“I won’t be making a Jameson threesome by hooking up with Leyton,” Hadley insisted. “You and Sunny will have to settle for twosomes.” She paused, quit staring into her coffee and lifted her eyes to meet McCall’s.
Crap.
McCall saw it then—the sympathy—and that look almost certainly had something to do with why Hadley was here.
“There’s going to be a problem,” Hadley said, her words slow and deliberate as if she’d rehearsed them. “Hayes tried to fix it, but it’s a no-go. McCall, you need to brace yourself for another shit-storm.”
* * *
“YOU’RE GRINNING LIKE an idiot again,” Leyton pointed out while he hoisted another bale of hay off the flatbed and dropped it on the barn floor so that Austin could stack it.
Austin had no doubts that he was doing just that. Even if his mouth wasn’t sporting that particular expression, he was grinning inside. It’d been a long time since he’d felt this good, and he wasn’t about to try to stop himself.
Despite Leyton’s comment, Austin knew that his brother was happy for him. All of his family had shared his grief over losing Zoey, and all of them would be breathing a little easier that he’d climbed out of that particular dark hole. He could thank McCall for that climb, and Austin hoped like the devil that she continued to be around.
“Just how serious are you about her?” Leyton asked.
“Serious,” Austin admitted. “And yeah, I know McCall hasn’t been back that long, but she...fits.”
It had taken him a few seconds to come up with that word, but it was the right one. McCall fit not only with him but also Avery and Gracie.
“McCall’s staying in Lone Star Ridge,” Austin added a moment later.
Leyton’s eyebrow rose on his sweat-drenched forehead. “What about her counseling practice?”
“She’ll make some trips back to Dallas for some clients, move others to appointments over the phone. Maybe she’ll even open a new practice here.” That was something McCall had mentioned when they’d snuggled up on the sofa after porch-swing sex.
“The town could use a counselor,” Leyton said. “Every now and then a person gets a sentence of court-appointed therapy, and they have to drive into San Antonio for that.”
Austin hadn’t considered that angle, but yeah, McCall could probably do that along with getting other clients going through a divorce or something like that. He frowned, though, when he thought about the phone conversation he’d overheard. He couldn’t see anyone local spilling their sex problems with such ease, but maybe they would.
“Does that mean Boo will also be staying?” Leyton asked. He dropped another hay bale off the flatbed.
Austin hoisted up the bale and mimicked Leyton’s earlier eyebrow hike. “Are you interested in her?”
“No way. She’s as far from my type as it gets.” Leyton’s answer was fast and firm. “But plenty of guys wouldn’t mind hooking up with Boo. I was just wondering, that’s all.”
Austin believed him about the lack of interest, which made him think of something else. “How are things going with you and the kindergarten teacher from Bulverde?”
Leyton shrugged. “It didn’t work out, and don’t tell Cait,” he quickly added. “I don’t want her fixing me up with anybody.”
Austin made a sound of agreement. Their sister was definitely a busybody when it came to her brothers’ love lives. Ironic since Cait didn’t seem to spend nearly as much time on her own relationships. Or rather she didn’t spend any time at all. Unless she had some secret lover stashed away, Austin figured it’d been nearly a year since she’d been out on a date.
“I need to make sure the girls are getting ready,” Austin said, checking the time. His half sister, Kinsley, was in there with them. Supervising. But Avery and Gracie were pros at convincing Kinsley to play games with them. “I’ll need to drive them to preschool in another half hour.”
Leyton checked his watch, too, and jumped down from the flatbed. “I need to get showered and dressed for work, but I can come back late this afternoon and finish helping you with the hay.”
“I’d appreciate that.” They started toward the house with Leyton falling in step beside him. “How’s Kinsley doing, anyway?”
Leyton took his time answering. “Better.” Then he paused. “A little better,” he amended.
Instant guilt. Austin knew Kinsley had had it rough what with only recently finding out that Marty was her dad. Then a double rough when her useless turd of a mother had basically abandoned her. He should have tried to help her adjust—just as his siblings and his mother were no doubt doing.
“The custody papers are final,” Leyton explained.
Austin did know about that and was thankful that Shaw had stepped up to take legal custody of the girl so that she wouldn’t have to go into foster care.
“Shaw and Sunny are having an addition built onto his house so that Kinsley will have her own space. In the meantime, Kinsley’s splitting time staying with Cait, your mom and me. Mostly me,” Leyton added in a mumble.
Austin pulled back his shoulders. “With you?” Out of the three places to stay—Cait’s, his mom’s and Leyton’s—Austin would have figured Kinsley would have preferred hanging out with Cait.
Leyton shrugged again. “I guess Kinsley sees me as the kindred spirit brother. I mean, because I’m a bastard like her.”
Austin cursed. “The only bastard in this scenario is Marty.”
And their father probably still hadn’t learned to keep his zipper up. Every other year or so, another of Marty’s kids would turn up at the ranch, each of them wanting some kind of fatherly acknowledgment or love that Marty just wasn’t capable of giving. Some like Leyton and Kinsley stayed. Others drifted in and out like smoke.
Like Marty.
Austin’s childhood wasn’t an especially bad one, but he’d learned never to count on Marty for anything. Still, Marty had “given” them Leyton, and while that hadn’t been intentional on Marty’s part, it had turned out to be a damn good thing. Leyton was Austin’s brother in every way that mattered, and he figured one day he’d feel the same way about Kinsley being his sister.
When Austin reached the back porch, he heard the sound of the approaching car engine, and he went around the front to see McCall. He automatically smiled. Then frowned. Because one look at her face, and he knew that something was wrong.
“Shit,” Leyton said under his breath. Obviously, he’d picked up on McCall’s troubled expression, too.
Austin’s stomach dropped. He hoped that McCall hadn’t changed her mind about staying. Or about him.
“I have to talk to you,” she said once she made it to Austin.
Since Austin figured McCall wouldn’t want an audience for this, he glanced back at Leyton. “I’ll make sure the girls are dressed,” Leyton said. “And if McCall and you need a little more time, I can drive them to school.”
The thanks he gave his brother was heartfelt. And almost certainly necessary. Because Austin didn’t think this was going to be a short and sweet conversation with McCall. Apparently, McCall didn’t want an audience for it, either. She motioned for him to follow her as she started for the barn.
“When I got back to Granny Em’s this morning, Hadley was there,” she said, and he could hear the worry and strain in her voice.
Hadley. That actually caused the muscles in his chest and stomach to relax some. Maybe whatever had happened didn’t have anything to do with McCall and him.
“Is your sister okay?” he asked when McCall didn’t continue.
She made a so-so motion with her hand. “She’s in some trouble over a costume, but that wasn’t the only reason why she came to Em’s.” She stopped again, muttered some profanity and groaned. “Remember that picture of me in the skimpy waitress outfit when I worked at Peekaboo?” McCall didn’t wait for him to answer. “Well, it’s
surfaced again.”
Austin repeated the “Shit!” that Leyton had belted out earlier. “Hayes has a recording of that idiot who blackmailed him to keep quiet about the picture.”
McCall nodded. “He wasn’t the one who leaked it. Apparently, it was his girlfriend. She saw the picture on his phone, got jealous and posted it on social media. Someone realized that it was me and alerted the tabloids.”
Austin added a couple of “hells” to his other profanity. He’d known, of course, that there was always a chance the picture could resurface, but the timing sucked. This could start up another round of gossip.
And another round of guilt for McCall.
It could send her running for fear of bringing this down on him and his girls.
“I don’t know how long it’ll be before everyone knows,” she went on. McCall turned her head, but he saw her swipe a tear that spilled down her cheek.
He reached for her, and even though she tried to push him again, Austin held on. He pulled her into his arms.
Just as his phone dinged with a text message.
Just as McCall’s buzzed with one, too.
Even though Austin doubted that he would want to see what was on his screen, he took out his phone, anyway. “It’s from Edith,” he grumbled.
And yep, he’d been right about not wanting to see what was there because Edith’s message read, We have to talk now. It’s about McCall.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MCCALL WAS CLOSE enough to read the message from Edith, and she knew it would be about that photo. It didn’t matter that it’d been taken a dozen years ago. It was still a picture of her in a strip club.
She looked at her own phone screen. It was an I’m sorry from Hayes, and a string of texts quickly followed her brother’s. One was from Alisha, another from Cody Joe. More came from foundation donors. She didn’t answer any of those but zoomed in on the one from Em.
I can create a distraction for you, Em had messaged.
No, McCall immediately texted back. Whether or not that would actually stop her grandmother, she didn’t know, but the last thing they needed was more publicity to cover up what was already out there.
You’re sure? Em answered. Hadley said she could go into town if you think that’ll help.
McCall sighed. She wasn’t sure exactly how Hadley thought she could help, but she didn’t want her sister involved in this. Hadley already had enough troubles. Plus, McCall was certain there was something that Hadley wasn’t telling her. If this picture scandal hadn’t blown up, McCall would have pressed for whatever it was bugging her, but for now that would have to go on the back burner.
“I need to go,” McCall told Austin. “I have to try to do some damage control—again.”
Austin stepped in front of her when she started to walk away. “I don’t want you to leave because of this.”
She knew what he meant. Leave as in run for the hills and get out of town. It was tempting. Mercy, was it tempting, but other than trying to distance Austin from this, it wouldn’t solve anything. The scandal would just follow her wherever she went. It was time to give another statement to the press. And more. It was maybe time for her to step away from the foundation.
It squeezed at her heart to consider doing that, but it was for the best.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Austin repeated.
McCall sighed again, looked him in the eyes. She realized it would do a lot more than squeeze her heart if she had to quit seeing him. It would crush her. And that made her silently curse.
Crap.
She’d fallen in love with him.
Great day in the morning. She so didn’t need this now. Nor did she need the kiss he gave her when he leaned in and pulled her close. But she certainly wanted it. Wanted him, too.
She let the kiss linger a moment longer than it should have. Let it deepen, too. It was wrong to take comfort from it, to take comfort from him, but McCall didn’t stop it. She kissed him right back and held on to Austin until she felt herself steady a little.
“I’m sorry,” she managed to say when she eased away from him. “Not for the kiss,” she quickly added.
The corner of his mouth lifted into that damnable smile that had her hormonal number. Of course, pretty much everything about Austin had her number.
“I’ll call you,” she promised. McCall brushed another quick kiss on his still smiling mouth and hurried to her car.
She wouldn’t cry, and McCall kept repeating that to herself as she drove away. Crying would be a pity party, but she would yell and curse. No pity in doing that. So with no one around to hear, she cursed like a sailor with zero volume control. She peppered in Alisha’s name. Cody Joe’s. And Mindy Sue Brookhouse, who’d flung a snotty Kleenex into McCall’s hair when they’d been in second grade. She moved on to her worthless mother and generically added anyone who’d been mean to animals.
Like the kiss, it actually seemed to help release some of the anger.
By the time McCall had made it into town, she’d actually started to come down a little. But the coming down came to a screeching halt when she saw Edith coming out of Rick Downing’s office on Main Street. Rick was a lawyer, and McCall instantly got a very bad feeling.
McCall pulled over to talk to Edith, and immediately got everyone’s attention with the squeal of her brakes and when her tire hit the curb. Of course, even if she’d successfully managed a silent approach, word would still get around that Edith and she had “talked.”
Edith stopped and stared at her as McCall made her way to her. However, the woman did glance around, no doubt trying to gauge who was in listening range. There were a few people milling around, which was probably why Edith didn’t say a word until McCall was close enough for her to whisper.
“Enough is enough, don’t you think?” Edith managed to make that a snarl enough, though she was whispering, and she didn’t wait for McCall to answer. “I’m not going to stand by while my granddaughters are exposed to this sort of thing. Exposed to you,” she added.
McCall nodded. “I’m sorry about that picture, but I wasn’t doing anything illegal. And it was taken a long time ago.”
“Do you think that matters? You’re practically spilling out of that little outfit you’re wearing.” In case McCall had been confused by that statement, Edith pointed in the general direction of McCall’s breasts.
“The uniform didn’t cover much,” McCall agreed, also keeping her voice low, “but it stayed on me the whole time I was waitressing. I didn’t strip. I only served drinks.”
“Well, it certainly doesn’t look that way, not to me and probably not to anyone else who sees it.”
McCall suddenly wished she could have another cursing/yelling session to tamp down the temper she felt rising as fast and hot as August heat. It wouldn’t help matters for her to get in a shouting contest with Austin’s mother-in-law. Especially a mother-in-law who might be thinking about cutting him off at the knees.
McCall glanced up at the sign: Rick Downing, Attorney at Law. “Why were you in there?” she came out and asked. Yes, it was rude, but McCall thought she knew exactly where this was going, and she didn’t like the destination.
Edith hiked up her chin. “Even before you came back to town, I wasn’t sure Austin should be raising two little girls. Girls need a mother figure.”
If McCall’s temper had been on a thermometer, it would have shot right through the little bulb end. “The girls need their father. He loves them, and they love him.” She had to say that through clenched teeth, but McCall managed to get out the words. She couldn’t do anything about the glare she aimed at Edith.
Edith glared back. Apparently, her temper was on the rise, too. “I could have handled Austin having the girls if he’d continued to be a good role model for them. But you ruined all of that. You’ve done nothing but bring one embarrassment after another to
my family. So has your grandmother and now your sister Hadley. Everyone who isn’t talking about your picture is talking about the costume Hadley rigged to expose that singer’s breast.”
Tit-gate. McCall wanted to insist that Hadley hadn’t “rigged” it, but she had no idea if that was true. “Leave my sister out of this,” McCall settled for saying.
“That’s hard to do when she’s all over the magazines and the gossip TV shows,” Edith countered. “She’s been practically booted out of Hollywood, and that’s why she came running back here.”
“Actually, she came to warn me about the picture,” McCall said, though she was afraid of the consequences Hadley might face over the costume scandal.
Edith groaned, dismissed that with a flick of her hand and shook her head. “My, God. What will the girls think if they see that picture of you?”
There weren’t many things that Edith could have said that would have immediately dissolved McCall’s temper.
But that did it.
The shame flooded through her. Shame not because she’d done anything wrong but because she really didn’t want Avery and Gracie to see her like that. McCall didn’t want Austin or her having to explain to toddlers what a strip club was and why the fairy lady had been working there.
Edith’s chin came back up, and she likely saw that what she’d said was getting through to McCall. “The way I see it, you’ve got two choices,” Edith went on. “You can stay, and I’ll have Rick file the custody papers I just started. Papers that will lead to a court battle for me to get my granddaughters.”
McCall didn’t respond. She just stood there and waited for the rest of what she knew Edith would say.
“Or you can leave town. Leave Austin,” Edith clarified. “Leave my granddaughters and never come back. Your choice,” the woman added.
With that, Edith turned and walked away.
* * *
Chasing Trouble in Texas Page 21
