Texas Girl Grit

by Shelley Stringer

  I couldn’t wait to see Liam hold her. I’d dreamed of this moment for eight months. I lost track of the conversations taking place below my waist, my thoughts totally focused on Liam’s expressions as he watched the doctors prepared to take our daughter from my body. I could see the worry, the lines between his brows etched in concentration. I felt some tugging and pulling, then more tugging as it felt as if my body was coming off the table. My breath hitched, my chest feeling as though I couldn’t breathe.

  “I can’t…I can’t breathe,” I whispered frantically.

  His eyes came back to mine, the lines deeper as he lowered his head to mine, the voices in the background now jumbled.

  “You’re breathing, Kelly. It’s the anesthetic,” someone called out.

  “Love you Baby,” Liam said, his voice gravelly.

  “Mrs. Covington, we’re going to have to put you completely under,” I heard, as the mask covered my mouth.

  “No,” I whispered and slipped into a deep slumber.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  S

  he’s beautiful, Baby. She looks just like you.”

  I was trying hard to fight my way to consciousness. They’d finally wheeled me back to a room from recovery, but I had yet to hold our baby girl. They’d allowed Liam to bring her into recovery and lay her on the bed beside me so I could peek at her, but I’d been groggy and I could barely remember it.

  “She does?” I asked, smiling up at him, losing the battle with my eyelids. Only the desire to see my Marley Belle kept me from slipping back to sleep.

  “Definitely. That head full of dark hair, those soft, pink lips… I’d wonder if I was even involved in this process if it wasn’t for those incredibly blue eyes.”

  “She has your eyes?”

  “Yeah, Baby. Her eyes are all mine.”

  I fought to focus on Liam as he sat down in the chair beside my bed. Pulling close, he grabbed my hand and pulled it to his mouth. The dark around his eyes showed how long we’d fought together to get her here.

  “You look tired. You need to get some rest.”

  He shook his head, a grin breaking to change the worry lines and replacing them with laugh lines. At that moment, I’d never found him more handsome. “Plenty of time to rest later. Right now, we’ve got family waiting to celebrate with us. And I’m wired right now and couldn’t rest if I tried. I’m torn between staying with you, running out to see our excited baby boy and niece at the nursery window, and asking the nurse for the tenth time when we can bring her in here with us.”

  I giggled, reaching up to brush the wave of hair off his forehead. “Masen is here?”

  “Yeah. Momma and Daddy have been here the whole time. Tana and Sean too. When they decided to do the C-section, Tana called Sunni and Colt. Chelsea is home with baby Buck, but Ethan brought Masen up to see his new sister. Sammy has been working her little tail off teaching him Marley’s name. It’s coming out something like ‘Maweee.’”

  “How much did she weigh?” I asked again. He’d told me twice, but I was still in my fog.

  “Six pounds, fourteen ounces. She’s tiny, but she’s an amazon baby compared to what we’re used to with Buck.”

  He moved from the chair to sit on the bed beside me. Leaning over, he brushed my forehead with his lips. “Thank you, Baby. Thank you for the most beautiful little girl ever born.”

  * * *

  Not once had I worried about being able to juggle two babies. I had Miranda living with us and helping whenever she wasn’t in school, and Masen, even though he was now walking and in to everything, had never been too much to handle. But I never thought I’d be fighting to feed my own baby. If it wasn’t Davis and Ellen stopping by to fuss over the kids, then it was Sunni and Colt, Jen, or Tana and Sean. And Sean was the absolute worst about hogging our daughter.

  We’d been home with Marley Bell a couple of weeks. Sean sat on the sofa, holding Marley football style, his eyes on her in wonder as she nursed from the tiny bottle he held.

  “She’s had enough; you need to burb her,” Tana bossed, reaching to take her from him.

  “Back off, babe, I’ve got this,” he scolded, gently placing the bottle beside him on the table, then moving Marley to his shoulder and rubbing her back gently, as if he’d been doing it all his life.

  Tana folded her arms.

  “You need one of those,” I teased, hinting to Sean to take their relationship to the next level.

  “Why, when I can come over here and play with yours anytime I want?”

  Tana rolled her eyes and sat down beside him in a huff. As she took in the sweet picture of his lips placed softly against the baby fuzz on Marley’s head, her gaze softened.

  “What the hell are you gonna come and play with at my house?” Liam boomed from the kitchen, having obviously slipped in through the garage. He dropped one sack on the island as he walked by, then carried another in his arms as he leaned over to kiss me.

  “Hey, Baby,” he murmured against my lips.

  “Hey,” I answered back.

  “Kids, obviously, Coving-stud,” Tana answered as Masen crawled up into her lap and got close to Marley. He was gentle with his sister, but there seemed to be a bit of jealousy. If someone was holding baby Marley, he wanted to be held too.

  “He’s been a bit needy,” I commented, nodding to him.

  “Well,” Liam said, rounding the sofa and stooping to place the sack in the floor, “He’s the big brother now. He needs a distraction of his own. This is for him.”

  “What did you buy him now? His room is already overflowing with toys,” I said, eyeing the sack.

  “Come here, buddy. I got something for you. Come see what is in the sack,” he said, holding his arms out to Masen as he knelt in the floor.

  The sack moved. Then it jiggled, then almost rolled over.

  “It’s alive,” Tana stated the obvious.

  Masen crawled into Liam’s lap, then leaned over to pull the top of the sack down, and out tumbled a black Labrador puppy.

  Masen squealed in delight. The puppy wagged its tail in glee as he gave puppy kisses to an excited Masen.

  I groaned as I placed my head in my hand.

  “It’s gonna be good, Hellcat. He’s like one of those Roomba things, he’ll eat everything before it hits the floor,” Liam said proudly.

  Tana laughed. “Yeah, even your Gucci shoes, Kel.”

  The puppy untangled himself from Masen and came bounding toward me. I leaned over and picked him up, and he immediately snuggled into my neck and gave me puppy kisses. I fell in love.

  “At least now I have something to hold,” I said, glaring at Sean.

  Liam stood, Masen in his arms, and moved to the sack he’d dropped on the island. He pulled out two bottles and brought them over and sat them on the coffee table.

  “And this is for you. Do you know what it is?” he asked, sinking down beside me and kissing me on the temple.

  “You should have given her the wine first, let her drink it before you dropped the puppy in the floor,” Sean said, handing our baby over to Tana. She melted as she placed her lips to Marley’s temple.

  “The Prosecco?” I asked, remembering the wine he’d introduced me to on our honeymoon. I couldn’t drink but a sip or two because I was pregnant, but it had been the best thing I’d ever tasted.

  “I promised, remember? And since you aren’t nursing anymore, now you can enjoy it.”

  “Fat chance of that, buddy. Now you’ve got a toddler, a newborn, and a puppy. Never the three shall sleep at the same time,” Sean teased.

  “If you’re nice, Reynolds, we’ll share a glass with you at dinner. The rest is for our after-party,” Liam whispered the last in my ear. I shivered in anticipation.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  L iam looked down at me from his perch in the saddle on a gigantic bay horse. I always thought he was at his sexiest in running shorts and those tight under-armor shirts he always wore, or swim trunks hanging on his hips. But
nothing prepared me for the absolute maleness of my man in blue jeans and cowboy boots, a plain washed-denim work shirt and cowboy hat, sitting in the saddle like he worked cattle every day.

  And the fact he held Masen in front of him, duded up in denim as well with his first pair of boots, almost made my ovaries explode. Yes, I was down for kid number three, and I’d told him last night.

  “It’s gonna be fine, Momma Bear. Just a trail ride and male bonding.”

  “What if he falls off?” I sucked in a breath, alarmed at seeing Masen high off the ground.

  “He’s fine, Kel. Grandpa Whelan had both of us in the saddle at this age. And Sammy has already been riding a bit by herself,” Ethan added, pulling on the reins of his horse and turning him around beside Liam.

  “Why isn’t she going with you? Is this a boys-only thing?”

  Davis trotted his own horse out of the large barn and halted him in front of us. “I tried to get her to ride with me, but she’s not leaving that house with G-paw as long as she has Buck and Marley, two live baby dolls to play with,” he said, chuckling.

  I beamed at his comment, looking back to Chelsea and Ellen on the large front porch of the Whelan Ranch house. Since things had returned to normal after the ordeal with Scott and Grandpa Whelan’s death, Ellen was more determined than ever to spend family time together, and had at least one weekend every month—sometimes two, planned for the entire family either at our Fredericksburg farm or the ranch. I’d been worried, with the memories associated with her dad’s death, Ellen wouldn’t want to spend time at the farm. I was wrong. She’d told me straight out that she felt the opposite—that she’d gotten bits of her old dad back since Thanksgiving in Fredericksburg, and that’s what she’d always remember. But since it was the Fourth of July, fireworks at the ranch was on the menu.

  “So you’ll be home before supper?” I asked worriedly.

  “Yeah, Baby. We won’t be long. We’ll take the short trail to the creek, and be back in plenty of time to start the steaks,” he trailed off, looking up the road. We all turned at the noise of an approaching vehicle.

  “Are we expecting anyone?” Ellen directed the question to Davis as she stepped off the wide front porch down to the side-yard. The car stopped right inside the main gate at the casita where Aaron and Bud stayed as our security detail whenever we traveled. Liam and I were no longer under the threat we once were now Scott’s plots had been uncovered. But just because the Mexican Drug Cartel no longer had someone on the inside feeding them information didn’t mean they’d gone away or Liam had loosened security.

  “Not that I know of,” Davis replied.

  “Could be someone about the campaign,” Liam muttered, handing Masen over to Ethan and then dismounting. As we watched, Aaron and Bud stepped away from the driver’s window, then followed the car as it slowly pulled up the drive. Then after the driver parked the car and stepped out, they flanked him, walking towards us.

  The man looked familiar. He appeared to be in his mid to late fifties, dressed in khakis and a blue pinstripe shirt. He looked smart for an afternoon at the ranch, so I figured Liam was right. I was about to mount the steps to the porch as I heard Liam greet him.

  “Hello. Liam Covington.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Quinn. Quincy Hadley, but you can call me Quinn.”

  “Nice to meet you too. What can I do for you?”

  I’d paused. Something about the man’s name sparked a memory--a deep memory painful to pull up. And it had to do with my grandmother’s voice.

  “Kelly? Are you alright?” Ellen whispered, grasping my arm.

  “Kelly, what is it?” Chelsea echoed.

  Another memory hovered, this time including my aunt’s voice. I could hear my aunt calling the name “Quincy” during a heated conversation with my mother. I took a hesitant step back down into the yard. As my eyes were drawn back to the man, I noticed Bud and Aaron had moved closer to the porch and the three Covington women standing there.

  “I’m sorry to bother you on a holiday, but when I finally decided to come and see her, I couldn’t wait. Your office told me you were at the family ranch for the weekend, but they wouldn’t give me your cell number.”

  “Come and see her?” Liam asked, his curiosity peaked.

  “Your wife. I was hoping to meet her, maybe speak to her in private,” he answered, nervously pushing his hands into his pockets.

  On second perusal, I found him somewhat handsome, dark hair slightly peppered with gray around his temples.

  “We’re having private family time this weekend. You might want to make an appointment with her office next month, she’ll be going back to work at Design part-time,” Liam said, trying to steer the man back toward his car.

  “I’m sorry to intrude, but this is personal,” he said, turning back to make eye contact with me. His eyes, a deep brown, a tiny bit wide-set, high cheekbones…I felt a pull toward him I’d never felt before. They were kind, caring eyes.

  “I’m sorry, but we don’t know you and I don’t see how…” Liam trailed off as he watched me move toward them.

  “I knew your mother, Kelly. We were good friends, once.”

  I nodded, somehow knowing what he said was true.

  “We dated for a short time. I even went home with her, to meet your grandparents and your Aunt Debra. I was still in college. Your mom had dropped out, freshman year.”

  I realized I was holding my breath. I swallowed the large lump in my throat.

  “Your mother was a beautiful woman.”

  My eyes filled with tears, thinking about how beautiful my mother must have been, before drugs, alcohol and men had taken the beautiful girl away.

  Liam moved silently toward me and then placed his arm protectively around my shoulders. “Baby, are you okay?” he murmured, not taking his eyes off the man.

  I nodded, then turned my attention back to our visitor.

  He fidgeted with his shirt sleeve, which seemed out-of-character for him, for my first impression of the man was one of self-assurance. “I transferred to UT Arlington when my dad died, to help my mom and still go to school. I lost touch with Cathy after that. I’ve often wondered about her, about how her life turned out.”

  I found my voice. “It didn’t.”

  He nodded, then cleared his throat. “I read the article in Texas Monthly last month, about how politics had affected your personal life. I’ve noticed your pictures since you’ve been in the limelight, with your marriage and all…but I’d never put it together until they published the pictures of your mother and mentioned her tragic death. I’m sorry for your loss,” he said.

  “Thank you, you’re kind. But it was the life she chose.”

  Mr. Hadley nodded, looking at the ground. Then he lifted his gaze and looked straight into my eyes. “I’m sorry you had such a sad upbringing. Her life might have been different. Your life might have been different, if I had only known then,” he said, his voice gravelly.

  “Known what?” I barely whispered, my heart beginning to race.

  “That I have a beautiful daughter.”

  Liam’s grip on my shoulders tightened.

  “Now wait one damned minute,” Davis interceded, dismounting his horse then handing the reins to Ethan. He barreled over to the porch-steps, placing himself between Liam and Mr. Hadley. “Just what do you want with our Kelly?”

  His gruff question brought a fresh round of tears to my eyes. Davis and Ellen had almost always made me feel a part of their family, and since the incident with Scott and Marley Belle’s birth, they were fiercely protective. It was a new feeling for me, and I cherished it.

  “Dad, calm down. We have no reason to believe his motives aren’t innocent,” Liam began.

  I glanced back at Ellen, who’d moved closer to stand directly behind me. When I turned back to Mr. Hadley, he was removing a photograph from his shirt pocket.

  “This is all I have to back up my claims. I have this picture,” he murmured, handing the picture to
Liam. He studied it for a moment, then his eyes rose to meet mine.

  “Kelly?”

  I took the picture, and with a great deal of what could only be described as hope, I lowered my eyes to study it.

  A much younger, handsome version of the man now standing before me gazed at me from the photo. He sat on my Oma Belle’s hearth, his arm around my mother. She was giggling at Aunt Deb, who was seated in the floor in front of them. My eyes filled with tears as I took my mother in. Her face was fresh and beautiful, not a stitch of makeup on. With her hair in a high ponytail on her head and a cute, ruffled blouse and blue jeans adorning her body, she looked like the girl next door.

  “What happened to that girl in the photo? She looks innocent, full of life—the opposite of the woman I knew,” I murmured sadly.

  Mr. Hadley moved forward carefully, his gaze moving from Liam to me. “I don’t know, Kelly. I suppose being a single mother, estranged from her family and wanting a different life, she took the wrong road. But I suspect,” he said, moving closer and raising his hand to place it over my heart, “she’s buried right here. I know the best parts of her, she must have given to you.”

  Abruptly, I was flooded with memories. I saw my mother, in a red t-shirt and cut-off shorts, pushing me on a swing in the park as I yelled, “higher, Mommy, higher!” I could recall giggling together as we ate oatmeal cookie dough from a bowl in the tiny kitchen in our apartment. Memories flooded in of us snuggling under a blanket in the floor in front of the television watching cartoons on a Saturday morning, and of her letting me help as she changed Dana’s diaper and then holding her head while I held her in my lap.

  Memories I’d buried under mountains of shame and resentment flashed like a movie montage as I stared again at the picture.

  I startled myself as I breathed a sob. Liam pulled me tightly in to his side and placed a kiss in my hair.

  “I didn’t come here to upset you. If you want, I would be happy to do a DNA test, but there is no doubt in my mind you are my daughter.”