The Book Babes Boxed Set (Texas Ties/Texas Troubles/Texas Together)

by Jean Brashear

  Ellie bit her lip. “The kids—I can’t make excuses much longer. I don’t know what to tell them.”

  His laughter was bitter. “Well, I sure as hell don’t.”

  “Wyatt, I—” What did she say? I’m sorry? Not nearly enough to cover what had happened. “Please—could you stay to see the kids, at least?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  Then she got mad. “You’re going to take it out on innocent children?”

  Wyatt whirled, eyes no longer careful but jagged shards of green glass. “Why not? You did.”

  “I didn’t do anything to them. I didn’t do anything to hurt you, either. I just—”

  His fists were clenched so hard his knuckles gleamed bone-white against his tanned skin. “You just what, Ellie? You just all but stripped naked with another man, right here—” His voice rose to a shout. “Right here. In my house. The house I built for you and the kids you didn’t bother to think about when you were spreading your legs for him.”

  “It was only a kiss. It didn’t mean anything—” But she knew that he knew, as soon as she said it. It had meant something. To deny that only cheapened her more.

  “Don’t.” His jaw flexed. “Don’t lie to me about what I saw. If I hadn’t come in when I did, you’d have been—where? In our bed? With another man in our bed?”

  Ellie was shaking so hard she didn’t think she could remain standing. This was worse, far worse than any words she could ever have imagined passing between them. A few days ago this conversation would have been inconceivable.

  “I wouldn’t have done that.”

  His nostrils flared. “I would never have assumed I’d come home to find you in the arms of another man. Now I assume nothing.” He turned away. “This conversation is pointless.”

  She had to stop this now before he left for good. Something inside told her that if he left now, he’d never come back. “Wyatt, please. Stop this. Let’s talk.”

  He whirled, all the lean muscles at his command tensed. For the first time in her life, Ellie was afraid of her husband. Agony and rage sparked from eyes that had never held either. Not when looking at her.

  With a roar, he turned and buried one fist in the wall, punching a hole through the sheetrock. Muscles bunching again, he struck a second time, knocking a lamp off a nearby table. It shattered on the floor.

  Ellie’s heart beat so fast she thought she’d faint. Casting away caution, she raced across the floor and grabbed his arm. “Wyatt—Wyatt, don’t. I’m so sorry, so very sorry. I don’t—”

  His voice was a low, feral growl. “Get away from me.”

  Because she could feel him trembling, she stood her ground. “No. Please. I can’t let you hurt yourself.”

  “Do. Not. Touch. Me. Back off—now.”

  But all she could think was that this was the end. If she let him go now, they were finished.

  “No, Wyatt. I love you,” she sobbed. “Please…please don’t leave.”

  He shook loose of her. “I mean it, Ellie. Don’t come near me.” Taking two steps at a time, he charged up the stairs.

  Ellie let herself slide to the floor, burying her face in her hands and sobbing her heart out.

  It was over. And she’d done it. Nineteen years destroyed in five minutes of losing herself in the arms of another man.

  All her anger fled, her doubts evaporated like mist. The man with whom she’d created five children, the man who’d been her best friend and lover more than half of her life, the man with whom she’d thought she’d grow old—

  Was about to walk out of her life, hurt beyond bearing.

  The responsibility rested squarely on her shoulders, and for a moment, Ellie thought she’d like to just lie down and stop breathing. The effort to keep going, to help her children survive…to help herself survive…it took too much. She didn’t have the strength, had never had it.

  She curled on her side on the floor and let the wide tiles cool her skin while despair froze her soul.

  Beneath the table, across the strewn shards of the lamp, she saw one of Sam’s little metal cars. His Huckleberry Finn face rose up before her, his father’s green eyes watching her, troubled. When’s Dad coming home, Mom? I miss him.

  Tears flooded her eyes. They all missed him.

  She missed him.

  No more time to play Scarlett, Ellie. It’s tomorrow—right now.

  More terrified than she’d ever been in her life, Ellie drew a deep breath and forced herself to sit up, one slow inch at a time. Upstairs she could hear drawers slamming, and she knew she would beg shamelessly, if that’s what it took.

  Her doubts from the conversation with Ava vanished. She knew what she wanted—she just didn’t know if she could get it. But for her children’s sake, she had to try. Had to find some way to reach him, some way to let Wyatt know that she’d fallen from grace but the fall had shocked her to her senses. Surely there was enough love in their past to help them find a future. For the kids, if not for herself, she had to convince him to stay. They would never heal this if he left now.

  Taking a deep breath to steady a jittery, terrified heart, Ellie started up the stairs to see if there was anything left to salvage from her life.

  When she walked into the bedroom of the house he’d built for her with love, Ellie almost gave up. He hadn’t heard her coming. He stood there, motionless, bag in hand, staring at their bed. The bed where their children had been conceived, the bed where they’d whispered in the darkness, laughed and tickled and worried and planned… but always together.

  She’d never seen anyone look sadder, or more alone. Never seen Wyatt look defeated. Every line of his body spoke despair and resignation.

  Nothing could have frightened her more.

  How could she ever repair this? Suddenly, deep in her soul, Ellie knew they would never be the same again. No matter how hard she fought to get him back, how much effort either exerted, there would always be a crack in the foundation of their marriage.

  Innocence lost can never be regained—and they’d had the most innocent of marriages, the most unshakable belief in the inviolability of their love.

  But at that moment, something new and fierce stirred within Ellie, something that would have surprised everyone who knew her. For the tiniest of seconds, she looked into the heart of destruction, into the face of everything she’d ever feared about who she was and what she could be on her own.

  And, facing the death of everything she’d held dear, she realized that not everything was gone. At the bottom of that great black void, there was still something there.

  She was still there, Ellie washed down to the finest grain of grit. Reduced to her essence by the fires of destruction. Something in her was strong enough to stand this. Something would stand up and fight for her children. Something would fight to make Wyatt believe in the two of them again.

  But oh, she was scared. “Can you ever forgive me?”

  Wyatt started at the sound of her voice, but he didn’t turn. “I don’t know.”

  It hurt. A lot. But she pressed on. “Wyatt, please don’t leave. The kids—” She didn’t know how to express how it had been. “They’re confused. Hurt. Everything’s wrong.”

  He turned slowly then, a slight, bitter smile. “Tell me about it.”

  “If you can’t—” She swallowed hard. “I don’t know how to make it right between us, but we’ll never find a way if you move out. Please—stay. Give us a chance.” She forced herself to lift her gaze to his, flinching at the darkness of his agony. “I don’t know if I can make you love me again, but I’m going to try.”

  Wyatt studied her with a wariness those eyes had never before held when looking at her. A long moment’s silence passed between them. Then he cleared his throat and spoke. “Where did I go wrong, Ellie? What did I do to send you into his arms?”

  Oh, God. The hurt that poured out of the green eyes she loved squeezed her chest until she couldn’t draw a breath.

  “Never
mind.” He shook his head and straightened, looking around the room. “I can’t sleep here. Not when all I can see is—”

  Her spirits sank.

  He headed toward the door, then stopped, his back still toward her. Hand on the knob, he spoke. “I miss the kids so much.”

  Ellie wondered if she should move out so he could stay here, her thoughts in such turmoil that she almost missed his next words.

  “I’ll stay. But I’ll sleep in my office.” Bag in hand, he headed down the stairs to the home office off the living room.

  Ellie stood in the bedroom that had always been her refuge, her place to seek solace in the arms of the man she loved.

  And realized that the real refuge had just headed down the stairs, and all she had here was a place to sleep. Hugging her arms around her middle, Ellie wondered how a life could change so suddenly, wondered for the ten thousandth time where she’d made the crucial turn that had brought them to this.

  Then she shook her head and stood up very straight. None of that mattered now. She had a chance, slim though it might be, to rebuild. Not the life they’d had, but maybe…

  She was too tired to rebuild anything, but that didn’t matter. Maybe she could sleep now, knowing that Wyatt, if not in their bed, was in their house.

  And that maybe they had a chance. No matter how tiny, his agreement to stay was something to build on, a kernel of hope to nurture.

  Ellie would nurture. It was what she did.

  She headed down the stairs to prepare supper for her family. And prayed that Wyatt’s love for his children could begin the healing he wouldn’t accept from her.

  * * *

  The phone shrilled. Luisa stirred, glancing at the clock. Three a.m. A fist clenched her heart as she reached for the receiver. “Hello?”

  “Ms. Martinez?” A strange man’s voice.

  “Who is this?”

  “Sgt. Davila of the Austin Police Department, ma’am. It’s about your son Carlos.”

  Fear raked its nails down her backbone. “Is he hurt?”

  “No, Ms. Martinez. But we’re holding him on charges of selling stolen goods.”

  “That’s not possible.”

  “I’m afraid it is, ma’am.”

  “Does he need a lawyer?”

  “It’s his right, ma’am. You do what you want about that.”

  Tom. She wanted to call Tom, but it was three o’clock in the morning. “I’ll be right there. Wait—where is he? I’ve never—”

  His voice was kind. “He’s at the Gardner-Betts Juvenile Facility on South Congress.”

  “My son is a good boy,” she said.

  “Ma’am, they’re all good boys, according to their mothers. But your son is in possession of stolen merchandise and was caught red-handed trying to fence it.”

  “I don’t understand,” she protested weakly. “Where is his father?”

  “I have no idea, ma’am.”

  “My son’s not a criminal.” Damn Ramon. He was behind this, he had to be.

  “Ma’am, selling stolen goods is a criminal offense,” the cop reminded her. Then his voice softened. “Ask for me when you get here.”

  “Thank you, Sergeant.” Luisa hung up the receiver carefully, as though it were a poisonous snake ready to strike.

  “What is it?” Consuela asked from the doorway. “What’s wrong?”

  Luisa rose, rage warring with shame. “Carlos is in jail.”

  “What?” Consuela crossed herself, muttering under her breath. “What did he do?”

  Luisa whirled. “What did Ramon do, is the question?” she spat. “He’s behind this somehow. I know it.” She grabbed the first pair of jeans she could find, dressing with trembling fingers. “Damn him. I—” She grabbed up the phone and dialed his number, only to hear it ring and ring again.

  “Will you call Tom?”

  I want to. Oh, how I want to. But she glanced at the clock. “It’s too late at night. I can’t wake him.”

  “But what if you need him to help you?”

  The same thought kept circling in her head. What if she did this wrong? What did she know about springing someone from jail? What if she made a mistake that kept Carlos incarcerated with murderers or rapists or—

  The thought of her precious child in a filthy jail cell with hardened criminals had her stomach heaving. Luisa stared at the phone, chewing on her thumbnail.

  “What else can you do, hija? You are out of your element.”

  Surely they would understand. If it were Grayson, Ava would stop at nothing to—

  Before she could change her mind, Luisa snatched up the receiver, telling herself it was for Carlos’s sake that she wanted Tom beside her.

  A sleepy Ava answered the phone. “Hello?”

  “Ava, please—may I speak to Tom?”

  “Luisa?”

  “Please, Ava. Carlos is in trouble.”

  “Just a minute.” Was that coldness she heard in her friend’s voice? Luisa shook off the thought. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but her child.

  “What’s wrong, Luisa?”

  At the caring sound of Tom’s husky, deep voice, something inside her steadied for the first time since the phone had rung. Tom would take care of this. He would know what to do. “Oh, Tom, the police just called. Carlos has been arrested for selling stolen goods.”

  “Has he been arraigned?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t—I don’t know what to do next. I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have called you, but I just didn’t—”

  He cut in over her protests. “Never mind that now. Is he at Central Booking or Gardner-Betts?”

  “Gardner-Betts.”

  “I’ll meet you down there.” He paused. “Give me twenty minutes.”

  “Oh, Tom, thank you. Please—tell Ava I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what—”

  “Don’t worry about it.” His voice turned gentle. “Take a deep breath, Luisa. We’ll get him out of there.”

  That was when the tears started. “Oh, Tom, I can’t thank you enough. I was so scared, and I just didn’t—”

  “Hold on, Luisa. It will be all right. Do you need me to come get you or can you make it there by yourself?”

  How many years it had been since she’d had a man to lean on. She’d told herself she didn’t need it, but Tom’s strength was a balm to her terror.

  She drew in a deep breath. She wouldn’t lean on him long, but just for tonight… just as a friend… “I can drive myself. I’ll see you there.”

  “All right. Goodbye, Luisa.”

  “Tom—”

  He was back. “What?”

  “Thank you. And please—tell Ava I’m sorry I woke her.”

  “Ava will be fine.” His voice was tender, reassuring. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He hung up.

  “A few minutes,” she whispered, squeezing the receiver tightly. She only had to hold on for a few more minutes. Then Tom would know what to do.

  She glanced up at her mother after hanging up the phone. “Tom’s coming.” Her terror was subsiding.

  “Maria Luisa, he is another woman’s husband.”

  She drew herself up straight. “I know that,” she sniffed.

  “Do you?” Her mother’s eyes bored into her. “You should let a man into your life, daughter, but this is not the one. What I see in your eyes disturbs me.”

  “Tom is just a friend, Mama.”

  Consuela’s gaze wouldn’t let her go. “You remember that, child.”

  Luisa shoved her feet in her shoes and stood up. “I’m a grown woman. I don’t need your advice.” Then she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. “Go back to bed, Mama. I’ll tell you what happened when I bring Carlito home.” She shut the door unnecessarily, not wanting to see the keen look on her mother’s face again. She knew very well that Tom was Ava’s husband.

  But Ava didn’t need him like she did.

  * * *

  “You’re not a criminal lawyer, Tom. Why isn’t she calling someone
who knows that field?” Ava rose from the bed to follow Tom.

  “Because she’s scared half to death, and she doesn’t know her way around a jail.”

  “And you do?”

  Tom’s head poked through the neck of his t-shirt. “I’ve been arrested often enough.”

  “But that was for civil disobedience. You weren’t a criminal.”

  “We don’t know that Carlos is.” His glance reproved her.

  “That’s not what I mean. You weren’t charged with anything really criminal.”

  Tom smiled at her faintly. “When you’re arrested, you’re arrested. You all go to the same place.”

  Ava hated that patient smile. “Damn it, Tom, you know what I mean. Luisa needs to call a criminal attorney.”

  He looked at her oddly. “She’s your friend. Don’t you want me to help her?”

  I want her to leave you alone. “I just don’t understand why she has to call here at three in the morning.”

  “Because she’s frightened and she doesn’t know where to turn.”

  “So she turns to you.”

  Tom frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “Anytime Luisa has a problem lately, she turns to you.”

  “She trusts me.”

  “You’re my husband.”

  Tom goggled. “Are you…jealous?”

  “Of course not.” She glanced sideways at him. “Should I be?”

  The lines between his eyebrows deepened. “Just exactly what are you implying?”

  “Every time I turn around, you’re at Luisa’s side, helping her through some crisis. She’s supposed to be a grown, independent woman.”

  “This doesn’t become you, Ava. I thought this woman was your friend.”

  “I thought she was, too.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “I think she wants you. For herself. And I just wonder if you want the same thing.” The moment the words escaped her lips, sheer panic shot through her. Why had she pushed this? What if it were true?

  A muscle in Tom’s jaw flexed, his brown eyes going hard. “I’ve never done one thing to make you doubt me.”

  “Oh, no? What about holding Luisa in her office where everyone in creation can see you?” Suddenly, all of Ava’s fears spilled. “What about deserting me when we were supposed to have an intimate dinner, spending hours with Luisa instead? How do I know that you were looking for Carlos? How do I know—”