Walking Straight (The Walking Together Series Book 1)

by T. E. Killian

  “I tried Oklahoma City first but he found me within a few months and the same thing happened again. He always gets me fired from my job so I’ll be dependent on him again. But I took off again and wound up in Springfield that time.”

  “When he found me again, he really went berserk. It was late at night and I was working as a checker in a grocery store. The assistant manager, the poor dear, was just walking me to my car to make sure I made it safely when Dave jumped us and beat up the manager then he started beating on me.”

  Hal jumped in then. “Didn’t either one of you file charges against him?”

  She nodded. “Yes, we did, both of us. But once he got back to Dallas where his daddy could protect him, nothing ever came of it.”

  Hal pulled a small notebook out of his pocket and wrote into it. “Those complaints are probably still valid. I’m going to check with Springfield PD to find out.”

  He shoved the notebook back into his pocket so forcefully that Betty Sue was afraid he might tear the pocket.

  She could tell that he was getting really mad now. So she looked around the room and saw the same looks of anger on all the other faces too. But Matt! She was afraid Matt might have a stroke or something. His face was bright red and his hands were so white from making fists that she grew concerned about him.

  * * *

  Matt had to take a deep breath and let it out very slowly to keep from yelling or doing something else to vent his anger. He wanted to break something. He wanted to break that guy in two. But he had to get a grip on himself. Betty Sue didn’t need him acting like her ex.

  Whenever he thought about Betty Sue, he knew she was such a kind and sincere person that he just couldn’t imagine anyone treating her the way she’d described her ex-husband beating her.

  He opened his eyes and realized that every eye in the room was now on him. His dad reached out a hand, clamped it on Matt’s shoulder, and squeezed lightly. Matt suddenly had a warm feeling course through his body. Nothing like that had ever happened between him and his dad . . . at least not in the last ten years.

  “I’m all right.” He snorted and shook his head. “No I’m not all right. It just makes me so mad that a man would do that to any woman.” He looked into Betty Sue’s eyes. “But especially to someone as special as you are Betty Sue.”

  She blushed and the smile she gave him made him want to squirm in his seat, run, and smile back at her all at the same time. That was the first time she’d really smiled at him like that but he certainly didn’t want it to be the last time either. How could he go about getting to where he’d see that smile from her on a regular basis?

  Hal was talking now so Matt figured he’d better start paying attention again.

  “Like I told Matt on the way over here, even with an Order of Protection against the guy, or maybe especially with one, we can’t just go out and arrest him. We have to catch him violating the order.”

  He held up both hands when everyone in the room seemed to be talking at once, especially Matt.

  “Now just hold your horses, all of you. I didn’t say I wasn’t going to do anything, now did I?”

  He smiled. “My best guess would be that he’s staying at the motel right there next to the diner. Even if he’s staying somewhere else, it shouldn’t take me long to find out where he is. Then, my people can keep an eye on him.”

  He paused for breath but continued before anyone else could speak. “But still, I have to be very careful. Because if he catches on, he could file a harassment complaint against us.”

  Matt’s dad spoke up then. “Hal, is it possible for you to keep someone near Betty Sue at all times?”

  Hal shook his head sadly. “No, Henry. As much as I’d like to, I just don’t have the manpower to do something like that.”

  Trish made a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a snort. “That’s okay Henry. I’ve got my S & W and Betty Sue’s got a gun now and not only that but she says she knows how to use it too.”

  Hal looked at Betty Sue then. “Yeah, you need to come down to the station to finish the paperwork on your permit and then I’d really feel much better about it if you’d go with me to the range so I can see just how you do handle it. Okay?”

  She smiled back at him. “That’s fine Chief. I’m not a sharpshooter or anything, but I can certainly hit what I’m aiming at if it’s within twenty feet of me.”

  He chuckled. “That sounds right fine to me Betty Sue. Can you go down there yet this afternoon?”

  While the others were making their plans, Matt had an idea and he turned toward his little sister and motioned for her to join him on the couch.

  Once she did, he said, “Grace, could you take me home? There’s something I need you to do for me.”

  She grinned back at him. “Sure, but do you think you can fit that leg and those crutches into my car?”

  He tried to return her grin but didn’t quite make it. “Sure, I figured out a system coming over here in Hal’s Tahoe.”

  Everyone started leaving then. Betty Sue was going to follow Hal down to the police station in Richard’s old pickup and Matt’s dad had to leave too.

  It was a struggle but Matt was able to get his leg into Grace’s car and they were soon entering his apartment.

  Once inside, Grace stopped in the middle of the living room, placed her hands on her hips, glared at him, and said, “Okay big brother. What’s this all about?”

  He couldn’t help but grin at the defiant stance his little sister could take sometimes when she was upset with him about something.

  “Okay. First, I wanted you to know that Hal had one of his officers come over Thursday and take a DNA sample of mine so it can be sent to the lab with some that Crystal’s doctor was supposed to take on Friday.”

  He blew out a breath. “So, hopefully, by the end of the week we’ll know that I’m not the father of Crystal’s baby.”

  Grace still seemed cautious and said, “Good, but I’m sure that wasn’t why you dragged me over here to your apartment saying you wanted me to do something for you.”

  He shook his head. Man how he loved his little sister. She sure was special “You’re right Grace.”

  He rubbed his hand through his beard. “I want you to cut off enough of this so I can get at it with a razor.”

  Before she could do more than shout out in glee, he continued. “Then I want you to see if you can trim my hair some.”

  She was grinning broadly now. “Just how much of that greasy mop do you want me to cut off Matt?”

  He blushed and frowned. “I guess if you can, maybe something like Kent’s hair.” He quickly added. “Only not quite so short.”

  She shouted out with laughter then. “My big brother has finally fallen in love.”

  An hour later, as Matt stared at himself in the mirror that Grace held in front of him, he didn’t recognize the man reflected there. Wow! Was that really him?

  “There’s my handsome brother again. You’ve been hiding him for a long, long time.”

  “All right Gracie, cut the crap okay.”

  She just laughed again. “Well, if you don’t have anything else you need me to do, I should be getting back to the house. Brianna’s going to be wondering where I am.” She giggled. “Mom too. I imagine Brianna has her quite worn out by now.”

  Chapter Nine

  Betty Sue had awakened quite early on Sunday morning. Sometime during a restless night, she had made a decision. She was starting a new life here in Strawberry and Dave wasn’t going to ruin it this time. And one of the best things about her new life here was that she was back in church. She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it until Trish had taken her last Sunday.

  Now, she had decided that she was going to go forward at the end of the service today to rededicate her life to the Lord. That felt like the perfect thing to do so she was going to do it.

  That still didn’t mean that she wasn’t nervous about doing it. But then when she thought about it, she knew her new friends
would all support her so much that it would really turn out to be an easy thing to do. And she really liked Pastor Henry. He was such a gentle and understanding man, which was surprising as big as he was.

  She hurried to shower and dress so she could tell Trish.

  When she walked into the kitchen where Trish was flipping some pancakes, she just stood there for a moment and watched this wonderful, caring woman, a woman Betty Sue had come to care for so very much in such a short amount of time.

  Trish turned around. “You got something on your mind you need to tell me Betty Sue?”

  Betty Sue was shocked now. How did Trish know her so well so soon? She hadn’t even decided until early this morning.

  Trish motioned for Betty Sue to sit at the table and placed a cup of coffee in front of her. “I think I know what it is, but I’ll let you tell me. Okay Sweetie?”

  Betty Sue nodded and took a cautious sip of the hot coffee in an attempt to gather her thoughts. “Well, Trish, I have decided to go forward at the end of the service this morning to rededicate my life to the Lord.”

  Trish turned the burner off and pulled a chair up next to Betty Sue, taking her in her arms and hugging her tightly.

  “Oh Betty Sue. I couldn’t be more proud of you than if you really were my very own daughter.”

  Then Betty Sue couldn’t help it but she burst into tears. Trish didn’t say anything else but she also had tears streaming down her cheeks. So they both sat there holding each other and letting the happy tears fall.

  When they arrived at church, Grace grabbed Betty Sue and led her off to their class. But once there, she didn’t really think she heard anything that was said in the class. She felt a little embarrassed about that until Grace turned to her as they were walking down the hallway afterward.

  “Betty Sue, is something troubling you.” Grace laughed. “Oh duh! I know that monster of an ex-husband must definitely be bothering you. But I think there’s something else besides that.”

  They both stopped and stepped to the side of the hallway so others could pass. Betty Sue clutched Grace’s hand and said, “I’ve decided to rededicate my life to the Lord today.”

  Grace jumped in the air and squealed. “Oh Betty Sue, that’s so perfect.”

  Betty Sue stood there with her mouth almost hanging open. She knew that to her this was a big decision but why was Grace acting the way she was?

  Grace stopped bouncing and looked into Betty Sue’s eyes. “Oh Betty Sue. You don’t know this, but my baby girl has accepted the Lord and she’s going forward today too. Won’t it be just perfect if you both go up there at the same time?”

  Betty Sue was so excited when it came time to go forward and she had planned to take Brianna by the hand and help her. She was certain that the little girl would need her for support.

  But no, as it turned out, when her grandfather started the time of commitment, Brianna jumped out of her seat on the other side of Grace from Betty Sue. And as she passed by, she grabbed Betty Sue’s hand and tried to pull her up out of her seat.

  It was almost embarrassing to Betty Sue to be the one who looked like she needed the support to go forward. But as she chanced a look at some of the people in the congregation, she only saw warm, encouraging smiles on all the faces. Wow! If she hadn’t already known it, she knew now for sure that she was in the right place . . . finally.

  When they made it to the front, Betty Sue held back so Brianna could go to her grandfather first. In fact, she jumped into his arms causing the entire congregation to laugh.

  After a minute of talking to Brianna, Pastor Henry held Brianna’s hand with his left hand while he reached out with his right hand to Betty Sue. She stepped up to him expecting him to take her hand but instead, he wrapped that arm around her and leaned close to speak very softly to her.

  “Are you coming to rededicate your life Betty Sue?”

  She could only nod since the tears had clogged up her throat. He then leaned forward between Brianna and Betty Sue and said a short prayer for both of them.

  When he finished, she whispered to him. “Would I be able to join the church too?”

  His smile grew bigger and he said, “Of course, Betty Sue. We’d love to have you join us.”

  When the music stopped, he turned to the congregation and said, “I think that most of you know my granddaughter, Brianna Donaldson. Well, she has come today proclaiming that she has invited Jesus into her heart and wants to be baptized.”

  The whole congregation made appropriate noises and clapped their hands. Then he held up his hands briefly but kept his hold on both of them.

  “Also, only a few of you have had the great pleasure to get to know a new member of our community. Betty Sue Farris has been working down at the diner with Trish Howard. In fact, Trish has taken Betty Sue into her home just like a daughter.”

  “Well, Betty Sue accepted the Lord when she wasn’t much older than Brianna here, but has been away from Him for a while. But now she comes to us this morning to rededicate her life to the Lord . . .”

  He gave her a meaningful look. “And to ask for member ship in our fellowship.”

  Now she knew what that look meant and she vigorously nodded her head.

  * * *

  Matt was wide awake at eight o’clock. And that was unheard of for him, especially on a Sunday morning, unless he had a run to make. He tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. So he finally gave up and went into the bathroom to take yet another sponge bath. Man, he hated not being able to take a shower.

  He was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee later, enjoying the fact that he was starting to get used to his cast enough that he could do a lot of things much easier now. But he still looked forward to getting a new cast tomorrow, one that they said he’d be able to walk on.

  Those thoughts got him started thinking about his accident. He had handled plenty of ice patches like that on his bike before. He knew that the only reason he hadn’t been able to do so this time was that he was still high from the night before.

  He looked down at the cast on his leg. He sure didn’t want that to happen again. And he had to admit to himself that it could have been a whole lot worse. Maybe he’d look into buying a helmet next week.

  Whoa! Where was that line of thinking going? Was he simply going to change one little thing? Was he just going to protect his head to keep from getting another concussion? The concussion wasn’t what was giving him all the long-term grief. It was the broken leg.

  He forced himself to think. What could he do to try to keep something like that from ever happening again?

  Quit!

  That one huge word bounced around in his head like a rubber ball. Should he? Could he? Yes! He had better quit if he ever wanted a chance with Betty Sue. That was certainly his major motivator right now wasn’t it. He knew she wouldn’t put up with that kind of behavior from him.

  Yes, he could quit for Betty Sue. He would quit for Betty Sue. It was Sunday and he hadn’t had anything since Wednesday. And he felt fine. He could do it.

  He had just moved to the couch in the living room when a knock sounded on the door and Hal came barging in. Matt was surprised to see the chief on a Sunday morning, and in his uniform besides. The guy was usually in church right then. He was as bad as Matt’s parents about that place.

  “Hey Matt, can I talk to you for a bit?”

  Matt shrugged his shoulders. “You’re already in, might as well.”

  He noticed a hard glint in Hal’s eyes briefly before he took the chair facing Matt’s couch. So he braced himself for another one of those lectures that Hal and his dad seemed to enjoy throwing at him.

  Matt knew exactly when his new look hit Hal. His eyes grew large and a big grin came over his face. “Man, you sure do look different without all that hair. You almost look normal.” He paused then said, “Almost. That won’t change anything by itself Matt. You gotta do more and it’s got to be on the inside.”

  Matt refused to comment on any of that o
r be drawn into one of Hal’s verbal traps so he just sat there staring at the man.

  Hal shocked him when he looked Matt in the eye and said, “You like Betty Sue. Don’t you?”

  Well, that certainly wasn’t anything close to what Matt had expected the old cop to throw at him. Where did that come from anyway? He didn’t want to answer at first then he noticed that Hal’s face had softened slightly.

  So he decided to see where Hal wanted to go with this. “Yes, I do . . . very much.”

  “Why?”

  “Why? What do you mean why?”

  Matt was about to get angry but now the guy had the nerve to sit there grinning at him again. This was a first. Sure, he’d seen Hal Wallace grinning like that lots of other times before but at other people, never at Matt and never like this.

  “Okay, let me rephrase that question. Why do you like Betty Sue and not any of the other women you know? Like the woman who says you’re the father of her baby.”

  Now that he could answer. He’d thought about that very question a lot in the last few days.

  “Because she’s different than any of the other women I’ve ever known, especially Crystal.”

  He thought that would stop the barrage of questions but he was mistaken. Hal took that and ran with it.

  “Okay then. Don’t you think that if she’s different then you need to be too?”

  Matt got mad in a flash, held up both hands, and yelled, “Stop!”

  Neither man said a word for a few minutes. Matt had to get control of himself or he’d get into big trouble with Hal. So he just sat there glaring at Hal and Hal just sat there with a familiar smirk on his face, watching Matt stew. Matt wanted to knock that smirk off his face but knew better.

  Finally, Hal began to laugh loudly and Matt tried to stay mad at him but couldn’t. Instead, he just shook his head. “I’ve already decided that Betty Sue is worth changing for.” He waved at his head. “As you noticed before, I’ve already started to change? So get off your high horse and leave me alone.”

  Hal just sat there staring at Matt for a few more minutes. He knew the guy was probably trying to get him to squirm but Matt was determined that it wasn’t going to work this time.