A sound on the other side of the door jarred her. Xavier shifted so that he was between the door and Selena.
It eased open and Belle stepped through. She moved to the end of the bed, her fingers interlocked in front of her. “Is it okay if I sit next to you? Please?”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “I don’t remember you ever asking permission for anything before.”
Selena scooted back, dropped contact with him. How could he know so much about his family but not her? “You remember that?”
“It was a guess.” He shrugged, then reached out and took Belle’s hand, stopping her from moving away from him. “Sorry. Yes, please sit next to me.”
The bed squeaked slightly as her weight came down next to him. Her hands found his, twining their fingers together.
Belle stared at him as if she still couldn’t believe he was here, sitting with them. Selena totally understood that.
She glanced at Selena. “We went ahead and cleaned up. I thought y’all might want a little time to yourselves.” Her gaze went back to Xavier. “All of the guests have gone home. My girls went with—” Belle shot a questioning look at Selena.
Frantically, she shook her head. Oh, no, she hadn’t told him about the triplets. She hoped Belle would get the message. Telling him about the boys was too much tonight.
“Your girls...” Xavier pinched the top of his nose. “Cassie and Lucy?”
Eyes wide, Belle nodded. Raising her hand to touch his cheek, she smiled. “You remember the girls?”
“Just now, when you mentioned them, their names came to me. I was there when they were born.”
“You were my birth coach. You and Selena.”
How did he know their names but had forgotten hers? Selena bit her lip. Now was not the time to cry, not here in front of them.
“So we were raised together? What about your parents? How—” His words just stopped. He closed his eyes.
“My mother is your aunt. She dumped Elijah and me here when we got in the way. No clue about our fathers. But it doesn’t matter. We’ve always had each other’s...” She bit her lip. “And now your back.”
Xavier wrapped an arm around her and pressed his forehead to hers. “You were the only thing I remembered from my past.”
“They told us that the company you were traveling with was ambushed. Everyone was killed when your vehicle took a direct hit and exploded. So how are you here?” Belle now had both of her hands wrapped around his left one, as if she was afraid he would disappear again if she let go.
Horror filled Selena’s brain. Her voice cracked several times as the words came out, one by one. “Should we have come looking for you?”
“No. It wouldn’t have made a difference.” Xavier tilted his head back. “The only information I have on the timeline of events is the version the authorities gave me, but it still feels like it all happened to someone else.”
She could tell he didn’t want to talk about it. The strain of stringing the words together took so much from him. She stood and was going to suggest they stop for the night and get some rest, but he spoke.
“At first my brain was a complete blank. When I woke up, I was a hostage in a guerrilla camp.”
Belle’s fingers tightened around his.
Selena took his other hand in hers. The calloused skin over strong fingers was so familiar. It was as if he had never been gone.
“You’ve been a hostage for the last two years,” Belle whispered.
Selena could hear the harsh emotion in Belle’s voice.
He took his hand out of hers and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Belle’s ear. “My memories had been confused. I thought they were lying when the authorities told me you were my cousin.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “We were raised together? We survived my father?”
Belle’s breath caught, as if she was holding back a cry. She nodded. “And you survived Colombia.”
He cut his gaze across the room, where several family pictures were thumbtacked to the wall. “Elijah’s your brother. Damian’s my younger brother. Is there anyone else?”
Selena could tell that Belle was too emotional to talk, so she took over. “There’s a much younger sister, Gabby. But you haven’t seen or heard from her in years.”
With a deep scowl on his face, he leaned back.
Selena reached out a hand and rested it on his arm. “We have time for this later,” she said with a catch in her throat.
The boys. She needed to tell him about their sons. But that wasn’t news she could just drop now. Oh, by the way, you have triplets.
“Selena, I’m so sorry—”
“Shh. We’ll talk later.”
Since the moment she saw him, her insides had been numb. What if she was dreaming? People didn’t return from the dead, not in real life. But the scars on his face and the gauntness were too real. How much weight had he lost?
The haunted shadows in his eyes were the worst thing. He was struggling to remember her.
She gave him space, but her hand rubbed his arm. “It’s okay. You don’t have to—”
His hand covered hers. Desperation haunted his Spanish-moss eyes.
“I had flashes and images of things that I didn’t understand.”
He had always been too proud to beg, but he seemed to be on the cusp of falling to his knees and crying.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “You don’t have to understand tonight.” She stroked his hair. “I think this has been a little too much for all of us. You need rest. There are a million questions, but right now I can’t organize my thoughts, so I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”
She pushed his hair back from his temple. “When was the last time you ate?”
“I’m sure it hasn’t been that long. I don’t reme—”
She gave him a look that stopped his words. “If you don’t remember, then it’s been too long, right? You have something for pain?”
Belle patted his hand. “When I get a headache, a dark room and an ice pack work wonders.”
“An ice pack and no light or sound would be great right now.” He kept his eyes closed.
“You’re home, now you need sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.” Selena stood and stepped back. “Do you have meds?”
He nodded. “In my backpack. I think I dropped it by the car.”
Belle went to the door. “Cantu brought it in. I’ll get it for you. I’ll get you something to eat, too. Do you need anything else?”
“Just a dark room.”
“You might not recognize it with all the pink, but this was your old room. It’s Cassie’s and Lucy’s now.”
He moved to stand. “I’m not going to take their—”
“Stop. They’re at a sleepover tonight.” Belle opened the door. “Tomorrow you’ll go home with Selena, but for tonight let me take care of you. I’ll fix all your favorite breakfast foods before sending you home with your wife.”
Selena forced her lungs to work. Of course, everyone would assume he’d go home with her. That was his house. She rubbed her temples. There had to be another solution.
Belle firmly shut the door behind her, unaware of the seed of panic she had planted in Selena’s mind.
“Does anyone ever win an argument with her?” he asked.
Selena snorted and stood. “Nope. Tomorrow will be time enough to plan out where you’ll stay.” She had until morning to come up with a legit reason he couldn’t come home with his wife. No one knew that their marriage had been over.
“I didn’t come back for people to take care of me.” Low and gravelly, his voice turned her spine to mush. She straightened.
“You can’t drive. You can’t see, and you can’t speak some of the time. Living on your own is not an option right now. And where would you get the money?”
He growled.
Actually growled at her.
“I know you don’t remember our house or me, but there had been a garage added and you converted it into a man cave. It’s right next to the house. You can stay there. Xavier, I’m sorry but—”
“Let’s make an agreement not to apologize every time we speak the truth, or the word sorry is going to get repetitive and obnoxious.” He didn’t look very happy. “I have money in an account. It’ll take care of any needs I have.” His back was straight, his jaw set in a very familiar hard line.
No doubt about it, his pride was still intact.
She wanted to ask him when they started keeping secret accounts. He wouldn’t remember anyway.
He sighed. “I hate this.”
“We’re family, and family takes care of each other. We’ll work it out tomorrow.” Maybe another solution would come in the light of day. She wasn’t sure having him back in her space would be good for any of them.
He rubbed his head again.
“Belle is bringing your meds and some food. Do you want me to turn off the light?”
Nodding, he kept his eyes closed.
After plunging the room into darkness, she turned and rushed out the door. As soon as it closed, she pressed her back to the wall and slid to the floor in the hallway.
* * *
Selena wrapped her arms around her middle. The emotions she had been holding in erupted. Her husband had returned from the dead and was home. They’d been granted this incredible, life-altering gift.
But where did that leave them now? Their marriage had fallen apart before he left. It had been over, but with the news of his death she had decided not to follow through with the divorce. She didn’t even know where the papers were now.
There had been no point to mess with everyone’s memories of him.
She hadn’t talked to anyone about their problem. No one knew. Her husband didn’t even know.
When they’d gotten married, he’d told her that he would love her forever and that nothing would ever separate them. He’d vowed back then that, even if he lost everything, she would be the one thing he clung to. Apparently, forever had a time limit.
The day he left for the job, the anger had consumed her. In a rage she had gone online and had found the website to start legally ending their marriage. She had wanted the paper in hand when he walked through the door to prove how serious she was about ending his secret work. But he had never walked back into their house.
So much in her life had changed. She had to tell him about the triplets. That would be a shock, even if he had all his memories.
Before he left for the last job, they had gotten another negative result on a pregnancy test. As he had held her, he’d said it might be for the best.
At the time, that had torn her heart in two. They had always been on the same page, but she had drawn into herself, had pushed him out. The love that had burned bright had gone out. They had been left with nothing but ashes.
Now she wasn’t even a part of his memories.
She would never forget staring at the door after he left, waiting for him to come back. He hadn’t returned. Until now. But it wasn’t real. He hadn’t returned to her.
There would be no starting over.
She wouldn’t think of the past. Instead she chose to focus on the boys. They had their father now.
“Selena.” Belle stood in front of her, a duffel bag over her shoulder and a plate of food in one hand. She crouched down. “Sweetheart, are you okay?”
She nodded.
“So, you didn’t tell him about the boys?”
Her throat was too tight to speak. She just shook her head.
Dropping the bag and setting the food aside, Belle pulled Selena into her arms. She shifted, leaning against the wall. “We have him back. It’s something straight out of a movie. But we’re De La Rosas, and we don’t do anything the easy way. Not even death or reunions. And, man, his timing. ‘Home for Christmas’ has a whole new meaning.”
Selena couldn’t help but snort against the denim jacket Belle had put on over her formal gown. “It’s the most amazing gift ever. Belle, I spent the last so much time telling myself that he was gone forever. Now I’m so afraid I’ll wake up and find out this is some twisted dream.”
“I know. But for Xavier this has to be a nightmare. We don’t have a clue what he’s been through.”
“I should have told him about the boys.”
Belle shook her head. “No. It would have been too much. In the morning, after we’ve all had time to process, we’ll talk. This is better. This way, as soon as you tell him, he can meet them. There’s no point in telling him now. He already has too much information to process. You did the right thing.”
Or had it just been the easier thing? She wriggled out of Belle’s embrace and stood. “Let me take this to him. Then I want to go check on my boys.”
Understanding and warmth radiated from Belle’s deep gray-green eyes, so much like Xavier’s. A sob escaped her throat,
She needed to hold her babies and snuggle them, to feel their little heartbeats. They didn’t even know their world had just changed.
Four years ago, she’d been too angry at God to trust him with her marriage or anything else. Not leaning on Him had led her to push her husband away. This time she had to stay in her faith. She had to trust God.
One thing was for sure. She couldn’t trust her heart or the stranger that the world saw as her husband.
Chapter Three
Yellows and soft pinks marbled the sky as the sun rose from the watery horizon. Selena glanced into the rearview mirror, checking on the boys out of habit. In the far backseat of the Suburban, her nieces were singing. From the corner of her gaze, she caught her own reflection.
Puffy, bloodshot eyes made it obvious there had been no sleep for her last night. She’d lost track of the hours she and Belle had talked on the phone. Every time one of them had said good-night and promised to go to sleep, the other would call again.
Her phone vibrated and she cast a glance at her father seated beside her. “Dad, would you check that and see if it’s someone I need to talk to?” The phone had not stopped for the last few hours. Word had spread that her husband was back from the dead. She wanted to turn it off, but with so much going on, she didn’t dare.
Riff glanced at the screen, then shook his head. “Not anyone you need to talk to right now.”
“Tía Selena!” Cassie, Belle’s older daughter, yelled from the third-row seat. “Lucy and Rosie won’t stop singing. I have a headache.”
Elijah’s six-year-old daughter’s eyes went wide, and she clamped her lips closed. Lucy just sang louder.
“Lucy, I love your voice, but it is a bit early. Be nice and wait to sing once we’re out of the car.”
The tight pressure pushed harder at the front of her skull.
Her father stared at his coffee without taking a sip. “This has to be a crazy dream. How is Xavier back from the dead? Are you sure it’s him?” Even though his voice was low, he twisted and looked at the boys, worry on his face. “Oh, I shouldn’t say stuff in front of them, but I can’t even start...” His voice dropped, and tears hovered in his eyes again.
Riff had loved Xavier from the moment she had introduced them. Other fathers cleaned guns and threatened new boyfriends, but not her dad. No. One look at the young Xavier and her father had wrapped his arms around him and encouraged her to keep that boy around. Then he’d taken off on another tour.
When they’d received word of Xavier’s death, her father had come home and hadn’t left. She kept expecting to wake up one morning to find him at the door with his bags packed, but for the first time in her life, he had stayed.
Sawyer, Finn and Oliver chattered in the nonsensical language they all seemed to understand completely. Even Oliver, usually the quiet one, was full of energy and giggles today.
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It was as if they knew something very important was about to happen.
How was Xavier going to react? Fingers tightening around the leather of the steering wheel, Selena focused back on the road.
She was taking the boys to the ranch to meet— Her stomach heaved, and she couldn’t finish the thought. She glanced in the rearview mirror to check the boys. “They don’t even understand what it means that their father is dead. Was dead.” She blew out a puff of air. “Belle’s going to watch them while we talk. The baby goats are in the barn, so they’ll keep the children occupied. I thought you’d want to see him before he meets the boys.”
Her father shook his head. “What if he doesn’t remember me? I’m not sure. Meeting the boys is more important.” Lifting his mug, Riff sipped at the hot liquid.
Selena turned west toward the ranch, the sunrise now in her rearview mirror. There was a new day ahead of them. One that she never saw coming.
Her three nieces had fallen quiet in the back, but her boys chattered in the second row. Her father remained silent for the fifteen-minute ride out of town to the ranch. With each inch, Selena’s nerves pulled tighter. Xavier was alive. Her babies had their father. Just in time for Christmas. But to her he was a stranger.
Arriving at the house, Selena pulled up to the front porch. Before she cut the engine, Belle rushed out the door.
Glancing to the back of the Suburban, she spoke in a low voice. “I’ll take them out to play with the goats while y’all talk. I’ve been with him all morning. Damian stopped by, but he just left. We decided to wait and tell Elijah on the last day of their honeymoon. This is just so mind-blowing.”
Her words whizzed by like bullets as she got Finn out of his car seat.
Selena unbuckled Sawyer as Belle continued. “When you’re ready for them, just come on out and they can meet. We haven’t told him. He seems a bit overwhelmed. We all do, right?”
Belle bit her lip and wiped her eyes with her free hand, the other balancing Finn on her hip. With a big smile on her face she greeted the kids. “Good morning, gang! Everyone have a good night?”
The Texan's Surprise Return Page 3
