Fast Break (Texas Titans Holiday)

by Cheryl Douglas

  “Don’t do that,” Kevin said, feeling his chest burn. “Don’t remind me my son is hurting because of this. Don’t you think I know that?”

  “Your son was hurting before his mama walked out on you, man.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “He missed you.” Zach set the picture down carefully before turning back to Kevin. “You know me and Tyler have been going to some of Danny’s baseball games, taking him out for a burger after.”

  Kevin had to resist the urge to squirm, which was a first. No matter how tough the judge or opposing counsel, he always stood his ground. But this was different. This was personal. And his brother was calling into question his commitment to his son. “Yeah… and?”

  “When’s the last time you made it to one of his games?”

  “You think I enjoy working eighty goddamn hours a week?” Kevin shouted. “I do it for my family! To give them everything they need and want.”

  “I don’t know about Trena,” Zach said, heading for the door. “But I know the only thing your son wants is more time with you.”

  * * *

  Kevin was trying to maintain his composure but Trena wasn’t making it easy as she rattled off all the reasons why he’d given her no choice but to leave him.

  “I see you’re determined to play the victim in all this,” Kevin said, hearing his brother’s words taunting him. “But you’re not. You didn’t have to screw around on me. If you weren’t happy, you could have tried talking to me about it. We could’ve gone to counselling.”

  She laughed before flipping her long auburn hair over her shoulder. “You seriously expect me to believe you would have fit therapy sessions into your schedule? You barely make time to eat and sleep.”

  Kevin knew his downtown office building was the last place they should be having this meeting, especially with his employees right outside the door, but he couldn’t carve out time to leave the building and he didn’t want to put this off any longer. It had already been three days since she left and he wanted to see his son.

  “Keeping you in diamonds and furs is hard work.” He knew he was being petty. This wasn’t about the money. It was about their son.

  “I bet you’re glad you let your father talk you into that prenuptial agreement now, aren’t you?” she asked, examining her manicure. “Without that I’d be entitled to half of your… what is it now, Kev? Twenty million? Thirty million?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t care. You’re the one who cared about money, Trena. My only concern was giving you a nice life and taking care of our son.”

  “You say all the right things,” she said, smirking. “But we both know you’re full of shit. You cared about building your reputation. You didn’t want to live in your famous brother’s shadow so you set out to make a name for yourself. Well, congratulations. Mission accomplished. Are you happy now?”

  “How can I be happy when you’re keeping my son from me?” he asked, leaning forward.

  “That’s all you care about, isn’t it?” she asked, crossing her legs. “You haven’t even asked me about the other man in my life.”

  “Am I supposed to?” He tipped his chair back, glancing at his diamond Cartier before kicking his custom shoes up on the edge of the desk. “Is this where I’m supposed to fly into a jealous rage, demanding to know who he is so I can go and beat the hell out of him?”

  “It’d be nice to know all those muscles you built in the gym weren’t for nothing.”

  Kevin had to squeeze daily workouts into his life since, according to his doctor, he was a prime candidate for a heart attack. “Fine, Trena, tell me. Who is this mystery man?” The only reason he cared was because he intended to make sure he wasn’t a danger to his son.

  “I met him at the car dealership,” she said, smoothing her glossy lips together.

  “A car salesman?” he asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Doesn’t sound like your type.”

  Trena rolled her eyes. “He owns the dealership, Kevin.”

  “Of course he does.” They glared at one another an intense moment before Kevin had to acknowledge a staring contest wouldn’t get them anywhere. “I want to see my son. Tonight. Where can I pick him up?”

  “I’m not sure that’s going to work.”

  “Make it work.”

  She took a deep breath before running a hand down the sleeve of her silk blouse. “I know you’re determined to make this difficult, but—”

  “Here’s the deal,” he said, slamming a fist down on his desk. “I have some of the best goddamn divorce lawyers in this state on my payroll. This can’t end well for you. I’ll see my son when I want and where I want, so you better get used to that. Understood?”

  “Fine,” she said, standing. “I’ll text you with the address later. You can pick him up at 7:00. Take him to dinner.”

  “Trena, wait.”

  She turned to him before reaching the door. “Yes?”

  “Text me the name of your lawyer while you’re at it.”

  Chapter Two

  Bree was decorating the Christmas tree in the window of her aunt’s antique shop when her best friend and favorite customer walked in.

  “Hey, stranger,” Bree said, getting down off the step ladder. “This is a nice surprise. What brings you by?”

  “Brought you this,” Rennie said, handing Bree a cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream from the café next door.

  “You’re an angel,” Bree said, pulling the plastic lid back.

  “I also wanted to see if you got any more Christmas decorations in,” Rennie said, taking a sip from her own cup. “Zach thinks I’m silly to scour the world for these ancient hand-made pieces when I could just buy new, but I told him it’s all about the history. I love knowing something so beautiful and delicate could survive more than a hundred years.” Rennie picked up a hand beaded pearl and crystal piece in the shape of a bell.

  “I know what you mean,” Bree said, smiling. “My aunt got me hooked on antiques when I was just a little girl and I’ve never looked back.”

  “You’re happy here then?” Rennie asked, claiming the stool Bree pointed to near the cash desk. “You like working with your aunt?”

  “I love it,” Bree said, grinning. “But I knew I would. I love antiques.”

  “You’re still thinking about taking over for her when she retires next year?”

  “That’s the plan,” Bree said, perching her bottom on the second stool. “But you never know with my aunt. She says she wants to retire, but when it comes down to it, she might chicken out. I guess we’ll just wait ’til the time comes. See what happens.”

  “Are you getting many calls for the holiday decorating?” Rennie asked.

  The idea for the holiday decorating had been Rennie’s when Bree admitted she could use a little extra cash to buy presents for her daughter. “Would you believe I’ve already had three calls this week?”

  “I’m not surprised,” Rennie said. “I told you a lot of people don’t have the time to do their own decorating. You could think about adding shopping and gift-wrapping to your list of services next year.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Bree said, licking the whipped cream from her top lip. “But it kind of depends on whether I’m here full-time or not.”

  Rennie nodded. “So is Ainsley still enjoying school?”

  “Yes,” Bree said, reaching for her friend’s hand. “And having Monica in the same class made the transition so much easier.”

  “I love that the girls are so close,” Rennie said smiling.

  With only a few months separating their daughters, Bree wasn’t surprised the girls had become fast friends. “Oh, looks like I have delivery,” Bree said, smiling at the uniformed man carrying a non-descript brown box. “Maybe it’s the Christmas decorations I ordered.”

  “Oh, I hope so,” Rennie said. “I want first pick.”

  Bree signed for the box, hoping the delivery man wouldn’t embarrass her by asking her out for dinner a
gain. He’d already asked her out three times this month and each time she’d politely declined. She was separated from her husband, but she certainly wasn’t ready to start dating again.

  Rennie tried to keep a straight face until he backed out of the shop after winking at Bree and telling her he hoped to see her tomorrow. “Did you see the way he looked at you? He was practically salivating.”

  “Oh God,” Bree said, reaching for a pair of scissors to slice open the tape securing the box. “Please don’t say that. I’ve been trying to discourage him. I thought I got through to him the last time I told him I wasn’t interested.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt you to think about going out with him,” Rennie said. “I know he’s not your type, but it might be a good practice date. There’d be no expectations and who knows, you might even have a good time.”

  “You know I spend all of my free time with Ainsley. I don’t have time to date, even if I wanted to, which I don’t.”

  “I was a single parent for long enough to know how difficult it can be, but—” Rennie hesitated when she saw the look on Bree’s face as she extracted a beautiful white angel from the box. “Oh wow, that’s amazing. Where did you find it?”

  “My mama made it,” Bree said softly, touching the white silk dress covering the porcelain angel. “The Christmas before she died. She said she wanted me to have something to remember her by. We both loved the holidays so much, had so many traditions, and she didn’t want me to forget the good times. She thought this would help remind me.”

  Christmas hadn’t been the same for Bree since her mama died of cancer the year Ainsley was born, but for the sake of her daughter, she tried her best to make the season as special and magical as her mama had made it for her growing up.

  “Lyle sent it to you?” Rennie asked finally.

  “Yes.” She pulled out the note, reading it aloud. “Bree, I thought you’d want to have this. Miss you more every day. Wish my girls would come home. Love you, Lyle.”

  “Is he still drinking?”

  “He says he isn’t,” Bree said, sighing. “But he’s said that so many times before. How can I believe him?”

  “I know it’s hard,” Rennie said. “Alcoholism is a difficult demon to slay. I guess the question isn’t whether he’s still drinking, but whether you’d go back to him if you could be sure he wasn’t.”

  Bree had moved from Houston to Arlington three months ago when her marriage had reached its breaking point. In a drunken rage, her husband of six years slapped her across the face. That’s when she decided he’d squandered his last chance with her. He swore he was sorry, that he’d get help, that it would never happen again, but she couldn’t stay in the same house with a man who would put his hands on her in anger. Lyle would always be her daughter’s father, but that didn’t mean he had to be her husband anymore.

  “I don’t think so.” She set the angel back in the box before tossing the note in the wastebasket. “He hurt me. Not just physically, but emotionally. I know he had a hard time coping with his dad’s death, especially since he was the one driving the car, but that accident wasn’t his fault. They hit a patch of black ice. There was nothing he could have done to stop the car from going over the embankment.”

  “People cope with grief in different ways.” Rennie held up a hand when Bree started to protest. “I’m not saying drinking was the answer and he sure as hell didn’t have the right to put his hands on you, but maybe this time apart was the wake-up call he needed to start piecing his life back together. He can’t bring his father back, but maybe he thinks he can bring you and Ainsley back if he makes some changes.”

  “My little girl is so young,” Bree said, glancing at a framed photo of her fair-haired daughter behind the cash desk. “She missed her daddy for a while, but the more time passes, the less she asks about him. Since he lost his license for driving under the influence, it’s not like he can come here to visit her and I certainly can’t make the four-and-a-half-hour drive every weekend.”

  “What about Christmas?” Rennie asked. “Will Lyle see Ainsley then?”

  “That’s the plan,” Bree said. “Since my dad’s still living outside of Houston, we’ll spend a few days with him and Ainsley will visit Lyle for a bit on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.”

  “Will it be weird for you, seeing him again after all this time?”

  “I don’t know.” Bree had asked herself that same question, how she would react to seeing her estranged husband, but she honestly didn’t know. She wasn’t afraid of him, per se, but she couldn’t say she looked forward to being alone with him again, especially after their last encounter.

  “I think you were smart to put some distance between you while you figured things out,” Rennie said. “If you’d stayed in Houston, I doubt he would have left you alone.”

  “You’re probably right.”

  Rennie’s phone rang, prompting her to smile when she saw her husband’s number flash across the screen. “Gimme me a sec, Bree.”

  Bree went back to decorating the tree while Rennie caught up with her husband. Most people, including her aunt, would probably say it was too early to display Christmas decorations, since Thanksgiving was still a few days away, but Bree needed something to lift her melancholy mood.

  “Everything okay?” Bree asked, noting the look of concern on her friend’s face when she ended the call.

  “It’s Kevin. He’s going through a really bad time. He doesn’t even want to come to our house for Thanksgiving dinner this weekend. He told Zach he’s thinking about getting away by himself for a few days.”

  Kevin was the one reason Bree had questioned returning to her hometown. The thought of seeing him again, even after two decades, induced overwhelming anxiety.

  “Separations are never easy,” Bree said, trying to keep her voice neutral. “I’m sure he misses his son.” Rennie had worked with them at the golf course that summer. She, of all people, knew how much it hurt Bree to break up with Kevin and Bree didn’t want her friend to know she was still harbouring feelings for her first love.

  “You have no idea.” Rennie sighed. “I don’t even think Kev realized how much he’d miss Danny until he was gone. I guess it doesn’t help that his ex-wife, Trena, has already set a wedding date. Meanwhile, they’ve just started divorce proceedings.”

  “She didn’t waste any time, did she?” Bree said, cursing her pettiness.

  It was difficult to imagine why any woman in her right mind would willingly walk away from a man like Kevin. She knew he’d gone on to become successful beyond his wildest dreams, and the few times she’d seen him on TV proved that he was even more handsome now than he’d been when they were together.

  “You ever wonder what might have happened if your family hadn’t moved to Houston when you started school? If they’d stayed here, you and Kev would have both been here every summer. Maybe you would have gotten back together. You think?”

  “I doubt it.” Bree would never forget how angry Kevin had been when she told him she had to end things. He hadn’t tried to contact her once, before she left town or after. “I had to end it. I didn’t have a choice.”

  Rennie tipped her head. “I always wondered about that. You were so tight-lipped about your break-up. You said something about being too young, your parents not approving, but I never bought it. Anyone could see how crazy you two were about each other. You could have found a way to make it work.”

  Since Bree no longer had a reason to keep her mouth shut, she said, “Kevin’s dad gave me an ultimatum. His son or my job. As much as I loved Kev, I couldn’t go to school in the fall if I didn’t have enough money saved to buy books and get me through the year. Mr. Foster knew he had me backed into a corner.”

  Rennie swore softly. “I should’ve known he was behind it. John isn’t a bad guy, but he can be controlling and manipulative, especially where his boys are concerned.”

  “He didn’t think I was good enough for his son.” Bree tried to ignore the pang in her
chest as she lifted a carefully wrapped ornament from the box and set it on a tree branch. “Given the way things turned out, he was probably right.”

  “Don’t say that,” Rennie said, jumping to her friend’s defense. “You’re an amazing mom. You have a beautiful little girl who loves you. So what if your life hasn’t worked out exactly the way you planned? No one’s does.”

  “Kevin’s has.” Bree sighed. “He always talked about being a big-shot lawyer who would get all these high-profile cases and look at him now. He’s living his dream.”

  “I’m sure some days it seems like more of a nightmare.” At Bree’s questioning look, Rennie said, “You know what they say, be careful what you wish for. Kev’s life is his work. There’s no time for anything else. Sure, he has all the trappings: the nice house, cars, stuff, but I got the feeling that was to make Trena happy. Now she’s gone and he has nothing left.”

  Bree tried to feel sympathy for Kevin, but it wasn’t easy when she thought about the woman who’d walked out on him. From everything Rennie told her, it may have been for the best. It didn’t sound like Kevin and his wife were very compatible.

  “Hey, I just had an idea,” Rennie said, snapping her fingers. “Why don’t you go over and decorate Kev’s home and office. I’ll hire you. It’ll be my gift to him.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Bree’s heart hammered at the mere thought of seeing him again after all this time. How would he react? What would he say? If she knew Kevin, he’d tell her to get the hell out of his sight and threaten her with a restraining order if she tried to set foot on his property again. “We didn’t exactly end things on good terms, Ren. I’m the last person he’d want to see.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Rennie smirked. “You may be exactly what the doctor ordered to pull him out of this funk.”

  “No way.” The idea that she could be the prescription to fix whatever ailed Kevin was preposterous. She hated to think of him being in pain, but she knew she couldn’t help heal his heartbreak, especially since he was probably still clinging to memories of the pain she’d caused him. “I can’t do it.”