The Real Deal (It Started in Texas Book 4)

by Lee, Liz

  They didn’t interrupt. They drank and ate and let her speak.

  When she was done, they looked at each other and Becky sat back and nodded toward Meg. “This one is all yours. No way am I dishing out relationship advice.”

  Patty totally understood. She turned to Meg. Meg stirred her drink as if thinking about how to say the perfect words and Patty waited with baited breath. Meg would have The Answers.

  Meg finally looked at her and said the exact wrong thing. “What do you think, Patty?”

  Ugh! “That’s the whole point. I have no idea.”

  Meg stirred her drink again, sipped it then looked at Becky before turning back to Patty and shrugging. “Sure you do. Right now you’re thinking something. What is it?”

  Patty’s mind went blank. Completely, totally blank at the question. And then it filled back up with a million warring emotions. Terror, excitement, curiosity, wishfulness, wariness all combined with a lifetime of memories.

  She looked down where her hands were clutched tightly in her lap and then back at Meg and Becky. “I’m confused, I guess, more than anything.”

  Meg nodded. “That makes sense. When you’re not confused, you’ll know what to do.”

  “Meg, how does that help?” Becky said with exasperation.

  But Patty got it. Meg was right. It was okay to be confused right now.

  “As long as I don’t lie to myself or to Sam.”

  Meg nodded. “Yeah. I think that’s key.”

  Patty wanted to hug Becky and Meg and maybe the bartender. She might not have all the answers, but she knew more than when she walked in.

  “Thanks, girls. Y’all are total lifesavers.”

  “Red Pen Intervention for the win,” Becky said.

  And they all laughed.

  Chapter 10

  A week later Patty walked into the school and sighed when she saw an office full of kids before the day had even started. Becky was assigning d-halls and on-campus suspensions and the campus police officer was filling out paperwork on his iPad.

  When Becky caught her eye, Patty smiled.

  “Hey there, boss lady. One, you look hot. I’d pay a million dollars to be able to pull off that skirt. Two, I just put a mom in the conference room. She’s been court ordered to attend classes with her daughter, but while she was parking the car her daughter ditched.”

  Terrific.

  Patty tried to focus on the positive. At least she looked good. She’d spent too much on the black pencil skirt and violet sheath, but her one and only black suit jacket went with it. And the lavender and sage scarf was the perfect accessory. The students said the black heels made her look like a boss, which Cadyn had informed her was a good thing that had nothing to do with being a supervisor.

  Patty locked the black purse she’d changed to in the filing cabinet, said hello to the kids in line, and reminded them they had forty-eight hours to serve their d-halls, and then she headed to the conference room, but her walkie-talkie started squawking informing her of a fight in progress in the parking lot.

  Glorious.

  She followed the officer and the stream of students all armed with phones recording whatever they could catch to be shared in seconds with the rest of the world. She’d deal with the phone infractions later. Somehow the kids knew about fights before they happened. She ordered kids back to the building while the officer and a coach, thank God, broke up the fight.

  Good news – the mom in the conference room would know her daughter’s whereabouts in minutes. Bad news – the daughter had just crossed the line of third violent offense. She would be sent to the alternative campus for six weeks if not longer. But first she was going to juvenile detention, which meant paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. If this was a bullying case, Patty was going to need a drink. Something stronger than a margarita.

  “Her mom’s in the conference center,” Patty said to the officer. “I’ll let her know what’s up.”

  The rest of the day ran pretty much the same.

  When lunch duty hit, Patty wanted to close her office door and hide. But according to experts a visible administrative presence often made a difference in the halls, and far be it from her to challenge the experts.

  She finished the last of her paperwork and started out of the office, but Becky stopped her.

  “Cadyn didn’t show for English. Thought you ought to know.”

  Of course.

  Patty closed her eyes, counted to ten, and fought the dread in her stomach. When she opened her eyes she rubbed the tension in her forehead and asked Becky to check and see if Nick Cannon had made it to his class after lunch.

  Becky didn’t blink, but Patty saw the surprise on her face before she checked on the attendance program.

  “Says he was present, but there are a lot of subs today so you never know.”

  Wonderful.

  “Nick Cannon, huh?” Becky said interested and worried all at the same time, and Patty sighed.

  “I’m afraid so.” With that she left the office and went in search of her daughter.

  Only she came face-to-face with Nick instead.

  “Ms. Jackson,” Nick said, and Patty wanted to ask him why the heck Cadyn was suddenly skipping classes.

  Instead she said, “You wouldn’t happen to know where Cadyn is, would you, Nick?”

  The sudden worry on Nick’s face made it clear he didn’t. One good thing today. Maybe. Or an awful thing. Because at least if she were with Nick, that would make some sort of sense.

  “I can find out,” he said whipping his phone from his back pocket and texting her daughter.

  Within seconds he had a reply, and Patty saw the indecision on his face. To tell or not to tell.

  He texted something else and sighed when Cadyn answered right away. Obviously permission to tell had been granted.

  “She’s with a friend at the free clinic.”

  It took a few seconds for Patty to comprehend his words.

  The free clinic.

  Where girls went for birth control and pregnancy tests.

  Spots danced in front of her eyes.

  “No,” Nick said shaking his head vehemently when he saw her face. “Not for her. Geez, Ms. Jackson. Cadyn and I just started talking. She’s got the lead in the play and she’s a cheerleader. When would we have time?”

  Okay. He had her there.

  Patty’s breath returned to normal, and she tried to think of Cadyn like she would if she were anyone other than her daughter. She couldn’t do it, though.

  “I told her you’re not happy,” Nick said. “And she said she’s been trying to text you for the last hour. She said it was an emergency.”

  He looked at his phone again, and then turned it off. “And I’m going to go into the office now to turn in my paperwork that shows I finished my community service hours. I’ll…uh…catch you later.”

  Patty knew she should apologize for putting him in the middle of family drama. Instead she followed him to the office and simply said, “Thank you, Nick.”

  When she fished her phone out of her purse and saw Cadyn’s fifteen texts and one voicemail, she felt foolish first and then worried.

  She knew the anger would hit later, but for now it was on the back burner.

  Back by 8th. With a doctor’s note. I know actions have consequences. And should have asked first, but she NEEDED me. And logged in to class website to get work and not fall behind. And why do you have a phone if you’re not going to check it, Mom? And sorry I should have asked. And no fair to stop Nick coming over because he NEEDS us. And if I get dumped from play and cheer for this, it will suck. And SERIOUSLY, why do you have a phone, Mom?!?!

  And a selfie so she could see she really was at the clinic, like that made Patty feel an iota better?

  And I am soooooooooooo thankful I have a mom like you who talks to me about birth control. And FYI condoms aren’t 100 percent. And OMG, Mom, the disease pamphlets are worse than health class. And I need the HPV shots.

  The last
message was just a long series of I’m sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, Mom. I know I should have stopped by, but there was a fight, and you were busy and Dad didn’t answer. I love you. I’m sorry, sorry, sorry. And I’ll be back before school’s out, I think. Maybe. I’m sorry. I love you. Bye.

  Condoms weren’t one hundred percent. One of Cadyn’s friends was pregnant. Jesus Lord God.

  Patty’s stomach fell to her toes and she tried not to panic. Cadyn had been completely matter of fact. And apologetic. And she was going to be back before school got out. Supposedly.

  Logic didn’t work.

  Patty still felt like crap.

  When Becky buzzed her to tell her Sam was on line one, Patty closed her eyes at the war inside her. She wanted to talk to him, to vent, to freak out for just a minute instead of always being the adult, always being the one to make the tough parenting calls. But she was afraid, too. Afraid that if she gave any at all, she’d fall apart, and that was not an option.

  “Got it,” she called out, and with that she sat behind her desk, hit the blinking light and waited to hear the one voice she’d wanted to hear all day, if she were being honest. The one voice she knew could make her feel better.

  Only it didn’t.

  “Patty?”

  Dammit. He knew better than to sound anything other than completely sure of himself. The question at the end of her name was going to set off all of Patty’s alarm bells. Her sixth sense was wicked.

  “Sam?”

  Spit it out. Just say it and get it over with.

  “Cadyn was just here. With a friend. Not Nick. And I called to excuse her absence from school without checking with you first.”

  Long silence. Crap. This was bad. Hellacious bad. But Cadyn had shown up with her friend in tears and she’d had a doctor’s note and an excuse that sounded perfectly sane and they were going to the girl’s house to meet with her parents because that was the right thing to do.

  And he hadn’t thought. He’d just picked up the phone and called it in and when Cadyn walked out the door he’d known he’d screwed up bad.

  “You. Called. An. Excuse. To. This. School. And. Didn’t. Talk. To. Me. First.” Patty fired off the words like bullets, not even bothering to disguise her anger.

  Yeah. Dumb.

  “I’m an idiot,” he said, which they had established often over the last several years. “Her friend…” Jesus he didn’t even want to think about it.

  “Is. Pregnant.”

  Okay. So she knew.

  “Yeah. And, I don’t know, it just made sense. She said you were having a craptastic day at work. Something about videos posted to youtube and potential lawsuits and your shoes not being right for days like this. And both girls were crying, no, they were sobbing, and…yeah. I screwed up.”

  Again with the silence. If he knew Patty, she was probably doing that count to ten thing she did to try to control her anger. She should just blow up at him. But that wasn’t the way Patty worked, and he respected that.

  “You can not just make these decisions without talking to me, Sam.”

  Okay, she was pissed. And he got that. But come on. “Patty, I agree I should have called you and run the whole thing by you. But it wasn’t the wrong decision. The friend is devastated and I’ve got to say I’m proud of Cadyn for standing up for her, and knowing you were in the middle of a disaster, she came to me because she knew she needed to get the school thing cleared up. Now she’s with her friend at her friend’s house, waiting to talk to the parents and she needs to stay there because it’s the right thing to do.”

  Another long silence. Shit. Sam could see all the forward progress he’d made with Patty washing away.

  “Patty, come on. Look at the positives.”

  A long sigh sounded over the line. And when Patty spoke she didn’t sound mad, she just sounded resigned and that worried him worse than anger.

  “Sam, I don’t see all that many positives. I’m going to let you go. Goodbye.”

  And with the click of the line, Sam knew what he had to do next. Patty wasn’t going to like it, but it needed to happen.

  First he texted Cadyn and told her to stay scarce until 5ish. And then he made the trek to his old house, let himself in with the key he’d had forever and waited.

  An hour later Patty looked at Meg and Becky after explaining everything and waited for their response. They were sitting in Meg’s office with its cool blue walls. Everything nice and neat. No paper out of place. A bulletin board of photos on one wall. Positive life quotes on the other.

  The place had a calming effect, which was why Meg had suggested they meet there after school when Patty sent the SOS text.

  “I would be so pissed at him,” Becky said.

  God, she so was. Patty nodded. “You have no idea.”

  Becky’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Wait. You’re mad right now? You are freakishly calm for a mad person.”

  One of her may fine attributes. But on the inside Patty didn’t feel calm. She felt like she was breaking apart.

  “Let’s separate the two issues,” Meg said. “On the one hand, Sam is right. Put yourself in Cadyn’s shoes. What would you have done?”

  That was beside the point.

  “She could have been in an accident or worse.”

  Meg nodded. “True. But that could happen any time. She should have told you, but she acted out of concern for a friend, and she didn’t do anything reckless in taking those actions. If she had pulled Nick into it or even another friend, maybe. But in the end what she did was pretty heroic.”

  Of course it was. Damn Sam Jackson. Patty gritted her teeth to keep from saying what she was thinking because the whole I don’t need any more heroes in my family, thank you very much, sounded insane.

  “Sam should have called you first, though. You’re right about that.”

  Vindication.

  “I don’t know,” Becky said grabbing a piece of Anderson House chocolate covered toffee from the bowl on Meg’s desk. “I mean two girls crying, one pregnant. I bet he was waaayyyyyyy out of his element.”

  Yeah. He was. But it didn’t excuse his actions.

  “Have you two talked about parental roles since the divorce?”

  “We haven’t talked much about anything,” she said suddenly feeling very much like a failure as a mother. “The whole hero thing kind of got in the way. And when he got back, it was just easier to go forward. Let things work themselves out.”

  Meg covered her hand with hers. “Now might be a good time to visit that topic. Meet Sam for coffee, someplace public so his whole quest to win you back doesn’t get in the way.”

  Becky sighed. “His quest. That’s romantic. I’d say meet someplace public so you don’t accidentally jump that sexy man’s bones after the fight you’ve got coming.”

  Patty couldn’t help but smile as she rolled her eyes at Becky. The comment made her feel light inside. Humor was a very good thing.

  “Fighting is a waste of energy,” she said. “I’ll talk to Sam and everything will be fine. In fact, I’ll go to his place now and explain in no uncertain terms why he can never make these kinds of decisions without talking to me first.”

  Now that she’d made the decision she felt a thousand times better. That’s what having a plan could do for a person.

  “I can think of a lot better ways you could waste energy with that man of yours than fighting, but whatever,” Becky said snagging another piece of chocolate.

  “You have a one track mind,” Patty said hugging Becky.

  “I don’t know how you don’t with him on that whole quest thing. It’s like you’re Guinevere and he’s Lancelot.”

  Good God she hoped not. Obviously Becky didn’t remember how that story ended. Still Patty understood the sentiment.

  She reached down and grabbed her purse. Smiled at Meg because Meg was not a hugger.

  “Thanks a million, Meg.”

  “I’m not a real counselor, but I play one on TV.”

  T
hey all laughed when she held up a hand, stopped and said, “Oh wait.”

  Patty started to leave the office but not before Meg gave one last piece of advice. “You told us about the whole not being exactly honest with Sam thing. You need to tell him the truth about what you’re feeling right now, Patty. Not to get back with him or anything like that, but just to be okay in here,” she said patting her chest over her heart. “You know?”

  Patty swallowed the overwhelming grief that hit her at Meg’s words and simply nodded before leaving the office.

  When she pulled her car in front of the apartment she worried. His truck wasn’t there.

  Stupid. She should have called before coming over. As it was he was probably out working some freelance gig that put him in the middle of gangland central or on the scene of some awful malfunction that would get him blown to bits.

  Sam lived for the adrenaline rush of covering breaking news. The more dangerous, the better. He’d grown into the job and she’d thought he’d grown out of it. And then when he’d left on the last assignment the simple truth hit. Sam Jackson couldn’t stop the job. It was part of him.

  So she had to suck it up and accept it or walk away. She’d walked away absolutely sure it was the right decision. Now she was so conflicted. Crap like this helped her know she’d done the right thing.

  On the way to her house Patty hit every red light. Two blocks from her house a teenager ran a stop sign and nearly killed her. When she turned on her block ninety-year-old Mr. Sorenson didn’t look behind him while backing out of his drive. Just whooshed back in his Crown Victoria like he thought he was headed to a racetrack. She’d slammed the brakes to stop a collision. He never even knew she was there. Just waved as he drove on by, which was funny because Patty was pretty sure the man couldn’t see all that well.

  And then when she finally made it home, joy of all joys, she found Sam’s truck at her house.

  Didn’t it just figure. Ugh.

  Patty hit the garage door opener and pulled into her spot. The other side of the garage was as empty as it was when he actually lived in the house. He never parked in the garage.