Fearless in Texas

by Kari Lynn Dell

  At that moment, Melanie was thankful she’d turned back, because if she could have laid hands on that old woman’s shotgun…

  And Wyatt. What pure hell this past year and a half must have been for him, holding all of this inside, not even able to share it with Joe. No wonder he was single-handedly driving up the price of antacid stocks. Every moment he’d spent in Earnest, every time he’d had to see or speak to Melanie, the knowledge must have been like a hot coal, burning in his gut. The lies he’d had to tell…

  He’d lied to her.

  She straightened, her tear-swollen eyes narrowing as she thought of what Gil had said, and replayed Wyatt’s words that night in the bathtub. That bastard. Her teeth snapped together, biting off a curse as she slammed into the front seat, shifted into Drive, and hit the gas.

  He was going to pay. But first, she had to see Grace.

  Melanie found her in the first place she looked—at the athletic club, pushing Scotty and Philip through a set of medicine ball drills. Grace made a Halt! gesture when Melanie stepped into the gym. The two men flashed thankful grins that faded into alarm when they saw Grace’s tight, set face, then got a good look at Melanie.

  “Should we…” Philip began, shooting a worried glance from one to the other.

  “Go,” Grace said.

  Scotty scrambled to his feet, keeping a wary eye on Melanie. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  They hesitated for a few seconds, then backed away, letting the door swing shut behind them but lingering to peer through the thick safety glass.

  Grace held her ground, pale and stiff, but head high. “So now you know.”

  “Yes.”

  Every breath seemed to echo in the empty gym. Then Melanie broke. She took two swift strides and wrapped her arms around Grace’s rigid body. “I am so sorry.”

  For an instant, she thought Grace would push her away. The she sagged and let out a choked sob. Melanie smoothed her hand over the springy ponytail, made comforting circles on her heaving shoulders. They stood and clung and rocked for Lord knew how long, until finally Grace did pull back, tears spiking her lashes.

  “I was so sure you’d hate me.”

  “No.” Melanie shook her head. “Oh, no. Never you.”

  “But it was so stupid—”

  Melanie pressed a finger to her lips. “It was a mistake…and God knows you don’t have the corner on that market. As Gordon was kind enough to point out, it’s not the mistake that counts; it’s what you do about it. You turned your nightmare into a dream come true for Laura and her wife, and I can only imagine what kind of life they’ll give that little girl.”

  “Maddie,” Grace said softly. “Short for Madeline.”

  Melanie swallowed hard. “That was my grandmother’s name,” she whispered.

  “Oh my God.” Grace blinked away a fresh spurt of tears. “I had no idea.”

  Melanie rolled her eyes heavenward. “Apparently someone did. So now she’s triply blessed—an incredible birth mother, lovely parents, and her great-grandmother’s name.”

  “You act like I’m a saint, and I’m not.” Grace bowed her head and laced her fingers together. “They paid me. Enough to cover all of my student loans and put something aside.”

  “Good for you.”

  Grace’s head jerked up, disbelief puckering her brows.

  “I’m serious. You gave them a priceless gift. You deserve something in return. Especially knowing that by doing it the way you did, the truth will eventually find its way back to Earnest.”

  “We have a deal. In writing. They agreed to respect my privacy until Maddie’s tenth birthday. Until then—” She shook her breath, tears welling again. “This has been so hard on Wyatt, all because I’m too scared…my parents…”

  Melanie hugged her again, quick and hard. “I understand. And maybe they will too, eventually.”

  “No.” Grace’s soft mouth twisted. “They might try to forgive because their Bible tells them so, but they will never, ever understand.” She bit her lip. “Are you going to tell…anyone?”

  Melanie shook her head. “You’ve had to make all of the hard decisions so far. You don’t deserve to have this one taken away from you. If you want Hank to know, you say when and how that happens.”

  “You can live with that?”

  “For as long as I have to…or ten years. Whichever comes first.” She reached out and squeezed Grace’s cold, interlocked fingers. “It’s entirely up to you.”

  “Thank you,” Grace whispered.

  “You’re welcome. And I mean that literally. If you take that job in the Panhandle, prepare to be initiated into the Earnest Ladies’ Club, and brace yourself, ’cuz you’re gonna be roping with Shawnee. As of now you are officially one of the family, even if I’m the only one who knows why.”

  Grace flashed a watery smile. “Plus Wyatt.”

  “Oh yes. We can’t forget Wyatt.” Melanie’s jaw set, and her eyes went squinty.

  Grace’s chin dropped. “You can’t be mad at him.”

  “Can’t I?” She spun on her heel and saw Scotty and Philip dive for cover in the thicket of exercise machines. “Just watch me.”

  Chapter 48

  Wyatt sat at the end of the bar and scowled into the glass of straight Coke in front of him. Louie had refused to serve him alcohol before five in the afternoon. For Wyatt’s own good, he declared solemnly, taking an obscene amount of pleasure in turning the tables. Wyatt could have walked a block down the street to Hamley’s or the Rainbow, but that would have required more initiative than he possessed at the moment, and there was something even more pathetic about having to get drunk in someone else’s bar.

  At least he knew Melanie was safe—or had been first thing this morning. Goddamn Gil. What kind of asshole drove away without knowing for sure what she intended to do?

  Beside him, Joe sat silently watching the Mariners validate Wyatt’s decision to continue being a lifetime, card-carrying Mets fan even though he’d moved to the Pacific Northwest. Wyatt had obviously done a piss-poor job of pretending that yes, really, he was fine, since Joe had caught the first flight to Pendleton. Melanie hadn’t told them about Hank, though. Joe would have said so. And he wouldn’t be here.

  Another fight between Melanie and Wyatt? Nothing their friendship couldn’t handle. But a betrayal of this magnitude? When Joe learned the truth…

  Behind them, the room buzzed and clattered with a decent-sized lunch crowd, evenly divided between first timers and return customers, who Louie and Helen greeted like old friends. Already today, three people had asked if they took reservations for Sunday’s chicken dinner. Wyatt smiled and nodded in the appropriate places and registered none of it. Words ricocheted off the shell that had closed around him, and he was only vaguely aware of the occasional clap on the shoulder, accompanied by a comment about his lack of roping prowess. He should keep going out to the saddle club, if only because they felt so sorry for him that they came and spent their money at his bar.

  Melanie would have made him go.

  He caught the fresh bubble of pain, cradling it close to his heart before he tucked it in beside the others. If this was all he had left of her, he intended to hoard it for as long as possible. At least he would feel something. He didn’t glance up when the door opened, or when the new arrival paused only a few feet away. It took a hard jab from Joe’s elbow to make him raise his head.

  And there she was, a wavering image in the antique glass mirror behind the bar. The bubbles in his chest burst into a thousand shimmering points of light. He wondered—in a remote, out-of-body way—if they would simply fade away or transform into drops of acid rain. He stared at her reflection, not entirely convinced that it wasn’t a mirage.

  The door burst open, and Grace, Philip, and Scotty piled through, then skidded to a stop in the entryway, eyeing Melanie as if sh
e were one of devil cows turned loose in the bar. Joe’s stool screeched on the wooden floor as he jumped to his feet. He took a single step that put him between Melanie and Wyatt, his hands closing into loose fists and his knees flexed as if prepared to block her charge.

  Wyatt swiveled to stare at him. “What are you doing?”

  Melanie smiled cryptically, directing her answer to Joe. “For an extremely intelligent man, he can be pretty dense. He actually thinks you’ll automatically take my side, just because you’re married to my best friend. Even after you dropped everything to be here.”

  “He’s done the same for me.”

  “But he doesn’t expect anyone to return the favor.” She folded her arms and tipped her head in exaggerated thought. “I assumed it was a general lack of faith in humanity. Now I’m leaning toward abandonment issues. What do you think?”

  “Guilt.” Joe said without hesitation. “And a sense of unworthiness. He can’t stop punishing himself for the sins of his forebears.”

  “You’ve actually thought about this?” Wyatt asked, gaping at him.

  Joe made a pained face. “I’m married now. I don’t get to just leave shit alone anymore. We’ve gotta pick, pick, pick—”

  “Well, you can stop now,” Wyatt snapped.

  “Oh no. Not just yet.” Melanie shifted her gaze toward Wyatt. “I would have been here sooner, but I stopped to see Grace.” She flipped a cool your jets hand when Wyatt stiffened. “She and I are fine. Right, Grace?”

  Behind her, Grace nodded, eyes huge.

  Melanie smiled grimly. “You and I, on the other hand…”

  And of course Joe chose that moment to abandon him. “It looks like you have plenty of backup. I’ll just go check on the Camaro.”

  “Honestly.” Melanie scowled at his retreating back. “It’s like people think I have no imagination. And you…”

  Wyatt flinched at the fury blazing in her eyes. “I’m sorry. If there had been any way—”

  “Five. Years.” She punctuated each word with a sharp jab of two fingers into his sternum. “You’ve been feeding me that It’s not you, it’s me bullshit since Violet’s wedding—and for the record, every woman in existence assumes Oh, yeah, it’s definitely me…so thanks for that.”

  He sucked his arms up over his chest and twisted on his stool to take the next jab in the shoulder. “How long?” she demanded. “How goddamn long have you been in love with me and lying your ass off?”

  “Not…ouch!” He grabbed her wrists before she could inflict any more pain. “Four years, max. The lying, I mean. I was serious at first. The other…” He could only shrug helplessly. “Always.”

  She hissed a curse when he refused to let her yank her wrists free. Every conversation in the room had stopped, and every eye and ear was glued to them, but she didn’t lower her voice. “That’s forty-two months of dating losers and having mediocre sex when I could have had you!”

  “They must have been losers if they managed to have mediocre sex with you.” And what the hell was he saying, in front of all these people?

  She bared her teeth. “I didn’t say they had lousy sex. But imagine what we could have done with all those nights if you hadn’t been such a damn coward.”

  Wyatt had to work at taking a breath because his lungs had done a full stop. “I didn’t think—”

  “Don’t even try that line.” She gave her arm another yank, then settled for kicking his shin. Shit, that hurt. “All you do is think! If you’d stopped analyzing and just looked, maybe you would have noticed that I was in love with you, too, you stupid jerk.”

  Damn. There went his heart. If something didn’t kick back into gear, he was going to pass out from lack of blood and oxygen to his brain. He managed to stutter, “I…you…really?”

  “Oh, for God’s sake.” She fell in to him, forcing him to drop her arms and grab her waist as she kissed him.

  Lights burst behind his eyes, neurons exploding like transformers during a lightning storm. For what may have been the first time in his life, Wyatt stopped thinking altogether and dragged her even closer. At some point in time that was both an eternity and hardly more than a microsecond, she pulled back, but left her arms linked behind his neck.

  “Are we clear now?” she asked.

  “Crystal. But what about—”

  She cut him off with another quick kiss, then glanced around the bar, pausing to smile at Gordon, who was taking in the show from what had become his booth. “Hey, everybody. As you can see, Wyatt and I have a few things to discuss. So if you’ll just excuse us…”

  Grace and the boys plastered themselves against the wall as Melanie tugged Wyatt off the stool and out the front door. A single, long wolf whistle followed them.

  Damn Scotty.

  * * *

  When they were inside the apartment, she released him and tucked her fingers into the front pockets of her jeans, suddenly subdued, her eyes uncertain.

  “You shaved,” she said.

  “I didn’t see any reason not to.”

  “Mmm.” She wandered over to the window that looked down onto Main Street. “I came to proposition you.”

  He’d only just regained basic life-sustaining functions, and there she went, knocking the air out of him again. Wyatt plopped onto the edge of the bed. Less likely to suffer a concussion that way, if he did fall over. “What did you have in mind?”

  “I’m going to apply for a job with a nonprofit in the Tri-Cities that helps women and minorities start their own businesses.” She fiddled with the latch on the window. “They can always use someone with marketing expertise.”

  His heart stalled again. She wanted to stay? “What about Westwind?”

  “After my experience with the Bull Dancer, I realized I wanted to go the small-business route. It’s where I hope I can make the most difference.” She hitched a shoulder, her gaze still fixed on the street below. “The new job wouldn’t eat up my entire life. I can do a lot of the planning work from home, and the schedule is flexible, which will make it easier to rodeo.”

  “It sounds perfect.”

  She flicked him a smile. “The pay is crap, but I was hoping I could hook a rich husband to keep me in the style to which I am not accustomed.”

  Hell. There went his lungs again. “What…” He had to stop, take a gulp of air, and start again. “What about Hank?”

  “Gil has relieved me of my position as guardian.” Her hand dropped to her side. “He tells me I lack the necessary experience to deal with the current situation. And”—her breath hissed as she sucked it in between gritted teeth—“now that I know exactly what Hank did to Grace, it may take a while before I can see him without wanting to throttle him.”

  Wyatt almost smiled, but the pang in his chest canceled it out. She was hurt and angry right now. Once her temper faded…

  She shook her head. “Yes, I’m pissed, but it’s more than that. Whatever he needs, I obviously can’t give it to him—or force it on him—or it never would have come to this. Gil’s right. I’m more of a problem than a solution…which I assume you’ve known all along.”

  “I…yes,” he admitted. No more lies. No more evasion. They’d reached a place where he could—and would—deal in nothing but the truth. “I gave you that list of therapists hoping I could persuade you to talk to one of them.”

  She gave a shaky laugh. “Always the man with a plan, and that’s a good one. I have some serious issues to work through. But I do know one thing for certain. I have to do what’s best for me…and as hard as we’ve tried to deny it, that’s always been you. It won’t be good for anyone if I spend the next fifty years resenting my brother for keeping us apart.”

  Emotion slammed into the back of his throat, blocking his airway. She would do that? Choose him over Hank?

  “Did you say…husband?” he asked, the words just now sinking in
.

  “We can start by living in sin.” She didn’t quite pull off the flippant tone. “I totally understand why you’d rather not rush into anything, although as Violet pointed out, we’ve diddled around long enough that if you don’t know what you’re getting into by now…” She turned to brace her back against the window frame, tucking her hands behind her hips. “I won’t even make you set foot in a church…but there is a catch.”

  Of course there was. “Isn’t there always?”

  “This one is a doozy.” Her eyes were dark with regret. “I can’t see her, Wyatt. Maddie, I mean. I realize that’s what Laura wants—a big, happy dysfunctional family—but as long as Hank doesn’t know, I just…can’t.” She hunched her shoulders. “I can justify knowing about her and not telling because it won’t help either of them. But getting to really know her—and love her, I’m sure—that goes way beyond Hank. My parents have a granddaughter. Maybe they’ll care, maybe they won’t, but either way they might never forgive me if I kept them in the dark while I played Aunt Melanie.”

  Realization washed through him, numbingly cold, and he bowed his head. “Which means I can’t play Uncle Wyatt.”

  She shook her head vehemently. “I wouldn’t do that to you. I have no doubt you’re crazy about that little girl…and I’m sure she adores you. Laura and Julianne have been your family for a very long time. I won’t force you to give that up.”

  He raised his confused gaze to meet hers. “I don’t understand. How would that work with you and me, never talking about Maddie…”

  “The same as it’s worked up until now. It won’t be easy. And I’ll probably give in to the temptation to ask a few questions, or peek at your pictures, but that’s as far as I can go.”

  Still, it would leave a huge obstacle between the two of them. Or rather, a very small one.

  “It won’t be forever,” Melanie said. “Grace told me about the ten-year clause. And she could decide to tell Hank before then.”

  But there was no conviction in her voice. They’d both seen Hank. Hell, even before, when he’d just been oblivious, why would Grace have trusted him with a secret that would almost certainly alienate her entire family? In her place, Wyatt would wait as long as possible.