by Reana Malori
Regina smiled at him again and shook her head. “Now I know where he gets it from.”
“And don’t you forget it,” he murmured, followed by a wink. “Now, how’s my boy doing with his reading, writing, and ’rithmetic?”
CHAPTER TWO
Regina walked into her ranch-style house and kicked off her shoes next to the front door. She was bone tired, but she was also on edge. The meeting with Riley’s father…Gavin…didn’t go quite like she expected, but it ended up better than she could have imagined.
Walking through the house, she turned on the television and went into the kitchen. Pulling the ingredients out to make grilled pork chops and mashed potatoes, she set about making her dinner. After a few minutes of listening to the evening news, she picked up the remote and turned off the television. She wasn’t in the mood for any depressing news stories. Instead, she put on some music to keep her company. Country music flowed through her home as she two-stepped back into the kitchen to finish cooking her meal.
After finishing her meal for one, her mind turned back to her meeting with Riley’s father earlier that day. The conversation with Gavin was eye-opening. Maybe she was far too serious. For a woman who spent most of her time with eight-year-olds, she should probably smile a bit more. Be less formal and a bit more fun.
Glancing around her modest home, she saw colors of beige, brown, and black. There weren’t any vibrant colors that showcased her personality. Not that anyone would see the inside of her home but her. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to do a little something that would make her happy.
Like agreeing to call Mr. Carpenter by his first name. Gavin.
When he’d walked in today and given his son a hug, her heart melted. She knew he was a single father, but didn’t know the reason why he was alone. Divorce or death? As she watched the super-sized man behave so gently with his much-smaller son, something broke free within her.
They’d had several interactions before, but this was something new and different. Maybe it was because he’d been dressed differently than normal. At their prior meetings, he’d always come in with slacks and buttoned-up shirts. Today, he’d been wearing well-worn jeans, cowboy boots, and a form-fitting T-shirt, with his black cowboy hat in hand.
If she thought he was sexy before, he was panty-dropping, lick-your-lips, take-me-now sexy today. Distracted by her thoughts of the sexy father, she didn’t hear her phone buzzing to indicate several text messages coming through. Not until the light of the phone caught her eye.
7:01pm: Regina, this is Gavin. I left a voicemail as well.
7:02pm: I was wondering if we could talk tonight.
7:04pm: Call me when you get this.
Regina read the messages and smiled. She wasn’t worried about how Gavin got her number. She gave it to all her parents at the beginning of the school year, in case they wanted to talk about their children’s progress.
A shy smile came over her face. Should she call him back tonight? Maybe she should wait until tomorrow. The smile fell from her face. Wait, what if this wasn’t about her at all, but about Riley? What if something had happened to him?
She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but that little boy had stolen a piece of her heart. She hoped he was okay.
Thoughts started to swirl through her mind. Gavin would only reach out by text if it were something important, so it had to be about Riley. Damn.
Pressing on the phone screen, she called Gavin, hoping and praying that Riley was all right.
“Hello.” His strong voice came through the phone. He didn’t sound frantic, but that didn’t mean anything. Maybe that’s just how he handled stressful situations.
“Hi. This is Ms. Perkins. I mean, Regina. Is everything okay with Riley?” She knew her voice wasn’t as calm as it should have been.
“I know who it is. Why do you think something is wrong with Riley?” he asked.
“Um…”
“Did you listen to my voicemail?”
“Well, no. I saw your text messages and decided to call right back. Figured if you were sending me a text that something had happened.” Now she felt stupid. She was only the teacher. She was sure Gavin had other people he could reach out to if there was an emergency.
“Hmmm, okay. Well, Riley is fine. He’s playing a game in the living room.”
“Oh, good. Sorry I panicked. Not sure what was going through my head.” She felt well and truly chastised for jumping to conclusions.
“It’s good to know that you care about your students and their well-being.” His deep voice seemed to be filled with humor.
“Yeah, well, hazards of the job. When I’m surrounded by beautiful children every day, I worry,” she admitted.
“Is that why you’re so serious all the time?”
“No. At least, I don’t think so. Is that why you called? To ask me why I’m so serious?” Her heart was beating faster now that they’d settled into a general conversation. Normally, she was a very bold and brave person, but something about Gavin Carpenter made her nervous. She turned into someone she didn’t recognize and it scared her because she didn’t know why.
“I called because I wanted to talk to you. Today was a start, but I knew we needed to connect outside of the classroom.”
“We really shouldn’t be connecting at all,” she countered.
He wouldn’t let it go. “Are there any rules against teachers getting to know the parents of their students?”
Regina refused to lie. “No, not that I’m aware of.” She bit her lip. That was a fair question.
“Is my attention unwelcome?” Another fair question.
She knew the answer she wanted to give. If she admitted to him that she was interested, what would that mean? Would he pursue her more? What if they started something and it went down in a ball of flames? She didn’t want Riley touched by adult mistakes.
“Maybe I should ask you a question instead,” she said, leaning her hip against her counter.
“Fire away.”
“Why now?” Lifting her glass to her lips, she took a sip of wine as her dinner continued to cool.
“Why now, what? I need you to clarify that for me,” he said.
She could hear him moving around, and figured he was getting settled in for their talk. A picture of him relaxing on his couch ran through her mind and she sighed.
“Why not? We’ve been fighting this for a while. Or at least, I know that I have. I’m used to going after what—and who—I want. And I know that I want you.”
At a loss for words, she stood there in shock for a few seconds as his words settled.
“But, why me? I don’t really look like your type of woman.” Not that she knew what kind of woman he liked, but the words had been said and it was too late to take them back.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded.
“You know what I mean. Don’t act as if you don’t.”
His deep breathing came through the phone and she thought he might now answer. “Regina, if you weren’t my type of woman, I sure as hell wouldn’t be on the phone with you right now. I wouldn’t have called you earlier and I damn well wouldn’t be making my intentions known.” He practically growled through their connection.
“Well, I had to ask,” she countered. Her face had a huge smile on it and, while he couldn’t see it, he could probably hear it in her voice.
“Woman, you have been torturing me ever since I met you. I tried to be good and stay away from you. I really did. But I can’t. So, I’m letting you know right now, I aim to make you mine.”
Her breath started coming out in deep exhales. How could one man make her body respond with just a few sentences? “Do you expect me to make it easy for you?”
“The only thing that’ll prevent you from being my woman is if you tell me, right now, that you don’t want me. That you’re not interested in what I have to offer. I won’t like it, but I’ll accept it.”
“You would? Not sure if walking away from something you want i
s in your blood.”
“Not normally. But when it comes to you—to this—I need you to want this just as much as I do.”
She wanted him more than anything. She’d been waiting for a moment like this and never dreamed it would happen. “I want this. I want to see what happens,” she whispered.
“A little louder, sweetness.” His voice had gone hoarse on the other end.
Clearing her throat, she raised her voice. “I want this. I want you.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear. Tomorrow is Friday. How about we meet for dinner? I have someone handling things over at the bar for me, so I have a night off.”
“What about Riley?”
“I have a regular babysitter who watches him for me. If you say yes, I’ll call her right now.”
A softness filled her voice, “Do I have a choice?”
“Darlin’, you always have a choice.”
God, she felt like melting into a puddle of water. How did she get in this situation? There must be a full moon tonight, because shit like this didn’t happen to her.
Feeling bold, she made her decision. “How about you pick me up at seven?”
“I’ll be there five minutes early if it’ll get me into your good graces.” At her low laugh, he continued, “Good night, Regina.”
“Good night, Gavin.”
******
Gavin wiped down the bar as music played in the background. Humming along, he kept one eye on the crowd in the back and another on the customers looking for the next round. The Long Shot had been open for six months now, and business was looking good and getting better every day. His place was a comfortable spot for military active-duty and veterans, the rough type who needed a spot where they wouldn’t be stared at all night, and those who simply wanted a down-to-earth place to have some fun.
When he’d first opened the doors to this place, he’d been scared shitless. What the hell did he know about running a business?
He’d actually reached out to his connections back in Kerrville for help. Taking a chance, he’d asked Sheriff Saucier if someone in his circle of family and friends could help with the logistics. He’d never asked for a favor in the past, but this was too important.
He’d been a little nervous that the sheriff would tell him to go pound sand. After all, Gavin wasn’t part of their crowd and he didn’t know the McCoy family, who owned the large Tebow Ranch, or the Saucier family as well as he should. When Sheriff Saucier had agreed to help him, he’d released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.
Within a short period of time, he’d gotten the help he needed, and more. He’d been grateful as hell and overjoyed that his mother had such good relations with everyone in town. He was positive that his family’s long-standing roots in Texas Hill Country counted for something and he sure as hell wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The bell tinkling over the door drew his attention to the new customer walking in and he grimaced. Fuck, he hissed under his breath. What was she doing here?
He greeted her in a flat tone. “Lou Ellen.”
“Gavin. How are you?” His son’s aunt returned the greeting in a sarcastic tone of her own.
“What the fuck are you doing in my bar?” he questioned. Civility be damned.
Her family blamed him for the death of Riley’s mother and not once had they ever let him forget it. Complications during his son’s birth resulted in her hemorrhaging on the delivery table. She’d never even had a chance to hold their son. While they hadn’t been married at the time, he was committed to her and the family they’d created. Over the years, he’d honored her memory with their son and respected that if she were alive, she’d want Riley to know her family.
But even with all his efforts, they still gave him shit every time he reached out an olive branch. In all these years, her family had seen Riley four, maybe five, times. Usually when they wanted something from Gavin, and wanted to use his son as the bargaining chip.
He’d finally put a stop to that bullshit a few years ago. They hadn’t been happy about it and made their disgust for him widely known. Which was just fine with him, because he wouldn’t lift a finger to help any of them.
Glaring at the woman standing in front of him today, he gritted his teeth and tried to stop himself from saying anything worse than he already had. Not one to usually speak this way to a woman, he knew her arrival didn’t bode well for his future. Shaking his head in disbelief, he almost wanted to laugh. If Lou Ellen was walking through his door, that meant Bertha Ann wanted something and had sent her daughter to try and get it. Fucking bullshit.
She stood at the bar and smiled at him. Makeup much too heavy for a casual visit, she was dressed in a pair of tight jeans and a too-tight T-shirt. Her light brown hair was curled and hung low down her back. Her outfit might seem thrown together for a daytime stroll, but he knew she’d made an effort to look like this before she came to see him today. Glaring at her, he waited for her to tell him why she’d shown up out of the blue. Hell, if she wasn’t so rotten inside, she could have been a very beautiful woman.
“Now, that’s no way to speak to family.”
“We’re not family. Are we? Your mother made that very clear the last time I picked up Riley from her house. Riley and I killed her precious daughter. Remember those words? That was the last thing she said to my five-year-old son as he was crying his eyes out,” he finished with a snarl.
Shaking her head at him, she waved her hand in front of her face as if to brush away his words. “You know my momma didn’t mean any of that. She was just angry. She goes through days when Tina’s death is just too much for her.”
“Don’t care. Like I said, we’re not family. Now get the fuck outta my bar.” Turning his back on her, he was determined to ignore the visual reminder of just how fucked up his life truly was. It was one thing to know that he’d been played a fool for years, it was something else to have it thrown in his face. Whatever she came here for, she’d have to ask for it. And then he’d revel in the chance to see her face when he told her no.
“I want to see my nephew,” she said in a loud voice. “You can’t keep him away from us.”
Gavin froze at the audacity of her words. He turned back to her and took two steps toward the bar. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy the fear that came over her face. He’d never hurt a woman in his life, but let her be afraid all she wanted. “Is that right? You don’t think I can keep you away from my son? Watch me.”
“That’s not fair, Gavin. He’s all we have left of her.” Turning her lips down in a frown, her bottom lip began to tremble.
He almost fell for the ploy. Then again, he knew her better than she thought. Lou Ellen hadn’t felt a day of remorse in her life.
He’d first met her when they were both in the military, just as he started his new tour at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. She worked at the administration building on base. When they both discovered they were from the same area, they’d become fast friends. Fast forward a few months—when a group of fellow Marines had gone to San Antonio for a long weekend, he’d joined along. Since his hometown was so close to the city, it also gave him a chance to visit his mother.
That fateful weekend so many years ago, Gavin had met Lou Ellen’s sister, Tina. He’d fallen hard for the sweet girl and from that moment on, she was the only girl for him.
She was everything he thought he wanted in life. When he’d returned to Camp Lejeune, they’d stayed in touch and fallen even deeper in love. Or so he thought.
When he found out she was pregnant a couple of months after they’d returned from a trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, he’d been overjoyed. She’d told him during a weekend when he’d come to visit her in San Antonio. While he might not have wanted to have a kid at such an early age, there was no way he was turning his back on Tina. They’d raise their child together and give him or her the kind of life he’d had with his own parents.
He’d fallen to his knees right then and
there and asked her to marry him, a huge smile covering his face. He’d called his momma right after she said yes, and told her the good news. For months, he’d walked on a cloud, confident that he would be the best father and husband ever.
He’d been a damn fool.
That feeling of euphoria faded soon after his son was born. There was nothing outward that would make him think anything was wrong. And the grief of losing Tina was unlike anything he’d ever known before. Her entire family was in shock, everyone was crying, and no one knew what to do from that point. They’d all been so lost.
Signing all the paperwork and placing his name on the birth certificate was fully expected. He’d happily signed everything he needed, going through the motions without thought. His only thought was getting his son home and deciding the best way to move forward.
It was something small and seemingly insignificant that caused the walls to come crumbling down around him. As a matter of course, hospitals run standard tests on all newborn babies. Riley had those same tests and had been given a clean bill of health. His son was thriving as expected, and he was scheduled to be released from the hospital.
And then Gavin saw his son’s blood type.
Little Riley’s blood type was B+, which stopped Gavin in his tracks. Reading over the information again and again, he racked his brain as he stared at the words they’d entered on the form.
Shaking his head in disbelief, he knew his eyes were playing tricks on him, due to grief and lack of sleep. But the longer he looked at the paper, the more he knew the truth.
Blood rushed to his head and his heart rate sped up. His stomach felt as if it had dropped to his feet. His breath became ragged and he began to hyperventilate. Practically falling into the chair behind him in the labor and delivery waiting room, he closed his eyes and accepted what he could no longer deny.
Riley wasn’t his child.
Gavin’s blood type was O+. And based on some conversations they’d had in the past, he knew that Tina had a blood type of A+. Those two blood type combinations could not have produced Riley. Any way he looked at it, there was no way it was medically possible. Gavin could no longer deny what was right in front of his eyes.