Chasing Trouble in Texas

by Delores Fossen

  At that moment, Granny Em opened the door. “Darn right I wouldn’t. I told him to leave, but he wouldn’t budge.”

  “Because I had to see McCall.” He flashed McCall a smile that he probably thought was charming. Considering what he’d done to her, it just made her want to use a garlic press on his mouth and tongue, too. “I’m so sorry, baby. Real, real sorry. I came here to try to make you understand that. I brought you flowers,” he added when McCall glared at him.

  Em rolled her eyes, scowled at Cody Joe. “That boy’s so thickheaded you could hit him in the face with a tire iron, and he wouldn’t yell about it until morning,” she grumbled.

  Maybe it was indeed stupidity that had caused him to come here like this. Or it could be another case of mama pressure. Perhaps this scandal hadn’t played out the way Alisha wanted. The woman might not have realized that some of this dirt could sling onto her, too.

  “McCall, baby,” Cody Joe said, coming down the steps toward her. “I miss you real bad. We could even do a big announcement about us making up and stuff. That’ll help with what folks are saying.”

  Every word pissed her off even more, and McCall could see it was doing the same thing to Granny Em. Rather than wait for her grandmother to give in to the rage and try to kick Cody Joe’s butt, McCall stormed toward him, yanked the flowers from his hands and threw them on the ground. It wasn’t exactly adult of her, but she started stomping. She smashed and ground the petals into the ground.

  “Hey, baby,” Cody Joe protested. “Those were for you. They’re a makeup offering.”

  “You can see what I think of your offering,” she snapped while she continued stomping.

  Cody Joe reached for her as if to stop her, but Leyton stepped up. “Give me a reason to arrest your sorry ass. And FYI, I’ll consider you touching McCall even with a fingertip to be a good enough reason.”

  Cody Joe stopped moving, frowned. “I wasn’t gonna hurt her. I just need her to listen.”

  “Listen?” McCall hadn’t intended to shout that, but it was so loud that even the horses in the corral whinnied from the sound. “You listen,” she went on, lowering her voice but not reining in her tone. “I’m done with you. I’m done with your mother. And I’m done with any association whatsoever that you have with the Saddle Up for Tots Foundation. I want you out of my life and out of my town.”

  “Your town?” Cody Joe asked.

  With everything she’d just thrown at him, McCall was surprised he would zoom in on that. “My town,” she verified, not having a clue if that meant she’d actually be staying. But hell in a really big handbasket, Lone Star Ridge would always be her home, and she didn’t want any reminders of Cody Joe here.

  Cody Joe stared at her for several long moments, maybe expecting her to change her mind or at least give him some kind of peace offering. That wasn’t going to happen. Leyton’s and Granny Em’s glares didn’t soften, either, and finally on a muttered oath, Cody Joe kicked at the slaughtered bouquets of roses, and he went to his truck. He sped away.

  “I hope that’s the last I see of him,” McCall grumbled.

  “If it’s not, just give me a call.” Leyton gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “I’ll follow him to make sure he leaves town, and then I’ll come back to get you to take you to your car.”

  The thank-you was still on her lips when McCall heard the sound of an approaching engine. She groaned, steeled herself up for round two, but it wasn’t Cody Joe. However, it would likely be a different kind of round two because it was Edith.

  Leyton cursed softly under his breath. “That woman has some very bad timing. You want me to hang around and make sure she behaves herself?” he asked.

  McCall shook her head. Her mood was just sour enough that she wouldn’t be taking any more flak from anyone, including Edith.

  Leyton got in his cruiser, but he kept an eye on Edith as he backed out of the driveway. McCall waited until he was gone before she turned to Edith.

  She faced Edith head-on. “If you’re here to pressure me to leave or tell me what an unsuitable person I am for inheriting a strip club, then you need to go.”

  Edith didn’t fire back an angry response to that. In fact, she didn’t look angry at all. She glanced at the stomped roses, stepped around them, and when she lifted her hand, McCall saw the white envelope she was holding.

  “If that’s some kind of threat or legal action—” But McCall stopped, remembering what Edith had said earlier when they were on Main Street. “It’s from Zoey?” McCall asked.

  Edith’s nod was a little shaky. So was her hand when she gave the envelope to McCall. “Zoey left me instructions to give this to the next woman in Austin’s life...and his heart. After seeing you with him today, I realized that woman is you.”

  Without saying anything else, Edith left, leaving McCall in stunned silence.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  AUSTIN STARED AT the envelope that Shaw had just handed him. He instantly recognized the handwriting and knew it was from Zoey.

  Just as he had with the other cards he’d gotten, Austin’s chest tightened, and he felt the punch of grief. Grief mixed with relief that he still got to have this small piece of her.

  From the twins’ bedroom, Austin could hear chattering about them playing dress-up. They obviously didn’t know their uncle Shaw was here or they would have run out to greet him. Austin hoped they’d stay in their room a little longer just to give him a minute to pull everything in.

  “I didn’t expect to get another one from her this soon,” Austin managed to say.

  Shaw nodded, and there was plenty of sympathy in that simple gesture. “This one came with more instructions than usual. Zoey’s note said to give it to you when Edith called and told me it was time. Edith called me about a half hour ago.”

  That would have been about the time Gracie was finishing her checkup and not long after he’d run into Edith, McCall and Leyton on Main Street. Austin had seen the disapproval—or something—in Edith’s eyes when he’d kissed McCall, but he couldn’t figure out what that had to do with her giving Shaw a call to let him know to deliver the card.

  “These are for the girls,” Shaw said, handing Austin two more envelopes. “The instructions Zoey left with Edith are that these are the last ones. Not just for the girls but for you, too.”

  It suddenly felt as if someone had reached into his chest, latched on to his heart and was squeezing every drop of life right out of it. Hell. It shouldn’t hurt this much. It should be a welcomed gift to have this contact with her. And maybe it would be. Once he’d gotten over the initial punch.

  “I can stay for a while if you want,” Shaw offered when Austin didn’t say anything.

  Austin considered it but shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ll be okay.” He wasn’t at all sure of that okay part, but if he fell to pieces, he didn’t want even his brother around for that. Of course, falling to pieces would have to wait because he didn’t want Avery and Gracie to see that, either.

  Shaw hesitated a little longer, but he finally turned and left. Austin took a few moments of his own before he tucked his card into his back pocket and walked toward the girls’ bedroom. By the time he reached it, he’d managed—he hoped—to get his mouth working into what was a passable smile.

  Gracie, who obviously wasn’t feeling any leftover effects from her fever, had donned a superhero cape, complete with a tiara and a pair of his old cowboy boots that were way too big for her. Avery was wearing a fireman’s hat, a white doctor’s coat and a badge. Apparently, she was covering multiple career bases at once.

  The trunk with the other costumes was open, and various clothing items had been tossed on the floor. They were obviously having fun with this, and he could thank Edith for putting the dress-up stuff together. She also kept the inventory fresh by bringing over new items every couple of months.

  “Your uncle Shaw just brought
these over,” he said, holding up the envelopes for the girls to see. “They’re from your mom.”

  Austin didn’t mention that these would be the last ones they’d get. No need since the girls never asked if more cards were coming. If they ever did, he could tell them then. And he hoped it wouldn’t have this gut-punching effect that it was having on him.

  The girls ran to him, each of them reaching up to take a card. They swapped, though, when they saw their names on the envelopes. As usual, they both tore into them, but Gracie took a little more care with hers, clearly trying not to rip the envelope.

  They pulled out the cards, both immediately smiling and showing each other theirs before they handed them to Austin. “Read ’em to us, Daddy,” Avery insisted.

  Since he still wasn’t feeling steady, he sat on one of the beds and snuggled them on each side of him. “Which one first?” he asked, remembering that they usually took turns doing this.

  “Me,” Gracie said.

  Avery didn’t balk at that and even wiggled in closer so she could see the card better. On the front was a cute white bear seated at a table loaded down with cupcakes and ice cream, but the plate directly in front of him was empty.

  Austin read the question written beneath the table. “‘Why did the teddy bear say no to dessert?’” He flipped the card open. “‘Because he was already stuffed,’” he read.

  The girls cackled with laugher, and he wished he hadn’t had to fake his own laugh. Still, it was so like Zoey to want to leave the girls with a smile.

  “‘Gracie, I’ll love you bunches and bunches forever and ever,’” Zoey had written at the bottom.

  “My turn,” Avery immediately said once Austin had handed Gracie back her card.

  He took Avery’s and read the caption underneath a Dalmatian with an empty food dish in front of him. “‘What did the Dalmatian say after he finished his lunch?’” Then, inside was the punch line. “‘That hit the spot.’” Beneath that, Zoey had written, “‘Avery, lots of love and hugs from me to you.’”

  The girls took their cards to study the pictures and the words they would someday soon be able to read for themselves. Austin stood to go into the kitchen to read his, but before he could do that, there was a knock on the door. Figuring it was Shaw returning to check on him, he threw the door open.

  And he saw McCall on his porch.

  It wasn’t anywhere near dinnertime so obviously she was early. It was obvious, too, that she was upset, and Austin found himself silently cursing before he blurted out, “What happened?”

  “Edith,” McCall said, causing him to curse again. Then she added, “She gave me this.”

  She thrust out the card for him to see, and Austin nearly choked on the quick breath he sucked in. He made a weird sound, one that didn’t qualify as manly or dignified on any scale, but it was the best he could manage because he saw right off that the card was from Zoey.

  “Uh, why did Edith give that to you?” he asked.

  Shaking her head, McCall stepped in and glanced around. Probably looked for the twins.

  “They’re in their room,” Austin told her. He shut the door and took the envelope from her to have a better look. Yep, it was Zoey’s handwriting, all right, and on the front she’d written, “For the next woman in Austin’s life.”

  Hell. He hadn’t even steeled himself up yet to read his own card and now this. Obviously, McCall was looking for some steeling, too.

  “Why’d Edith give it to you?” he repeated. But as soon as the question had left his mouth, he waved it off.

  Clearly, Zoey had left Edith instructions to do this, and it meant that Edith had figured out that Austin had feelings for McCall. Deep feelings. The kind that could turn into love. What surprised him, though—no, it actually stunned him—was that Edith would accept those feelings enough to give McCall the card.

  With her hands trembling just a little, McCall took the card out the envelope, opened it and showed it to him. “Since my mom gave this to you,” Zoey had written, “I know you’re as good, kind and amazing as Austin believes you are. Hold him and my babies close and don’t look back. I’m their past, and I’ll always be part of them, but you’re their future.”

  When McCall looked up at him, he saw that she was blinking back tears. Well, crap. Were the tears because she didn’t want that whole future part or because Zoey’s blessing had touched her? It was more than just Zoey’s seal of approval, though. This was one from Edith, too.

  Even after having two daughters, he still wasn’t good at dealing with crying, but he pulled McCall into his arms. “Don’t worry. All of this doesn’t come with strings. I want strings,” he quickly added. “But I don’t want you to have them unless you’re sure.”

  McCall pressed her face against his shoulder. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”

  Ditto. He was right there with her, and it felt as if a rug had just been pulled from beneath his feet. Unfortunately, he might have to weather a second rug-pulling.

  “Shaw brought over a card for me, too,” Austin said, taking it from his back pocket.

  Because she was still in his arms, Austin felt all of her muscles go stiff. McCall lifted her head, her gaze colliding with his. “What did yours say?”

  “Let’s find out.”

  This was a first. He’d never read one of Zoey’s cards in front of anyone, but Austin was pretty sure his was connected to the one that McCall had gotten. He only hoped that he wouldn’t need to be held once he’d read it.

  Easing back from McCall, Austin opened the card fast. As usual, it was a funny card with a dorky-looking guy in a hat asking a beautiful woman, “How do I look?” The guy’s shadow was in the shape of a huge dick.

  McCall made a sound as if she’d started to laugh but then had pulled back on it. She clamped her teeth over her bottom lip.

  “It’s okay. The cards make me laugh, too,” he said. But not this one.

  Again, Austin went with fast when he opened it. There was no caption inside, only Zoey’s handwriting.

  “This is the last one,” she’d written. “It’s time for you to cut the training wheels and start riding again. I want you to live a long happy life with this new woman you’ve found. Oh, and if that woman is Mindy Sue Brookhouse, well, consider me overlooking your bad taste. But I’m okay with anyone else.”

  That got a smile out of him. Until the last line. “Goodbye, Honey Buns.”

  Honey Buns was her name for his butt. Sappy but Zoey loved her some sap. She had also managed to get to the heart of everything with just those three last words. There’d be no more pet names for him. No more goodbyes.

  This was it.

  McCall didn’t say anything, which said everything, and she didn’t touch him. She just sat there while he read the card again and again and again.

  Austin braced himself for some tears. He often cried when he got a card from Zoey. But this time his eyes didn’t burn and his throat didn’t close. This time the card and what she’d said felt...right.

  It was time for him to move on.

  It was time for him to say goodbye to the woman he had and always would love. She just wouldn’t be the reason he didn’t love someone else.

  The moments crawled by, the silence punctuated by the girls’ laughter from the other room. Austin wasn’t sure how much time had passed before he tucked the card back into the envelope and turned to McCall. There were tears in her eyes, but she was blinking hard to keep them from falling. That caused a different kind of emotion to go through him. Not like a punch or a flood this time. But a warm trickle.

  He leaned in and kissed her.

  There was some heat in the kiss. There always would be when it came to McCall. But Austin felt more of that warm trickle, too.

  “I want to stay,” she said, her voice a whisper.

  Good. Because he wanted her there, right where s
he was. “Of course. You can help us cook.”

  McCall shook her head. “No. I want to stay in Lone Star Ridge. I want to be with Avery, Gracie and you.”

  This time when he kissed her there was indeed some heat.

  * * *

  “FAIRY TALE RULE,” Gracie muttered through a yawn. “One more story. Not from you,” she added to Austin.

  “Yeah, from her,” Avery piped up, and she pointed her finger at McCall. “We want a story from the fairy lady, peaze.” She stretched out that last mispronounced word a few syllables and completed it with hands clasped in hope.

  “McCall might be tired of reading stories,” Austin pointed out. “Especially since she’s already read two, and she told you one about magic ponies while we were eating dinner.”

  “McCall,” Gracie repeated as if testing that out. It made Austin wonder if he should have insisted they call her Miss McCall or something other than just her given name. “I like fairy lady,” Gracie added.

  So did Austin, and if McCall and his girls didn’t know that, they soon would. As far as he was concerned, McCall had given him a big bright green light when she’d told him she wanted not only to stay but to be with him and his daughters. It didn’t mean this was a forever kind of relationship, but it was a good start.

  “I can read one more story,” McCall said, plucking one of the books from the huge basket filled with them.

  Since it was on top, it was one of the girls’ favorites, a story about a lazy duck named Slackers that McCall’s sister Sunny had illustrated. And Austin’s father, Marty, had actually written—something that Marty had only recently made known. Austin had told the girls that their grandfather was the author, but it hadn’t made much of an impact since they really didn’t know the man. Marty hadn’t done any better being around for his grandkids than he had his own children.

  McCall seemed to be familiar with the story because she started doing the voices of the characters right from the first line. However, she’d only made it to the third page before both Avery and Gracie were completely sacked out.