Lone Star Blues

by Delores Fossen

  Of course he was. This was the Theo who’d called her the night before, the one whose name had rolled off her tongue too easily for them to be just casual acquaintances. This guy was probably her boyfriend. Or maybe her boss. Dylan thought the rank he was wearing was higher than a major, and Theo sure had a lot of ribbons and such on his uniform. He looked like someone who could have been on a recruitment poster.

  Dylan was pretty sure he was going to hate him.

  “Jordan’s not here,” Dylan said, and he managed to keep his tone just a slight notch away from a hostile growl.

  “Oh.” Theo’s eyes widened a second, and he slid those widening eyeballs over Dylan, sizing him up—much the way Dylan was doing to him. “And you are?”

  There really was no good reason not to tell Theo his name, but Dylan paused anyway. “Dylan Granger.”

  Dylan expected to see some kind of recognition on Theo’s face, maybe an “Oh, you’re Jordan’s ex.” But he said nothing like that. Theo went in a different direction. “The sex bingo card guy.”

  All right. Dylan hadn’t expected that to come up. Nor did he like Theo’s laugh that followed.

  “I stopped by the gas station on the edge of town, and the clerk was a blonde about yay high.” He put out his hand, palm down, even with his shoulder. “She had a card, and she was talking to her friend about it.” Another laugh. “Man, oh man, there were some funny squares on that card.”

  “Yeah, real funny,” Dylan grumbled.

  He thought the yay-high blonde was one of the Busby sisters. One of them did indeed work at Arlo’s gas station and on occasion, she was a blonde. But Dylan had never been with any of the women in that family. He doubted Theo would believe that, though.

  “You’re a local celebrity,” Theo went on. “Or should I say local sex god.” But the laughing stopped, and his face tightened up as if he’d just caught the smell of fresh cow shit. “You’re also Corbin’s biological father.”

  Normally, Dylan didn’t hate those two words paired together. Biological father. But he hated them now. Then again, he probably wasn’t going to like anything that came out of this joker’s mouth.

  “Father,” Dylan corrected. “Corbin’s my son, and his mother gave me custody of him.”

  That silenced Theo for a couple of seconds while he kept staring at Dylan. Maybe because Jordan had led Colonel Thunderstruck to believe that she would be getting custody of the boy.

  “Uh, Jordan said she was staying here,” Theo continued once he got his mouth working again.

  That meant Jordan had called him last night, probably after she’d gone to the guest room. “She’s not here at the moment.”

  Theo’s eyes didn’t widen that time, but he did seem suspicious, and he took out his phone. “Oh well. I guess I’ll have to ruin my surprise visit by calling her.”

  “Guess so,” Dylan mumbled, still managing not to growl though he figured he looked hostile.

  Theo pressed Jordan’s number, and Dylan was close enough to him to hear it ring and ring and ring before it went to voice mail. “Well, this is inconvenient,” Theo griped, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Any idea where she is or when she’ll be back?”

  Dylan had an idea. According to Kaylee, she was probably at the jail, but Jordan could have also made a side trip to the base or was talking to a lawyer. However, Dylan wasn’t sure if Jordan wanted Theo to know that. If she did, she would have called and told him herself. That’s why Dylan shook his head.

  Definitely no laugh that time. Theo huffed and fired some glances around, not just inside the foyer but also the yard. “Jordan’s talked about this town. This place,” he amended. “It’s filled with bad memories for her.”

  Dylan knew he was a big part of that memory pool, and that’s probably why he took exception to the comment. “It wasn’t all bad,” Dylan corrected. “Jordan lived here when she and I were married.”

  There was eye widening, the kind that came with mild surprise. And then there was eye widening, the kind that came with WTF are you talking about? Theo was doing the latter.

  “I’m her ex-husband,” Dylan added, just in case Theo hadn’t gotten that.

  Muscles flickered and tightened all over Theo’s face. His mouth flatlined, and his nose did that twitch thing as if he’d smelled something bad. “Funny that Jordan never mentioned ever being married.” He pulled back his shoulders. “But then she probably never told you that I’m her boyfriend.”

  “I heard her say your name a time or two,” Dylan settled for answering.

  It was petty to be playing games like this, but sadly, he was enjoying it a little too much. Which made him feel stupid, of course. Jordan had a right to have boyfriends. She had a right to be happy.

  The muscles in Theo’s face relaxed some, and he smiled. “Oh well. I guess we all got our little secrets, and you’re Jordan’s.” He paused and snapped his fingers as if figuring out something. “So, you’re Jordan’s ex, but you slept with Adele.” More laughter. “Yep, I can see why you got a bingo card named after you.”

  Dylan wished he had superpowers so he could vaporize every single one of those damn cards. Along with vaporizing Theo.

  “When Jordan comes back, I’ll tell her you stopped by,” Dylan said, and this time he couldn’t help himself. It was a hostile growl, and he would have shut the door if the guy hadn’t caught onto it with his beefy hand.

  “I’d like to wait for her if you don’t mind.” That was kind of a growl, too.

  Dylan huffed and scrubbed his hand over his face. “Look, it’s been a bad morning, and I want to get some coffee and spend some time with my son.”

  Just as soon as he said that, Dylan’s future sort of flashed before his eyes. Jordan wasn’t going to care for it if he’d turned away her boyfriend, especially since he was doing it because he didn’t like the guy. Jordan and he were already at enough odds without him dissing Lieutenant Colonel Wonderful.

  “You can wait for Jordan in the living room.” Dylan hiked his thumb in that direction. “If you need something, just ask one of the housekeepers.” If he could find one, that is. They only seemed to turn up when you didn’t need them.

  “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.” Theo used his keys to lock the door on the car parked out front. A rental, no doubt. “I really need to see Jordan ASAP. By the way, how is she?” he asked, coming into the foyer.

  Most people looked around the sprawling place their first time inside, but Theo didn’t even spare it a glance.

  “She’s worried about Adele and Corbin,” Dylan answered. Not a lie, but not the total truth, either. Karlee had said she was concerned about Jordan and so was Dylan. Apparently, so was Theo since he was here.

  “Are Jordan and you stationed together?” Dylan asked as he led him toward the living room.

  Theo shook his head. “No, I’m in Germany, and she’ll be reporting for duty at Lackland, where she’ll be for three years.”

  Jordan had made that sound as if it were up in the air as to whether or not she’d be assigned to the base. And maybe it was. But there was a bottom line here—Jordan hadn’t been able to stay in Wrangler’s Creek, and he doubted she’d gotten enough blood transfusions to rid her of her wanderlust.

  “I won’t tell you how many strings I had to pull to get the flights back here,” Theo went on. “But I needed to see Jordan. She wasn’t sleeping all that well when she was in the hospital.”

  Dylan doubted she was sleeping well now, either. In addition to the nightmares she was likely having thanks to being held captive, now she had to worry about Corbin and Adele.

  When Theo made it to the living room, he sank down onto the sofa, letting out a sigh of relief. Obviously, he was glad to get off his feet. Too bad those feet were under the same roof as Dylan.

  Theo lay back against the cushions, and while he looked as if he might be ready for a n
ap, he kept his stare on Dylan. “I was head of the team that got her out of there. Did you know that?”

  This time it was Dylan who had to shake his head. So, Theo had rescued her. He was, well, a real hero. No wonder Jordan had been calling him.

  “She’ll try to blow it off,” Theo went on, “but she had a tough go of it.” Before Dylan could even react to that, Theo smiled. “I’m hoping I can fix that.”

  On the surface, that sounded, well, good, but it gave Dylan a bad feeling. “Fix it, how?”

  Theo blinked. “Well, fix it for Jordan. You might not think it’s the best for you, but maybe it is. I mean, after seeing that bingo card.”

  Dylan cursed. What the hell did that have to do with anything?

  Theo reached in his pocket. “Since I can’t talk Jordan out of wanting to raise her cousin’s son, then I think this will make things easier for her.”

  Dylan thought the guy was taking out his phone. But no. It was a small jewelry box. When Theo flipped it open with his thumb, Dylan saw the ring. Not just any ordinary one, though.

  A diamond engagement ring.

  “I’m here to ask Jordan to marry me,” Theo announced. “And I think she’ll agree, since that way I can help her get custody of Corbin.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THIS WAS NOT Jordan’s first time visiting a jail. Not even close. Her folks had been picked up several times on DUIs and disorderly conduct. As a minor, Adele had been hauled in for unlawful assembly at a protest. But each of those other jail visits had resulted in Jordan getting her assorted family members out, once she’d made arrangements with their bail bondsman, that is.

  That wasn’t going to happen today.

  Jordan had learned from San Antonio PD that Adele had indeed been arrested for possession of ridiculous quantities of SpaghettiOs and Ding Dongs. And Twizzlers. Dylan had forgotten to mention those, but apparently the sugar content in the Ding Dongs hadn’t been sufficient for Adele so she’d gone after the Twizzlers, too.

  Along with the food items, there’d also been the raincoats and flip-flops. Case after case of them. And environmentally friendly, spring-fresh deodorant. Jordan didn’t know the logic behind Adele and her cronies stealing those items, but all of it had been in Adele’s garage and in a storage facility that she’d rented—in Adele’s own name.

  The cop at the jail had fought back a smile while going over some of the charges with Jordan. He hadn’t smiled, however, when he’d explained the second part. That the arrest had come while she was still on probation.

  There was no chance of the new charges being dropped because Dylan had been right about the plea deal. Adele had accepted an agreement with the district attorney to plead guilty in exchange for a maximum sentence of five years.

  Five years!

  It was too much to hope that Adele could go that entire time without getting into even more trouble so she’d likely serve the full term. That would mean Corbin would be nearly eight before she got out. By then, her son wouldn’t even know who she was.

  With that depressing thought taking hold of her, Jordan sat at the table in the visiting area and waited for the guards to bring in Adele. It was a big room with lots of tables, and there were guards and other visitors milling around. Still, it felt claustrophobic. Probably because there were no windows and no easy way out. If she felt the panic building inside her, she couldn’t just run outside. She’d have to go back through security which could take minutes or longer.

  It was the longer that was causing her breath to go thin. Causing the tightness in her chest, too. In hindsight, she probably should have dosed up on her anxiety meds before coming here, but she hadn’t wanted to be in a fog.

  Since Jordan hadn’t been able to bring anything into the visiting room with her, she couldn’t look at her phone for a distraction. So she focused on the images that popped into her head.

  Corbin.

  He was definitely her top concern right now. More than Adele. More than Dylan. Of course, thinking about Dylan caused the image of him to appear. A much-too-clear image. Of him naked, and participating in that stupid bingo game.

  A stomach licking from Dylan.

  When they’d been lovers and married, Jordan hadn’t remembered him having a preference for licking that particular body part, but maybe he’d developed a taste for it over the years.

  A taste of it with other women.

  She silently cursed that thought and tried to shove it aside. It shoved all right, but new ones came. Of what other licking deeds might be on that card. And how many of them Dylan had actually done. Jordan was betting if she had one of those cards, she could win hands down with just the things Dylan and she’d done. Heck, the whole card would be x-ed out.

  Which wasn’t necessarily a good image to have in her head. No. Best not to remember all the things that they’d done together. Thankfully, she had a little help with that because a guard led Adele into the room. Adele’s face lit up when she saw Jordan. But Jordan was certain she did the opposite of lighting up.

  “No physical contact with the prisoner,” the guard warned Jordan when she stood.

  Adele was obviously aware of the rule because she didn’t even move in for a hug. Still smiling though, Adele sat in the chair across from Jordan. “You came,” she said. “I wasn’t sure you would.”

  “I always come when you’re in trouble,” Jordan grumbled. “And right now, you’re in huge trouble.”

  Jordan had to admit, though, that despite the huge trouble, Adele looked amazing. She still had that hippie/Bohemian vibe even while wearing an orange jumpsuit. It was probably because of her long flowing black hair, makeup-free face and the daisy/peace symbol tats on the backs of her hands.

  “All the panties in this place are polyester, not cotton,” Adele whispered when she leaned closer to Jordan. “The women complain about it, and nothing happens. Do you know how unbreathable poly panties are?”

  No amount of reining in her anger would have worked for Jordan. She felt a glare coming on. “I didn’t come here to talk about panties.”

  “I know,” Adele admitted. “Go ahead. Start telling me how stupid I was, not just for the stolen stuff but also for what happened between Dylan and me. But I swear the stolen stuff was for a good cause. Think of all those homeless people who would have been fed and clothed. The shoes they usually have are closed-toed and hot, and they get rashes on their feet in this Texas heat. And who doesn’t need a raincoat in spring?”

  “I didn’t come here to talk about foot rashes, either.” Though Jordan would like an explanation of how Adele had ended up in Dylan’s bed. “Were you drunk when you did this?” Jordan snapped. Actually, that question applied to both Dylan and the stolen goods.

  Adele looked totally insulted by that. “Of course not. I haven’t gotten drunk since I got pregnant with Corbie.”

  Jordan guessed that was her pet name for the boy. It was cute but not cute enough to overcome the anger. Especially since the drunken episode had been with Dylan. And Adele hadn’t bothered to mention any of it to her. Jordan had had to learn about it from the social worker.

  “You didn’t tell me about Corbie,” Jordan pointed out. “I saw you a year ago, and you didn’t even hint that you’d had a child. You certainly never mentioned being with Dylan.”

  Adele made a “duh” sound. “Because I knew you wouldn’t be happy about me being a mom, or that I’d been with your ex-husband, and I didn’t want to have to argue with you. Especially since I knew you’d only be around a day or two before you took off again.”

  That was true about the day or two part, but Jordan refused to feel guilty. Or at least she didn’t want to feel it. But she did.

  “How is Corbie?” Adele asked.

  Jordan frowned because that should have been the first thing out of Adele’s mouth instead of a complaint about panties. “He’s at the Granger
Ranch. With Dylan.” And she decided to backtrack a little. “Where was Corbin when you were stealing food and flip-flops?”

  Adele gave her another totally insulted look. “With a sitter. I wouldn’t have taken him with me for something like that. It was well past his bedtime.”

  Well, that was something at least. Adele hadn’t involved her toddler in her felony-related activities.

  “I’d like to see Corbin,” Adele continued a moment later. “I know this isn’t the best place to bring a little boy, but I’d like to see him so I can say goodbye.”

  Until Adele had added that last part, Jordan had been about to agree with her, that this wasn’t a good place for Corbin. “Goodbye?”

  Adele nodded. “Just one visit, and I won’t see him again until I get out. I don’t want him back here. As he grows up, I don’t want all his memories to be of me like this.” She waved her hands over the orange jumpsuit.

  “Corbin will have memories of that whether he sees you or not. Eventually, he’ll ask about you, and he’ll be able to find out the truth with an internet search.”

  Again, Adele nodded. “But it’s different seeing it on a computer screen than in real life.” She blinked hard when the tears shimmered in her eyes.

  Jordan was actually thankful for the tears. Sometimes, Adele got so caught up in her social causes that she didn’t make the connection to how it was affecting her life. And the people around her.

  “What’s best for Corbie,” Adele went on, “will break my heart. He’s my precious little man, and I love him. But it’s best if I say goodbye and step away.”

  Jordan could partially agree with that, though there was another side to this. “You’ll be out of jail in five years, maybe less. Do you really want to come back into Corbin’s life as a stranger?”

  “No,” Adele quickly answered. Then, she paused. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to come back in his life at all. I mean, by then he’ll be a big boy. He’ll be so much better off than he would be with me.”

  Probably. But Jordan couldn’t bring herself to say that aloud. Dylan would certainly give Adele any amount of money for child support so that would help. However, Adele would always be Adele.