by Lexi Blake
“Grams, please.” Brittany’s cheeks went red.
Her father was dragging her mom to his car. Dakota was with them, shaking her head at their mom.
She’d been doing so well. The last few weeks Dakota had seemed almost human. Now she was sneering at their mom and beaming at their father and Marcus was nowhere to be seen.
Life was reverting to form, going back to what it had been when the last few months had almost been like paradise. She knew that was stupid. So much bad stuff had happened. She’d lost Lacey. Luis’s sister, Ginny, had been caught in a scandal and yet Mallory had felt so free.
She wanted to talk to Lacey. There had been a time when nothing seemed real until she’d shared it with her best friend.
Luis’s hand squeezed hers. Maybe she had a new best friend.
“Well, I’m just saying that whole family has problems.” Marylee wasn’t backing down. “Would you look at that?”
Mallory watched in horror as Marcus emerged. Ian was by his side. They seemed to be talking for a moment and then Marcus saw their mother trip and fall to the ground. Their father seemed to say something to her. Mallory could guess.
You’re so clumsy, Joanne. You’re pathetic.
Marcus charged in, going for their father. Mallory heard Brittany gasp. Her brother looked like an angry bull ready to kill anyone in his path.
Marylee stepped in front of her granddaughter as though Marcus was coming after her.
Ian got between Marcus and his dad.
Luis tugged on her hand. “We need to go. Brittany, it was nice to see you.”
She noted he pointedly didn’t say the same to Brittany’s grandmother, and Luis was always polite.
He was trying to save her. She let him lead her away, drawing her back toward Cuppa Joe’s.
She followed him. The last thing she was going to do was go home.
* * * *
Brittany watched in horror as Hector Alvarez pulled his wife toward his car. He wasn’t even pretending to help her. He simply dragged her along. Ian stopped Marcus from following, putting a hand on his chest. She could hear Joanne Alvarez telling Marcus that everything was fine.
Brittany started toward them, determined to stop what was happening before her eyes.
Her grandmother put a hand on her arm. “What are you doing?”
Mallory had just walked away, Luis’s hand in hers. It had been obvious Marcus’s little sister was emotionally distraught and there was no doubt about the cause. It looked like Hector Alvarez was back and he was making himself known.
She needed to go and be with Marcus. Maybe she would calm him down or maybe she would help him beat the crap out of his father.
“Well, that was inevitable.” Her father, Senator Sebastian Rush, joined them. He’d been parking the car and Brit was happy he’d missed talking to Mallory and Luis. It would have only made Mallory feel worse. “What a nasty scene. How many people do you think saw it?”
Her grandmother shook her head, keeping a hand on Brittany. “At least ten people, but you know they’re all on their phones right now so everyone will know about it soon.”
“Grams, let me go. I need to talk to Marcus.” Brittany felt sick as she watched Joanne climb into the back seat of Hector’s car while Dakota claimed the front. She had a grin on her face like the cat who’d gotten all the cream.
Her father stepped up. “Absolutely not. You’re not getting involved in that mess, and now I have to talk to Tate because it happened right in front of his campaign office.”
Marcus stood and watched the car with his mother driving away. The look on his face nearly broke her heart.
Marylee turned to her. “I know how you feel about that boy, but I need you to think about your family right now.” She looked around as though trying to see if anyone was watching them. She seemed satisfied that all eyes were on Marcus because she spoke again. “Your father barely won reelection. I know you’re angry with him but his job is important to this family. Think about your mother.”
“It wasn’t barely,” her father complained. “It was two whole points. That’s fairly respectable, but yes, you should think of your mother, Brittany.”
She thought about her mother all the time. She couldn’t understand why her mother hadn’t walked out. It was something she and Marcus had in common. They didn’t understand their parents’ marriages. But they both loved their moms very much.
“It looks like the boy has some support,” her father said. “If you walk up to him right now our name is going to get embedded into that story and we’ve already had enough gossip around this family to last forever.”
She stared at her father, the hypocrite. All that gossip had been about him and his bad behavior. “Are you serious?”
He shrugged. “Just because it was about me doesn’t make it any less true. I know you’re still angry with me, Brittany, but you don’t want to hurt your mother and brother. Jeffry can’t handle more of this. He’s been bullied about his family. Let’s not bring the sins of the Alvarez family into his life.”
She wasn’t sure her brother had been directly bullied, but she knew he’d felt the heat of having everyone in town speculating about their family and making judgments. It had been a terrible time and this had the potential to start all the talk up again. They would ask what Hector would do to her father now that he was back in town. If she was seen with Marcus right now, it really would drag her family into it.
“Come along,” her grandmother said. “We should skip lunch and head home. This is all anyone will talk about and I don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
“And you shouldn’t have anything to do with that boy,” her father said. “Not while he’s living under Hector Alvarez’s roof. That man is dangerous and everyone knows it.”
“Then why don’t people help Joanne?”
Her father’s shoulders moved in an elegant shrug. “It isn’t our business. If the woman wanted help, she would ask for it. I’m sure the sheriff would be more than happy to deal with the problem for her.”
Marylee shook her head. “Yes, that’s obvious. Another scandal waiting to explode. That family is full of them. At least we only have to deal with your father. The rest of our family is solid. Every single Alvarez seems to have trouble. And that one inherited his father’s temper.”
She was looking at Marcus, who had his fists clenched at his sides as he talked to Ian Briggs. He stood right outside Tate Johnson’s campaign office, still glued to the spot where he’d watched his mother hauled away by his father while everyone who happened to be on the square stared at them.
Hector had been the reason Marcus left for Montana the first time. Would he leave again? Would she even get a good-bye? She couldn’t stand the thought of not having that man in her life. No matter what her family said.
“Have you thought about the fact that he could hurt you?” Her grandmother’s lips were a flat line, her eyes full of deep concern.
“Marcus would never hurt me.” She knew it in her soul. She stared across the square, across the distance that separated them, and wanted so badly to run to him.
“I’m sure that’s what Joanne said before she married Hector,” her father shot back, his distaste evident. His loafers tapped against the concrete sidewalk, a sure sign he was getting impatient. “I’m sure she didn’t see that side of him until after he had a ring on her finger. But the truth is already known about that one. He’s violent and he has the record to prove it.”
All those arrests. He’d explained them. She believed him. Marcus would never hurt her. Never.
Had Joanne thought that, too, once? Had she gone into her marriage with the conviction that her husband loved her, would treat her like a princess? She was sure Joanne had never dreamed of a day when he would humiliate her in front of the entire town.
Marcus turned and his eyes flared, catching hers. Longing. She could see it in his eyes. He started toward her and then stopped as her father stepped in front of her. His face
fell, but he stood watching her as though offering her a choice.
To go to him. To comfort him.
“It’s time to go.” Marylee turned on her heels.
“You two head home,” her father announced. “I’ve got one last bit of business to take care of.”
He was likely going to talk to Tate, to further make Joanne’s life miserable.
Brittany turned away. She had to think of her family. Though it made her ache inside, she would have to talk to Marcus later.
She got into the car feeling lower than ever.
Chapter Five
Ginny hurried along the street. She’d seen what had happened with Marcus and the way he’d stared after Brittany. Ginny’s heart ached for her friend, but she couldn’t stand the thought of the senator seeing her and sneering at her. Or worse.
She walked down the side street toward her sister’s car with the cake in hand. Marisol was busy and Ginny didn’t have the heart to tell her sister that Luis was seeing Mallory on the sly. Especially not when she knew what Mallory must be going through. Mallory needed Luis and she wasn’t about to put up one more barrier for them.
She knew what it felt like to need a hand in hers. Sometimes she woke up in the middle of the night and she could swear she could still feel Logan’s fingers squeezing her own, giving her strength. She could see him smiling down at her and telling her that they were going to be a family soon.
And then she woke up and he had nothing but anger for her.
She was glad Marisol parked on a side street. Back in the square there would still be people watching, milling around, and gossiping like the Alvarez family woes were nothing more than a show put on for their entertainment.
It made her angry.
She took a deep breath. She needed to stay calm. For her baby.
“Do you need help with that, Ginny?”
She froze because she knew that voice. It haunted her dreams, too, though the ones he occupied were more like nightmares.
She gently placed the cake on the floorboard in the back seat of the car where it couldn’t get ruined and turned to the senator. She wanted to open the driver’s door, get in, and drive away, but she hadn’t been fast enough.
How had she ever thought this man handsome? He turned her stomach now. Senator Sebastian Rush stood there in his expensive suit, his hair styled and tie perfectly tied. He was a Barbie doll of a man. Nothing like Logan. “I think you should get back to your family, Senator.”
He put a hand on the car, leaning in. “My family is exactly why I thought we should talk.”
She was stuck unless she wanted to walk away from the car. “I have work to do.”
“So do I, no thanks to you,” he said with a frown.
“I’m not the one who stood in front of the whole town and aired all our dirty laundry.” She was guilty of many things, but that wasn’t one of them.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re the one who got pregnant.” He looked down at her belly.
She put a hand over it, as though she could protect her baby from him. “I didn’t do it alone.”
“No, but you certainly could have taken care of it alone.”
She shivered at the thought of what he would have wanted her to do. If things had happened differently, would she have gone to him? Asked him for advice? Or would she have simply gone to Jacob and told him she was pregnant? Probably the latter since she hadn’t developed a backbone then. She was trying to have one now. “I am alone and I will take care of my baby alone.”
The senator sneered, but finally stepped back. “If only we still had that choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean every day that goes by, your belly gets bigger and I get more questioning looks.”
“Ignore them. I do.”
“I was barely reelected and it was only because the competition didn’t have enough time to truly find a worthy candidate. I’ve got this term to figure out how to mitigate the damage you caused.”
“I caused?”
“You’re the one who decided it was a good idea to have that child.”
“What exactly was I supposed to do?” She shook her head. “I know what you wished I’d done. I’m sure it’s how you would have handled it, but this is my life and my baby. You don’t have to have anything to do with us. I prefer it that way.”
“And when the child is told who its father is? How will you handle that, Ginny? Do you think the town gossips will keep their mouths closed? Do you think they’ll all keep silent because that’s what’s best for your baby? You’re naïve. As soon as it’s old enough to understand, there’ll be whispers about it. Some child will overhear and tell it what his momma said and then the child will want to know why I’m not around. Even before the baby is old enough, the town will want to know why I ignore a child who is obviously mine.”
“Maybe the baby won’t look like you. Maybe my child will look like Jacob.” She knew the words were stubborn, knew there was very little chance, but she still prayed for this baby in her belly to be Jacob’s, to be a Salt. Not that she would love her baby less, but because she could tell her baby that he or she had been conceived in kindness and caring.
She no longer fooled herself that she’d been in love with Jacob. Now that she’d been close to Logan, she knew what real love was, but what she’d felt for Jacob had been pure in its way.
She felt nothing but contempt for the man in front of her.
He looked around as though assuring himself that no one was coming. “I would dearly love to believe that, but we both know it’s futile. That boy couldn’t sire children and I’m perfectly capable. When that child is toddling around this town looking like a clone of me, how am I going to handle that?”
“I really don’t care. It’s none of my business how you handle anything at all.”
His eyes narrowed, gaze sharpening on her. “So you’re not intending to come after me for child support, then?”
She shook her head. “Not at all. I want nothing from you except to be left alone.”
“It won’t solve the problem. Neither will paying you child support. This is a small town. I’ll always be looked on as the man who got a girl pregnant and walked away from his responsibilities. I survived this, but next time they’ll see an actual child and they’ll question my morality.”
Ginny didn’t question his morality at all. She was certain he had no morals. “That’s your problem, Senator. Now if you don’t mind, I have to get back to work. I have a cake to deliver.”
And a baby to support.
She was pleased at how well she’d handled herself. She hadn’t dissolved into tears. She’d faced him and told him what she thought. Maybe she was growing up after all.
“Of course, most people will forgive a man if he turns his life around.” The senator wasn’t looking directly at her. His eyes were on the distance, as though his brain was working on the problem and he wasn’t actually seeing what was in front of him.
“I hope that you do.” For Brittany and Jeffry’s sake.
His gaze came back to her. “Sometimes a man has to change the optics of the situation. Do you understand what I mean when I talk about optics?”
“It’s the way people see a topic.” She wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but she didn’t need him to define political terms.
“It’s the way the media specifically covers a topic. Right now I’m the villain. I’m the one who used a young girl and tossed her aside. Just because I have nothing further to do with you doesn’t mean I shouldn’t still care for my child, for the little baby that has my blood. If I gave that child my name and my protection, that changes the optics. Suddenly I’m merely a father trying to do right by his child.”
Ginny couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t mean what he was saying. “You wouldn’t.”
He couldn’t come after her baby. This was her child. She wasn’t going to allow Sebastian Rush to come in and take her baby so he would look good in the press. He couldn’
t possibly think of using her child as a political pawn.
But then wasn’t that what he’d tried to do with Logan?
If he came after her in a custody fight, how would she handle it? She didn’t have any money.
He stepped back. “I don’t know. I’m certainly not saying I would, but I like to keep my options open. It’s something I have to think about, but you don’t have all the cards in this game, Ginny Moreno, so don’t think you’ve won a damn thing yet.”
He turned and strode down the street. Ginny watched him, her heart beating against her chest.
Had she thought she only felt contempt for the man? Now her overwhelming emotion about him was fear.
* * * *
Marcus watched as Brittany walked away, her grandmother at her side. The senator took a different path, but Marcus was sure he was wholeheartedly behind Brittany’s choice to leave without speaking to him.
“Are you all right?” Ian asked. “I’m sorry, that was a stupid question. Of course you’re not all right.”
“No, but I’m not going to jail for murder, thanks to you. I wish I’d known Brittany was watching me.”
“What?” Ian peered down the road where Marylee was hustling Brittany into their car. “Damn. That’s not good. I guess the whole town saw that scene.”
“No way they missed it.” And from the horror on Tate Johnson’s face, Marcus had to wonder if his mother wasn’t about to lose her job.
Not that Hector the Horrible would let her keep it.
Why had he come back? Why hadn’t Marcus’s prayers been answered and he was buried in a shallow grave somewhere?
Had Brittany seen him almost lose control? That was wrong. He had lost control. Ian had been the only reason he hadn’t attacked his father.
“Are they gone? Did he take Joanne with him?” The sheriff strode up, his face an angry red. It looked like Tate had only been able to keep him away for so long. His boots thudded against the concrete, a frustrated sound.
