodge. She remembered all of that perfectly. There was a noticeable gap in her memory, though–a few hours after she went to the lounge that were totally blank.

  And she knew it was the reason that both Alec and Tommy were gone right now.

  *

  Alec sat in his truck, watching the illuminated numbers on the dashboard creep ever closer to midnight. He didn’t know why he was waiting f
or that particular time; maybe it was just the deadline he was giving himself. If he didn’t set a definite time, he’d never find the courage to do it.

  11:47pm.

  He lifted his now-cold coffee to his lips and took another sip, thinking how strange it was to be a voyeur on his own land. He was parked just far enough back in the pines to be out of sight, but just close enough to see the lights shining through the windows of Tommy’s cabin. He didn’t even recall how he’d gotten here; then again, the entire day was nothing but a blur.

  11:58pm.

  How had eleven minutes passed? It felt like eleven seconds. Alec set down his coffee and sucked in a deep breath, giving himself one final chance to talk himself out of what he was about to do.

  You have to do this. It’s the only way you’ll know for sure.

  At last he gathered his courage and stepped out of his truck, silently closing the door behind him. The frozen mud crunched under his feet as he tiptoed through the trees and approached the back of the cabin. Soft light shone through the bedroom window, courtesy of the small lamp on the nightstand. Alec paused at the corner of the building and slowly leaned closer, daring a glance inside.

  Tommy was sound asleep, his long frame sprawled across the length of the mattress.

  And he was alone.

  The surge of relief that flooded Alec’s veins was so powerful he nearly crumpled to his knees. She’s not here. Which meant that he hadn’t lost her, after all.

  A sudden motion caught his eye, drawing his gaze back through the window. The door to Tommy’s bedroom had swung open, and Alec’s stomach lurched when he saw his wife standing in the doorway. Tommy lifted his head and sat up as Rebecca took a hesitant step into the room.

  No.