Chasing Trouble in Texas

by Delores Fossen

  IN HINDSIGHT, AUSTIN realized he probably should have dropped off Avery and Gracie with a sitter before coming over to Em’s. But this visit had been sort of spur of the moment—especially since he hadn’t heard a peep from McCall after she’d left his house earlier that morning. He just wanted to see her for a couple of minutes, just to make sure she was okay.

  And to make sure she wasn’t thinking about leaving.

  That’s why he’d come straight to Em’s after picking up the girls from preschool. Having Avery and Gracie along for this could put some limits on what McCall and he said, but Austin hadn’t wanted to wait. Even if McCall hadn’t had enough time to do all that damage control she wanted, he still needed to see her.

  “Granny Em’s,” Avery announced when Austin pulled to a stop in front of the house.

  He was surprised that Avery remembered because it’d been a while since he’d brought Gracie and her here. The last time had to be about four months ago when the vet hadn’t been able to come out and Em had asked Austin to check one of her horses. The horse, a paint gelding, had been fine so Austin had visited with Em while she stuffed the girls with homemade cookies and hot chocolate.

  “McCall lives here,” Austin told them, which created a whole lot of excitement.

  “We can play fairy tale rules,” Gracie said, “and she can read us a story.”

  “Three stories,” Avery corrected.

  “There might not be time for stories today,” Austin told them. “McCall might be busy.”

  Heck, she might be crying, as well, and that was another reason he’d wanted to see her.

  He glanced but didn’t see McCall’s car, and he hoped she’d parked it in the garage. If not, well, he’d deal with that after he talked to Em.

  The moment Austin had the girls out of their car seats, they took off running to the porch ahead of him. The front door opened, and he got a nice jolt of anticipation when he thought it was McCall. It wasn’t.

  It was Hadley.

  Of course, since Hadley and her sisters were identical triplets, there were very similar facial features, but Austin could have never mistaken Hadley for McCall—especially now that Hadley had black hair.

  The girls practically skidded to a stop and looked up at Hadley. Gracie cast an uncertain glance back at Austin.

  “You the fairy lady’s sister?” Avery asked. No timidness in her tone. Just disappointment that it hadn’t been McCall who’d come to the door. Austin completely understood that.

  “Yeah,” Hadley said as if that was a question she got all the time. She kept her attention on the girls. “Are you the fairy tale twins, Griselda and Humperdink?”

  They giggled. “Gracie and Avery,” Avery clarified. “And that’s our fairy tale daddy.”

  Now, Hadley’s gaze went to him. “Hey, Austin. How’s it hang—going?”

  He nodded to let her know he appreciated her pulling back on saying hanging. Austin didn’t want to have to explain that in toddler-speak. “I’m okay. You?” he risked asking.

  Her mouth twisted into a snarky smile. “One misplaced costume hinge, and I’ll never hear the end of it.” Hadley motioned for them to come in. “McCall went into town about fifteen minutes ago to do an errand, but she should be back soon.”

  “An errand?” he questioned as they made their way to the kitchen where they found Em. Maybe the woman had ESP about this visit because there was a cooling rack of what appeared to be freshly baked snickerdoodles on the counter.

  “Just in time,” Em said, beaming at the girls. “Would you two like some cookies and milk?”

  Before the last words had even left Em’s mouth, Avery and Gracie said two very enthusiastic “Yes, peaze.”

  “What kind of errand did McCall need to run?” Austin pressed. He probably sounded obsessed or something, but he wouldn’t be able to push aside this worry until he saw her.

  “She didn’t say,” Em answered, helping the girls into the chairs at the kitchen table. “But I can tell you that she was u-p-s-e-t,” she spelled out.

  That sure as hell didn’t help the worry. “Is Boo here?” Because he’d likely be able to get some answers from her.

  Hadley shook her head. “She’s in Dallas, dealing with some business.”

  Probably business connected to Peekaboo. McCall had said something about sending Boo back up there to handle that, but Austin hadn’t thought it’d be this soon.

  Em served the girls each a cookie, poured them a glass of milk and then went closer to Austin. “I figure E-d-i-t-h is in a horn-tossing mood over that p-i-c-t-u-r-e of McCall.”

  Em probably hadn’t had to worry about the girls overhearing that because they were focused on the cookies. Nor would they have gotten the horn-tossing/pissed-off reference, either.

  “You’re sure Edith knows?” Austin asked. Like Em, he also kept his voice low. “She hasn’t called me about it, and I think she would—”

  “She knows,” Em interrupted. “McCall wouldn’t say what was said, but plenty of folks let me know that Edith and McCall were talking right there on Main Street outside of Rick Downing’s office.”

  Well, shit. This was one time that Austin wished he hadn’t been kept out of the gossip loop. He was about to tell the girls to finish their cookies so he could drive into town to try to spot McCall’s car, but then Austin’s bad feeling skyrocketed.

  “Did McCall say anything about leaving?” he asked.

  “Loads,” Hadley answered, and Em verified that with a nod.

  “McCall came back here ready to leave, but I told her just to wait it out and things would get better,” Em added.

  Austin looked at Hadley to get her take on that. “Loads,” Hadley repeated. “She was crying when she went up to her room, and then about thirty minutes later, she came down and said she had to do something. She didn’t use the word errand,” Hadley spelled out. “She said she was going out.”

  He mentally repeated his well, shit. “Did she take a suitcase with her?”

  Both Em and Hadley gave variations of a shrug. “I didn’t actually see her leave,” Em admitted. “She called out to Hadley and me when we were in the kitchen.”

  “I want to check her room,” Austin said. “Avery and Gracie, wait here with Granny Em.”

  The girls didn’t protest, especially when Em said they could have another cookie. With Hadley right behind him, Austin headed for the stairs. Fast. He wasn’t even sure if McCall had brought a suitcase with her to town or if she’d had her things shipped, but he intended to look for any signs that Edith had sent her running.

  And he quickly found it.

  There was a note lying in the center of McCall’s bed, and since it wasn’t folded or in an envelope, he had no trouble reading it.

  “I’m so sorry,” she’d written. “I just need to get away for a while.”

  Now, Hadley joined him in some cursing, and he took out his phone. When McCall didn’t answer, he sent her a text. Call me now.

  Whether she would answer or not was anyone guess, but he quickly fired off another message that just said, Please. Then he tried Edith. Unlike McCall, she answered on the first ring.

  “What did you say to McCall?” Austin demanded to moment Edith was on the line.

  Edith, however, wasn’t so fast to answer. “What did McCall tell you I said?”

  He probably should have held back on the cussing, but Austin couldn’t stop himself. He didn’t like shitty word games like this. “What did you say to her?” He not only raised his voice, he also made sure that Edith knew he was pissed.

  Still, Edith didn’t jump to say anything. Several moments creeped by before she finally said, “I told her I didn’t think it was a good idea for her to stay in town.” Another pause. “And I let her know that I’d just had Rick start drawing up those custody papers.”

  Austin didn’t trust a
ny profanity then because he would have called her some bad names. Names with coldhearted and bitch in them. And while the grandmother of his children might indeed be just that, he wouldn’t cross that petty line with her.

  “Let me guess,” he said once he got his temper under control so he could speak. “You told McCall you’d file those papers if she stayed in town.”

  Austin didn’t actually need that confirmed. He knew that’s what Edith had done. But he wanted to hear it. And he did.

  “Yes,” Edith admitted, but this time she didn’t pause. She jumped right into an explanation that Austin knew from the get-go would be bullshit. “It’s the right thing. You can’t have the girls exposed to this sort of thing.”

  “But I can have them exposed to a manipulating woman like you who tried to bully McCall into doing what you think is right?” Okay, he wasn’t even sort of successful in keeping the anger out of his voice. Except this was many, many steps passed the mere anger stage.

  “I didn’t bully her. I simply told her what I would do, and I’m telling you, too. Austin, if you don’t put an end to your affair with McCall, I’ll file for custody.”

  Austin considered how to answer that and decided the best way to go was just to hang up. So, that’s what he did.

  “If you squeeze your phone any harder, it’ll break,” Hadley pointed out. She walked around him to stand in front of him. “Look, I’m not what anyone would call a champion of justice, but I don’t like people dicking with McCall. That whole good-girl image isn’t crap. It’s the real deal.”

  Yeah, it was, and it didn’t matter that none of this had been McCall’s fault. She’d just gotten caught up in it.

  “Is that what Edith is doing—dicking with McCall?” Hadley asked.

  Austin sighed, scrubbed his hand over his face after he loosened the grip on his phone. “Unintentionally dicking with her,” he admitted. “But I think Edith truly believes she’s doing the right thing. She’s not.” Austin snapped out that last part.

  Hadley held up her hands in a don’t kill the messenger gesture. “If I thought it would help, I’d volunteer to make Edith an outfit that would give her an embarrassing moment or two when it malfunctioned. And I know this dude who does voodoo dolls.”

  Austin managed a smile and patted her on the arm. “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind as plans B and C.”

  “What’s plan A?” she asked.

  “To hell if I know,” he grumbled, and he headed out of the room and back down the stairs.

  Maybe McCall just needed some time to think, but he thought if he could just talk to her, he could make her see that leaving shouldn’t be in part of plans A, B or C.

  The girls weren’t in the kitchen where he’d left them, but Austin soon found Em and them in the living room. No cookies, but Em was showing them something that was hanging in the coat closet. Something big, white and sparkly, and it looked familiar.

  “Look, Daddy. It’s the fairy lady’s dress,” Avery announced.

  “A costume?” Hadley moved in for a closer look. “And what’s with Miss Watermelon?” she added, running her fingers over the tacky runner-up banner.

  “It’s the dress McCall had on when she came back to Lone Star Ridge,” Austin supplied. “She wore it for a charity beauty contest. Obviously, a rigged one since she didn’t win.”

  That garnered a smile and nod of agreement from Em. Hadley just continued to study the ball of white puffy fabric.

  “You know what’s missing from that dress?” Hadley asked.

  All of them looked at her.

  “McCall,” Hadley supplied. She turned to the girls then. “What do you say that we find her and bring her back?”

  The girls clearly thought that was a good idea because it started some loud squealing and jumping up and down. Austin didn’t jump or squeal. But he did smile.

  Because, yeah, he finally had a plan A.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “CLARA EIDELMAN’S A TEASE,” Mr. Bolton snarled.

  McCall was betting that most women in their eighties didn’t get called that, but then it perhaps wasn’t common for such a woman to get pressured for sex by a man that McCall had secretly labeled a horndog. That wasn’t a very kind term for a therapist to use, but Mr. Bolton was trying her patience today with this phone call.

  Of course, considering her own sour mood, any one of her clients likely would have done some patience-trying. Heck, anyone period would have tested her.

  McCall hadn’t wanted to take his call while she was driving back to Dallas, but after she’d seen his name pop up on the Bluetooth screen in her car, she’d remembered they had an appointment. Since she’d already rescheduled with the man twice, she’d taken it. And was now regretting that decision. Her mood wasn’t anywhere good or focused enough to dole out any sage advice or counselor’s empathy.

  Physician heal thyself indeed.

  She wasn’t going to be able to talk herself out of the heart-crushing that she’d just gotten. Nor would she be able to shove aside what she felt for Austin. Still, she couldn’t ruin his life or the girls’, and that’s what could happen if she’d stayed around Lone Star Ridge. It would have given Edith the fodder to try to tear Austin’s family apart.

  “Well?” Mr. Bolton prompted with some obvious aggravation. “What do you have to say about that? Clara Eidelman’s a tease,” he repeated.

  “I think you focus on sex because you don’t want to deal with your grief over losing your wife five years ago,” McCall firmly stated.

  It was the first time she’d said something that blunt to him, and she was met with silence. Which was okay. Maybe it meant Mr. Bolton was actually considering that.

  While he did his considering, McCall did some of her own. Sex hadn’t been Austin’s way of dealing with grief. She knew that all the way to the marrow. He’d been with her because that’s what he’d wanted, and he hadn’t used her as a fix. That made all of this even more painful.

  Damn it.

  Now, she was battling the blasted tears again. Not only was boo-hooing not safe because she was driving but crying also wouldn’t do any good. She just needed to focus on the future. Whatever that would be. But once she had that focus, it would help.

  She hoped.

  “I miss my wife,” Mr. Bolton finally said. That was another first. McCall heard some grief in his voice.

  “I know you do. The two of you were married for a long time, and there’s no timetable for grief, Mr. Bolton. Maybe you should take a breather from sex and just deal with the feelings you’re still having.”

  More silence for a while. “How long of a break?” he finally asked.

  That had her smiling despite the tears. “At least a week. And then we’ll talk.” That way, she would know if the break had actually helped and if she needed to advise him to make it even longer. Mrs. Eidelman would almost certainly appreciate that, too.

  McCall arranged a follow-up session with Mr. Bolton, but she’d only been off the phone with him for less than a minute when another call came in. No surprise there. She had been getting a steady stream of calls and texts from Granny Em, Sunny, Hadley and Austin since she’d left town. McCall hadn’t wanted to take those, but she did answer this call from Boo.

  “It’s true?” Boo immediately asked. “You’re leaving Austin?”

  “Who told you?” McCall countered.

  “Em. She called me about ten minutes ago and hoped that I knew where you were. Where are you?”

  McCall looked at the sign for the next exit. “I’m on I-35, just a few miles from San Marcos.” Not that far, really, from Lone Star Ridge, but she’d had to stop for gas. That and she was driving slow since she knew she likely wasn’t being as attentive to the road as she should be.

  “Hold on a sec,” Boo said. “I need to answer this text.” McCall did wait, huffing a little, but it wasn’t lon
g before Boo came back on the line. “I’m supposed to tell you that your leaving Lone Star Ridge is dumber than a bag of hair.”

  No doubt directly from Em. “I’ll call Granny Em later and talk to her.” Not that talking would help her grandmother accept McCall’s decision to leave, but it’d been the right thing to do. “For now, I just want to get to Dallas. How’s everything at Peekaboo?”

  “Same ol’, same ol’,” Boo said, “but I want to do something about that. I thought about it all the way up here, and I think I’ve come up with a fix. We can change the name.”

  McCall groaned. “It’s too late for that. Everyone knows I own the strip club so changing your name to mine won’t help.”

  “No.” Boo laughed as if that’d been the stupid idea that McCall had insisted it would be. “I meant change the name of Peekaboo. And change Peekaboo right along with it.”

  Maybe it was because her head was clogged from all the crying, but McCall had to say, “I don’t get it. Change it to what?”

  “Change it to not a strip club.” Boo sounded excited now, and her words ran together she was talking so fast. “I have this idea, and it wouldn’t mess up the conditions of Lizzie’s will because you’d still own it, and you wouldn’t be selling it. Nor would you be running it in the ground just for the sake of it going bankrupt.”

  “I’m listening,” McCall assured her, though she didn’t have much hope that this would be a helpful solution to her problems.

  “We could make it a place for women’s fantasies from books and movies. We could set it up like a tea parlor, one of those fancy Victorian ones that serves the little sandwiches. I love those.”

  “Sandwiches?” McCall questioned.

  “Yeah, and other food that fits with the themes. In some rooms, the servers could be Vikings serving mead and whatever it is that Vikings eat. Hunks of meat, maybe. Then, in another room, the waiters could be dressed like Mr. Darcy and could serve tea and scones. We could put cowboys like the tasty Austin in others to serve some kind of beef finger food.”

  McCall waited Boo out until she’d finished. “Peekaboo isn’t a restaurant,” she pointed out.