Texas Girl Grit

by Shelley Stringer

  “Everything okay with you, girl?” I asked, concerned.

  “Of course. I miss you, is all. And I need your input about Sean,”

  “Yeah, how’s that going?”

  “Tell you all about it this weekend.”

  “Okay, well…see you two tomorrow around six?”

  “It’s a date.”

  Liam’s hands around my waist pulled me away from the conversation, and into the house, where he immediately started operation “get mommy to bed.”

  Chapter Nine

  H e is one seriously hot dude.”

  Tana, Jen and I were sitting in the lounge chairs around the pool, watching the fire in the fire pit that had been built by said “seriously hot dude.” Jen was still fixated on Scott, watching his booty as he sauntered back through the patio doors.

  I wrinkled my nose at her.

  “What? You don’t think so?” she asked.

  I shook my head and lowered my voice, not wanting him to overhear me. “There’s something about him. I don’t know. Something dark and angry.”

  “Oh, how would you know? You’ve never been around him except when he’s working. He’s a bodyguard…probably the nature of the job. He, Liam, and Sean were buds back in college, weren’t they? You know the party vibe is in there somewhere. We seriously need to go out together. You and Liam, Tana and Sean, and me and my man Scott.”

  “Jen, that might be crossing some professional line or something,” Tana interrupted.

  “Oh, my freakin’ grandma’s panties, you did not say that. This isn’t a scene from “The Bodyguard!” He doesn’t have to worry about losing his focus.” Then, at the total silence, her eyes rounded. “He isn’t seriously that kind of bodyguard? Are things serious?”

  As Jen set her glass down, Tana locked eyes with me.

  “They are, aren’t they? I read about the rumors a Mexican drug lord was out to get Liam, but are they taking this shit seriously?” Tana’s voice rose as she became more alarmed.

  My eyes rose to look beyond the iron gate at the driveway, where another security guard stood leaning against the house while scanning the side yard.

  “Yeah, we’re taking it seriously.”

  “Sweet Jesus,” Tana whispered.

  “The wreck wasn’t an accident,” I continued. “They think it was a warning for him to back off the border bill.”

  “Um, and you were going to tell us when?” Jen looked pissed.

  “I didn’t want to worry y’all. And we are perfectly safe here at the house with all the extra security Liam has in place.”

  Tana rose, moved around the patio furniture and sank down beside me. Taking my hand in hers, she cleared her throat. I felt tears gathering as I met her gaze.

  “I’m thinking all this girls’ weekend bullshit is to get your mind off the fact Liam is, as we speak, on the border and within scope range of the same Mexican drug lord who has the hit out on you both.”

  “Tana! If she isn’t unwound already, bringing that shit up is gonna do it,” Jen warned.

  I swallowed and put a lid on the waterworks. “I am totally into this girl’s weekend with you two, because I’ve missed spending time with you. But yeah, Liam thought it would be a good idea to have my girls with me to keep me from worrying about him, and keep him from worrying about me worrying.”

  “You okay?” Tana asked, pulling me into her arms.

  “Yeah. I’m gonna be. I started to fall apart when I remembered hearing the dudes who ran me off the road. They were speaking Spanish as they approached the car, and I understood enough to know they knew me and it wasn’t random. They thought they’d done their job, and they ran when they heard Liam coming. I had a total breakdown when I remembered it, after a bad dream and flashback. But when I saw what my break did to Liam, I had to pull it together for him. He can’t be distracted right now. He needs to focus.”

  “I’m proud of you, girl,” Tana whispered, her forehead pressed to mine.

  “Me too! Let’s drink to that. Our girl’s grown a set,” Jen added, as she picked her drink up. “And where is your drink?” she asked, an eyebrow cocked. “We seriously need alcohol now. Bottled water isn’t going to cut it,” she finished, nodding to my Dasani bottle on the table beside me. She rose to walk to the mini-bar across the patio, her now empty glass in tow.

  “Can’t have alcohol. She’s got a mini Liam-bun in the oven, remember?” Tana drawled. Jen whirled, sloshing bourbon out of her tumbler as she glared at me accusingly. “Oh, yeah. I forgot. And about that…why didn’t I know this before the press? Why does she find out before me?”

  “Cause I was at the hospital after the wreck, and they kind of let it slip,” Tana shot back.

  “Down, killers! Geez, I was trying to keep a lid on it a while longer. There has been enough drama with the secret beach wedding, the wreck, and all the press with the border bill. I needed a breather before we dropped the baby thing. Turns out, it was just the thing we needed to divert attention.”

  Tana rubbed my back, her way of showing me support. Jen lifted her glass, gave me a salute, and slugged it back in a fashion that would make even Tex Whelan proud. A slow smile crept across my face, spreading as the warmth moved through my body. My girls had my back. They were the closest thing I had to sisters, and were even closer than my real sister had been. And then it dawned. Even without Liam or his family, I wasn’t alone any more.

  When two girls from the spa showed an hour later, we moved our party into the house. After being pampered starting with facials and ending with pedicures, we all three enjoyed a massage by the pool, then retired to the living room, where Scott built another fire in the fireplace. Lounging and listening to music, we never heard the front door bell.

  “I can’t seriously believe you snagged the hottest, sweetest, most eligible bachelor in the State of Texas. I mean, look at us. I’ve never felt this pampered. He is either the most thoughtful, romantic guy on the planet, or he is seriously into some shit you don’t know about and is trying to make it up to you,” Tana murmured. She lay on her stomach, feet in the air, on the sofa across from me. Jen lay in the floor on her side, staring into the fireplace, yet another glass of bourbon in her hand. “And I might have to steal him from you. He is some serious eye candy.”

  “You better be jokin’, Babe…or I’ll have to kick Coving-stud’s ass.”

  All three of us jumped at the deep voice coming from the doorway to the entry hall. Sean stood, arms crossed, leaning on the foyer archway.

  “Sean! You scared the rebel right out of me!” Tana sputtered, holding her hand to her chest. “What the fu…announce yourself next time!”

  Sean laughed, uncrossed his legs, and moved toward Tana. She pushed up warily as he approached. Chuckling, he pulled her up from the sofa and into his chest. “Promised Liam I’d look in on y’all while he was away. Seems I’d better get Scott to hide the key to the liquor cabinet,” he drawled, taking Tana’s drink from her.

  I rolled my eyes. I noticed Tana had stiffened since he’d appeared…not herself at all. I wondered what was going on between the two of them, because Jen and I hadn’t had the chance to grill her about it yet. But the weekend was still young.

  “Think we’re covered, what with the battalion of muscle around the place. But I guess a bit of “personal protection” never hurt anyone,” I joked, raising my chin toward Tana.

  “I’m all about the personal protection,” Sean murmured, stroking Tana’s arm.

  Jen couldn’t help herself. I could feel the snark rolling right off her. “That’s good, ‘cause one pregnant friend at a time is quite enough.”

  “Jeez, Jen!” Tana glared at her, her eyes wide and nostrils flared.

  “What? He left himself wide open.”

  Sean laughed, leaning to kiss Tana on top of the head. Her eyes flared in my direction, even more fully, giving me her “what the “f” look. Sean dropped his hold on her and moved toward the kitchen. “Think I’ll join you. Babe, you want a refill?
” he asked, holding her glass up.

  “Um, sure.”

  All three of us silently watched Sean fill his glass with ice and bourbon, then refill Tana’s. As he turned, I noticed his gaze take Tana in from head to toe.

  Wow.

  I’d never seen anyone’s eyes light with pure desire as his did. I knew, in that moment, where Sean’s head was. It was wrapped around Tana. Seating himself back on the sofa, he chuckled, pulling a still frozen Tana down beside him.

  “How can you be here now?” I asked. Sean turned and raised a brow at me.

  “Come again?”

  And again, I could feel the snark roll right off Jen. I shook my head at her and returned my attention to Sean as she smirked. “It’s the weekend…don’t you have a big game Sunday?”

  “We played Thursday night this week. I’m guessing you didn’t watch. I’m crushed,” he declared, feigning disappointment as he clutched his chest.

  “I watched. You had a great game. Two touchdown passes, and one twenty-five-yard run that set up the last touchdown,” Tana trailed off, seeming embarrassed she’d watched that closely.

  “Do I have a new fan? That compliment might have scored you some seats at the home game next weekend.”

  Jen rose to refill her glass. Sean followed her, his brow furrowed, then his eyes darted across the room as though something had occurred to him. “Scott, bro…get your ass in here,” he called toward the foyer. Scott appeared immediately in the doorway.

  “You need me?”

  It creeped me out the way Scott always seemed to be outside the door to any room, but never sensed or seen…by me, anyway.

  “Take a load off and join us. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to hang,” Sean continued.

  "Working, dude,” Scott replied with a chin raise.

  “Oh, come on. You can watch them better in here, anyway. You’ve got security outside.”

  Scott nodded, and came into the Den, moving to sit on the sofa next to Jen. She immediately straightened and widened her eyes at me.

  “Kelly, is it okay if I visit with y’all?” Scott asked awkwardly.

  I moved my eyes back to him. “Um, sure. It’s fine.”

  Jen cleared her throat and tilted her head to look up at him. “I’m sure you have to do something besides watch Kelly and her friends all day. Do you like movies? I’ll bet there is something in Liam’s library here we could watch,” she offered, picking up the remote.

  “We have all kinds of movie channels,” I added.

  “Sounds good,” Scott replied, relaxing back, the arm closest to Jen across the back of the sofa. Jen stood, selected a channel with an action flick, and sank back down beside Scott.

  Exhausted and finding myself a third wheel, I rose with a yawn. “Think I’ll check on Masen and then hit the hay. I want to call Liam. I’ll see you girls in the morning.”

  “Night, Cat. Sweet dreams,” Tana called.

  “Goodnight, Kel,” Jen echoed.

  As I made my way down the hallway to our bedroom, the lights dimmed in the den. I guessed this date thing with Scott and Sean was happening after all.

  Chapter Ten

  T ana dropped her cover up and sauntered toward the pool, winking over her shoulder at Jen and me.

  “Didn’t know we were goin’ skinny-dippin’,” Jen drawled as Tana dropped in to the water.

  “I’m not naked,” Tana retorted. She had the toned, tanned and sculpted body of an Olympic athlete. What was sickening was the fact that, other than an occasional run with me, she never exercised. And the white, gauzy swimsuit, I hated to admit, suited her. She was Sports Illustrated cover worthy.

  “The only thing separating you from the phrase “butt-assed” is some dental floss and a hankie,” I observed. “Pretty sexy, even for you.” I turned my attention to Masen, scooting his pack-n-play out on the patio where it was close to the poolside, but still under the shade of the awning over the patio. He sank down on the pallet as I released him, and zoned-in on his toys already in the playpen.

  “I bought it to wear while we were at South Padre for your wedding, but never got the chance. I was kind of hoping Sean might come back today.”

  “For heaven’s sake! You’ve got his attention already,” Jen huffed, turning to flop into a lounge chair.

  I settled down on the side of the pool, hanging my feet in the water. It was a great time to grill her about Sean.

  “About that…how are things, with Sean, I mean?”

  Tana sighed, leaning back to wet her hair and smoothing it down as she righted. “Good, I guess. We keep trying to make plans but can’t seem to coordinate our schedules. He asked me to the fundraiser thing, but I had something with Sunni. He had to cancel our last date. Last night was the first time we’ve been together since we came to the hospital together the other day…and your wedding, of course.”

  “What happened after I went to bed?” I asked, swirling my toes in the water. The heated water felt good. Although the temperature in Austin was still in the eighties at the end of October, it wasn’t warm enough to keep the pool water comfy without the heater.

  “He was…affectionate,” Tana answered dreamily.

  “Oh really? And what about Scott?” I turned to Jen.

  She smirked, cocking her sun hat up to look at me.

  Tana splashed toward her. “Yeah, Jen, what about Scott?”

  I cocked an eyebrow at Tana after studying them both. “You were there, weren’t you?”

  “Um…not in her guestroom,” she sang out tantalizingly.

  I turned huge eyes back to Jen. “You took him in your bedroom?”

  She shrugged. “Yeah, mom…we wanted to listen to music. I left the door cracked, and we both kept one foot on the floor,” she shot back.

  “Well, after the movie was over, we didn’t need music. We made our own,” Tana said as she laughed, sinking back down to float on her back. “Are y’all getting in, or what?”

  I checked on Masen over my shoulder, and found him playing contentedly in his playpen. Slipping off the side into the water, I sank down under the water, and the pushed off the bottom and surfaced. The swim was what I needed to relax me.

  “So, does this mean you and Scott hooked up? Are you dating now?” I asked, almost dreading the answer.

  “I certainly hope so. If he doesn’t call me after last night, I’ll kick his fine ass!” Jen exclaimed as Tana snickered.

  Tana eyed the rocks and waterfall spilling over from the hot-tub deck. “How do you turn this thing on? We want the whole experience.”

  I swam over to the other side of the pool and reached for a small remote on a side table. “This remote controls all the pool functions,” I answered, clicking on the waterfall and lights. The water began to trickle down the rocks, then picked up in volume. I loved the feature Liam added after we came back from our honeymoon. It was our own little tropical oasis now, complete with palm trees and a small grotto beside the upper deck where the hot-tub was located, right outside our bedroom doors.

  “The red lights are weird,” Jen said as I swam back toward them.

  “The lights aren’t red,” I began, confused.

  Tana turned to look at the waterfall and gasped. Jen screamed.

  The water around us slowly turned red, blood pouring down the rocks and into the pool. It was like a horrible dream where you can’t run and make your legs work, I was frozen, not able to move. Jen moved toward me, grabbing me by the waist and dragging me toward the side as the blood swirled around us. Masen began to cry, startled by our screams and the commotion. As the patio doors flew open, Scott emerged, followed by one of the hired bodyguards.

  “Get them out of there, now!” Someone yelled, as several hands reached to pull us from the water. The security detail came rushing through the gate from the driveway.

  “What the hell happened?” Sean demanded as he appeared out of nowhere, pulling a terrified Tana up and out of the pool.

  “I don’t know…somethin
g from the waterfall,” I answered shakily. Everyone was watching the large boulders, where grotesque forms now floated around the top edge, kept at bay by the rocks.

  “Shut that thing off,” Scott barked, as one of his men grabbed the remote and turned the pumps off.

  After checking Tana and settling her in one of the deck lounge chairs, Sean moved swiftly to me.

  I was shaking uncontrollably. I knew what was in the water, there was no confusion. It was blood. The horrible flashback took control of my mind, warping my thoughts, taking me back to that small, dingy bathroom in the apartment in Houston where I’d lived with my mother and sister. The blood in front of us in the water swirled, forming together on the surface in places like clots, webbing across the top of the pool. The deeper water began to tinge pink to red. I closed my eyes. The water had swirled in the bathtub around my Mother’s body in much the same way. As I stood shaking, a horrible moaning sound started. I was cold, and everything around me starting to darken as if a tunnel were closing in on me.

  “Kelly, look at me,” Sean urged beside me. I opened my eyes, but couldn’t tear my tunnel-vision away from the pool.

  “Kelly! Snap out of it,” Scott commanded this time. I realized the moaning was coming from me. I tore my eyes away from the pool, and shifted them toward Sean.

  Sean moved swiftly, sliding his arm around my shoulders as he grasped me behind my knees, swinging me up into his arms. I couldn’t move. I could only shake. The shakes had become almost violent.

  “She’s going into shock. Scott, call Liam,” he said, taking charge. I leaned my head over onto Sean’s shoulder, exhausted. I felt I had no control over my muscles. Tana pushed around Sean and lead him through the house and into our bedroom. She pulled the covers back on the bed, but then hesitated.

  “Let me get her cleaned up. That was blood in the water,” she began.

  “Yeah, maybe that’s a good idea.”

  Sean started into our master bathroom, but as he neared the tub, I jerked in his arms.

  “Not the tub…no!” I gasped out. All I could see was my mother’s hair floating in the water, her eyes lifeless.