Trouble Maker: A MacKenzie Family Novel (The MacKenzie Family)

by Liliana Hart

  “Too late!” someone called out from the sidewalk. There was a smattering of chuckles, and he could see Thomas and Riley standing in front of the diner, arms crossed and smiling like loons. They were going to give him hell when this was over.

  “You can’t tell me we didn’t have something special,” Hazel called out. “We could’ve made a life together. I would’ve given you everything if you’d let me.” She sniffled and her empowered speech was turning into a whine. “I believed in you. You said you loved me.”

  “Oh, no,” Beckett said, reaching his limit. “Those words never crossed my lips. I’m sorry that you thought you could change my mind, but I was up-front with you from the beginning. I won’t be pressured into anything.”

  “I’m pregnant,” she yelled out, finding her mad again.

  “Hazel, you and I both know that’s a bald-faced lie.”

  “How do you know? We had sex, didn’t we? Accidents happen.” She looked entirely too smug.

  “Then you head over to the doctor and bring me the results of the pregnancy test. And of course, we’ll do a paternity test as well.”

  She gasped, the insult clear. “How dare you insinuate that I sleep around.”

  “It’s been more than long enough for you to find someone else to try and rope and wrangle. I wasn’t born yesterday and I know how these things work. If you were pregnant you would’ve known before today and would’ve been throwing it in my face and telling anyone who would listen. You’ve got marriage on the mind and I’m not biting. And you’re only embarrassing yourself and your family by doing this. So if you want to play out this farce, go get your test done and come back and see me.”

  If looks could kill he’d already be six feet under. “I’m glad you’ve shown your true colors before I was saddled for a lifetime with you.”

  “There you go. Always look on the bright side.”

  She turned sharply on her heel and marched toward her car. Beckett sighed and ignored the curious stares of onlookers as he made his way toward Riley and Thomas.

  “Shut up,” he said before either of them could open their mouths to speak.

  “Hey, man,” Riley said, holding up his hands. “We’re innocent. Don’t take it out on us. Thomas will buy your lunch and make you feel better.”

  The diner was a throwback to another era. The floor was black-and-white squares of linoleum. The counter was long, and a freshly baked pie sat in a glass dome at the end. Red vinyl barstools sat like soldiers in front of the counter. Booths lined the perimeter of the diner and the seats were covered in the same red vinyl.

  Gladys Dubois and her husband Milt had opened the diner just after their marriage more than fifty years before. Gladys had been seventeen at the time and Milt closer to thirty, and they figured if people were going to gossip about them anyway then they might as well give them a place to do it. Gladys had the disposition of a drill sergeant with hemorrhoids, and she still worked the front counter and waited tables. Her hair was flame red and added at least an extra foot to her height, and her lipstick bled into the wrinkles around her mouth.

  Milt had worked the grill back in the kitchen, but he’d passed on about a decade before, so Gladys had hired Snoopy Gaines to flip hamburger patties and his wife Cori to handle the rest of the menu. Business had gone up a lot since Cori started working her magic in the kitchen. No one could make better fried chicken anywhere in the state.

  “You’ve sure gotten yourself in a pickle, Beckett Hamilton,” Gladys said from behind the counter. She was working a crossword puzzle and dividing her attention between that and the soap opera on the TV in the corner.

  “No, ma’am,” he said back, wishing once again he would’ve listened to his father and just stayed home. “I think I got my point across.”

  She cackled and slapped her bony hand on the counter. “Boy, you don’t know nothin’ about women. You mark my words, she’s not ready to give up yet. I guarantee she had the wedding reception booked and a dress picked out. A woman doesn’t go to that much trouble to quit after being rejected.”

  “She can book whatever she wants as long as she understands she’ll have to knock me unconscious to get me to the church. Besides, in another month we’re going to be right in the thick of calving season. Out of sight, out of mind. She’ll forget all about me and find some other poor single sap.”

  Gladys shook her head. “I never realized you were so dumb. Good thing she’s lying about that pregnancy. Oldest trick in the book. Between the two of you that baby wouldn’t have had a prayer.”

  “Thank you, Gladys. I appreciate that. But there are plenty of single men left in Surrender.”

  “Honey, when you get to be my age everyone is either dead or everything droops so low they’re not worth looking at without their clothes on.” She turned her attention to Riley and Thomas. “You tell that cousin of yours to come see me and I’ll give him some fried chicken on the house. Not a woman in this town would turn that man away from her bed, even without a leg. I could show him a thing or two.”

  “We’ll let him know,” Thomas said, the look on his face somewhere between amusement and horror.

  They made their way to a corner booth and Thomas and Riley stopped along the way to say hi to Danny Patterson and Lane Greyson, two of the deputies that worked for their brother Cooper.

  Beckett slid in so his back was to the wall and checked his phone. It had been buzzing constantly since his little showdown with Hazel. He winced at the thought. He hated being the center of anyone’s attention, not to mention the fact that he didn’t like airing his dirty laundry. He’d always been private and discreet when it came to his relationships.

  The diner was filling up fast, and heads turned and looked his way before going about their business. A couple walked in that immediately caught Beckett’s attention. The man was tall and built like a truck. His blond hair was cut close to the scalp and he looked military. And dangerous. The woman with him was young and pretty and so city she might as well have been wearing a sign on her back. She had the body of a pinup, and her hair was long and black. Every eye in the place moved from looking at him to them. Thank God.

  Thomas groaned and looked at the military guy. “Dammit, Devon, why can’t I get rid of you? You’re everywhere I turn.”

  “I guess I’m just your cross to bear. That’s what you get for marrying my sister.”

  “Which should tell you how much I love that woman. When are you leaving again?”

  “Kylie and I are on our way out, and we’ll be out of your hair. But don’t worry. I’ll be back for Christmas.”

  “Good. I was worried you wouldn’t make it,” Thomas said dryly.

  Devon grinned and then the two men shook hands.

  “Y’all have a safe trip,” Thomas said, and then he and Riley slid into the booth across from Beckett.

  “My brother-in-law,” Thomas said by way of explanation. “He’s a new fixture in our lives and takes a little getting used to.”

  “Hell, he’s the least of our problems,” Riley said. “I’m more concerned about what Gladys is planning on teaching Shane. I can’t decide whether to tell him to keep hiding in his house or convince him to come out just so I can watch Gladys put the moves on him.” He shuddered and then lowered his voice to a whisper. “And I hate to admit it, but as soon as she said what she did I imagined her naked with Shane strapped to her bed. I’m going to have to go to therapy to erase that one.”

  Thomas laughed out loud and Beckett grinned at the thought of Riley laid out on a couch trying to describe that little fantasy.

  Shane MacKenzie had been a Navy SEAL commander, but he’d been on leave and back home at the MacKenzie compound when an enemy had shown up on their doorstep, endangering the whole family. Shane had managed to save his sister-in-law, but the explosion had taken one of his legs and badly damaged the other. It was fortunate Thomas, who was a doctor, had been close by, otherwise Shane probably would’ve died.

  It was something none of th
e MacKenzies liked to talk about because they all felt helpless when it came to Shane. He’d gone from a decorated soldier who’d commanded others to losing his leg and career in one fell swoop. He wasn’t adjusting well. And they were all concerned for him.

  “You’re sick, man,” Thomas said. “And that’s saying something. Because now it’s in my head and I blame you. I’m going to punch you later as compensation for the trauma.”

  “You haven’t been able to punch me since you were fifteen.”

  “That’s not true. I got in a doozy a couple of Christmases ago. You just didn’t notice because you were on the bottom of the dog pile.”

  “That was you?” Riley asked, his eyes narrowed. “I had a black eye for almost two weeks.”

  “It’s nice to see some things never change,” Beckett said. “Though I’m surprised your wives let you get away with stuff like that anymore. Y’all have kids.”

  “Hell, are you kidding?” Riley asked. “They’re the ones betting money on it. Aunt Mary usually ends it by turning the hose on everyone.”

  “If you think Aunt Mary’s bad, what do you think your mother is going to do when she hears about this stunt Hazel tried to pull?” Thomas asked.

  As if by some magical mother’s intuition, Beckett’s cell phone started to buzz on the table. He let it ring.

  “I almost feel sorry for Hazel,” Riley said. “You know how bad Judy’s been wanting a grandchild. She even offered to be an honorary grandmother to our kids since you won’t do your duty. Your mama’s got a vicious streak. She’ll probably let the air out of Hazel’s tires for giving her false hope.”

  “Are you kidding?” Beckett said. “She’s been jumping for joy ever since we stopped seeing each other. It’s been almost two months and Mom still gives me a thumbs up whenever she sees me.” Beckett shook his head and they took a break to order their drinks and food. The waitress was one he’d never seen before, but she didn’t seem to mind Gladys’s gruffness. She seemed very efficient, though it was hard to miss the baby bump growing under her apron.

  He waited until their drinks were served before finishing the story. “I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was when Hazel stopped by the house one day while Mom was there. Then Hazel proceeded to tell her how precious she looked and that she really carried off the look well despite her age.”

  Riley and Thomas gave identical dumbfounded looks and Beckett grinned at the memory. “If Mom had been holding a butcher knife you’d have gotten a phone call to come help me hide the body. I’ve never seen her so mad.”

  “Is that why you broke up?” Thomas asked.

  “No, I broke up with her because she’s never read a book. Or watched anything other than reality TV. I don’t know who the Kardashians are. I don’t know why she kept talking about them or why I should care. I’m sure she’ll make someone a fine wife someday. Thank Christ it isn’t going to be me.”

  “She’ll figure it out soon enough,” Thomas said, shrugging the matter off. “I’m more interested to hear what your thoughts are on the newest business moving into town. Have you seen her yet?”

  “What business? Seen who?”

  Riley’s eyebrows almost went to his hairline in surprise. He slapped Thomas on the shoulder and grinned wide. “I can’t believe you haven’t heard. Judy is losing her touch.”

  “I haven’t seen my mother in almost a week. I’ve been neck deep in pregnant cows, vaccines, and broken balers. What the hell are you talking about?”

  “The little photography studio moving in next door to the sheriff’s office. Where that fancy cake decorating place was that tried to put the bakery out of business. Didn’t last two months with their high prices and snooty cakes.”

  “Cat’s already talking about getting an appointment for us to get family photos taken,” Thomas said, referring to his wife.

  “I hope she dresses you and the kids in matching sailor outfits,” Beckett said deadpan. “Now maybe one of you will explain why I should care about a photography studio. I’m sure it’ll do a great business. It’s smart of whoever put it in.”

  Thomas’s smirk was identical to his brother’s. “That’s what we’re trying to tell you. Marnie Whitlock is back in town. It’s her place. She showed up last week out of nowhere and offered Aunt Mary and Uncle James full market value if they’d sell her the little house she and her family lived in. They tore that place down after Marnie went with social services. Harley would never let them do repairs on the house so it eventually became uninhabitable.”

  Beckett hadn’t moved since the moment Thomas had said Marnie’s name. His body felt like lead, and his brain was slow to process the news. In fact, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. He could see Thomas’s lips moving, but he couldn’t hear the words. Only the blood rushing through his head and the sound of his heartbeat rabbiting in his chest.

  He’d thought about Marnie every day after she’d left. Then as the years passed he thought of her every other day. And then it lessened to a couple of times a week as life got busy. But he still thought of her. The last he’d heard she was living in Savannah, Georgia, and had made quite a name for herself.

  She’d been his first love. It had been wonder and fascination and innocence, and who knows if it would’ve lasted, but she’d had his complete focus from the moment he’d come home from college that summer until her life went to hell. He hadn’t had the guts to tell her then. She’d taken his breath away, and he’d wondered why it had taken him so long to notice.

  He’d come home from college feeling a little out of place in his parents’ home, wondering how things had changed so drastically. How he’d changed. And then he caught a glimpse of Marnie while he was visiting the MacKenzies one afternoon, and something clicked. She’d always been beautiful. Maybe it was the way the light hit her face or glinted off her hair. Whatever the case, he’d noticed. And that was all it took for her to occupy his every thought.

  There had just been something about her that had caught his attention and he couldn’t let it go. Maybe her laugh—how rare it was—but when she did it was full and deep and much too adult for someone so young. Or maybe it was those glimpses of the woman she’d be that drew him. Her hair was dark and thick as a mink’s pelt and her eyes were dark chocolate and slumberous. Her lips full and unpainted and her skin smooth and flawless. She was…different.

  From that moment he’d been desperate to see her. Almost like a compulsion. She’d haunted him for the last fifteen years. He hadn’t realized the horrors she’d lived with on a daily basis, and he’d hated himself that he hadn’t been able to stop it. There had been no good-byes between them. There hadn’t been time. One day the social services van had pulled up and she was gone, despite the fact that the MacKenzies had tried desperately to adopt her as their own.

  Beckett scooted out of the booth and slapped Thomas on the shoulder. “Thanks for buying my lunch. Gotta go.”

  He left the diner without looking back, and the sound of his friends’ laughter followed him out the door. His focus was intent as he stepped on the wooden sidewalk and stood in front of the vacant shop. He could hear the sound of a saw and someone swinging a hammer, but there was no sign of Marnie. He tried the knob, but it was locked, and disappointment rose up inside of him.

  For the majority of his life he’d thought of her. And when she’d left with social services he’d felt helpless, and guilt ate at him for not stopping Harley from taking her that night. He could’ve prevented the whole thing, but he just hadn’t been strong enough.

  He hadn’t known how to make contact with her or even if she’d want him to after he’d let her down like he had, but several years before, while he’d been sitting at his desk late at night going over the books for the ranch, she’d come into his mind. And for the first time he said to hell with her privacy and Googled her name.

  His jaw almost hit the floor when pages of information and photographs came up. Case after case she’d helped the police solve. He remembe
red how accurate she’d been the night she’d seen Harley kill Mitch Jones, and all he could think was what a terrible burden she must carry.

  He kept up with her as the years went on, as her photography was selected for gallery showings and pictures of her surfaced where she wore chic black dresses and held onto the arm of a man who looked at her like a prize. It was then he stopped checking on her. Seeing her with another man, in another life, hurt more than it had any right to.

  Beckett rattled the knob once more and then walked back to his truck. Some days it didn’t pay to go to lunch.

  Chapter Six

  Her return to Surrender was inevitable.

  For fifteen years Marnie had seen Surrender in her visions. They were sparse at first—her mind had only been so strong after she’d watched her parents die. And for the first time in her life she’d developed the control to stop the visions as they started—slamming down a heavy metal door in her mind. Trauma did strange things to the brain.

  They’d taken her away on her seventeenth birthday, so she’d only spent a year in foster care. It hadn’t been so bad. Actually, it had been pretty amazing. She’d had secondhand clothes that fit her and three meals a day. And there was never the hiss of the belt as it was pulled through belt loops or the sharp crack as it connected with flesh.

  She’d survived. And between scholarships and working full-time, she’d managed to make her way through college. She’d taken a photography course on a whim. A way to fulfill a fine arts credit and try something new. But instead she’d found a calling. A purpose. And a way to tell stories. There was always beauty through the lens, even when life wasn’t so beautiful.

  After college she’d ended up in Nebraska for a couple of years, then Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Never staying long in any one place. Never growing roots or making friends because there was an intimacy to friendship and relationships that wasn’t worth the pain or heartache. She’d learned that lesson well enough. She missed Darcy terribly. And the rest of the MacKenzies as well. They’d been her true family and she hadn’t even realized it. And then there was Beckett. Love like that wasn’t worth it in the long run. Nothing should be so painful.