Stars Over Texas (Dreamcatcher Series Book 2)

by Tessa Gray

  “We really need to decide on a private school for Carly. Have you considered any of the places I recommended?”

  When her daughter sat tightlipped, not reacting to what she’d said, Katrina harrumphed, frustrated that Meredith seemed unable to focus. The separation seemed to deem her incapable of making a simple decision. “If you can’t take the initiative to decide on a school, I will.”

  Her daughter glared at her, the circles under her eyes more pronounced than ever. “I’m overwhelmed, Mother. That’s why I haven’t looked into this. Surely, you can understand how difficult this is for me.”

  Katrina wasted no time expressing her displeasure about this entire matter. “You’re not the first woman in the world to separate from your husband, you know. Frankly, I think you’re jumping the gun, here. You never were one to stand on your own two feet. I think you’re making a big mistake. I don’t even know why you’re doing this, Meredith. Whatever are you thinking? You’ll never be able to afford a place on your own, at least, not a decent place.”

  Meredith’s deep, blue eyes blazed as she continued to glare at her mother. For one brief second, Katrina wished she’d held her tongue.

  But when she thought of how ridiculous this all sounded, how preposterous it was for Meredith to end an eighteen-year marriage, she couldn’t help but scold her daughter.

  “Blake’s been a good husband to you, Meredith. You’ve never wanted for anything. I can’t believe you’re just throwing in the towel.”

  Meredith stared at her for several seconds. Then she took a deep breath, cleared her throat, and responded. “Don’t you even want to know why I’m leaving him?”

  “It’s none of my business.”

  When Meredith rolled her eyes at her, Katrina decided the decent thing would be to let her daughter vent.

  “All right, Mere. Why don’t you tell me? What makes a woman turn her back on a man who’s given her everything money can buy? Go ahead. I’m all ears.”

  “Never mind. You’ll just take his side.”

  Katrina shook her head, wishing Meredith wasn’t so strong-willed. Once that girl made up her mind up about something, there was little point in trying to change it.

  For a fleeting second, she almost felt sorry for Blake. By all accounts, Meredith was the one initiating the separation.

  In a last-ditch effort to change her daughter’s mind, she spoke. “There’s a lot at stake here. Maybe you and Blake should get professional counseling. Don’t you think you owe it to your family to at least consider that?”

  Tears filled Meredith’s eyes once again, and she shook her head. “No, Mom, I’ve already made up my mind.”

  Katrina cringed at her daughter’s remark. “You never were one to stick with something. You quit piano lessons after only two years. But marriage is different. Preserving a marriage is well worth the effort. Daddy and I have had our share of problems over the years, but we worked it out.”

  “I’m not you, Mom. I can’t work this out. And frankly, I don’t want to.”

  That lackadaisical attitude again.

  Katrina felt a surge of frustration pulse through her. The girl wasn’t even going to try and salvage her marriage. These couples nowadays just didn’t have any chutzpah. She resorted to the only thing she could think of to force Meredith to reconsider. “I suspect you’re thinking you could do better, but trust me, the pickings are mighty slim. You’ll end up being an old maid.”

  “Oh, my god, Mom. They don’t even use that term anymore. Has it ever occurred to you that I might prefer being alone? That I can function just fine without a man?”

  “You’re not . . . ?” Katrina couldn’t bring herself to finish the question.

  Luckily, her daughter did it for her. “No, Mom. I’m not gay. And, so what if I were?”

  Katrina reached for a fashion magazine from the coffee table, held it up to her face, and began fanning herself. “Well, that’s a relief.”

  “You’re being very judgmental, Mom. You get that, right?”

  “I just think it’s a shame giving up like this, Meredith. Blake’s been good to you.”

  Meredith sat stoically, staring past her mother, refusing to make eye contact. And for the first time in all her sixty-four years, Katrina had run out of advice.

  ~ ~ ~

  A week later, Meredith walked into her daughter’s bedroom, determined to tell Carly the momentous decision she’d made.

  Mere had dreaded this moment. Not only did she have to make certain Carly understood how serious an offense drinking on school property was, but she also needed to tell Carly more details about the separation. She’d kept this from her long enough.

  “Honey, we need to talk.”

  “If this is about getting kicked out of school, Mom, I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  The remark frustrated Meredith. As usual, her daughter was getting defensive; jumping to conclusions about the talk Meredith wanted to have with her. But since her daughter brought up the topic, she decided to go with the flow.

  “Underage drinking is a pretty big deal, Carly.”

  “I bet you drank when you were my age.” Carly sat on the other side of the bed, her enormous blue eyes searching Meredith’s face as she waited for an answer. Meredith folded her arms, glanced at her daughter, and chose her words with the utmost care.

  “This isn’t about me, Carly.”

  “You did, drink when you were my age, didn’t you?”

  Funny how this whole drinking thing had taken on a life of its own, dominating Meredith’s every thought as she struggled to decide how best to handle the situation. Carly was right, of course. Meredith had been busted for drinking a number of times during her school days, but her mother always bailed her out. Of course, that was before zero tolerance took hold.

  “Carly, I’m going to be honest with you. I made my share of mistakes, mistakes I’m not terribly proud of. But right now, I think we need to focus on why you decided that drinking was a good idea. Why do you think you did it, Carly? Talk to me, honey. I want to help.”

  “It didn’t seem like such a big deal when I did it. But I guess it was. Oh, Mama, I’m sorry.” Carly hadn’t called her ‘Mama’ in years, and as Meredith studied her daughter’s worried expression, she realized how fragile the girl was, despite her bravado.

  Although initially telling the children about the separation hadn’t proven too difficult, dealing with the aftermath was.

  Both she and Blake had been careful to sound upbeat, to pretend that it wasn’t all that big a deal. They had said all the right things. Just because Daddy and I are separating doesn’t mean we won’t be involved in your lives.

  But truth be told, the separation was already taking a toll on everyone. Meredith suspected this might be just the tip of the iceberg. But for now, she’d deal with this. This one issue. There would be others, but for now Carly’s expulsion from school took precedent.

  “What you did was wrong, Carly.”

  Her daughter’s eyes pooled and Mere reached over and hugged her. Instinctively, she grabbed a hair twisty from the nightstand and began French braiding Carly’s hair.

  The drama of the past two weeks threatened to consume Meredith if she didn’t quickly get a handle on things. She continued braiding her daughter’s hair as she’d done so many times before, intertwining Carly’s soft locks between her index finger and thumb.

  She glanced about her daughter’s massive bedroom, staring at the suite they’d imported from a prestigious furniture company in France. Meredith would have killed for a bedroom suite this magnificent, and yet, to Carly, none of this seemed to matter.

  And maybe that was the problem. Maybe throwing money at your children instead of spending time helping build character was part of the reason Carly had resorted to drinking. Maybe
it was a cry for attention. As a mother, Meredith needed to do better.

  “Sweetie, I need to tell you something.” She swallowed several times and continued. “Your dad and I are selling the house.”

  Carly stared at her, a look of disbelief sweeping across her face. “No—no—you can’t do that. Mama—no!”

  As her daughter fought back tears, Meredith felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. She watched helplessly as Carly threw herself on the bed, sobbing.

  “Honey, we’ll find a nice place to live, I promise.”

  “All my friends are here. Are you doing this because I got kicked out of school and fussed about going to the alternative school? I’ll go there and I promise not to fuss. I’ll do everything you say. Please, don’t sell the house. I won’t ever do anything like that again. If I hadn’t been so bad, you and Daddy wouldn’t be living apart like this.”

  “That, young lady, is not true. Your dad and I have our reasons for living apart, but trust me, it’s not because of anything you did. You and Travis did not cause this to happen. Sometimes people grow apart, and that’s what happened with your father and me. I know it doesn’t make this any easier, and I’m so sorry about that. But you’re not to blame yourself for this. Do you understand me?”

  Carly stopped crying and rubbed her eyes. Meredith reached over, sliding her palms across her daughter’s cheekbones. “I know you’re in a very dark place right now, Carly, but I promise you that in the end, everything will be okay. We’ll get through this together. I’ll always be here for you, baby girl.”

  The thirteen-year-old scooted toward her mother, drawing her knees up under her as they talked.

  “I’ll go to the alternative school if you want me to, Mama, or maybe you could homeschool me.”

  Meredith laughed so hard she snorted. Having been out of school for so long, the notion of homeschooling her children without taking a couple of refresher courses seemed preposterous.

  “If I homeschooled you, you’d never pass the SAT. I couldn’t do high school math if my life depended on it.” Her comment seemed to lighten things up.

  “We’re alike. Aren’t we, Mom?” Carly giggled and quickly pulled out the twisty Mere had put in her hair. “I don’t like this. It’s too babyish.”

  Meredith watched her daughter rise from the bed and walk over to the window. She studied Carly, marveling at how quickly she was growing.

  Initially she’d come to tell Carly that after the New Year, they’d probably be moving to Alpine. But she’d save that conversation for another time. As things stood, Carly had enough on her plate.

  Chapter 3

  Adam Lightfoot stared out the window of Jake’s bar, studying the fresh dusting of snow. As winters went, snow wasn’t typical here, but instead, a rare treat. This was his favorite time of year in Alpine. Summers got hot, but winters, well, it didn’t get much better than this. Should be another great weekend to hike at Big Bend. Thankfully, Texas weather allowed you to hike all year long.

  As he wiped down the counter, his best friend, Jake, strode over to him and pointed at the two women seated at a nearby table. “Those two have talked nonstop. Of course, I know Rachel loves to talk, but that friend of hers, Meredith, doesn’t do so bad herself. Mere’s quite the looker, isn’t she? Of course, she’s not as pretty as my Rachel, but seriously, that blonde is pretty easy on the eyes.”

  “Didn’t notice.” Of course, he had noticed. The blonde, who appeared to be leading the discussion. used more hand gestures than a Broadway actress as she talked, and talked, and talked.

  “Her name’s Meredith Chapman, in case you’re interested.” Jake eyed him closely after he said it, as though trying to get a read.

  “I’m not interested.” But even as he spoke, Adam eyed her curiously, particularly the way the blue sweater she was wearing hugged her curves just right. Nice.

  “You actually met her last year, Adam. She was here with Rachel. She and her husband have separated. She’s taking some classes at Sul Ross. Maybe you’ll see her around campus.” Adam rolled his eyes. Jake wasn’t exactly the master of subtlety.

  Adam stared back over at the women, watching the blonde’s animated gestures. He remembered her well, but he wasn’t about to admit it. Jake was right—she had been here last year. She’d strutted into the bar, cocky as all get out and acted like a damn prima donna. A woman like that was pretty hard to forget.

  As he watched Meredith Chapman waving her hands about, he couldn’t resist doling out his take on her. “She’s a bit too dramatic to suit me. I’m betting she’s a communications major. Maybe she has her sights set on being an anchor for the six o’clock news.”

  “Naw. Too old.”

  They both laughed at Jake’s comment.

  Adam continued watching Meredith Chapman when she suddenly got to her feet. She stared over at two young guys seated at the bar.

  When he watched Meredith Chapman lean back, her hands carefully place on her hips, he decided she was putting the moves on the two young guys. A cougar, huh? Figures.

  Out of the corner of his eye Adam could see two younger women on the other side of the bar. One of them was smiling at the young regular they called Cory. And Cory was smiling back.

  Interesting.

  He turned back to where Meredith Chapman stood and noticed her waving a hand toward the young men. Did she really think . . . was this woman for real?

  You’re in for a rude awakening, lady. It’s not you they’re staring at.

  Unable to resist, Adam sauntered closer to the Meredith Chapman’s table and watched the drama unfold.

  As the two college men stood up, Meredith quickly headed toward them.

  When they veered off in the direction of the college girls, Meredith stopped dead in her tracks. Within seconds she was slinking off to the bathroom.

  Nice save.

  Smirking, Adam decided he had the woman pretty-well figured out. The snobbish type, just another blond bimbo trying to prove to the world she could turn a guy’s head.

  Meredith eventually made her way back over to where’d she’d previously sat and flopped down.

  By now, Adam had freshened her drink, compliments of the house. It was the least he could do because it was totally worth the side show.

  ~ ~ ~

  The second Meredith sat back down at their table, Rachel began her pep talk. “For what it’s worth, girlfriend, I really thought those guys were putting the moves on you.”

  “I have shoes older than those girls.” Meredith laughed at her own comment, realizing it sounded like a line from a chick lit book.

  “One of the bartenders refilled your drink. The dark-haired one. Name’s Adam. I hear he teaches at the college.”

  “Good for him.”

  “Come on, Mere. Don’t be such a grump. He’s single. Jake told me so.”

  “Hardly my type.” Meredith heard the edge in her voice as she made the sarcastic remark. For all she knew, half the bar watched her get rejected by the two young cowboys. Well, maybe not half.

  Frustrated she’d been rejected, Meredith felt her anger begin to boil over. She’d only been in Alpine for two days and the kids were already complaining about living in such a small town.

  When the dark-haired bartender sauntered over to their table with several drinks, Meredith couldn’t help herself. Before she realized it, she was taking her frustrations out on a man she didn’t even know.

  “I didn’t order another drink, and I have no intention of paying for it.”

  She glanced up at him, intrigued at how tall he stood. Tall and broad-shouldered. His jet-black hair hung loosely, nearly coming to his chin line.

  The man stared down at her, motionless, and getting a read on him was next to impossible. They locked eyes, and she decided his were th
e darkest shade of brown she’d ever seen. “Relax, lady. The drinks are on the house.” Without waiting for her reply, he walked away.

  Rachel reached over, gripping Meredith’s elbow. “From what I hear, he’s available.”

  “He might be, but I’m not. I’m here to get an education. Besides, Blake and I are separated, not divorced.”

  “Would it kill you to have a Plan B? It’s not like Blake’s sitting around waiting for a reconciliation. From what I hear— “

  “He’s moved in with a twenty-three-year old. The kids told me.” After Meredith said it, she hung her head.

  Rachel patted her hand. “When Michael and I separated, he wasted no time finding someone else. Once the divorce was final, he married a much younger woman. It happens a lot. It’s totally not a reflection on you. You get that, right?”

  Meredith nodded, grateful for friends like Rachel.

  When she looked up, Adam stood over at the bar, staring at her, his arms crossed. As he continued watching her, she vowed to avoid running into him again. Blake might be on board breaking his marital vows, but she wasn’t. That just wasn’t her style.

  ~ ~ ~

  Adam’s mood had changed considerably since he’d started his shift at the bar. Meredith Chapman was just about as conceited as they came, and the fact that she’d turned down a free drink royally pissed him off. He’d just been trying to make things easier for her. But then, she was probably the type who preferred sitting around feeling sorry for herself.

  As he scrubbed down the counter, Jake leaned over, placing a hand on his arm. “Meredith’s going through a rough patch. Apparently, the separation’s been pretty contentious. Rachel said it’s really taking a toll on her.”