Crystal just shrugged.
Tracey looked her over, amazed that she had ever thought of a woman like this as a rival, then or now, for even one second. Her short red hair was spiked out with petroleum jelly, and what Tracey had taken for a mole at first was actually a small stud piercing Crystal's left nostril.
The woman wore a pair of skin-tight jeans and an orange tank top on a figure that had been good once, but her outfit left no doubt that she lived hard, and it showed on her. Her jangling bracelets and big hoop earrings looked about as tarnished as she did.
But Tracey could almost see that she'd been pretty once. A long time ago. Crystal scratched her head with one hand, and she noticed a tattoo of a rose whose stem extended underneath a gold skull ring worn on her fourth finger. Tracey realized that it was a wedding band as Crystal turned to stare at her.
Her eyes were cold, and a very pale blue. She jerked a thumb toward Tracey and spoke to Austin.
"Who's she?"
"This is my fiancée, Tracey Miller."
"Oh-ho," she drawled and inspected Tracey from head to toe, even walking around her. Tracey moved away, instinctively avoiding her aggressive scrutiny.
Crystal spoke at last.
"You sure you know what you're doin', Austin? I can't see you with a goody-two-shoes like this."
"That's none of your business, Crystal." Austin's voice was angry, but Tracey knew he was far too weak to fight. "Why are you here?"
Crystal stretched, and cracked her knuckles elaborately.
"Me and Bubba was just passin' through. My girlfriend in Tom Bean said you was real sick. Someone else said you almost died. Just stopped by to see if you were alive or what."
"I'm alive. What do you really want?"
"You got no reason to talk so rude." Crystal went over to the bedside table and picked up his watch, looking at it without interest, and picking up the photo of Emily that Tracey had brought him. She flipped the frame down on its face.
"Leave my things alone. Get out."
"In a minute." Crystal sashayed around the room, spoiling for a fight that she wasn't going to get. She looked Tracey over one more time, even more curiously.
"You really gonna marry this broad? You're crazy as hell, Austin. You always was."
A smile flickered at the corner of Tracey's mouth. She was thinking about how much fun it would be to slide Crystal on her fanny right down the gleaming hospital corridor, just like a bowling ball. She didn't dare do anything, but her eyes blazed with fury. Don't lose your temper now, she told herself. For Austin's sake.
"Whether Austin marries me or not really is none of your business," Tracey said in a tone of pure ice.
"Is that so?" Crystal put her hands on her hips and took a belligerent stance. "If he marries you, then you'll be around my daughter and I guess that does make it my business."
"Emily is not your daughter," Austin said between clenched teeth. He tried to get up, but a wave of pain wouldn't let him. He sank back into the chair with agonizing slowness. "You gave her up at birth and you've never come near her since."
Crystal flipped him the finger. "Don't worry. I never gave a damn about the brat. I never wanted to have her at all. You know that. I just didn't want to get stuck with her now in case you couldn't take care of her because you were dyin' or something. But I'd put her right into foster care if you did die. Bubba won't raise some other man's kid. You and this bitch can have her if you want her."
"Get out! Now!" Tracey snapped at last.
"Don't you tell me what to do. You got no call to be so uppity." Crystal stuck her face to within an inch of Tracey's.
"Austin don't belong to you," she added nastily.
Tracey was about to boil over, but her voice was soft. Dangerously soft, as Austin well knew.
"If you want to fight, Crystal, then you'd better sharpen your claws, because he sure as hell doesn't belong to you."
The women glared at each other, and Austin could've sworn he heard one of them hiss. He half-rose from his chair to intervene, but Crystal spun around and pushed him back down, hard.
Austin moaned with pain, and bent over, clutching his abdomen.
Tracey lost her temper once and for all. She drew back her hand and slapped Crystal across the face so hard the woman staggered back against the hospital bed. She bounced up on her legs like a banty rooster and reached to slap Tracey back, but Tracey grabbed her wrist between the bracelets and the tattoo.
"Don't you worry about raising Emily," she yelled. "There's no way I'd ever let you touch that child again! You didn't deserve to have her in the first place. Get on back to that truck you live in and drive it out of town and leave us alone!" She shoved Crystal out the door into the hall, and closed the door.
"Austin, are you all right?"
Austin nodded weakly, and even managed a lopsided grin.
"So you and Crystal meet at last. Holy cow. What a scene."
"That's one scary woman, Austin. Thank God you got sole custody."
He nodded his agreement. "And thank God Emily's never seen her."
Tracey smoothed down her dress, which had hiked up during the scuffle, to Austin's evident delight. She scowled at him.
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing," he lied, grinning at her. "Did I hear you tell Crystal to stay away from 'us'?"
"Yeah. Us. You and me and Jackson and Emily."
"Hmmm. Almost sounds like we're a family."
Tracey gave him a warning look.
"Austin—" She stopped, remembering why she'd come here in the first place: to get a few things straight with him. But she'd just changed her mind about most of them after meeting Crystal. If you could call a catfight like that a meeting.
She leaned across the distance separating the two chairs, and kissed him on the forehead. Austin would never know how much good it had done her to release the jealousy and anger she'd kept hidden for so many years. Once Crystal had stolen Austin away and abandoned his daughter, and now she dared to threaten him when he was in too much pain to walk.
Not that Tracey ever wanted Emily to know that she'd smacked Crystal clear across a room. But Austin's daughter deserved a real mother someday, and Tracey was sure, once and for all, that Crystal wasn't interested.
"Were you going to say something?"
Tracey stroked his hair. At last she could return some of the tenderness he'd shown her—without fear. Her nameless dread, her doubts, had flown out the door with Crystal.
"Yes." She hesitated. "I think I love you."
Austin looked at her disbelievingly.
"You think you love me. Well, I guess that's good news. Did meeting Crystal help you come to that conclusion?"
She seemed to be on the verge of issuing a disclaimer already. He braced himself for the bad news.
"Crystal has nothing to do with this," she lied. "But I don't want to be rushed, manipulated, or seduced into making up my mind about anything. Is that clear?" She paused.
Austin raised an eyebrow.
"Perfectly. I agree to those terms on one condition."
"What is it?" Her voice was wary, and she stood up to pace. Austin corralled her with an arm around her waist, and made her sit on the arm of his chair. He slid an exploratory hand up her thigh just to the delicate lace trim on her panties.
"You take out the no-seduction clause."
"Austin!"
She batted his hand away, exasperated once more, and stood at a safe distance near the door.
"Doesn't anything stop you? Go back to bed."
"No. Tracey, I love you so much it hurts."
"That's your stitches hurting. Not love."
He groaned, eased himself up and crawled into bed. Tracey averted her eyes demurely. Even in a hospital gown, his well-toned body looked all too tempting. She caught a glimpse of his bare, muscular legs as he pulled up the covers and fell back into his pillows, and remembered unwillingly how nice they'd felt tangled up with hers back when.
"Would
you get me a glass of water before you go?"
Tracey wasn't falling for that.
"Ask the nurse, you octopus."
Austin sighed, and reached for his call button. The door swung open immediately, but it wasn't the nurse. The biggest, burliest man Tracey had ever seen walked in. He wore his jeans low on his hips, topped by a gray muscle shirt with a slavering cartoon wolf astride a Harley Davidson printed on it. A long length of heavy chain was hooked to his belt loop, with its other end fastened to the huge billfold in his hip pocket. His dirty blond hair was pulled straight back into a ponytail and a full beard covered his square face. He had to be Bubba.
"Hear you insulted my wife," he growled.
Tracey crossed the room to him until her nose was just inches from his. He looked strong enough to break her in half with just one swipe of his big hand, but a red-hot anger made her oblivious to danger.
"Yes, I did," she said, in that lethally soft voice, and Austin slid out of bed, preparing at least to get between them before another fight started. Bubba might win, but he'd have a few battle wounds before the end by the look in Tracey's eyes.
But the fury in her gaze stopped Bubba cold. He'd never known a woman who was brave enough or fool enough to stand up to him. Lord, he'd bet this gal would fight a forest fire with a cup of water. Bubba suddenly regretted that he'd missed seeing her take his little Crystie down a peg. He just grinned at her.
Tracey's eyes narrowed, and she took one more step closer.
Bubba chuckled and took two steps back.
"Just wanted to say thanks." He walked out and shut the door behind him.
Tracey turned to see Austin bracing himself, grimacing, against the footboard of the bed.
"Austin!"
"Thought I was going to have to rescue you. But it never seems to be necessary. You're a holy terror."
She helped him up onto the bed once more.
"Quit talking foolishness. Get in this bed and stay there."
He complied, with some difficulty. "Now what in the hell was that all about?"
"I think Crystal met her match and he just came to make sure," she told him.
Austin laughed, but it cost him. He looked up at her wearily, and she stroked his hair. Her tender touch made the pain in his abdomen subside, and he stretched out gingerly under the thin blankets.
"Are visiting hours over? I can't take much more of this."
"I'll tell the nurse on duty that those two aren't allowed in here again."
"Thanks. Tell me something, Trace. Now that you've seen Crystal—"
"I hope I never do again," she said vehemently, interrupting him.
"Calm down for a minute. I just want to know if you're still afraid of the competition."
"No. Not any more."
He took her hand.
"Do you forgive me?"
"Yes."
"And you think you love me."
"Yes."
"I'll just have to be satisfied with that for now, I guess."
Tracey kissed his forehead and smiled down at him. She knew that somewhere in the future there was a life waiting for the two of them. She might have to fight for it . . . but then anything worth having was worth fighting for.
Chapter Ten
Two days later Austin called to tell her that the doctor was ready to release him. Tracey made arrangements for a substitute to cover her afternoon classes, and drove to the hospital. She opened the door to his room to find him packing his carryall.
The worn but beloved bathrobe he'd made her fetch from his apartment was folded on top but it was too bulky to fit. He was trying to stuff it in anyway when he looked up and smiled brightly at her.
"Hey. Thanks for coming to get me."
"You're welcome. Why don't you leave the bathrobe here? That old thing looks like it came from a white trash garage sale."
He looked insulted.
"I'll have you know my mother gave me this bathrobe long ago."
"Pack it." She held the threadbare terrycloth bundle down while he zipped over it. The clothes she'd brought for him were laid out on the bed, and he turned to unfasten his hospital gown.
"Now this is a versatile, unisex style," he told her mischievously, "Easy to undo with help from the right woman. Want to see how easy it is to take it off and throw it on the floor?"
"No, sir. Not on your life. You get mad when clothes get thrown on the floor."
"Not when you're throwing my clothes."
Tracey reached for the call button.
"What are you doin'?"
"Calling the nurse. She'll help you get dressed."
"Aw. You're no fun."
She looked at him levelly.
"You're still recuperating from abdominal surgery. I just spoke to the doctor, and he's releasing you into my care. He indicated that there was to be no fooling around until you're fully recovered. Only that wasn't quite how he put it."
"What else did he say?"
"I have the folder he gave me in here." She patted her purse. "You have to take it pretty easy. And bland foods only for a few days."
Austin made a face, just as the same nurse who'd been in the emergency room entered.
"Good morning, Mr. Miller. Let's get you ready to go." She darted a sideways look at Tracey. "So, when are you two getting married?"
Tracey glared at him, daring him to answer without lying again.
"We haven't set the date yet, have we, darlin'?" Austin beamed at Tracey. "But we're thinking about a simple little wedding during the fall, aren't we, sweetheart?"
He was incorrigible. Tracey took a breath to steady herself.
"Sure," she answered sweetly, and loudly enough for the nurse to hear. "That's right about when your momma gets out of jail, isn't it? She wanted to come." There, she thought triumphantly. That ought to give Miss Blue Eyes something to tell Damian.
The nurse pretended that she hadn't heard. Tracey kissed Austin lightly on the cheek.
"I have half a mind to shoot you right now and watch you die," she whispered softly in his ear.
"I love you, too, darlin'," he boomed back. Tracey jumped a foot. He'd made sure the nurse could hear him clear across the room, where she was taking the rest of his clothes out of the closet.
Tracey drove him home and helped him inside the apartment. She fussed over him, propping him up with pillows and a comforter on the couch.
"There. You look presentable now. I'm going to get the kids."
He almost managed to grab her, but she sidestepped him neatly and was out the door before he could get any ideas.
"Not even a goodbye kiss?" he called after her. "You heartless hussy."
"Oh, hush, Austin." She blew him a quick kiss from her fingertips and was gone.
"Daddy, daddy!" Both kids rushed through the door at the same time and stopped abruptly in front of the sofa, not knowing what to do. They had been firmly instructed by Tracey not to jump on him.
"How about a hug? Nice and easy, you two. The doctor said to tell you to take good care of me."
Austin chuckled and opened his arms.
Jackson hugged him gently. "I was afraid you'd die and I would've had a daddy for only one day," he told him. "Where did they cut your skin open? Can I see it?"
"Later."
Emily kissed him on the forehead and hugged him tenderly around the neck, being very careful not to squeeze too tight. "Well, I don't want to see it," she shuddered. "Did it get blood on you?" Her eyes widened at the thought. "Does it hurt bad?"
"Yes, it does, but now my insides can get well. Emily, they sewed me up nice and neat just the way Granny sewed up your rag doll. There's no blood." He changed the subject. "Trace tells me you two were really good all week. I'm very proud of you," he said.
"Can we go out in the courtyard and swing?" Emily asked.
Tracey looked at Austin and he raised an eyebrow. "If you'll stay right at the swings and not wander off," Austin said.
"We'll leave the door open so we can he
ar you," Tracey said.
"Come on, Jackson!" Emily ran out the front door to the apartment. He caught up quickly, both of them squealing and racing to the swings where other children were already gathered to play while their parents enjoyed the sunshine and caught up on gossip.
"I've got groceries to unload. Be right back," Tracey told him. She followed Jackson out, returning in less than a minute. "Boy, it's easier to carry groceries in when you don't have to -go up a flight of stairs." She set the bags on the table and started unloading them. "The doctor's orders specified bland food for another day, so it's noodle soup for supper. By tomorrow night you can have what you want."
Austin grinned wickedly. "What I want is an hour or two of pure, unadulterated sex, barbecued burritos, fried potatoes, refried beans, lasagna, and more sweet love for dessert," he told her. "Come here and sit beside me. Let's talk. You can fix me some sumptuous noodle soup out of a can in a while. It's too early for supper right now anyway."
"All right." She put the cheese and pickles in the refrigerator and went to sit on the sofa beside him.
"Hold my hand. I like to feel your skin against mine," he said. "Let's talk about us. Even you agree that we are now officially 'us'."
"Austin, right now my brain is so tired it doesn't want to think about anything. Let's take it a day at a time for a while and see how things develop. We're both adults now. We're not teenagers with our heads screwed on backwards," she said.
"Okay," he said. "That's fair enough. I can take it a day at a time if I can see you every day and we can make wild, passionate love every other day."
"Lord, we were always good in bed, Austin. That was never our problem. We were just too young, that's all."
"How much longer do you think I'll have to wait?"
"The doctor said—"
"Not for that. I mean to marry you."
Her eyes flashed angrily, making him glad he'd just had surgery. Surely she wouldn't start throwing things at him.
"If you don't stop asking me, I'll throw you out in the middle of the highway for the buzzards to eat. You're too weak to fight 'em off. And you told that nurse again that we were getting married. What am I going to do with you?"
"That's up to you," he laughed again, then held a pillow to his side. "Don't make me laugh, it hurts."
Small Town Romance Collection: Four Complete Romances & A New Novella Page 26