His Secret Baby

by Ashlee Price

  Marcel sighed and sat down next to him on the stool beside him. “Look, I know you are bummed out right now, Scott, but it will all work out.”

  Scott didn’t want to hear it. The coffee wasn’t what he wanted and he tried to lean against the counter to get the bottle of whiskey that he had been drinking from. He had nearly finished the bottle himself and he wasn’t done. It was still light out and Scott wasn’t ready to stop until he was out. He had always been one extreme to the next and Marcel had seen this before when their father had died. Scott had been in his teens and had gone over the deep end.

  Now was just the same. He could see the same look in his eyes that told him that his brother didn’t care what happened. It was not a good place for Scott to be in. The last time he had been like that, jail is what finally slowed him down. The Callahan money got rid of the problem, but he was older now and if he did something really stupid, there may be no way for them to save him the next time. Marcel knew that he had to get him home before he started wreaking havoc in the town. Everyone knew why he was acting out and most knew who Lisa was now dating. It wouldn’t be long before Scott found out as well.

  “Scott, come on. Don’t make me drag you out of here.”

  He just kind of sneered at him, sure that Marcel wasn’t big enough to do such a thing. “Go on brother. You have a wife to get home too.”

  Marcel closed his eyes. He had always had a short fuse when it came to Scott’s rebellion, but even he knew that the man was hurting and he felt bad for him. There was no time for it though. The rest of the patrons would be in soon and Marcel wanted to get him out of there before anyone else could see him like that. He knew that Scott would be embarrassed the next day or he would wake up in jail because he had started a fight with someone.

  “You either come with me or I am going to call mom.”

  Scott looked over at him. “You can’t be serious.”

  He was, though, and Scott knew it. Even in his stupor, he didn’t want Elna to see him that way. He had always been the baby of the family and he had also been the one that was close with her. Marcel tried to help him up and that time he went willingly. To Marcel it was a win to not have to knock him out to get him home, that was always the last resort.

  “Thanks for calling me Ralph.”

  He just nodded and asked if he needed any help. “Do you want me to help you get him out to the car?”

  Scott answered, telling him that he had it, though if it wasn’t for his brother’s strong grip on his arm, he would have already been flat on his back. Scott had drank way too much and there was no way that he was going to make it anywhere on his own steam.

  Marcel got him into his truck after a little wrestling and threatening and was on his way back home when Scott finally passed out. When he got back he had Henri help him to his bedroom and laid him on the bed. It wasn’t even three in the afternoon and he looked like he was out for the night.

  Chapter 8

  “What are we going to do about him?” Marcel, Paul and Henri were all at the table and not one face held much glee. They all knew that Scott was on a road that he had been in before and no one wanted to see it. There was not much to be done though and Marcel was thinking that his brother needed some time away from the ranch. There was a cattle drive in their future and he thought it best that he and Scott went alone.

  “I think we should go ahead and take the cows up to the north pasture a couple weeks early. It would get him out of town and away from the bars for a bit. I will go and try to talk to him.” Marcel felt like it was his responsibility as the older brother to help him through it. They had all thought that it would work out with Lisa and though Scott tried to pretend that he was okay with it, in reality he wasn’t.

  Paul thought that they should all go, but Marcel argued that it should be him. Henri was under the impression that Scott just needed time alone because that is what he would want in that situation. There was talk for a while, but Marcel got his way as he usually did. He was everyone’s big brother and no one wanted to be the one against him.

  “I just don’t like the idea of two people on a cattle drive. We have a lot of them to move this year. Tons of newborns and the Brazos River is ten feet higher than it is supposed to be. There is a reason that we wait till the end of the month. I don’t know if we should really be driving this early.” Paul said concerned. There had been a lot of rain that season and his mind was always on the logistics.

  Marcel wasn’t thinking about any of that. He was worried about what Scott would do, and there was no way that staying in town and working it out was going to be an option. It never worked before and he was sure that the chances of it working again were slim. There was something more important than losing a calf. He didn’t want to lose his brother like they almost had before.

  “I know that it will be a little higher. I was thinking we could cross a little higher up where it is not so wide. It will be stronger and deeper, but they should do fine.” He wasn’t sure of himself, but his face showed confidence in his plan.

  “I am with Paul, Marcel. It is risky to go now, but I can see your point too. You guys just make sure you have a few extra supplies. There are some parts that don’t have any cell service out there. I don’t like the idea of you going alone, but I guess two is better than one.”

  ***

  Scott was getting up about the time work was finished and Davina was over making dinner. She already knew what was going to happen and she had come over for some emotional support. Everyone liked Davina and they liked her cooking even more. Scott thought with his stomach and Marcel thought that it would be an easier way to ease him into it.

  “Good evening sunshine!” Marcel was talking loud close to his ear. Scott pushed him back and grimaced. His head was pounding and he almost thanked Davina for the coffee that she slid to him. It was late in the evening and dark outside, but the warm cup was as close to pleasure as he had in days.

  “That smells good, Davina.”

  “I made your favorite.”

  He smiled, but then knew that something was amiss. “Why?”

  “Because I know you have been having a rough go of things.”

  He shrugged. “Pity?”

  “Yes, it’s pity food. Do you not want any?”

  They both knew he did and no one said much else until he had eaten some of it. His senses were off because of the hang over and he was possibly still a little drunk, the alcohol still not out of his system. “So why is everyone looking at me like I am about to freak out?”

  “Because I had to go get you at two in the afternoon stone drunk at a bar. What’s going on?”

  Scott made a sneer. “It seems like everyone knows what is going on besides me. I told you before that I don’t need to talk about this. You know damn well what is going on with Lisa. I am just waiting for one of my brothers, to tell me who the hell it is.”

  “Why?”

  “You know why.”

  Marcel knew that his brother had every intention on fighting. With older brothers, Scott had to get tough quick and had resorted to violence more than once. “That isn’t going to happen. We might not be able to bail you out this time.”

  Scott shrugged and went back to the bowl of stew. If he had to listen to the crap, the least he could do was eat well. He was already starting to feel a little better, his stomach no longer sounding like it was trying to eat itself. “You guys can’t watch over me all the time. The town is small and I will find out what I need to know.”

  His older brother sat down next to him at the large wooden table and put his hand on his shoulder. “I need you to help me with the drive. If you still feel like smashing his face in, I will give you his name.” Marcel would, but he hoped that he could get through to him before he tried to kill the poor boy. David was weak and while he wasn’t sure why Lisa went that way, he knew that his brother would make short work of him. Scott was the strongest and just most manic of the Callahan boys. He had taken down all of his older brothers
at one time or another. Marcel’s jaw still hurt when he remembered the time they had gotten into it at the very bar he had picked him up from earlier in the day.

  The smile that came across his face made Marcel realize that he was going to have his work cut out for him. There was something sinister in the way Scott was looking and the last thing that he wanted was to have to bail him out of jail again.

  “So is it a deal?”

  “I don’t want to wait weeks Marcel. The drive isn’t until the end of the month.”

  “Not now. There is supposed to be flooding next week and we need to get them to the upper pasture or they will be stuck here and I don’t know how much hay is left. They need to get up there and then the Jerich twins are going to take over. There are already up there.”

  Marcel was lying through his teeth, but it wasn’t as if his brother had been checking the weather lately and he was just so convincing. He almost had Henri and Paul convinced and they knew that it wasn’t true.

  Scott was warming up to the idea with a second bowl and was soon ready to go. He knew that he needed a couple of days away, but was convinced that he would not have a change of heart. Marcel had been softened by marriage, but Scott knew that he wasn’t going to be softened and tamed like his brother.

  He would go and then get the information he needed to take care of the man. There was no real thought of reasoning. It was just the idea that someone had even touched Lisa. It didn’t matter if they were together or not. Lisa was always going to be his.

  “Fine, Marcel. You want to do the drive? We can leave in the morning. No sense in waiting if it has to be done. But when we get back, I am going to hold you to what you said.”

  Marcel nodded, hoping that his idea didn’t backfire on him.

  Chapter 9

  “Do you think you are going to be able to get through to him? I saw the look in his eyes. He was kind of scary looking.” Davina wasn’t worried for her husband as she watched him dress. She was going to miss him, but she was more worried about it not working out. Marcel felt such responsibility towards his brothers and she wanted to make sure that he didn’t get his heart broken as well.

  “I don’t know. He gets that way some times. After dad died, he really lost it. He was fighting everyone, got expelled from school. He works on the ranch because of it I think. He has been doing a lot better, but everyone around here knows that Scott will hit a man before he will argue. It’s just the way he is.

  She nodded and got up, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. “I just worry that you are getting too into it. You know what happens if you get your hopes up and he goes on another bender. Do what you can, but you can’t push people to just get over that kind of thing.”

  “Are you worried I will get my feelings hurt?” Marcel found it funny. The tiny woman was always so worried about him like he was glass. “It will be fine Davina and I will be back before you know it. You were just saying that you were getting sick of seeing my face just a couple of days ago.”

  “Well that was before I realized I wouldn’t see it for a few days. A week is too long to not be able to kiss you and touch you.” Her body pressed against him and he groaned.

  “You never seem to make goodbyes any easier love.”

  “Something to remember me by.”

  He growled at her and set her back so that she wouldn’t make him late for his own drive. She had a way of making nothing else matter, and like Elna, Marcel was wishing that his brother had the same thing. To have a woman’s love like that, a man could do anything. Lisa was perfect for him and he hoped that Scott would get it together and realize it sooner than later. It certainly had made his life easier once he stopped fighting it and figured it out for himself.

  When he got downstairs he was surprised to see Scott already at the table. He had a pack next to him at the seat and he was eating leftovers.

  “Good morning. I can’t believe you are up.”

  “Need to eat before we go. You know I hate all that dried crap for the next week that we are going to be eating. I brought some beans.”

  Marcel just shook his head. “Is that all you ever think of?”

  Scott turned to him all serious. “No, but for now it is better than what else I can come up with. You can always just give me the name and we can stop the whole charade.”

  He shook his head and then Scott turned back to his bowl. “That is what I figured. I will be ready in a minute. Let’s get this over with.”

  ***

  “What’s wrong baby?”

  Lisa shrugged the touch from her shoulders. David was staying over again and though he was nice, kind, gentle, all of the things that Scott wasn’t, it wasn’t making her happy. She never wanted the breakup to begin with, but going out and finding something to replace the hole in her had not worked out as well as she had hoped it would. Instead she was still just as empty as before, but now had another person’s emotions to deal with and that was hard enough to deal with past her own.

  She looked at the tall man and sighed. He was handsome, but he was no Scott. Turning away and going to the kitchen, Lisa was glad that he couldn’t read her mind. He would have gotten his feelings hurt, just like he was about to get his feelings hurt when she told him that she didn’t want to see him again. It had all just happened too fast and the last thing that she wanted to do was hurt David, but she knew she was going to have to.

  “Do you want me to make you some breakfast?”

  David smiled and nodded, oblivious that he was about to be dumped. “That would be great. I love your pancakes.”

  She turned around to not see the sappy look on his face. It just made it worse. It just made her feel guiltier about it all. Lisa poured him some juice. He didn’t drink coffee and though it felt weird, she had tried the orange juice with him. She needed coffee though and was starting to make a case in her head against David. How could she be with a man that drank juice instead of coffee? It was silly, but there weren’t many other reasons besides the obvious one of Scott.

  “I was hoping that you would want to go out today. You know like on a real date where we went into public and had a bite to eat.”

  “No, I don’t think that will work. I have lunch with Gemma and then I am going to work at 2.”

  His face fell a little before he could pull it back in. “I am starting to think that you don’t want to be seen with me.”

  He would be right, she thought to herself. She was no stranger to what Scott could do when he was mad. A man had touched her ass at a bar and he had broken his hand. At the time she had been mortified, but there was a comfort in his effectiveness. Lisa was saving David from a beat down and he didn’t even know it.

  “It’s not like that, but with my ex…”

  “I’m not afraid of him.

  You should be. “Well I just don’t see the point of rubbing it in his nose is all, just tacky.” She said it with such distain that he couldn’t argue.

  “I just don’t like that I can’t take you out and show you off. I know there is history, but you are with me now.”

  She didn’t answer him as she whisked the batter up. Lisa was feeling less and less comfortable with the situation as it was and she was really hoping that she would think of a way to make it somehow make it all make sense to the young man. He was a few years younger, but had a lot of growing to do as far as most things were considered.

  They had breakfast and she started out the conversation with that they needed to talk. She tried to let him off easy, it’s not him, it’s her, but he didn’t react well no matter how the message was given. He didn’t want to break up, but Lisa didn’t tell him they were never together. It was just a little fling to help not feel the emptiness, but she knew now that it was futile. Lisa couldn’t help it if he had gotten attached. She still loved Scott and there was no more of her heart to give. The man already had it all.

  Chapter 10

  It was the second day on the drive and though Scott wasn’t
talking to his brother as much as Marcel would have liked, there was no way to carry too much inside with the outside so pretty. There were no houses and power lines to ruin the view and Scott spent most of his time just thinking about how he got to where he was and what he was going to do next. He missed Lisa, but knew deep down that if she was happy with the new guy, he didn’t want to ruin that for her.

  He had missed his chance. He knew that now and though he still had the need to beat in the face of anyone that touched her, Marcel’s plan was working. Every hour out there in the silence and beauty, working the animals, brought him further away from the point that he would ask for the name when they got back. Scott still might, but he wasn’t sure. It was getting harder to imagine it as the anger dissipated out of him.

  The worst part of it all as he looked at the rolling meadow in front of him, was the realization that it was in fact his fault. He should have scooped her up years ago and since he had refused to, it was hard to imagine a woman like her staying single long. Scott didn’t think he was ever going to be able to replace her and he couldn’t even imagine trying. That is what hurt most for him. His anger was at himself for giving up the most important thing that he had in his life.

  “Are you ready to stop for the day?”

  Scott shrugged. He didn’t care either way. The sun had another half hour or so before it was down for good, but his body was tired. He hadn’t been getting much sleep, still not adjusted to sleeping alone. “That’s fine. We got a bit longer though. I don’t see the point of wasting the daylight but if you are getting too old for the long rides, I can understand that.”

  Marcel just chuckled and pulled up on the horse. They were at a good place to stop for the night. The animals were already going to the river for water, while others were eating. They still had another ten miles or so upriver to go before they crossed in the morning. It was the place they always went over and quickly the cows were moving into the river and across it.

  When their heads bobbed as they started to swim, it was when chaos started to ensue. There were too many of them and the river was just too wide and deep. Marcel was already off his horse, thinking that they were going to be able to stop for the night, but it was quickly clear that it was not going to happen. A small black newborn that was only a few days old was moving away from his mother as the swift water started to sweep him away.