“You’ll see Mrs. Zellecky,” Colt promised, patting the older gentleman’s hand. “But first we have to take care of you.”
Shelley knew by the conflicted look on Colt’s face when he arrived to take her and Austin to the church several hours later, that all was still not well. “How are things with Mr. Zellecky?”
With the tenderness borne of a real father, Colt stepped in to help finish what Shelley had been attempting to do—secure her son’s clip-on bowtie. “They were taking him to surgery to repair his broken wrist when I left the E.R.”
Shelley stepped back to give Colt room to work. “Oh, dear.”
Colt lifted Austin into his arms so her son could check out Colt’s neckwear and “adjust it,” too. Colt’s sober look turned to a grin as Austin patted him affectionately on the cheeks. “They’re going to keep him in the hospital for a few days, try and figure out what is going on with his diabetes.”
Shelley stepped closer when Austin made a lunge for her, too, then wrapped an arm about both of them, her heart brimming with joy and contentment.
Aware she’d never felt more like a family, Shelley paused to drink in the poignancy of the moment. “Does anyone know what Mr. Zellecky was doing out in this heat?”
Colt shook his head. He turned to her, the minty warmth of his breath brushing her upturned face. “His daughter was on the way, though, so I’m sure she’ll figure it out.”
Austin squirmed. Colt set him down and watched him toddle off to find his red truck.
Shelley studied Colt. “This isn’t your fault. It may have happened even if Mr. Zellecky still had his driver’s license.”
Colt nodded, an indistinguishable emotion flickering in his eyes. Intellectually, he seemed to know she was right. Emotionally was a different matter. It was also clear he didn’t want to discuss it further.
Shelley knew they were going to have to put that aside and concentrate on the happy day ahead.
Luckily, at the church, everything went exactly as planned.
Kendall was a radiant bride. Gerry, the beaming groom. The flower girl looked adorable spreading petals across the satin runner that draped the center aisle, and Austin not only carried the real wedding rings with the dignity required, but surrendered them in exchange for his little red truck, which he promptly carried off on the blue velvet ring pillow to the babysitter waiting in the wings.
Shelley breathed a sigh of relief. Colt reached over and squeezed her hand. And the procession began.
The hopelessly romantic rock ballad followed. The dancing down the aisle elicited a joyous reaction from the guests.
“You definitely earned a gold star today,” Colt told Shelley hours later when the father-daughter dance had ended and the rest of the wedding party took the floor at the reception. Enjoying the soft, sweet essence of her, he caught her against him. “That dance was truly something.”
“Thanks...and you really did look good today,” Shelley praised, gazing up into his eyes.
So had she. “And it’s all due to you.” And all the time the two of us have spent making love recently. The physical and emotional intimacy had left them in synch in a way he had never dreamed possible. “It’s turned out to be a really great wedding, hasn’t it?”
Shelley nodded. “I don’t think there’s a person here who doesn’t believe Kendall and Gerry are really meant for each other.”
Colt had never liked weddings, but he was enjoying this one, maybe because she was here beside him.
“All you have to do is look at them to know they’re really going to be happy. Not just for now, but the rest of their lives.” Her expression wistful, she studied the bride and groom and then turned back to him. “My parents had that.”
Colt felt his heart clench. “So do mine.”
Her eyes filled with longing. “I want that.” She just didn’t seem to know if she would ever have it.
Knowing now wasn’t the time to talk about what their relationship was—or could be—Colt brushed his lips across her temple. He brought her closer still, reveling in her intoxicating allure. “I do, too.”
And one day, he thought, as the reception continued to unfold, they would both realize all their hopes and dreams.
Shortly after midnight, the DJ played the last song of the night. The bride and groom departed via limo to their honeymoon suite in nearby San Angelo. Colt, Shelley and the rest of the wedding party were left with the task of carrying the gifts out to the cars for transport to Kendall’s parents’ home.
Once that had been completed, Colt drove Shelley back to her apartment. Wondering just how tired she was, reluctant for the evening to end, he cut the engine. A comfortable silence fell. “I imagine Austin is long asleep.”
Shelley answered his smile with a sultry grin. “I called a little while ago. The babysitter said he was so tired he fell asleep before she could even get him in his crib.”
“Poor little tyke.”
The mood shifted, became more intimate still. “Want to come up?”
“For a nightcap?” he teased.
She held his eyes a long, telling moment. “Or...whatever.”
He caught her hand and lifted it to his lips. “Sounds good to me.”
Before that could happen, a chime sounded. Shelley removed the cell phone from her purse, stared at the screen. “Why would the Laramie County Jail be calling me? Never mind at this time of night!” The phone went silent after the second chime. Frowning, Shelley accessed her voice mail.
Colt watched her face go pale. “What did the message say?”
Grimly, Shelley turned on the speaker and hit the replay button.
Her ex-husband’s noxious voice filled the cab of his truck. “Darn it all, Shelley, have you lost your mind...accusing me of fraud, and letting them issue a bench warrant for my arrest!”
Shelley tensed as Tully continued his tirade. “The jail gave me one phone call, Shelley, and you’re it. So, if you ever want to get your house back, you better drop those charges and get me out of here! Tonight!” Click.
Shelley slumped against the seat, looking as miserable as Colt had ever seen her. She rubbed at her temples. “I can’t believe Tully called me instead of his parents.”
Colt could.
Realizing she hadn’t thought it through to what it would feel like to have her ex hauled off to jail as a result of her criminal complaint, Colt stated matter-of-factly, “What Tully did or did not do with his one phone call is not your problem.”
Unfortunately, he could see that the tenderhearted Shelley didn’t quite believe that. “What if he got the money together he owed me?” she asked, biting her lip.
“Then he would have come right out and said so,” Colt countered, sure Tully was still playing her for a sucker.
Still clearly wanting to avoid any ugliness if at all possible, Shelley fell silent.
Frustration churned through him. Much as he didn’t want to insert himself into the middle of this, he would do anything to protect her and Austin from further harm. “You want someone to talk to Tully?”
Shelley turned to Colt in obvious relief, the color coming back into her cheeks. “Would you?”
* * *
GLAD SHELLEY HADN’T INSISTED on coming down to the county jail herself—for that would have intimated that she was never going to be able to separate herself from her irresponsible ex-husband—Colt left Shelley at her apartment and drove to lockup.
There, his problems really started.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” the desk sergeant said.
Normally, it wouldn’t have been. But these were extenuating circumstances. “I only need a minute.”
“To do what?” the sergeant countered.
“Let Laffer know that Shelley isn’t bailing him out of this mess.”
“And?”
“Get the name and number of an attorney or other friend I can call who will help Laffer post bail, since he squandered his first call on Shelley.”
The sergeant stood. “That’s real sweet of you, McCabe, but why not just let him sit in jail?”
That definitely was Colt’s inclination. Not to mention he was bending the rules—again. “Because I want this wrapped up as swiftly as possible,” he confessed. “And the sooner Laffer gets a lawyer and gets out of here, the sooner we can all go on with our lives.”
“Well, can’t fault you for that,” the desk sergeant concurred with a long-suffering sigh. “’Cause he is one entitled fellow who has a way of spreading misery wherever he goes.”
“Tell me about it,” Colt grumbled.
Minutes later, he was in the conference room with Tully. Gone were the usual expensive clothes and sunglasses—in their place an ill-fitting orange jumpsuit and handcuffs. He looked unkempt, angry and defiant.
“I wanted Shelley.”
Very aware of the two guards standing sentry on opposite sides of the small room, Colt settled in the chair opposite Tully. “She’s not coming. She’s not doing anything for you. So if you have someone else you want me to call on your behalf...?” Colt waited, pen and paper in hand.
“Just her.”
Colt rose with a dismissive shrug. “I tried.”
Shock turned to hatred. “You’re not going to get her back, you know.”
I already have.
“She’s always going to be sweet on me,” Tully taunted.
Colt tried to keep his temper in check. “And you know this because...?”
“We have a connection.”
He pushed the chair toward the table with a decisive thud. “That ended when you divorced.”
Tully slouched. “It’ll never end. She’ll always care about me because she’s the mother of my child. And she’ll always forgive me no matter what I do, because that’s the kind of woman she is—loving and loyal, sweet and tender—”
Seething, Colt stormed out of the conference room.
And saw Shelley standing at the end of the hall. In a pair of faded jeans, boots and a dark blue T-shirt, she looked pretty as could be.
His first thought was: she shouldn’t be here. His second: Why was she here?
Aware all eyes were on them, Colt strode toward her. Of course she hadn’t done as he asked. Of course she wouldn’t trust this to him. Or anyone else, for that matter. Not that he had.
Anxiously, she asked, “Did you get a number or a name?”
He drew a deep breath. Hand to her elbow, he guided her out through the double doors to the steps at the front of the building. “He wasn’t interested.”
Shelley’s shoulders slumped. “He still wants to talk to me.”
Colt shrugged. “A lot of people want a lot of different things. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.”
Shelley sighed, ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll notify his parents.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
She looked at him, more miserable than ever. “I know I don’t, Colt,” she told him in a low voice, firm with resolve, “but it’s the decent thing to do.”
He needed to understand why, find out where this was all leading. He narrowed his eyes. “Because you were once married?”
She leaned back against the limestone and crossed her arms in front of her. “And because,” she said very quietly, “whether I am able to save my house from being sold to another buyer or not, I want justice done...and I want this to be over. And letting Tully’s parents know—through neutral channels—that he is in jail on charges of fraud is the fastest way to accomplish that.”
* * *
SHELLEY KNEW COLT DIDN’T AGREE with her plan, but to his credit, he backed her anyway. He returned to the apartment with her, waited while she paid her sitter, then walked the teenager out and made sure she got safely into her car for her short drive home.
Colt returned to the apartment. He brewed a pot of coffee and made himself at home while Shelley pulled out her laptop computer and got to work.
Half an hour later, she had written emails to both her attorney, Liz Cartwright-Anderson, and the law firm that represented Mr. and Mrs. Laffer, stating where Tully was, and why, and that he had come to her for help, which she refused to give. Hence, she was turning it over to the lawyers to sort things out in whatever way they saw fit.
Finished, she let Colt see the letters she’d sent, then the two of them settled on the sofa in her apartment.
In the bedroom nearby, Austin slept on.
It was nearly three in the morning. The wedding and reception seemed light-years away. Yet Shelley was no more willing to let Colt go now than she had been earlier in the evening.
Aware she was much more comfortable in jeans and a scoop-necked T-shirt than he was in his tuxedo shirt and pants, Shelley let her eyes drift over him. He looked so sexy, with his sleeves rolled up and the first few buttons of his shirt undone. She reached over and took his hand in hers. “I’m sorry I asked you to speak to Tully on my behalf.”
He stared at her. “Why did you come to the jail when you knew I was already down there, handling it?”
Guilt rushed through her. She drew a deep, enervating breath. “Because I realized I was doing it again, running from responsibility and just letting things happen without being actively involved in the resolution. I don’t want to ever do that again, Colt. I want to know that I’m capable of solving my problems myself.”
He studied her, his eyes inscrutable. “And you think going down to the jail was a step in the right direction?”
“Yes. Just as filing charges was the right thing to do.”
“Sure it wasn’t a step in Tully’s direction?”
The knowledge he might be feeling a little jealous sent a rush of affection rushing through her, as well as the need to reassure him frankly and honestly. “I don’t love Tully, Colt. In retrospect, I’m not sure I ever did, because to love someone you have to first know them, and Tully was never truly up-front with me about anything.
“I mean, he was great, at least in the beginning, at showing me a good time. But when our relationship was put to the test—” Shelley paused and shook her head ruefully “—he was never completely honest with me. He never told me everything that was going on with him. It was a lousy way to live. I can’t ever do it again.”
* * *
WHICH MEANT, COLT THOUGHT, he was in a heap of trouble, given all he had been keeping from Shelley. Some by choice. Some not.
Mistaking his silence for something other than guilt, Shelley slid over onto his lap. Gazing at him affectionately, she threaded her fingers through his hair. “You, on the other hand, always tell me what you’re thinking and feeling.” She wrinkled her nose playfully. “Even at times like tonight when you know it’s not what I want to hear....”
If only it were that simple. Aware he felt content and remorseful at the same time, Colt shifted her even closer and buried his face in her hair. “Don’t make me out to be a saint. I’m not even close.”
“You’re closer than you know, Colt McCabe,” she said softly, undoing another button, and then another, on his starched white shirt. Her hands slid inside to caress his chest. “Which is why,” she murmured, kissing him tenderly, “I’ve fallen so hard and fast for you.”
And why, Colt thought, she could easily stop falling so hard for him. The good thing was, she wasn’t going to know. Not tonight. Maybe not ever, if he had his way.
In the meantime, he could do his best to continue to protect her and give her everything she needed. And what she needed right now was him, Colt thought as he drew her down to a bed of pillows on the floor.
Heart pounding, he rolled her onto her side and st
retched out beside her. Damned, if, in the soft light of the apartment, she wasn’t the prettiest she’d been all night. Although she’d been gorgeous in that yellow silk bridesmaid dress, it was nothing compared to how she looked now, with her auburn hair down and mussed, navy T-shirt pushed up above her ribs, the waistband of her jeans riding low on her hips.
Her lips were as pink as her cheeks. Her eyes hot with desire. Her skin as soft and smooth as satin.
She reached for the button on his pants. “Let’s get these off.”
He obliged, even as he did a little handiwork of his own.
Naked, they stretched out again. “Come on, lawman,” she coaxed. “Time’s awastin’.”
The spark that had been evident all night ignited. He kissed her again, giving and taking, angling his head until she arched her back, lifting herself to him. Stroking her with his hands and branding her with his lips, he claimed her as surely as she claimed him. Until she was shifting overtop of him, doing some demanding of her own.
Her eyes met his. Their mouths collided as surely as their bodies in a deep, soul-shattering kiss. When she surrounded him with her sweet warmth, he went as deep as he could go...and still they couldn’t get enough. Couldn’t give enough. Couldn’t stop the fierce kaleidoscope of passion. Until there was nothing but the two of them...nothing but this moment in time.
Chapter Fourteen
“What doing, Momma?” Austin asked Shelley early Sunday afternoon.
Shelley paused to pick up her son. She showed him the potato salad she was packing in ice. “I’m making food for a picnic supper.”
Austin looked over the portable containers of Southern-style green beans, sliced melon and berries. “Deppity?”
“Yes. Colt and Buddy are both going with us to Lake Laramie.”
Austin considered that. “Soon?” he asked.
Shelley consulted her watch. “Probably in fifteen minutes.”
Or, knowing Colt, who had a tendency to be early for their dates, even sooner.
His little red truck in hand, Austin went back over to the basket of toys next to the sofa. Happily awaiting their guests, he sat down and pulled out several more vehicles.
The Texas Lawman's Woman Page 17