He thought of the other blond, the one whose image infiltrated his dreams occasionally despite his embarrassing best man display—what, nine months ago? Nicole ‘Niki’ Reeves—tall and lusciously curvy with gorgeous green eyes. She’d been on his mind lately, and he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe his approaching birthday had given him a pitiful case of nostalgia about the one that got away. He groaned to himself, wondering how the hell he’d made it to forty-two. He’d had a couple of nights of fun with Nik, sure, as he had with lots of women before and since—but the memories of that lady had some definite staying power. Six years his junior, she’d be either thirty-four or thirty-five now depending on her birthday.
He’d swallowed his pride a month after the wedding and gone to her place in an attempt to explain his actions and ask for her forgiveness. That’s when her roommate informed him she’d moved to St. Louis permanently in order to help her mom care for her father. One more round in the continuous pattern of suck-timing. He wondered if she still lived there. He’d made it a point never to discuss her with Mitch or Meagan when he spoke to them—his effort to avoid putting either of them on the spot. Did she have anyone special in her life? Mitch hadn’t mentioned it, but then again, he wouldn’t—not unless she’d married, or had a kid of her own—some kind of major milestone like that. All this time he’d figured no news was good news, meaning Nik was still single.
Tex backed out slowly, and then made his way to the parking lot’s exit. He paused for passing traffic and reached for his phone to pull up Mitchell’s number. Maybe the time had come to ask a few questions—one old jarhead to another. Tapping the button, he put the phone to his ear.
He caught his reflection in the mirror and shook his head at the tanned face, with his mom’s
eyes and his dad’s dimples staring back at him. “Yeah, you still got it, dumbass. Too damn bad the only one you ever wanted doesn’t want a damn thing to do with it.”
* * * * *
The next day, around 9:00 a.m.
Nicole Reeves knocked on her best friend’s front door and waited. Within seconds, it opened, revealing her ex-roomie’s husband, former Marine, Mitchel Hebert. She pushed her sunglasses up onto her head and grinned. “Hey there—I was just in the neighborhood …”
His face lit up at the sight of her and he pulled the door open. “Nik! What the hell are you doing here? Meagan didn’t say anything about you coming down for a visit.”
She stepped into his open arms for a big bear hug. “I didn’t tell her. I’m just passing through and wanted to stop in for a quick visit. Where is the harpy, anyway?”
His face fell. “This is one of those times when a phone call would have helped. She left early this morning to hit that big flea market a couple of towns over. She won’t be back until late this afternoon. And I just dropped Buck off at a friend’s house for an all-day birthday party.”
She frowned. “You mean I’m stuck with you?”
His mouth twisted in a grin. “One little phone call would have prevented this. Come on in, anyway.” He stepped aside to let her in and shut the door behind her. “What the hell brings you all the way to Monroe, Louisiana?”
Niki entered the coziness of the home, recognizing many of the photos and decorations from when she, Meg, and Buck had shared a three bedroom house back in Lake Coburn. A feeling of belonging seeped through her, making her long for days past. “I’m starting a new job in San Antonio next week. I just got the offer yesterday to replace someone who had to leave suddenly for health reasons. I needed a change so I said yes.”
“So, you’ll be working and living in Texas—who’d have thought . . .”
The smugness in his tone got her attention. “Spit it out, Marine. I’ve seen that look too many times and I know it means you’re sitting on something.” One side of his mouth lifted in that quirky, endearing grin of his. She loved the guy like a brother—a good thing, since he made her soul-sister so flipping happy—but his habit of knowing too much and sharing far too little irritated the living hell out of her. “Mitchell . . .”
He gave her a casual shrug. “You in Texas—San Antonio, at that—so close to a certain ranch in Blanco.” He sucked in air through his teeth and cocked his head. “Sounds interesting, is all.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and led her into the kitchen. “I just made a pot of coffee. Want a cup?”
“Do Texans love football? That’s a big hell yeah, and I hope it’s good and strong.”
“Meg claims it’ll eat through the silverware’s plating.”
“Perfect—I’ve been on the road since midnight, with a couple of breaks to stretch my legs and grab some grub.” She lifted her nose and sniffed. “Do I smell brownies?”
He pointed to the table in the cozy breakfast nook. “Meagan’s been up since before dawn. Said she couldn’t sleep so she did some baking. Sit, I’ll get you a couple of brownies and a cup of coffee.”
“I’ve got to visit the little girls’ room first. I’ll be back.” Minutes later, Niki stood before the sink washing her hands. She took the time to fluff her shoulder length hair and rub a little smeared eyeliner from the corner of one eye. She frowned, studying the lines of exhaustion on her face. “You’re looking rough, Nik. Travelling does not suit you at all. Oh well . . .” She shrugged it off, knowing there wasn’t a damn person that needed impressing in this house.
Niki headed back out to the kitchen, groaning at the sight of a full mug of coffee and a plate of brownies. She sat and crossed her legs before taking a cautious sip of the steaming liquid, rolled her eyes in pure bliss. “God, that’s good. You’re an angel.” She bit into one chewy, chocolatey brownie, and nodded, recognizing her own recipe. “I taught Megs well.”
“That you did.” Mitch patted his belly. “I’m finding it harder to keep the belly at bay with all her good cooking.”
“What a load of crap. Not about her cooking, of course. But that,” she pointed to Mitchell’s still-fit physique. “Is a far cry from ‘dad bod’. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” She sat back and gave him a silent perusal, waiting for him to share whatever was on his mind.
“You two must have some kind of mystical link.”
“We are soul sisters—house mates for years—hell, our menses are still synchronized, even from two states away.”
“That’s—is that a thing?” Mitch frowned at her vigorous nod, eventually waving it off. “I find that disturbing as hell, but I’m talking about you and Tex.”
Niki narrowed her gaze at the man sitting across from her. “Why would you say that?”
Mitch’s grin turned smug. “He called me yesterday. We talked for a good while and he asked about you—more than once.”
His revelation slammed her like a hurricane force gale. “Did he?” The cocky grin and tilt of Master Sergeant Mitchell Hebert’s head made her want to wring his beefy neck. “Don’t make me pull it out of you, Mitch. I’ll tell Meagan you’re holding back valuable intel and she’ll cut you off for a week.” She’d expected a bellow of laughter from the man Matthew “Tex” Broussard considered his best friend, as well as his Marine brother. She got a sad smile and a sober reply instead.
“He has regrets.”
“Does he now? What happened? Did he get an STD from that stripper he brought to the wedding?”
“He brought her home early and by the time he got back you’d already received the phone call about your dad’s stroke and hauled butt for Missouri.”
Niki recalled the moment with horrifying clarity, as though it had occurred yesterday instead of back in February. It had signaled the beginning of the end of life as she’d known it. She sipped from her mug and set it on the table. “Your point being . . .”
He released his breath in a loud huff. “Maybe it’s time to let that shit go, Nik. The man cares for you.”
“The man has a funny way of showing it since he hasn’t attempted to make the slightest contact with me since then.”
“Maybe he was giving yo
u time to cool off. Besides, he knew you had to move to Missouri to help your mom take care of your dad.”
Her mom—Niki’s breath hitched at the familiar stab of pain—it happened with every mention, image, memory, or thought of her mom. She loved her dad, but his stroke had prepared them—given them all time to say their goodbyes. Her mom’s death, however, had come so suddenly, with no sign of illness, no warning—a massive aneurysm occurring in the middle of the night that had stolen her away from the daughter who adored her.
As painful as it had been to lose her so suddenly, Niki’s mom would have wanted it that way. She’d said it often enough while caring so diligently for her husband. She had no desire to linger that way. She had also stated that after losing the only man she’d ever loved for forty years she couldn’t stand being without him. Helen Reeves would insist that the God she loved had been merciful.
But Niki had to wonder at the wisdom and goodness of a God who would take both a girl’s parents from her within two short months of each other. Waking up to find her mom gone that way had been the kind of nightmare she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy—the kind that left a gaping hole in her heart. No closure, no chance to say goodbye, and left only with the regret of not saying enough when she had the chance. The several weeks afterward had been so painful she’d taken the first offer from her company to transfer anywhere out of the city filled with such painful memories.
The great thing about working for such a large hotel chain was that she could find a job almost anywhere in the U.S. Her original goal had been to find a position in east Texas or southwest Louisiana to be closer to her friends. After her mom’s death, her main objective had been to relocate anywhere away from St. Louis. If they’d offered a position in Maine, Seattle, or Florida—she’d have taken it.
She cocked her head slightly before posing her question. “Are y’all still set on moving back to Lake Coburn once Megs finishes pharmacy school at ULM?”
“That’s the plan. I only have one sister and Meg and I would both like to be as close to Sarah and her family as possible. Sarah, Tanner and the twins aren’t going anywhere. They’re happy as clams down there.”
Niki smiled at the thought of Sarah’s adorable twin daughters. “How old are the girls now?”
“They’re three-years-old and every bit as pretty as Sarah. Tanner insists he’s locking them up as soon as they start showing an interest in boys.”
“Of course he’d say that. Your brother-in-law was kind of a player before he met Sarah, wasn’t he?” She laughed at Mitchell’s eye roll.
“Player is probably an understatement. It terrified me when he started snooping around her. I’m ashamed to admit it now, but I did some interfering at the time that could have kept them apart. And that would have been a damn shame considering how he feels about Sarah and those little girls.”
“It would serve him right to have guys chasing after his daughters, wouldn’t it—even if they are only stepdaughters?” she said.
Mitchell glanced at the family portrait taken last Christmas of Sarah, Tanner, and the twins, Samantha and Danielle. “Maybe so, Nik. But if you ask any of them, there are no ‘steps’ in that family. Tanner Collins is the only daddy those girls have ever known—or remember knowing, thank God.”
She nodded, recalling the stories of abuse Sarah had suffered at the hands of her first husband. Karma had prevailed, and they’d both gotten what they truly deserved in the end. Sarah’s had come in the form of her second husband, a handsome surgeon who adored her and her two infant daughters—while her ex’s had come from the dark and stormy waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Mitchell leaned over the table and got eye to eye with her. “Don’t think I don’t know what you did there by changing the subject. I still say you need to give Tex a chance.”
Niki bit her lower lip, wondered if she should tell him about her one attempt to do that. “I tried that once a couple of years ago. He wasn’t home.”
“What do you mean he wasn’t home?”
“I called him first, to see if he wanted to go out sometime. I didn’t know he’d moved to Blanco.” She traced the rim of the coffee mug with one finger. “And later on I drove all the freaking way up there to that stupid ranch to talk to him, only he wasn’t there.”
“He never told me about that,” Mitchell said.
“Because he doesn’t know I went. It was a couple of Easter Sunday’s ago. I drove for five and a half hours just to have some old couple tell me he’d gone to spend the day with his family.” She groaned at the humiliating memory before releasing a frustrated breath, “See, that’s karma telling us we’re not supposed to happen.”
“Yet . . .”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t know about karma or anything like that, but I’m thinking maybe that particular time wasn’t right for either of you. Maybe your story with Tex isn’t over yet.”
She tilted her head and eyed him. “You have a right to think whatever you want, Mitch. I prefer to live in the real world if you don’t mind.”
Chapter 2
She stayed long enough to finish the cup of coffee and brownies before getting back on the road. Her boss had authorized a moving company to pack up her house and move everything to her new apartment in San Antonio by tomorrow. She wanted to get there first to check it out.
Niki reflected on Mitchell’s revelation of Tex’s phone call. Why would he ask about her now? She brushed it aside as another weird coincidence—one more nasty prank from a universe bound and determined to keep her eyeballs-deep in embarrassing moments and missed opportunities. She didn’t have time to think about anything right now but getting her living arrangements and new job in order.
Niki maneuvered her vehicle directly through a line of rain and thunderstorms, the frontal system that promised much colder weather for the entire south. She pushed herself to keep driving, anxious to make it to her apartment before dark since this was her first trip into San Antonio. She made it a little after 5:00 p.m., barely early enough to check out her new surroundings.
Despite not knowing a soul in her new ‘home’, Niki liked what she saw. The realtor hired to find an apartment for her had certainly done her job well. The complex, nestled north of the city just off of U.S. 281 in Redland Ridge, was less than a ten minute drive to her company’s corporate office. She parked in front of the manager’s apartment and sent Meagan a text to let her know she’d made it safely, promising to call her once she made it into her new place. After a brief visit to the manager’s office to submit proof of identity and have an official lease signing, she collected her keys and drove around to her new home.
She unlocked the front door and after a quick walk-through of the entire apartment, returned to her car. Niki transferred the items she’d brought with her to her new place: a folding chair, an inflatable bed, three suitcases filled with clothes, linens, towels, washcloths, and a single roll of toilet paper. She emptied her insulated bag of snacks and drinks into the fridge and dropped her shoulder tote of toiletries onto the bathroom counter. She plugged in the air bed to start the process of filling it and walked out to the covered back patio, phone in one hand and folding chair in the other. Within seconds, she was seated and waiting for Meagan to pick up. Her friend came out of the box swinging.
“I am so pissed at you, Niki! Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were planning to stop by?”
Niki winced at her tone—knew she had it coming. “Honestly, Megs, it all happened so fast I didn’t have time. I spent all of yesterday afternoon on the phone trying to get things ready on this end as well as making plans for my parents’ place. I’m so exhausted, I guess I wasn’t thinking.”
“Mitch called me as soon as you left our house this morning, but I wanted to wait until I got home to call you. I made it in about five minutes ago.”
“I know—I’m sorry. It was stupid not to call but I couldn’t have stayed any longer than I did. Your hubby took care of me with a good cup of coffee. Tho
se brownies were kick ass by the way.”
“Uh huh,” Meagan grunted. “So, you’re in the apartment already?”
“I am, with only the bare essentials.” She left her chair long enough to check on the progress of her air bed and went back out to the patio. “It’s a nice place. Only a one bedroom but the living area is as roomy as our old house in Lake Coburn. I can’t believe I’m paying over a thousand bucks a month for an apartment with a little over eight hundred square feet.” She stared out at the tiny plot of lawn opposite the patio, wondering if she’d have to mow it. It hit her suddenly—how alone she was. Her throat clogged with an unexpected urge to cry. “Megs . . .”
“What? What’s wrong?”
Niki blinked back tears as she stared outside. The long shadows of the early fall dusk had turned to darkness quickly thanks to the recent end of daylight savings time. Nighttime only intensified her loneliness. “I’m—I feel like—oh God, what have I done? Ever since mom died I’ve wanted to get out of St. Louis. I couldn’t wait to get away—to escape from everything. And now I’m here and I’m thinking, what the hell have I done?” She choked on a sob. “I’m all alone here, Megs. I don’t know a single other person in this city. Why did I do such a stupid thing?”
“Did you give Mitchell your address? The apartment number too?”
She sniffed. “Yes. Why? Are you planning to come for a visit already?”
“I wish I could, hon. But my class schedule won’t allow it. I took a rare day off of studying today to look for a few pieces of furniture for Buck’s room. I’ll make it over there one day, but until then, describe your place to me. What’s it like?”
Niki wiped her eyes and stepped inside, a little chilly now that the cool dry air had circulated throughout the apartment. “Paint job is fresh—the walls are all monotone—a light oyster gray with the doors and trim a couple of shades darker. The floors are rustic wood planking—the whole place has this rustic feel to it. Got a real Texas vibe, you know?”
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