West Texas Nights

by Sherryl Woods

  “Life, love, getting along, whatever you want to call it.”

  She nodded. “I think I get it now.” With that she poked him sharply in the ribs. “And I do not like it, Harlan Patrick. You’re saying I make you crazy physically, so you want to sleep with me, but beyond that, I just plain drive you crazy.”

  “More or less,” he admitted, gingerly rubbing the spot she’d punched. “Did you want me to lie about it?”

  “That depends.”

  “On?”

  She grinned at him then. “Whether you ever want to sleep with me again.”

  “Oh, I do, darlin’. I surely do.”

  “Offhand, I’d say your chances right now are about that of a snowball’s in hell.”

  With that she whirled around and marched up the steps and into the house, leaving him to ponder the wisdom of telling the truth over uttering a more diplomatic little white lie. Short-term, the truth clearly had its drawbacks. Long-term, well, that remained to be seen, he concluded as he followed her inside.

  * * *

  Laurie stood in the doorway to the living room and drew in a deep breath. Half the adults were down on the floor with Amy Lynn, who appeared to be ecstatic at all the attention. The child was showing off her first teeth in a grin that had everyone cooing at her. She crawled from one new relative to another and offered smacking kisses.

  “Quite the little charmer, isn’t she?” Harlan Patrick said proudly.

  “Like her daddy,” Laurie observed with less enthusiasm.

  “Seems to me she’s more like her mama, enjoying being the center of attention.”

  “Don’t start with me, Harlan Patrick.”

  “That wasn’t a jab,” he insisted.

  “Sounded like one to me.”

  He frowned. “Does every conversation we have have to disintegrate into an argument?”

  “Seems that way.”

  “I’m tired of it, Laurie. I’m tired of the sparring. Aren’t you?”

  “Yes,” she conceded.

  “Then let’s make a pact,” he suggested. “Let’s declare an honest-to-God truce. Let’s promise to think before we open our mouths and try not to keep hurting each other.”

  “I’d be happy to go along with that, if you will.”

  “I will,” he vowed solemnly, and sketched an X across his chest. “Cross my heart.”

  If only she could count on him remembering that promise for longer than a minute, she thought wistfully. Harlan Patrick always said what was in his heart. It was a blessing and a curse. She never had to sort through lies and evasions, but she also had to shield herself from the sometimes brutally painful honesty.

  She studied his face intently, saw the sincerity in his eyes. “I promise, too,” she said just as Harlan Adams spotted her.

  “Laurie, my girl, come over here and sit beside me. We have some catching up to do.”

  “Badgering more than likely,” Harlan Patrick murmured.

  She grinned. “I can handle your grandfather,” she assured him, then winked. “Can you?”

  “Doubtful,” Harlan Patrick conceded. “Let me know how it turns out.”

  “Oh, no, you low-down, sneaky cowboy. This reunion was your idea. You can come along and share the heat.”

  “Now, that sounds downright fascinating.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “You sure? Sometimes a slip of the tongue can be very telling.”

  She regarded him impatiently. “Try to drag your mind out of the gutter for two seconds and come with me. I am not facing your grandfather alone.”

  “I thought you said you could handle him.”

  “I can, but I want backup.”

  “Sorry. I left my shotgun at home.”

  “I doubt guns will be called for. Just use that inimitable charm of yours to steer the conversation in some other direction if he starts asking about our intentions.”

  Harlan Patrick gave her a worrisome grin. “Why would I want to do that? I’m mighty interested in what you have to say on that subject myself.”

  “Watch your step,” Laurie warned. “Or I’ll tell him you’ll be lucky if you’re not dead by the time I head out of here tomorrow.”

  On that note she headed across the room leaving Harlan Patrick to amble after her. She knew he’d come, if only to protect his own hide.

  “Sit right down here,” Harlan Adams said, patting the place beside him on the sofa. “Boy, you can drag over one of those chairs since you evidently don’t trust me to have a private conversation with your girl here.”

  When Harlan Patrick was settled, his grandfather turned to her. “Young lady, I have a bone to pick with you.”

  Laurie tensed. “What’s that?”

  “When you called here a few days ago, why didn’t you say a word about that pretty little baby of yours?”

  She breathed a sigh of relief. That was an easy one. “I wasn’t sure how much you knew, or how much Harlan Patrick knew, for that matter. I figured you’d say something if you’d seen the tabloid and put two and two together.”

  He nodded knowingly. “That’s why you called, then? You were pumping me for information?”

  “Afraid so,” she admitted. “I wanted to know if Harlan Patrick had seen the picture and if so, what his mood was. You told me all I needed to know when you said he’d taken off for parts unknown.”

  “You could have told me the truth, you know,” Harlan Adams scolded.

  “I didn’t think it was my place,” Laurie insisted. “I figured it was Harlan Patrick’s news to share with his family when he saw fit.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” he agreed, then looked at his grandson. “So why didn’t you tell me before you left town to go chasing after her?”

  “When I left here, I was fit to be tied. All I was interested in was finding Laurie and getting at the truth myself,” Harlan Patrick responded. “That’s all water under the bridge now, Grandpa. The important thing is that Laurie and Amy Lynn are here now.”

  “For how long?”

  “Until tomorrow,” Laurie said, her chin lifted combatively.

  “Tomorrow!” Harlan Adams exploded. “Why, that’s no time at all.”

  “I’m in the middle of a concert tour. I wouldn’t be here now if it weren’t for the fact that your grandson virtually kidnapped me. I have a concert date tomorrow night in Ohio.”

  “And then?” the older man persisted. “Will you be back then?”

  Laurie sighed. “No. There are a few more dates after that, and then I have to get back to Nashville to work on the next album.”

  Harlan Adams looked troubled. “I see. Your mama must be disappointed by that as much as I am.”

  “She’s just pleased we got this unexpected chance to visit,” Laurie said pointedly. “She wasn’t well enough to travel when I had Amy Lynn, and since then I’ve been on the road so much, there was no point in dragging her along from city to city.”

  Harlan Patrick grinned. “And we should be grateful for stealing a few unexpected minutes with you, too, right?”

  “Yes,” she said succinctly.

  “I have an idea,” Harlan Adams said with a worrisome glint in his eyes.

  “What’s that, sir?”

  “Why don’t you leave Amy Lynn right here while you’re off running around? It’ll give us a chance to get to know her, and you’ll have some peace of mind knowing she’s well cared for while you’re working.”

  Laurie was on her feet at once, trembling. “No, absolutely not,” she said backing away. “Amy Lynn stays with me. She is my daughter. Dammit, I knew this would happen. I knew it.” She glared at Harlan Patrick. “You put him up to this. I know you did.”

  She turned her back on the two men, crossed the room in quick, angry strides, plucked Amy Lynn off the floor and headed
outside. After basking in all the attention, Amy Lynn was furious at the disruption. She began to wail as Laurie raced from the house with her clutched tightly in her arms.

  Not until she was outside by the car, breathing hard, did she finally stop. Forcing back her own hysteria, she tried to soothe her daughter.

  “Shh. It’s okay. I’m sorry, baby. I know you were having fun. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  She sensed Harlan Patrick behind her even before he spoke.

  “You didn’t have to take off like that, you know. A simple no would have sufficed.”

  “Really?” she asked, whirling on him. “When has a simple no ever meant anything to an Adams? You all scramble, scratch, claw, manipulate, whatever it takes to get your way. Just like I said in there, for all I know, you put your grandfather up to that.”

  Despite her vow to herself that she wouldn’t cry, she felt the salty sting of tears in her eyes, even as fury and frustration mounted.

  “You won’t get her away from me, Harlan Patrick. You won’t.”

  “I haven’t tried, have I?” he asked reasonably. “That was Grandpa Harlan’s idea, not mine.”

  “But you’d jump at the chance to keep her here if I’d go for it, wouldn’t you?”

  “Well, of course I would. She’s my daughter, and I barely know her. What would a few days matter, Laurie? You could pick her up after the tour ends, or I could bring her back to you in Nashville.”

  “No,” she said again, just as forcefully.

  “Why not?”

  “Because...”

  She looked into the eyes of this man she had known practically her whole life, a man she had loved almost that long, and tried to gauge his intentions. She couldn’t, not entirely, and because of that she voiced her greatest fear.

  “Because I don’t know if you’d ever give her back.”

  Ten

  As Laurie’s words cut through him, Harlan Patrick had to fight the urge to shake her. How could she ever imagine that he would talk her into leaving Amy Lynn with him and then refuse to give their daughter back? How could she accuse him of even contemplating such an underhanded thing? Did she think he was capable of pulling a low-down, dirty stunt like that? Did she think he would sink to her level? That was what she had done, after all. She had kept his daughter from him. He should have thrown that in her face just to see how she liked it.

  Instead, because she was holding his daughter in her arms, he battled with himself until his temper was under control, then said evenly, “If I say I will bring her back to you, then that’s what I will do, Laurie. Have you ever known me to go back on my word?”

  Her cheeks flushed. “No,” she conceded. “But the circumstances have never been like this before, either. I guess what I’m saying is that I almost wouldn’t blame you if that’s what you did. Isn’t that exactly what I did to you?”

  He was surprised by her admission, reassured somehow that she recognized the irony of the accusation she had leveled at him.

  “Yes,” he said mildly. “But the time for casting blame and getting even is over. What we have to do now is figure out the future and what’s best for Amy Lynn.”

  She seemed to clutch their daughter a little more tightly. “What’s best for Amy Lynn is not to have her life disrupted. She’s always been with me. What would she think if I just vanished, even for a few days? I don’t want her thinking I abandoned her. I know what that’s like all too well.”

  “Let Val stay, too. That would give Amy Lynn a sense of continuity. It might also reassure you that I won’t be able to get away with stealing her right out from under you. Val would have my hide first.”

  “I can’t,” she protested. “I need Val with me. There are endless details she needs to see to when I’m on tour. I’d be lost without her.”

  It was this intransigence that had kept them apart all these years. “Come on, Laurie. Work with me. Compromise. Val is the queen of long distance. She can make things happen from anywhere. She doesn’t have to be glued to your side.”

  He could see from her expression that she was struggling with herself, wanting to do what was right and fair, but terrified of choosing wrong.

  “I’ll think about it,” she said finally. “That’s the best I can do.”

  “Talk to Val. See what she says,” he urged.

  “This isn’t about Val, dammit. It’s about Amy Lynn,” she said as she struggled to hang on to the increasingly restless baby.

  Harlan Patrick forced a smile for his whimpering, frustrated daughter, then met Laurie’s gaze evenly. “It’s also about trust, isn’t it? It’s about whether or not you really trust me to keep my word.”

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  “I never broke my word,” he reminded her. “You did.”

  And then he turned and walked away before he said a whole lot more, before he lashed out with bitter words he might never be able to take back.

  * * *

  Gently bouncing Amy Lynn in her arms, Laurie stayed where she was and watched Harlan Patrick leave. Funny, she hadn’t realized just how badly it hurt to be left behind, to have the person she loved turn his back on her. Sure, this was only an argument, a faint blip on the canvas of their relationship, but she felt as empty and lost as if he’d gone for good.

  Was that how he’d felt when she’d gone? Or had it been a thousand times worse, knowing that she had no intention of coming back again? She realized suddenly that it hadn’t been the same for her. Though she had missed Harlan Patrick desperately, especially in the first months after leaving, she had been excited by the future, challenged just to survive. She had been moving on, while he had stayed behind.

  “Everything okay?” a feminine voice asked gently.

  Laurie turned from the direction in which Harlan Patrick had gone to find his mother standing quietly behind her.

  Melissa Adams was a fiercely protective woman who loved her husband and children with all her heart. She had also been strong enough to stand up to Cody Adams years earlier and refuse to marry him even though she had his child—Sharon Lynn—until she knew for sure that Cody truly loved her. In some ways her circumstances back then were not unlike Laurie’s now. The difference was that Cody was the one who’d left Texas not knowing that he was about to become a father, while Laurie had walked away from Harlan Patrick.

  “I suppose it depends on your definition of okay,” Laurie said wearily. “He’s furious with me.”

  “Because you don’t want to leave your daughter behind tomorrow when you go?”

  “That, and because I left in the first place, because I wouldn’t marry him years ago and settle down as a rancher’s wife.”

  “You did what you had to do,” Melissa Adams stated.

  Laurie stared at her in surprise. “You can see that?”

  “Well, of course I can,” she said with a hint of impatience. “He put you in a terrible position by forcing you to choose.”

  “I never wanted to make that choice,” Laurie added. “It was like having to decide whether to keep my right arm or my left.”

  Melissa smiled at the analogy. “I imagine it was.”

  “I always thought we could work it out. Foolish me,” Laurie said. “I knew the man was stubborn, but I also thought he loved me enough to want what was best for me.”

  “Come over here and sit with me,” Melissa said, leading her to a grouping of chairs in the shade of a tree. “You have to understand something about Harlan Patrick. As hard as his daddy and I tried to avoid it, he grew up knowing that the world was his for the asking. You can thank his granddaddy for that. Harlan thinks the sun rises and sets on his family. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t see their flaws. Goodness knows, he does. He just leads each and every one of them to believe he can have it all. When it doesn’t work out that way, it’s always a huge surprise.”

  She chuckled. “
You should have seen Cody’s face the first time I told him no. You’d have thought I hit him with a two-by-four.”

  Laurie found herself grinning. “I can imagine.”

  “Harlan Patrick took it even worse when you said no,” Melissa said quietly. “It came close to breaking my heart to see him hurting so. I hated you for that, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t see that you were doing what you needed to do. You have a gift from God with that voice of yours. It’s your right, maybe even your duty, to do what you can with it, to see how far it can take you.”

  “I need to sing,” Laurie said, grateful for even this much understanding. She tried to explain why that need was a match for her love for Melissa Adams’s son. “I need to know that I’m good enough, that I can stand on my own two feet. My mother never had that. Once my father walked out, every single day of her life was a struggle. I never wanted to be that dependent on anyone. Music seemed to be the answer. If I hadn’t had a decent voice, I would have chosen something else, but I would have had a career of my own.”

  “Have you ever explained that to my son?”

  Laurie paused thoughtfully, realizing that she’d always just assumed he knew. “Not in so many words, no.”

  “Maybe you should.”

  “It wouldn’t change anything. I’d still have to go, and he’d still have to stay.”

  “But at least he’d understand that you’re not just leaving him. Tell him, Laurie. Don’t let him go on thinking that he’s the one who’s not good enough.”

  Laurie was shocked by Melissa’s words. “Not good enough? How could he possibly believe that?”

  “Because you left him behind.” She regarded Laurie sympathetically. “If you go again and take his daughter, you’ll just be adding to his sense of failure. You’ll be telling him you don’t think he’s good enough to be a daddy, either. Please, Laurie, talk to him. Do whatever you think is right about Amy Lynn, but talk to Harlan Patrick.”

  Laurie squeezed the older woman’s hand. “I will. I promise. It was never my intention to make him think he wasn’t good enough. It was about me and what I needed.”