by Helen Evans
“I know I messed up. I’ve thought about what I did wrong every single day since you left. It was wrong for me not to tell you about the Jennings and my involvement with them.” He sighed and hung his head. “I’m not trying to make excuses, but my history with those men is a long and complicated. I owed them, and they cashed in with you. I figured,” he stood and began to pace, “okay, I thought I’d do this one thing for them, wipe the slate clean, and then I would never have to deal with them again. But then I met you and everything changed for me.”
I stood and went to him, placing my palms on his chest. I could feel the heavy beat of his heart, the strain of his breaths. Swallowing, I looked up into his eyes, and every memory I had of him rushed at me. My head spun, and I was suddenly dizzy.
“Heather?” He wrapped his arms around me, and I leaned into him, finding familiar comfort in his embrace. “Can you please forgive me? I’ll do anything. Just tell me what you want.”
I sighed and nodded slowly. “Yes,” I whispered, “yes, I do forgive you. But you have to—”
He cut me off by pressing his lips to mine and kissing me deeply. I threaded my fingers through his hair, holding him to me so he couldn’t decide to pull away, to leave me again. Or so I wouldn’t talk myself into kicking him out again. That’s not what I planned to do, but I’d been known to convince myself of some pretty crazy things before.
“What were you saying?” he asked, smiling against my lips.
“Hmm?” I hummed dreamily, trying to clear my mind of the fog that had taken up residence there. “Oh, just that you have to promise never to lie to me again.”
“I swear it on my life,” he said.
“Good.” I rested my head on his chest. “What happened when you told Buck you weren’t going to help him?”
Hudson pulled away and stared at me. I couldn’t tell if his expression was genuine concern or confusion. “Do you really want to know?”
“Yes.” I nodded firmly. “I need to know.” I took a deep breath. It was time to come clean. If I didn’t want him lying to me, I couldn’t lie to him. “Buck has threatened me, told me I’d regret not selling to him, he even left me some ominous letters. Now that you’ve bailed on him, I need to know what he said. I’m afraid of what he might do.”
“Heather,” concern laced his voice, “why didn’t you tell me this before?”
I shrugged. “I really didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but now that I know what lengths he’s willing to go to, I need to be able to prepare for him. I have to think of Jamie.”
He kissed my forehead. “I know, and I’ll tell you everything, I promise, but can it wait until tomorrow? It’s not like he’s going to do anything tonight or track you down all the way out here. I would really like to just spend the evening with you.”
“Okay.” I smiled. “Speaking of, how did you find me?”
“I bribed Richard into telling me.” Hudson laughed. “But don’t be mad at him. It took me a week to get him to tell me anything.”
“No, I’m not mad at him. How about we go get some dinner? Catch up a little.”
“I’d love that.”
“Great. I just want to freshen up a bit, and I have to let Jamie know where I’ll be, let him know he can stay with his friend longer if he wants.”
“Take your time.” Hudson returned to the chair, and I went to the bathroom.
After washing my face and reapplying a touch of makeup, I fixed my hair a little, taking it out of the ponytail I’d had it in and putting it in a loose braid that hung over my right shoulder. I dabbed on a bit more perfume, and then sent Jamie a quick text. Going to dinner with Hudson. Be back later. Please let me know where you are and what you’re doing.
Almost instantly, my phone rang. It was Jamie. “Hey, sweetie. Having fun at your friend’s house?”
“You’re going to dinner with Hudson?” There was so much animosity in his voice, it made me cringe. “What the hell is he even doing here?”
“Jamie!” I scolded. “Watch your language.”
“No, Mom. I can’t believe he’s here or that you’re going out with him. He lied to you, remember? He used you.”
“That’s enough,” I said sternly. Even though he was right, I would not allow him to speak to me this way. Nor would I allow him to speak of Hudson so poorly. And I certainly wasn’t going to stand here and justify my actions to him. “My reasons for going out with Hudson are none of your concern.”
“They are when he’s going to be part of our lives.”
I sighed with defeat. “I’m disappointed in you, Jamie. I really thought you’d changed, learned to give people the benefit of the doubt.”
“I don’t like him. He’s no good for you.”
I knew the only reason he was saying that was because he still held onto the hope that his father and I would reconcile, that he’d get his old life back. I hated to keep disappointing him, but the sooner he accepted our new life, the better. “Are you staying at Vick’s longer? Or are you heading back here? If you want, I can leave some money for you or you can order room service for dinner.”
“I’m staying here.” Then he hung up.
I wanted to throw my phone across the room in anger, but that wouldn’t solve anything. He was having a hard time adjusting, and I would just have to be patient, to give him more time. Eventually he’d accept life in Texas, and Hudson. Double checking to ensure I still looked presentable; I left the bathroom and returned to Hudson on the couch.
He stood. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah,” I forced a smile, “just… Jamie.” I sighed. “I guess I should’ve known better than to bring him back to the city. We’d finally gotten to a good place together, and now he’s right back to his old ways.”
Hudson put his arm around me, kissed my temple. “I’m sure once you get back to Texas, things will go back to how they were.”
“I sure hope—” My phone rang again, and I rolled my eyes. If this was Jamie again, calling to give me grief… But it wasn’t. It was my dad. Weird he’d be calling. “Hi, Dad,” I answered.
“Oh, good. I thought you might still be in that God forsaken city.”
“I am in the city, Dad. Hudson’s here with me.” Man, what was it with all the men in my life wanting explanations about my decisions in life?
“Well, you need to get back here ASAP.”
The tone of his voice gave me pause. “Why?” I asked slowly. “Is something wrong? Did something happen to the ranch?” Panic swelled in my chest, choking me as I tried to swallow.
“No, the ranch is fine. It’s your mother, Heather. She’s in the hospital.”
I swore my heart stopped beating and all the color drained from my face. I reached for Hudson to steady myself. The last time I’d gotten a call like this, my grandmother had fallen ill then died a few weeks later. The thought of losing my mother, too, was too much to handle. “We’re on our way,” I said, ending the call.
To be continued...
Thank you for reading!
Please Visit http://goo.gl/bdZ5aj to view the next books in this series.
United Kingdom readers please visit: http://goo.gl/CDTeoM
(Excerpt) The Cowboys Heart II
by
Helen Evans
Chapter One
I felt like an awful mother leaving my son in the city like I had, especially knowing his grandmother was ill, but I also knew he wasn’t ready to leave. And in light of everything else, I couldn’t handle an argument with him about going back to the ranch. And it wouldn’t be forever, just a few days. Besides, Jamie needed the time with his father. It’d been far too long since they’d had any real quality time together. I only hoped it went well and that Jamie’s father didn’t spend the next few days buried in his work – or his new girlfriend. I frowned.
“Hey.” Hudson took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m sure your mom is going to be fine.”
I looked over and smiled at him. “I know. I’m sur
e she will, too. I’m more worried about Jamie. I shouldn’t have left him in the city.”
He took my hand and gave the back of it a kiss. “He wanted to stay there,” Hudson reminded me. “He was excited about it. And despite the problems with you and his father, I doubt he’d ever let anything happen to Jamie.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I think you’re right.” I settled back and got as comfortable as I could in the airplane seat and closed my eyes. Jamie was a smart, resourceful kid. If things got bad, he’d call me. He always called when he needed help. I was confident in that thought. What I wasn’t confident of though was Jamie’s willingness to return home when the time came.
Having Hudson here with me helped calm my nerves, too. Even though he’d lied to me, I took comfort from his presence, and I truly believed he never would’ve made that deal with Buck if Hudson had known me. I made peace with my decision to forgive Hudson, and I’m glad I did. There was no way I’d make it through this without him.
“I left my car at the airport,” Hudson said, interrupting my thoughts. “When we land, we can go straight to the hospital.”
“Thanks.” I smiled.
Hudson leaned across the arm rest and gave my lips a soft kiss. I really had missed him. “Thank you,” he whispered against my lips.
“For what?” I asked, confused.
“For forgiving me and giving me a second chance. I swear to you, Heather, I will not mess it up again.”
I rested my forehead to his and sighed. “Let’s just put it behind us and forget about it, okay?” Because honestly, I couldn’t handle dealing with mine and Hudson’s rocky past and abrupt break up on top of my mom’s illness. Dad hadn’t said what was wrong with her, only that she was very sick. My mom had always been in good health, and other than childbirth, I couldn’t remember a time she’d ever been hospitalized.
“Thank you,” he whispered again.
I nodded, and we fell silent, which was fine with me. I was hoping to get some sleep during the flight because I hadn’t gotten much last night.
***
“Oh, God, Mom!” I cupped my hand over my mouth and stifled a gasp. She was lying in the hospital bed, pale as a ghost, tubes and machines hooked up to her everywhere. I’d never seen her look so sickly and helpless before. Dad was sitting in a chair near her bed, and he looked just as tired and sick as Mom did. “What’s wrong with her?” I asked.
Dad shook his head and stood. Then he extended his hand to Hudson. “I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced. I’m Dean Walsh, Heather’s father.”
“Hudson Lyle,” he said, shaking my father’s hand.
“Sorry,” I chimed in, feeling foolish for not properly introducing them. But in light of the current situation, I was sure my father could forgive my bad manners just this once. “So, what’s wrong with mom?” I approached her and took her limp hand into mine. It was leathery and cold. I cringed. Mom always took so much pride in her appearance. She’d be mortified to know she was in this condition.
“It’s nice to meet you, Hudson,” Dad said, still ignoring my question. “Where’s Jamie?”
“In the city with his father for a few days. I didn’t know what the situation was here and didn’t want to bring him back only to leave him at the ranch alone,” I explained. Still, I was bothered that he wasn’t close. There hadn’t been a single time in his life when I’d been away from him for more than a few hours at a time.
“Yeah, that’s probably smart,” Dad said his gaze focused on Mom.
“I’ll give you two some privacy,” Hudson said. He gave my cheek a kiss and then left the room.
I was tired of being ignored. There was obviously something seriously wrong, and I wouldn’t give up until I had some answers. “Dad?” My voice was firm. “What is wrong with mom? Why is she so sick?”
He sighed and rubbed his hand over his stubbled jaw, making a scratching noise. “They’re not a hundred percent sure, but in the last couple of days, there have been at least two dozen other people admitted with the same symptoms.”
“What?” I had to have misheard him. “Is this some sort of virus or epidemic or something?” Suddenly, I was very glad I’d left Jamie in the city. I didn’t want him exposed to any of this. “How can they not know? Did they call in a specialist or the CDC or something?”
“Okay, now you’re getting ahead of yourself. It’s not that serious.” Dad returned to his chair and sat. “But…” He looked away.
This man was not my father, at least not the father I knew. My dad was always so firm, honest. He didn’t beat around the bush, so when he did, I knew there was something seriously wrong. Pulling up another chair, I sat beside him. “But what, Dad? Please, tell me what’s going on.”
“The city thinks the water supply has been tainted, and that’s what’s causing all these people to get sick.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “So, that’s not so bad, right? I mean, it’s bad, but they can test the water, figure out what’s wrong. And the town can just boil it until it’s fixed, right?”
Dad rubbed at his jaw again then around to the back of his neck. My stomach dropped. He only did that when he was really stressed out and hadn’t been able to find a way to fix the problem. Whatever he was about to tell me wouldn’t be good.
“Well…yeah…the mayor has already issued a statement regarding the water, but…”
“Dad! Just tell me,” I snapped.
“They think the drilling on your property is the cause.”
It was as if the entire world stopped moving and everything came to a screeching halt. My ears rang, and my face was burning hot. I took a deep breath that felt like I was inhaling razor blades. I stood and clutched my chest. “What?”
“Look, they don’t know anything for sure yet, Heather, so don’t you go worrying for no reason.”
“Have they made an announcement about this yet?” A thousand different thoughts ran through my mind, but the two that took up dominance were: Buck would use this to his advantage to get his hands on my ranch, and if the oil drilling really was the cause, I was probably going to be sued by everyone who was sick. That would financially destroy me. More so than losing the income from the oil company.
“No. My friend Dan is on the town board. He gave me a heads up, thought I’d want to warn you.”
“I have to stop it,” I said automatically. “I have to go to the oil company and tell them to stop. I can’t be responsible for the town getting sick and possibly…” My eyes widened. “Has anyone died from this?”
“No.” He shook his head adamantly. “No,” he repeated a little less forcefully. “Your mom was the first to get sick, so they’re monitoring her very closely.”
Tears had started to fall, and I hadn’t even realized it. I couldn’t stand the thought I was responsible for this. I’d thought the oil drilling was the answer to my prayers, my financial solution, but now it was like a personal nightmare. The oil company had promised me this was safe, they’d shown me the statistics. Had they lied to me? I wouldn’t put it past them. And that pissed me off. How could they do this?
“Look,” Dad took me by the shoulders and made me face him, “there’s no saying it’s not something else. But it might help calm things if you can get the oil company to stop for a few days, just until the city council can come up with an alternate solution to all of this.”
I nodded and wiped at my tears. I knew Dad was just trying to help, to make me feel better, but it wasn’t working. Deep down in my gut, I knew I was responsible for this. And I was the only one who could stop it. I had to.
“Is she going to be okay?” I whispered, glancing toward Mom.
“Yes. She’s going to be fine. They gave her more pain medication half an hour before you arrived. It makes her sleepy. She’ll be sorry she missed you,” he said.
“I can stick around until she wakes up.”
“You’ve had a long flight. You should go get some rest, too.”
“Yeah, probably.” As if
on cue, I yawned. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until right then.
“Is it safe to come back in?” Hudson knocked on the door frame and peeked his head inside the room.
“Of course.” Dad smiled and released me. “I was just telling Heather she needed to head home and get some rest. You can take her?”
“Yeah, sure,” Hudson said, looking to me for confirmation.
I really didn’t want to leave my mom without having the chance to talk to her, but I had no idea how long she’d be asleep, and I’d already been away from the ranch for a while. I’m sure Richard needed my help. Finally, I nodded.
“You’ll call me as soon as she wakes up, right?” I asked Dad.
“Absolutely. Now, go.” He kissed my forehead and then firmly nudged me toward the door. “And I meant what I said. Don’t make yourself sick over this, Heather. Do what you can and leave the rest.”
I nodded again and took Hudson’s hand. We walked in silence back to his car. My stomach was in knots, and my head was spinning. I couldn’t make sense of any of this. What if the town found out it was the oil drilling? Would I be held personally responsible? I gasped for breath.
“Heather? Are you all right?” Hudson asked once we were in his car and headed back to the ranch.
“No, I don’t know.”
“What did your father mean about doing what you can and leaving the rest?”
I should’ve known Hudson would ask about this, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell him. The oil is what caused all of the problems between us. I had it on my property and he wanted it for his “friends.” He’d even gone so far as to lie to me about it. How could I bring it up now?
“Whatever it is, you can tell me,” he prodded.
“My mom isn’t the only one who’s sick. Several other townspeople are sick, too, and the town thinks the water has been contaminated by the drilling on my property.”
“What?” he asked shocked, inadvertently jerking the wheel. He corrected it quickly and then glanced over at me. “Do they have any evidence it’s the drilling?”