by Lexi Blake
She hung on to the only words that mattered. “But what if it’s more of the little chance portion of that diagnosis and not the no chance?”
“The percentage chance is very low, Ginny.”
“But it’s not zero.” She needed a miracle now more than ever.
“No, it’s not zero,” Francine conceded. “That’s the only reason I let you talk me into this test. You’re never going to be satisfied until you know. I understand that. But it’s still going to be a few weeks. So you need to rest and put this out of your mind.”
“I don’t see how, but I’ll try.” She stood up. It was time to put on a happy face and get back to Cuppa Joe’s. It wouldn’t do to let Marisol know how upset she was. There was nothing her sister could do but worry along with her. “Please let me know as soon as you hear anything.”
“I promise I will.” Francine hugged her. “The minute I get those tests back, I’ll call you. It’s going to be all right, Ginny.”
Ginny wished she could believe her.
Chapter Seven
Joanne winced when the door opened and Marcus stepped inside. She’d hoped for more time before she had to deal with her son.
He’d been so angry. She’d seen it in Marcus’s eyes. He’d been ready to hurt Hector right there in the middle of the town square and she’d known then and there that she would do anything to spare him the aftermath of such violence.
He’d already gotten in trouble for his temper. He’d been arrested and she couldn’t stand the thought of Dillon having to arrest her baby boy and put him in jail. She wasn’t going to let Hector win that way.
She put on her brightest smile because Marcus hadn’t come alone. He’d brought Ian and Sheriff Murphy with him. Dillon. He looked so solid. She wanted to walk right up to him and wrap her arms around him. She wanted to go back to that moment when he’d kissed her and never leave it. Just let that one moment last forever.
How was she going to survive the next few hours? The next days? There would be no more Dillon Murphy to save her. Not after what she had to do. She gave them all a tremulous smile.
“Hi, guys. I’m so sorry about that stuff in the square. It all went a little crazy out there. You didn’t understand, Marcus. I tripped. That had nothing to do with your father.” Except he’d been pulling her so hard, she couldn’t keep up. She’d tried because she’d known everyone was watching them, but she’d stumbled at the curb and he hadn’t noticed for a second.
Her knee still ached, but she wasn’t about to complain. Certainly not now that Marcus and Dillon were here. She wished Marcus hadn’t brought Dillon and Ian along. She actually wished she could talk to Hector alone.
Except she was also afraid of being alone with him. She knew that look in his eyes. The minute he got her alone, he would take out his aggressions on her. He was a bomb waiting to go off, but if he did it in front of Marcus, that bomb would suddenly be nuclear.
She couldn’t let her son go to jail. And she was too ashamed to let Dillon see how her husband really treated her.
“Sure, Mom,” Marcus said, his eyes going straight to his father. “You tripped. I’ve never heard that one before.”
“You always were such a clumsy idiot,” Dakota said with a shake of her head. “It’s embarrassing. I’m sure it was all anyone could talk about today. I’ve had to deal with it all my life. I’ve been bullied over how clumsy you are.”
All that hard work right down the drain. It hadn’t taken Dakota ten minutes to go right back to the brat she’d been before her father left. The minute her father had walked in the room, Dakota had forgotten everything she’d learned over the last several months. She was right back to the selfish, narcissistic child she’d always been.
“Joanne, did he hurt you?” Dillon asked, his eyes taking on that steely glare she always saw when he was doing his job.
Why couldn’t anyone stay calm? She knew Dillon would make a big deal out of it. It was why she’d been so happy when he’d walked away. “I’m fine. There’s nothing to worry about. Hector and I simply need to talk.”
Alone. She had to be brave. She had to face her husband.
Oh, why had he come back? Why was he here? She wanted to wake up. She prayed this was all just a nightmare.
“Why don’t we sit down and talk this out?” Ian asked reasonably.
He didn’t understand that Hector wasn’t reasonable.
“Why don’t you get out of my house and mind your own business, asshole?” Hector shot back.
“Good one, Dad.” Dakota never let up. She would stoke the flames until they became a massive wildfire.
Marcus frowned, his hands at his sides. “Don’t talk to him that way. He’s my boss.”
“What does he have you doing? I thought you were working at the Johnson Ranch.” Hector proved that even though he’d been gone he still knew what was happening.
Who had been filling him in? Had he been watching her all this time? She’d come to believe that she was safe, but had he been out there all along just waiting for the right moment to strike? She wouldn’t put anything past him.
“I’m moving some of my business down here. Marcus is going to run the Texas ranch.” Ian crossed his arms over his chest. “You should know that I watch out for my employees. I consider them family.”
Joanne put herself between Hector and Ian because she knew exactly how he would respond. He didn’t like anyone questioning him. Never. He definitely didn’t like anyone coming between him and something he thought he owned. She understood that Ian thought he was being helpful, but she knew how to handle Hector. She was likely the only one who knew how to get out of this without someone going to jail. “Ian took Marcus in when he landed in Montana. He gave Marcus a job and took care of him when we couldn’t.”
“You mean when he ran away like a whining boy?” Hector asked.
Ian’s chest swelled. “I think he was more like a scared boy. You should watch out because that boy’s become a man.”
Hector’s eyes narrowed. “Has he now? Are you the one who turned my boy into a man? I’d like to know just how you did that. What exactly is your relationship with my son?”
“Stop it,” Joanne said and then realized what she’d done. She averted her eyes out of habit. “I’m sorry. Could we please stop arguing? Ian is a good man. He took care of Marcus when we couldn’t.”
“Don’t act like he gave a crap, Mom.” Marcus was staring at his father like he was ready to continue what he’d started on the square.
She couldn’t allow that to happen. Hector could kill Marcus and not think twice about it. Marcus wouldn’t know when to stop, wouldn’t know when things had gone too far and he had to give in. “You don’t understand him. Marcus, when you’re young you often don’t see things as they truly are.”
“Oh, he sees things quite clearly,” Dillon said.
“Marcus has always been a troublemaker. He’s always clashing with Daddy.” Dakota watched the action with a smug smirk on her face. “And he ran away to get attention.”
“I didn’t want his attention, Dakota. I was sick of his attention. I left because this family is toxic. We were doing great, you know.” Marcus took a step toward his father. “We were fine. Mom is better than ever and even Dakota was halfway tolerable. We don’t need you here. Why don’t you go back to wherever you came from?”
“Marcus,” Joanne admonished.
“Are you seriously going to just let him walk right back in here like nothing happened?” Marcus asked, anguish in his tone. “Do you have any idea what he’s been doing while he left you all alone with nothing? He took all the cash and you had to take care of us. What was he doing? How many women did you have on the side, Dad? Did you spend all the money on one of them? Did she finally get sick of you and throw you out? Is that why you slithered home? You thought Mom would take you back? Well, I’m here to tell you she doesn’t need you anymore. So get out.”
Oh, she understood what her son was trying to do and she loved hi
m for it. Unfortunately, she also knew it wouldn’t work. Maybe Dillon’s presence right now would keep Hector at bay, but Dillon couldn’t be around all the time. Hector would take out all his rage on Marcus when he least expected it. A vision of her son dead by his father’s hand assaulted her.
She had to do what she’d always done. She had to calm the situation down and then allow Hector to vent that rage on her. Not her children. Never her children.
Then she would figure out what to do.
“Marcus, you don’t speak for me.”
Marcus turned startled eyes her way. “You can’t mean to welcome him back.”
“He’s my husband.” The words came easily, out of long practice. It was funny how simple it was to fall into old patterns. They’d been her refuge, her only way to get through the everyday horrors of her marriage. She told herself she loved him. She had to since she married him.
Or you made a mistake and it’s time you forgave yourself.
She tried to close off that tiny voice inside her that had started speaking in the last few weeks. It was the voice that she’d suppressed ever since the first time Hector used his fist to shut her up.
The voice had started to whisper again. And then to talk. And now it was shouting.
What are you doing? Fight back. You have something good going with Dillon. Who cares what everyone else will think? That’s a man who takes you seriously. He believes in you. He wouldn’t lie to you or manipulate you. Trust in him. Believe in yourself.
“You want to know why I left?” Hector looked to her, reaching out and taking her hand. “I left because the sheriff threatened to kill me.”
She felt her jaw drop. “That’s ridiculous.”
Hector squeezed her hand just to the point of pain, but his expression was soft, almost apologetic. It was what he was good at—showing her his brute power while fooling the world around them. “No, it’s not. He came to me the day of Jacob Salt’s funeral and threatened to shoot me. How had you set that up, Sheriff? You’ll have to remind me. That beating I took from you was pretty harsh. I think you were going to plant drugs on me, right? That was how you would justify killing me.”
It was one of Hector’s tricks. He was obviously trying to cover for exactly what Marcus had accused him of. She’d spent many a long night since Hector had abandoned them wondering what he was up to. She suspected he’d found another woman, a younger one. There had been nights she’d cursed that woman, though lately she’d started to pray for her.
She looked to Dillon, ready to send him an apologetic look.
He’d turned a deep red, his jaw tight. She knew that look. It was the look of a guilty man.
“Dillon?”
“Joanne, I was only looking out for you.” His words were soft, pleading.
Joanne’s world tilted and turned. Dillon was supposed to be the one who didn’t lie to her. He was upstanding. He was the sheriff.
“How could you?” She couldn’t look at him.
Hector brought her hand up to his chest, holding it close. “He beat me pretty badly, Joanne. I’m so sorry. I had to leave in order to protect you and our girls.”
“How could you?” Dakota had to put her two cents in. “We’re going to get a lawyer and sue you and your department. If you think you won’t lose your job over this, you’re crazy.”
“I have to talk to you, Joanne,” Dillon insisted.
“Did you or did you not threaten my husband?” Her heart was breaking. Please let him say it was all a mistake and Hector was lying. Maybe she could find the strength to deal with this if Hector was lying again.
Dillon was silent for a moment and then he nodded his head. “But I did it for you. Can’t you see…”
She cut him off. “Get out of my house.”
Marcus shook his head. “Mom, you have to listen to him. If he did it, it was for your own good.”
She was so sick of hearing that. And if she let him stay, he would likely pick a fight with his father and she wasn’t sure she could handle that tonight. “Marcus, I think you should take some time to cool off. When you can speak to your father in a respectful tone, you’re welcome to come back.”
It was the only way she knew to save him. Hector would never hurt Dakota and Mallory was too smart to put herself in a position where he would physically harm her. Marcus wasn’t. He would fight and push and eventually Hector would explode.
As for Dillon, well, she didn’t even want to think about him.
He’d lied to her. All the times she’d asked if he knew where Hector had gone, he’d looked her right in the eye and lied. How could she possibly trust him again?
“Joanne,” Dillon began.
Marcus put a hand up. “Don’t bother. This is what she does. She thinks I left the first time because I couldn’t stand to be around my father and that’s right mostly. What she doesn’t know is how sick it made me to be around her, too. This is my mother, the real one. The woman we’ve seen for the last few months, the strong one, she was just a mask. This is the real lady. Come on. I can’t stand to stay here one more second.”
Ian nodded. “It’s best we get out of here, but you should know we’ll be watching.”
They turned and left. Hector squeezed her hand again, making her ache before he finally let it go.
“I think you should start lunch,” he said. “I’m hungry and I’m sure Dakota is as well.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
She turned and walked to the kitchen. This time, the voice in her head was utterly silent.
* * * *
Marcus felt his cell phone vibrate but he ignored it. It didn’t matter. It was likely Brittany trying to explain why she’d turned away from him or his mother…
There was no explanation for what she’d done.
All around him Murphy’s pub was alive with action and he felt so very stuck.
Stuck in Storm. Stuck in his family. Stuck in his life.
All around him people were moving through their day, having a life and building something. What was he going to do now?
He could still see his father standing there with a wicked smile on his face. He’d known he’d won.
“I don’t know what to say to you, Marcus.” Dillon sat down across from him, sliding a beer his way and then passing another to Ian.
“You don’t have to say anything.” He understood what Dillon had been doing.
“He should say he’s sorry for not going through with his plan and killing the son of a bitch then and there,” Logan added as he sat down. “When you’ve got a rabid dog, you don’t bargain with it. You put it down for everyone’s sake.”
Sonya Murphy gasped and stared at her son. “Logan, how could you? What Dillon did was wrong and it could have cost him everything.”
Dillon shrugged. “It still might.”
Marcus looked at his friend. “Thank you for trying to look out for my mother.”
Dillon’s eyes were weary as he looked up. “I’ve been trying to look after her since we were kids. I don’t know what else to do.”
“You take a deep breath and try again,” Sonya advised. She put a hand on Marcus’s shoulder. “You’ve had a rough day, son. Let me get you something to eat. And you can stay with us for a while.”
“Or with me,” Ian offered.
He needed time to think. “I’ll let you know what I decide. I’m not sure that I can eat a thing right now, but I appreciate the offer.”
At least someone was looking out for him.
“I’ll make something that will tempt you,” Sonya declared. “All of you. You need to keep your energy up. There’s nothing so bad it can’t be fixed. You remember that.”
He wasn’t so sure about that. His parents seemed very broken indeed. His whole family, really. Everyone was talking about them all over again. The fight they’d had in town square would be talked about for months and months. Now they had the problem of Dakota spouting off. She would feed that gossip with some of her own if given the chance
. She would tell everyone about what Dillon had done and how he’d tried to hurt her father. The gossip would flow straight to the Rushes. Every single rumor would be another mark against him in Marylee’s book.
His cell buzzed again.
“Are you going to answer that?” Logan asked.
“It’s Brittany.” He took a drag off the beer. He could use a few of those, but he suspected Ian would cut him off at some point. It was comforting to know he wouldn’t be allowed to trash his future the way he’d done during those first few months away from home. Knowing someone cared enough to fight for him gave him the strength to remain disciplined. “She wants to know how I’m doing. Well, she thinks she wants to know.”
“So tell her,” Ian encouraged.
“Tell her what? That my mom’s back with my abusive father and I’m not welcome in her home until I kiss his ass? Should I tell her that? Should I tell her my sister is likely going to accuse the sheriff of abusing his position and throw us all into another scandal?”
Dillon cursed under his breath. “I’m sorry. I never thought he would come back. I really thought he was too much of a coward to come back. What happened? What’s different now?”
Marcus shook his head. “No need to apologize. I could have told you that my father is a coward, but he’s also stubborn. He went away and nursed his wounds and started plotting how to get back at you. He’ll come at you hard, Dillon, and not in the way you expect.”
“I’ll have to be ready then. But I’m so sorry for the position it puts you in. If they hear about it, Sebastian and Marylee will use it to convince Brittany you’re a bad bet.”
“So fight them,” Logan replied. “Talk to her. Give her a reason to stay together.”
He was being naïve. Even if he convinced Brittany to go against her family for him, there was another problem. One he wasn’t sure he could ever solve. “So my family can tear her apart? My father is back and he’ll stop at nothing to make sure I’m miserable. He’ll go for the throat and find out every single weakness I have. And now I have a very big one.”
