Kaitlyn held her hand to her belly as she turned and faced Wayne. He brought her into his arms and held her to his chest. Tears that had backed up inside of her spilled out and she couldn’t stop herself from sobbing against him.
“Harold was always nice to me,” Kaitlyn said as she cried. “He was known for his temper and a kind of craziness, but he was never mean to me. I just can’t believe all of this.”
It wasn’t just Harold. It was everything that had built up over the years that had kept her in the dark place for so long.
“It’s okay, honey.” Wayne rubbed her back with his hand and kissed the top of her head. “I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you.”
Kaitlyn pushed away from him and shook her head even as she looked down at the ground. “I can’t ask that of you.”
“Hey.” He caught her face in his hands and she met his blue eyes. “You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.”
She pulled back and wrapped her arms around her belly and turned away from him. “I can’t do it, Wayne. I just need to be alone.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Kait.” He rested his hands on her shoulders from behind her. “You were always there for me. I’m here for you.”
She shook her head, her face wet with tears. “Just go. Just leave me alone.”
“Kait—”
She turned to face him. “Leave me alone.” She whirled and ran toward the house.
Raindrops hit her face as the heavens opened it up and it started pouring. She practically ran up the porch stairs and into her home, and slammed the door behind her. She sagged against the door and slid down it so that she was sitting on the cold tiled floor.
Not only would she lose the house but she’d lose all of the property, too. Her father had saved a lot of cash and had named her sole beneficiary of a modest life insurance policy, but she’d been forced to use much of it to pay off her ex-husband’s gambling debts. At least she’d divorced Steven before her father passed on or he would have received half of the inheritance.
It would use up her savings and she would have nothing to live off of if she had to go buy another house.
If what Harold said was true, she would have no home she could call hers.
She wrapped her arms around her bent knees and pressed her face to her thighs. And cried.
Wayne stared at the door, a war going on inside of him. He wanted to charge into Kaitlyn’s home, hold her, and make her tell him all that was wrong. It was more than just her cousin trying to take her property from her. There was something deeper going on.
Rain dripped from the brim of his worn straw western hat as he looked at the front door and tried to figure out what to do about Kaitlyn.
Truth was he didn’t know what to do. She’d always been strong, someone others relied on. Seeing her like this… He clenched his hands at his sides. He felt so damned helpless. All he did know was that he needed to talk to her. Needed her to know that he cared.
When he’d made up his mind, he stood in the back of the horse trailer, out of the rain for a moment to make a couple of calls, and then he shoved the phone back into its holster. At least the phone was waterproof.
He looked over everything around him. It was a big trailer and it was nearly packed full. Harold Barrett and his friend must have been at it from late last night, some time after Wayne and Kaitlyn had driven by. He was surprised Harold and his helper had still been at Kaitlyn’s home this morning.
His mind turned to last night and the thought of having her in his arms again. All evening he had sensed something sad about her that hadn’t been there before. But when they’d been together, it was the Kait he knew in bed with him.
The downpour had soaked him to the skin long ago. When he’d found Kaitlyn’s note, he hadn’t stopped to grab a jacket, he’d just needed to get to her.
And he needed to go to her now.
Chapter 6
Wayne headed out of the horse trailer and toward the house, his boots sinking into the ground that had grown soft from the rain. He climbed the porch steps to the front door and he rapped his knuckles against the old wood.
“Kait,” he said. “It’s me.”
Silence was all he heard, and then Kaitlyn’s muffled voice. “I told you I don’t want to talk.”
“That’s just fine, honey,” he said. “But do you mind letting me get out of the rain for a bit?”
Another silent pause before the door handle rattled and then the door swung open. He didn’t see her for a moment but then his eyes adjusted to the dimness of the house. Her eyes were red and swollen, the sadness he’d sensed was even greater than before.
“Come on in out of the rain,” she said quietly.
“Don’t want to mess up the house,” he said, aware of water dripping from him.
“You’re not going to hurt anything since the floor is tiled. Not that it would matter one way or another. We have to get you dry.” She turned and headed down the hallway that he knew led to the bedrooms. “I’ll get some towels,” she called over her shoulder.
His boots thumped on the tile as he stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. Water ran in rivulets down his clothing onto the tile. He took off his wet hat and looked around. There wasn’t a lot he didn’t know about this house if it hadn’t changed much since he was here last, some eight years ago, except that a lot of the antiques and heirlooms that had been in the house were gone, probably loaded up in the trailer.
The Mexican tile was new but everything that was left seemed older, as if more time had passed than really had. But her father had kept the house in good repair.
The same leather couches and furniture that had been made to look like it was from old, weathered boards was in the living room. In one corner was the ancient wood stove giving off heat. Kaitlyn must have started it up while he was taking care of the horse trailer.
“Here.” She returned with an armload of towels and set them on a rocker. She took one and handed it to him before taking his hat out of his other hand and hanging it on a wooden chair.
He wiped his face and neck with the towel. The hat had covered his hair so it was about the only thing that wasn’t wet, with the exception of his socks.
She left the room while he was drying off and she came back with a pile of clothing. “Here are some things for you to change into,” she said. “Daddy was a big man. Maybe some of his clothes will fit you.”
At first he almost told her that he was fine, that he was going to be getting wet again, anyway, once they started unloading the trailer. But he wanted to hold Kaitlyn and get her to talk with him.
He toed off his boots and she watched as he stripped out of his clothing. She bit her lower lip and turned away when he pushed down his boxer briefs.
“Since when have you gone all shy on me?” he said in a teasing voice as he pulled on the jeans along with a flannel shirt that she’d brought for him.
She looked back at him as he buttoned the jeans. He left the flannel shirt open, not bothering to button it up yet and left his boots off for the time being. He dried the floor with the towels after he finished dressing.
He moved closer to her and gently pushed hair behind her ear. “Why don’t we sit down and talk for a bit?”
She shook her head but went with him when he led her to the couch. He smiled as he remembered the times when they were teenagers and had made out in that spot when her father had been away from home.
He made her sit with him and pulled her into his arms. She resisted at first but then relaxed, her cheek resting on his bare chest as he stroked her silky hair.
“Tell me about it, honey.” He continued stroking her as she remained quiet. He paused long enough to kiss her on the top of her head and breathe in her scent. “I want to know what is bothering you so much that you’d run away from me at first light.”
It was a long moment before she spoke. “I’m not in a good place, Wayne, and I’m not going to bring you or anyone else down with me.
Last night was a mistake and I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I won’t let it happen again.”
“Tell me why,” he said. “Help me understand.”
She let out a deep shuddering breath. “It’s all wound up so tight I almost can’t separate one thing from another. Now Harold and everything he said is wound up with the rest of it.”
Anger burned at the nape of Wayne’s neck. “What did he say?”
“That I’m not real family.” Her voice held an ache and sorrow in it.
“What the hell did he mean by that?” Wayne said.
“You know.” She sighed. “It’s because I’m adopted.”
He’d completely forgotten that. It had never mattered to anyone. She was a Barrett and that was that.
“You sure as hell are real family.” He clenched his teeth before he spoke. “Don’t let that bastard get to you.”
“Not only did he say that the house isn’t mine, he said that the things from our grandmother that are in this house don’t belong to me.” Her breath seemed to catch. “That no one in our family believes that I should have them…because I’m not a Barrett by blood.”
Bastard, Wayne thought. He’d like to get his hands on Harold Barrett again and knock the living shit out of him.
“You know that your parents and your grandparents loved you,” Wayne said. “You were their daughter and granddaughter in every way that mattered.”
“It made me wonder,” she said, her voice low, “if the reason why my dad was so distant to me over the years after my mom died. Was it because I wasn’t his blood?”
Wayne squeezed her tight to his chest. “You just get that right out of your mind. You know that’s not true.”
“Do I?” She tilted her face to look up at him, her gray eyes large and luminous. “Do I really know that?”
“Yes.” He caressed her upper arm. “Your daddy loved you. He was the kind of man who just didn’t know how to show it.”
She frowned and rested her head back on his chest again and he couldn’t see her eyes any longer.
“What else is bothering you?” he asked. “There’s more than that ass, Harold Barrett, that’s bothering you.”
“I’ve just been through a lot.” She tensed in his arms. “None of it is easy to talk about.”
“Come on, honey. Try,” he said.
He almost couldn’t hear her as she spoke. “All of the men in my life have hurt me in some way. My father, my ex-husband, now Harold…”
“And me.” Anger rose up in Wayne, anger at himself. “I hurt you.”
“No,” she said, but her voice was small.
“Don’t lie to me, Kait.” He had to try and keep his voice calm. “I know what I did, and I am so damned sorry.”
When she didn’t say anything, he said, “What did your ex-husband do to you?” The thought of the man hurting her made him ache with fury.
“He knew how to use words to cut me to the quick.” The strain in her voice was clear. “He berated me about everything from the way I looked to how I fixed dinner. He constantly told me how worthless I was. And then…and then…” Her voice trailed off and he felt moisture on his bare chest from where a tear had trickled.
The rage inside Wayne was almost beyond control. He wanted the bastard’s name, number, and address, and then he was going to beat the sonofabitch until he wouldn’t know his own damned name.
“And then what?” Wayne tried to control his tone so that she wouldn’t catch the murderous fury inside of him.
“I had a miscarriage.” She whispered the words as more tears wet his chest. “He blamed me and made my life a worse hell than it already was.”
“I’m so damned sorry, honey.” He cradled her tight to his chest. “You’ve been through so much.”
“I didn’t want to bring you down with me.” She pushed herself away from him and met his gaze. “I shouldn’t have told you all of this. It’s not fair of me.”
“Of course you should tell me,” he said. “You should always share with me what’s going on. What hurts you. Like I told you, I’m here for you.”
Kaitlyn straightened on the couch and wiped tears away with the backs of her hands. She felt lighter after talking to Wayne, but at the same time she felt guilty for burdening him with her pain. He didn’t need that. Didn’t deserve that.
“Stop it.” He caught her wrists in his hands and she looked at him in surprise. “I can hear what’s going on in your head. You’re beating yourself up. Don’t do that.”
She looked down and away. He let go of one of her wrists and captured her face in one hand and brought her back to look at him. “It’s a new day. You’re away from that bastard who abused you. You’re with people who love you and will always be there for you.”
“People like Harold?” she said bitterly. “My own family?”
“People like me.” Wayne gave her a hard look. “People like Aunt Grace, my brothers, my sister. We love you, have never stopped loving you. Will always love you.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly.
He squeezed her shoulders and she felt a lightness she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
Her mind turned back to Harold who had claimed that his father owned the house. “Harold said that he has the deed to the property.” She turned it over in her mind. “That can’t be true, can it? I’m the heir according to the will.”
Wayne frowned. “I don’t know, honey. I think we need to talk to a lawyer. If you don’t have one, I’ll have you talk to the lawyer who has handled our family’s affairs. He’s great. You’re not in this alone, Kaitlyn Barrett. I’m right here.”
The way that Wayne said it gave her a feeling inside that she couldn’t define. Like she wasn’t alone anymore.
She heard the sound of a truck motor and stood up from the couch. “Is that Harold?”
“Probably help arriving,” Wayne said as he stood, too. “While I was outside I called in reinforcements. I figured we’re going to need the help to get this trailer unloaded by five.”
“Thank you.” She went to the window and saw three trucks coming down her driveway. “You must have called in the army.”
Wayne laughed. “Just the family.”
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled. “Yes, an army.” She looked down at what she had on. “I’m wearing the same clothes as last night and I don’t want to ruin this blouse. I’ll be right back after I change.”
After putting on a pair of faded blue jeans and a T-shirt, Kaitlyn hurried back into her living room. The door was open and Danica was carrying in the jewelry box that Harold had taken away from her.
“Hi.” Kaitlyn took the jewelry box and set it aside before giving Danica a hug. “Thank you for coming,” she said.
“Of course.” Danica smiled. “That’s what friends are for.”
Wyatt, Dillon, Zane, and Jessie had come to help and there was laughing and talking as everything was brought in from the horse trailer. The tile floor was soon wet and muddy—nothing could help that with a storm and people going in and out.
Kaitlyn found herself smiling and talking with everyone. Her spirits felt lighter with them around. Someone helping her. The easy way that they talked to her, like she’d never left, made her feel at home.
Her cousin’s claims were always at the back of her mind, but she kept them there and let herself concentrate on the moment. For now she was getting everything back in order and then she would face what coming battles were on the horizon.
When it was close to lunch, they were almost finished unloading the trailer. Kaitlyn had everyone stack the boxed items up so that she could go through each box one by one. A part of her was afraid that Harold really could prove the house was his. She didn’t know what she’d do if that was true.
After the trailer was unloaded and they had cleaned up the mud and water off of the floor, Kaitlyn insisted on fixing lunch for everyone. Danica and Jessie helped.
Kaitlyn didn’t have a whole lot of groceries since she was
living on her own, but she did have hamburger, corn tortillas, cheese, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and salsa, so they made tacos and had them along with iced tea. They used paper plates, paper napkins, and plastic ware, so there wasn’t much to clean up afterward.
As they ate, Kaitlyn was amazed at how easy it was to fall into conversation and laughter with the Camerons and to feel like she belonged.
Maybe this was the beginning of healing.
Maybe it was her new beginning.
After eating, the Camerons hugged Kaitlyn, told her to call if she needed anything, then left. Wayne stayed for a while longer. Just as he was getting ready to leave to get back to his ranch, they heard the sound of an engine outside.
“Someone’s coming up the drive,” he said as he pulled aside a curtain and looked out the window. He frowned. “It looks like Harold’s truck…and I think it’s the sheriff behind him.”
Kaitlyn’s stomach twisted with dread. “That can’t be good.”
Wayne didn’t say anything as he let the curtain fall back into place. He looked at her and held out his hand. She took it, grateful for the solid, comforting feeling it gave her to have him there.
They went out onto the porch. Harold parked his truck in front of the house and waited for the sheriff to pull up beside him. When the sheriff climbed out of his cruiser, Harold got out as well.
Both men walked through the rain to the porch. Harold’s face was bruised and he had the beginning of a black eye. He’d wiped away all traces of blood and had changed into a clean shirt.
Kaitlyn was rigid with tension, even with Wayne at her side. He had one hand resting on her shoulder and he squeezed as if to let her know that he was there for her. Her heart beat hard and she set her jaw.
The sheriff was good looking in a hard, sexy way. He was a large man, tall, and filled out his jeans and leather jacket well. He had his badge on his belt and he carried what looked like a clipboard with some kind of rain protection over it.
When the sheriff and Harold were at the foot of the stairs, the sheriff said, “Mind if we join you?”
Lace & Lassos Page 5