Blame It on Texas

by Christie Craig

  “We’re managing.”

  “I expected to get a lot of calls from you,” she said.

  “I didn’t know if you really wanted to deal with me.”

  She looked puzzled. “I told you everything was fine.”

  “Yeah, but I guess I was still insecure.”

  “Don’t be.”

  “In that case, do you think maybe I could buy you and Britney dinner tonight for cooking for us?” His gut knotted, waiting for her reply.

  “I cooked hamburgers and oven-baked fries.”

  “Yeah, but they were really good. And the company was… great.”

  She smiled. “We’d love to have dinner. I was actually thinking of suggesting you take Ricky over to the sitters today and let him meet her, so it won’t be so new to him on Monday.”

  Rick frowned. “Damn, why didn’t I think of that? Should I call her?”

  “Just tell her you want to drop by. As a matter of fact, we could meet up there and then go to dinner.”

  “Yeah, that sounds great.”

  “Good,” she said.

  And it was, but for the life of him he didn’t know where things were going between them.

  They walked back to find Ricky. He was on the floor petting Bud, and Tyler was pulling another laptop from his desk. “I was just about to call you,” Tyler said, and then handed the laptop to Ellen. “Here. He asked if he could play with it.”

  “Thanks,” Rick told him. And then he looked at Ricky. “Can you tell him thanks?” Rick actually felt proud of himself for thinking to remind Ricky. Parenting stuff kept you on your toes. But the book Ellen had given him was a saving grace.

  “Thanks,” Ricky said.

  When Ricky and Ellen walked out, Rick dropped down in the chair across from Tyler. “I’m sorry about not being available tomorrow to go to the Bradfords, but I need to get things situated with Ricky. I came here to tell you that I don’t think I can work next weekend, either. It might be best to find a replacement.”

  “I get it. The kid’s more important. That’s not why I wanted to talk to you. Tony told me you’re friends with Stan Martin, the Glencoe cop who retired a couple of years back.”

  “Yeah, I partnered with him when I first came on. Why?”

  Tyler filled him in on what they’d learned about the Bradford case, from the old man coming into the office to the death of the retired detective’s partner. “Officer Dean was murdered in the same county where Zoe’s parents had lived.”

  “You really think Dean was behind the kidnapping?” Accusing a fellow officer didn’t sit well with him.

  “I’m just asking questions. But John Phillips has a high opinion of Marcus Dean. I’d like a second opinion, and Martin worked with Dean for a while.”

  “I’ll call him this afternoon,” Rick said.

  “We’ll compensate you,” Tyler said.

  “We’re talking about a phone call.”

  “One other thing,” Tyler said. “What was your impression of Mrs. Daniels?”

  Ricky knew what Tyler was thinking. Someone at the Bradfords’ did the shooting. “She’s always talking about going to a shooting range. I don’t see her pulling the trigger, but she might hire someone to do it.”

  “What about Windsor? What does your gut say about him?”

  Rick considered the question. “I think he looks out for number one. If he thought Zoe could finger him for a crime, I wouldn’t put it past him.”

  Tyler frowned. “I’m taking Zoe to the mansion for dinner Sunday night.”

  “And you don’t like it,” Rick said.

  “And I don’t like it,” Tyler confirmed.

  Friday afternoon, Zoe was vacuuming the living room and worrying about her upcoming dinner with the Bradfords. She had no idea what to expect. Would they like her? Resent her? Could someone in the family really be the person wanting to kill her? If so, why? When she heard a knock on the apartment door, she turned around.

  “Dixie!” Zoe ran past Tyler to hug her boss. Or her ex-boss. Chances were, she’d be going home and never work at the diner again. No more Dixie. No more being one of Dixie’s girls. No more Tyler, either, and all his friends. Her throat suddenly grew tight.

  When Zoe pulled back, Dixie stared at her almost as if she was reading her mind. “You okay, girly?”

  “I’m fine. You?” Zoe said, talking around the lump in her throat.

  “I miss seeing your smiling face across the counter.” She patted Zoe’s cheek like a concerned mama. And the touch increased the size of the knot in Zoe’s throat and brought tears to her eyes. She blinked them away.

  “I’m sorry. He wouldn’t let me come back to work.” She pointed at Tyler and forced a grin.

  “I figured as much.” Dixie frowned at Tyler. “It’s always a man’s fault,” she said in her teasing voice.

  “Because someone tried to shoot her,” Tyler snapped as if not realizing Dixie was joking.

  “I know. Which brings me to the question. Have you found out who?”

  “I’m working on it,” Tyler said, obviously not wanting to go into anything with Dixie. “I think I’ll just go back to my office.” Tyler moved in, studied her eyes as if noting her pain, then he leaned in and kissed her.

  When he left, Dixie set her big canvas bag on the coffee table. “I knew that man had his sights on you.”

  “Sit down,” Zoe said, and attempted another smile.

  “I brought you some supper.” She waved at the bag.

  “Chicken and dumplings?” Zoe asked.

  “And squash casserole.”

  “I love you,” Zoe said, but it wasn’t because of the food. It was because she had so few people who really cared about her.

  Dixie sighed. “What’s going on, Zoe? Who’s trying to hurt you?”

  Zoe took a deep breath to fight back the tears, and for the next thirty minutes, she told Dixie the truth.

  “Listen to them laugh,” Rick told Ellen that Friday evening.

  They had gone out for pizza. While Ricky and Britney had played video games in the restaurant’s game room, Rick and Ellen had talked about baseball. Who would have ever thought she knew a lick about baseball—but considering she could change out a transmission, he probably should have guessed. Not that they agreed on their favorite teams. He went for the Astros, and she was a Dodger fan. But just sitting there chatting, debating with her on the best team, was… well, fun. More fun than he’d had in a hell of a long time.

  Then because Ricky had wanted to show Britney his new race-car bed, they’d come back to his place. When he first got home, he went to the gun safe and locked up his weapon. Ellen watched him.

  “What?” he asked when she continued to stare.

  “Nothing, I’m just glad you do that. Lock it up right away. I… don’t like guns around kids.”

  “Don’t worry. I would never leave it out.” They sat on the sofa, and he loved having her beside him.

  In spite of having the kids less than thirty feet away, all he could think about was showing Ellen his own bed.

  “They get along really well,” she said.

  “Yep.”

  There was a lapse of silence. “He was married,” she blurted out.

  It took him only a second to understand that she was talking about Britney’s father.

  “I swear I didn’t know he was married,” she went on. “He had an apartment downtown. We met at a coffee shop. He’s a high-powered lawyer at Baker and Quarles. I was enamored. I was a fool.”

  She didn’t look at him. Rick put his hand on top of hers. The pain in her voice was palpable.

  “When I found out I was pregnant, Noel told me he was married and offered to pay for an abortion. I hated him for that, but I wanted to keep the baby. So I packed up and moved to Florida. Three years later, Dad started having health issues and I had to come back.” She paused. “One day Noel ran into Britney and me, and he knew. He was angry at first, then he said he was glad. Then… then things got bad.”
<
br />   Rick stroked his thumb over her hand but didn’t say anything.

  “It started when I met James. He was a plumber. A nice guy. Noel didn’t approve. He threatened to sue me for custody. I didn’t believe him at first, then he had someone follow me, hoping I’d do something stupid.” She paused. “And I did. James and I had sex in my hot tub. Britney was at my mom’s.” She swallowed. “His guy got some pictures, and then Noel threatened that if I didn’t break it off with James, he’d use the picture to prove I was an unfit mom. He reminded me what a big-shot attorney he was.”

  Rick felt violated for her. “Just because you have a relationship with someone doesn’t make you a bad mom.”

  “I was furious. I had to tell James, and then he got furious.”

  “Of course, he would.” Rick couldn’t help but wonder where nice-guy James was now.

  She glanced at Rick. “James was furious at me for not telling him the whole story about Noel. He didn’t believe I didn’t know Noel was married.”

  “Then both of them are assholes.”

  She turned her hand over and laced her fingers through his. “I went to see a lawyer, just to see where I stood legally. I was told that with Noel having the pull he does in courts, there was a slight chance Noel could actually take Britney.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Rick said.

  “Half of life is bullshit.”

  “Wait,” Rick said. “You told me he doesn’t even see her on regular visits, didn’t you?”

  She nodded.

  “So his wife doesn’t know about Britney?”

  “He said he told her.”

  “That’s more bullshit. If he’d told her, he’d have a regular visitation schedule.”

  “Maybe she just doesn’t want him to see Britney.” Ellen met his gaze again. Tears welled in her eyes. “I’m scared, Rick.”

  Those tears had his heart doubling over. “Can I talk to him?” Teach the asshole a lesson.

  “No. I need to do this myself.”

  He nodded but didn’t like it. He looked at their locked hands. “Where does this leave us?”

  “Is it too much to ask for a little time?”

  He brought her hand to his lips. “Good things are worth waiting for.”

  She leaned in and kissed him, but it ended way too soon. “Good things are hard to wait for.” Her smile was so sexy, his gut clenched. “And on that note, I should go.”

  “Are you going to the paint party tomorrow at Dallas and Nikki’s house?” The idea of seeing her again so soon thrilled him.

  “If I can get my mom to watch Britney.” She grinned. “I thought that was really clever, throw a party and hand everyone a paint brush when they come in the door.”

  “Why don’t you bring Britney? I’m bringing Ricky.”

  Ellen bit down on her lip, and he figured he knew why. “You haven’t told Nikki or LeAnn about helping me out, have you?”

  “Not yet. They—”

  “They aren’t big fans of mine,” Rick said. “To be fair, I see why they feel that way.”

  “I don’t care what they think. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “You know, if you don’t want to tell them—”

  Ellen squeezed his hand. “Of course, I’m going to tell them.”

  For some reason, that squeeze, and her words, felt pretty damn good. They walked down the hall. The kids were on the car bed, and Britney was reading aloud.

  “No,” Ricky said. “Not like that. You have to make the funny voices like my dad does.”

  Emotion swelled in his chest, and his throat tightened.

  Ellen smiled and whispered, “Told you you’d do fine.”

  “Do you think it’s too purple?” Nikki asked Zoe Saturday afternoon.

  “No, I love it.” Zoe re-dipped her brush into the paint can.

  “Good. Dallas thinks I’m crazy! But who wants to live with white walls?”

  Zoe and Tyler had come to Nikki’s new house for their paint party. Funny how these people had intimidated her so much earlier, and now Zoe found them… refreshing. When she got back to Alabama, she hoped to reacquaint herself with some of her old friends. Taking care of her mom, during those last six months, had cut her off from everyone but Chris. Then after Chris left, she’d become a hermit. But she was going to change that.

  Just as soon as she got over losing Tyler. The thought sent a pain right to her heart. She looked back and saw him chatting with Rick. She sensed they were talking about her. She knew Tyler cared about her. She just didn’t know if that caring meant anything. Part of her was holding her breath, waiting for him to make some declaration of his feelings. The other part was prepared to have her heart shattered into a million, un-put-backable pieces.

  LeAnn, who’d just arrived with her husband, Tony, walked up.

  “Where’s your brush?” Nikki asked.

  LeAnn frowned. “Sorry. I can’t stay and help. I have errands. But I told Tony to put on the burgers. I’m starved. I’ll help with lunch and—”

  Nikki looked at LeAnn oddly. “You said you were queasy this morning.”

  “It passed,” LeAnn said.

  Nikki’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God! Are you—”

  “Shh!” LeAnn said.

  Zoe got the clues and grinned. “Congrats.”

  LeAnn beamed. “I’m not sure. I’m just a week late. I haven’t even told Tony yet.”

  “Told Tony what?” Ellen walked up.

  Nikki made a ball shape in front of her belly and pointed to LeAnn.

  “Ahh!” Ellen hugged LeAnn.

  “Shh,” LeAnn said. “Tony will die if he finds out you guys knew before him.”

  “We won’t say a word.”

  “Good,” LeAnn said. “That’s why I can’t stay. The paint fumes—”

  “Oh, God, get out of here,” Nikki said.

  “I’m going to sit outside until lunch.” LeAnn looked over at Ellen. “But first, we need to talk. You’re dating Rick, aren’t you?”

  “What?” Nikki asked.

  Ellen held up her hand. “We’re not dating. Yet.”

  Zoe noticed the firm tone Ellen added to the yet. One more reason she liked Ellen—she wasn’t a pushover.

  “Right now, I’m just helping him adapt to being a parent,” Ellen said.

  “Right now?” LeAnn piped in.

  Ellen didn’t answer.

  LeAnn sighed. “I have to admit, he wins some points stepping up to the plate for his son.”

  Ellen looked at Rick. Zoe saw the smile in Ellen’s eyes. “He’s not a bad guy.”

  Nikki frowned. “I’ll get Dallas to kill him if he hurts you.” Nikki looked at LeAnn. “You get away from the paint fumes.”

  Nikki and LeAnn walked off. Zoe saw again the way Ellen looked at Rick. And her heart ached knowing that was the way she looked at Tyler. The only difference was, Ellen had a possible future with Rick.

  Five minutes later, Ellen left to check on the kids. Zoe concentrated on the back and forth of the purple paint she brushed on the wall. She thought about her upcoming dinner with the Bradfords tomorrow night.

  “Hey.”

  So deep in thought Zoe jumped and swung around. Then she burst out laughing when she saw the four-inch purple stripe she’d just painted across Tyler’s face. He laughed back and then kissed her and got purple all over her face.

  They may not have a future, but what they had right now was damn near perfect.

  Saturday night, Rick had just fallen asleep when his ringing cell phone awoke him with a start. He almost didn’t reach for it, thinking it was Candy. She hadn’t called him back since the other day. For Ricky’s sake, he hoped she pulled herself together and got help, but he’d be damned if he’d let her continue to use him, or hurt their son.

  He switched on the lamp. When he saw the name on this phone his heart lunched. Ellen. Was something wrong?

  “Is everything okay?” he asked. They’d had a blast at Dallas’s. The kids had played while they’d pa
inted. While he hadn’t gotten nearly as close to her as he would have liked, she’d never shied away from him. He got the feeling she’d told LeAnn and Nikki about them, too.

  “Were you sleeping?” she asked.

  “No,” he lied, and sat up a little.

  “I was just… wondering how heavy of a sleeper Ricky is.”

  He ran a hand over his face. “What?”

  “Is Ricky a light sleeper?” she asked.

  “No… why?” That’s when the possibility of what she might mean had him sitting the rest of the way up. “He sleeps like a rock.” He pressed a hand to his bare chest.

  “Then would you like some company?”

  “Hell, yeah!” His smile came all the way from his gut. “What about Britney?”

  “She’s at my mom’s.”

  “I’m really liking this idea,” he said.

  “Then would you mind opening your front door? It’s lonely out here.”

  He laughed. “Seriously? You’re here?”

  “Yes.”

  “One second, I need to get some clothes on.”

  “Oh, that’s all right,” she said. “I’m not wearing much, either.”

  Rick shot out of bed and couldn’t get to the door fast enough.

  “Where the hell did you find her?” Tyler’s older brother asked Tyler during their mandatory Lopez family Sunday breakfast. Tyler looked up and watched Anna lead Zoe by the hand into the kitchen with all the females.

  Tyler had spent the last two days deliberating whether he should bring Zoe or not. He’d decided to just miss it. But Lola and Sam had called and insisted he bring Zoe. Then Anna had called and pleaded. He cratered. He could never say no to Anna.

  “Would you believe under my desk?” he said, not thinking.

  Ramon’s eyes widened.

  “Not like that,” Tyler said.

  Ramon laughed. “Is it serious?”

  As a heart attack. “No,” Tyler lied. Luckily, his phone rang, saving him from being quizzed for details. It was Rick, and Tyler had been hoping he’d call. “Excuse me.” He moved to the corner of the room.

  “What’s up?”

  As of yesterday, Rick hadn’t been able to get hold of his old buddy, the retired cop who’d worked with Officer Dean. Tyler would bet his right ball that Dean had been in on the Bradford kidnapping.