by Geri Foster
“Aaron, get away from here,” she hissed, keeping her voice low so as not to alert the other parents picking up their children. “I don’t want you hanging around my son.”
“I can do whatever I want,” he slurred, his brown eyes glassy.
“No, you can’t.” Holding out her arms, she asked. “Why are you here? You deny he’s yours yet you sit outside his school.”
“I’m only here because I want to see you.”
And there it was. She knew it, but every time it still hurt to hear it. It hurt her to think that Tyler was so unwanted by the man who helped create him.
“Well, that’s a serious waste of your time. Do you think you can come in the diner and insult and embarrass me during the lunch rush, then sneak over here and play nice? What do you think will happen? That I’ll jump in the truck with you so we can go to Harper’s Cove and make out?”
“I just want to talk.”
She let out a hard laugh. “We both know what you want, and the answer is no. Get out of here and leave me and Tyler alone.”
He clenched his jaw and she steeled her spine, recognizing the look—he was about to hit way below the belt. “You said he was mine once. Maybe I’ll take him away from you and see how you like that. How it feels to lose something that’s yours.”
Her palm slamming against his cheek surprised even her and she stumbled backwards, trembling. “Get out of here and don’t you ever threaten me again. You forget, your name isn’t on a single piece of paper saying he’s yours.” She balled her fists. “Remember, that’s the way you and your daddy wanted it. You’re ashamed of him and of me.”
“No,” Aaron shot back, leaning towards her. “I just can’t let the world know he’s mine. My daddy has big plans for me. And that kid isn’t part of that. Don’t you get it? It’s not about him, it’s about me, about us. I can’t have a kid and get what I want.”
She hugged her middle, shaking her head. “What plans? Your daddy going to find you some rich socialite from Dallas?” She threw up her arms and looked around. “Well, where is she?” She tightened her jaw. “Nobody wants you, Aaron. You’re a loser, just like your daddy.”
He took his frustration out on the steering wheel, slamming his palms against it several times. “And whose fault is that? Huh? I told you to get an abortion, adopt him out, anything. I had the money to shut this up and make it go away, but you were so damn stubborn.” Shaking his head, he deflated just as quickly as he’d heated up. Turning pitiful eyes on her, he accused, “We would still be together right now if you weren’t so goddamn stubborn Candi.”
She laughed a humorless laugh. “Is that what you think? So, which is it? If it weren’t for me you’d be married to some rich girl right now or if it weren’t for me we’d still be together? Neither one of those make sense. I’m not a stupid girl anymore Aaron. You can’t push me around the way you used to. I see you for who you really are. And for you to think for even one second that I would choose you over my little boy? You’re insane. I refused to do that then and I damn well refuse to do it now. I chose Tyler over you and I’ve never for one minute regretted the decision. I love him with all my heart and the fact that you can honestly look at him and wish we’d killed him? You’re worse than dead to me Aaron.”
“It’s not like that Candi. My daddy—” He cut himself off and let out a growl of frustration. “If you want to succeed in life you have to look a certain way, act a certain way, be respected and admired. That boy, he ruined everything for us, Candi,” he spit out bitterly.
“No, you ruined us! Get out of here. No one wants you here!” she shouted, pointing to the street in front of the schoolhouse.
“I can’t get over you. I love you.”
She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “Love? Is that why you come into the diner and humiliate me? Make fun of me? Sprout lewd remarks as if I’m a whore?” She stepped back, struggling to compose herself. She didn’t want to cause a scene and fuel the gossip mill, but more importantly she didn’t want Tyler to see her upset.
“I hate you Aaron Travis. I hate you more than anyone on earth and I don’t want you around my son.”
“We can still fix this. Just send him away to your aunt in Fort Worth. Then we can be together.”
“Oh my god!” she threw her hands up in the air. “Get this through your head. We’ll never be together. I don’t want you.”
He shook his head and leaned back. “You’ll regret that someday. There will come a time when you’ll be sorry you treated me so bad.”
She chuckled. “Like you treat me? Listen, you’ve been trying for years to get me back and it hasn’t worked. Go away and stay away. I’m telling Lucas the next time I see him that he needs to find a way to keep you out of the diner. Buck is getting pretty fed up with your antics. He knows it was you who broke his window last week.”
“He’s got nothing, and I’ll do as I please. You forget who I am and who my daddy is. He owns this damn town and everything in it—and that includes you.”
“Is that so? Tell him to relay that news to Grandma Faith, or any of the grandmas for that matter, and see what happens.” She sucked in a full breath. “She could snap her fingers and he’d be run out of town and he knows it. That’s why he stays hidden out there at the ranch. He can’t stand to face anyone.”
“Because of the shame you brought to his family by having a bastard running all over town. Everyone knows he’s mine.”
“I haven’t said a word and, honestly, I wish they didn’t think that. You’re nothing to be proud of.”
“You’ve ruined my life!” he shouted loud enough to garner looks from those nearby.
She walked away shaken and on the verge of tears. How had she ever loved that man? Why couldn’t he be a decent father who loved Tyler and wanted the best for his own flesh and blood?
Even now, after admitting that his life was ruined anyway, Aaron wanted her to get rid of the only thing she loved—the amazing, intelligent child who got along with everyone. She cherished him and would never abandon him for anyone.
She walked back to the school as Tyler stepped out and stood at the top of the stairs, his eyes searching for her. She waved and called out his name, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she ran to meet him.
He raced toward her and hugged her tightly. Catching sight of the pickup in the parking lot, he glared. Even with the scowl, he looked sweet and innocent. He was nothing like his father, not in appearance or personality. “What’s he doing here?”
She followed her son’s gaze to see Aaron sulking and staring. “Who knows? But it doesn’t matter to us.”
“I don’t like him. He never smiles and when he sees me he acts like he’s mad at me for something.”
“He’s just miserable. Ignore him.”
She led Tyler to the car and after he buckled his seatbelt they headed home. They lived in a small garage apartment behind George and Hellen Humphries, a couple who owned the local flower shop, where Hellen worked, and the hardware store George ran. Nancy Wigan lived on one side of their house and Grandma Mercy on the other.
She had moved in shortly after giving birth to Tyler, when her parents made it clear that she was over eighteen and no longer their responsibility. Her dad had always been a kind and quiet man, so it was easy to see that her mom was the one putting her foot down about the whole situation. They were a part of Tyler’s life and treated him well, but her mom was never short of passive aggressive, backhanded comments for her when Tyler was out of earshot.
She’d known the Humphries her whole life and when they had heard about her situation, they were so generous that they had taken her in and didn’t charge her rent, explaining they just wanted her safe. They, too, had had a run in with Levi Travis years ago and had feared for her and Tyler’s safety. George kept a shotgun handy, even now, just in case.
She loved their little place. George and Hellen had a son, Benjamin, who tinkered at inventing things. Encouraging his inquisitive mind, th
e Humphries had fixed the garage into a nice apartment for him to tinker and build things in. He’d long since moved to Seattle and worked for a large energy company, so the space had been free for her and Tyler.
While the apartment probably wouldn’t be considered a perfect place to live, it served her purpose. She had a little fall garden planted in the back, a nice patio with shade, and a place for Tyler to play. George and Hellen looked out for her and Tyler by making it clear Aaron wasn’t allowed on their property.
The apartment had a tiny kitchen, a small living area, a bath and two bedrooms. It was not much more than nine hundred square feet, but she loved living there and the secure walls kept them safe.
As Tyler sat at the table enjoying his after-school snack, a knock sounded at the door.
She glanced out the keyhole George had installed and saw Lucas standing on her stoop. She smiled and opened the door.
He took off his hat and stared down at her. “I hear Aaron came by the diner today.”
Her face fell. “Who told you?”
“Austin Crawley. I met him coming out of the diner. He mentioned it.”
She bit her lip, remembering their last conversation. Did he really think she was incapable of taking care of herself? “He didn’t have to do that. I was going to call you later.”
“Decent men don’t like the way Aaron treats you. Practically everyone in town, at one time or another, has complained to me about him going into the diner and creating a scene.”
With Tyler sitting at the table eating his apple and peanut butter, playing a game on his iPad, she motioned for Lucas to head outside. Not wanting her son to hear them discussing Aaron, she closed the door behind them.
Turning to face him, she licked her lips. “Listen, I’ve tried everything, Lucas. Trust me, I’m not giving him an ounce of encouragement. But he won’t stay away. And he keeps insisting I send Tyler away because he believes he’s what is keeping us apart.” She fought back tears. “No matter how many times I tell him to go to hell, he won’t go away. Did you know he has taken to hanging around Tyler’s school? He was there today, drunk, making no sense. One minute he says if Tyler lives with my aunt in Fort Worth then everything will be great, the next he says his life is already ruined because everyone knows Tyler is his. I just want him to stop.”
“Then it’s time for a restraining order. I want you to come to the station and fill out the paperwork.”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “If I do that, can he hurt me? I mean, will I be kicked out of here, lose my job? He’s full of hot air but he isn’t wrong about his daddy’s pull. I can’t risk that, Lucas. I have to care for Tyler.”
He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “No one’s going to let that happen. I’m on my way out to the Travis Ranch. I’ll call you later.”
She nodded, but still worried about the power the Travis family had over Rainwater. They were a staple in the community going back centuries. No matter what they did they would still hold that sway. Honestly, Aaron’s own mother had run out of town when he was fifteen and that didn’t lessen their strength at all. How Aaron could believe her pregnancy would ruin his family’s reputation when his own mother had left them and they survived the social backlash, she had no idea. Rumor had it she ran off to Las Vegas, got a divorce and married another man.
She had been dating Aaron at the time and, looking back now, he was a different person after his mom left. He was opinionated and arrogant and cocky beforehand, sure. But after she left, he did everything he could to win his daddy’s approval tenfold. She should have known then what trouble that could cause her in the future. But she was already in love with him, blinded by it.
She could never in a million years do to Tyler what Aaron’s mother had done to him, leaving him to grow up with a mean, greedy, power hungry man with a hard, cold heart.
Aaron pulled into the driveway leading to the ranch house. Big, expensive and impressive, but barren as the fields behind it. He hated the place. Hated the heat and the work involved in ranching. Hell, this had never been the life he wanted.
His dream lay in Dallas, where the good-looking women lived and the parties were endless. Not a dull, dusty town where absolutely nothing ever happened. That’s the reason he’d kept complaining until his daddy let him hire more hands. The more of them, the less work he did. Hell, who was anyone kidding, he’d never be the rancher his daddy expected, demanded and wanted, so why not make the best of their money and status.
They had more arguments over him sleeping until noon than they did most anything else. What could he say, he’d never been a morning person and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. So what? Why did it matter? He personally didn’t give a damn about the ranch or how much money it made. They could make ten times that amount selling it. He only wanted a good time while Levi Travis wanted to sit out here and rot.
Not him.
If anything happened to his old man, he planned to sell immediately, take the money and move the hell out of Rainwater. Maybe he’d be able to talk Candi into going with him. She’d never leave the kid, but maybe without his daddy in the way that wouldn’t be such a problem. He wouldn’t need to rely on his daddy’s wallet when they had all the money they could ever ask for so he wouldn’t have to play by his rules anymore.
Not that he could do anything about it now. Daddy made it clear that if he claimed the kid, the ranch would be willed to a distant cousin. He refused to let that happen. The place belonged to him and he needed the money it would bring to change his lifestyle.
Even though his grades hadn’t been great, getting into Texas A&M had been a breeze. After all, his father belonged to the alumni and donated a small fortune every year. But he’d screwed away most of his college years and never bothered to graduate, so even if he wanted to work he wasn’t likely to get a job.
Was it so bad that he wanted to party and have fun while he was still young? Not learn how to raise cattle. He’d had that all his life. Why wouldn’t he want something different? Ranching didn’t course through his blood like it did his daddy’s. Hell no, he wanted more out of life than a lonely life on a ranch. He might hate his mom for leaving him behind so she could live the good life, but a part of him could also understand why she was so desperate to get away. He just wished she’d taken him with her and couldn’t really understand why she hadn’t.
Speaking of the devil, Old Man Travis rode toward him on his champion cutting horse, November Rain, cutting a tall, lean, commanding figure across the horizon. He didn’t know who struck a more imposing pose, the horse or the rider. They both had too much pride.
Shoving the pickup into Park, he got out and headed toward the house, hoping to avoid another confrontation. His father kicked the sides of the stud and stopped between him and his destination.
“Where you been, Aaron? Out chasing after that Matthews girl’s skirt? That got you in trouble once already. You going to knock her up again?”
Anger boiled to the surface and he glared up at as his daddy. “I haven’t touched her skirt. Thanks to you and that brat, she won’t come near me.”
His old man chuckled, his face tanned as leather and etched with deep lines of age and hard living. His hands were like sandpaper, his slender frame molded of lean muscle and orneriness.
Yeah, a typical cowboy. Except he drank too much, whored too much and had always been meaner than a hungry bobcat. It wasn’t lost on him that the town thought much the same of him, but they were wrong. He was nothing like his father. He was just strangled by this Podunk town and all the people in it.
“Why haven’t you been out here working? There’s always something to do on the ranch.”
“I get sick of working all the time.”
“You don’t work at all.” His daddy swung down off the animal like he’d been doing it all his life, which he had. “You’re a lazy piece of crap that couldn’t get a job at a fast food place if you applied. You dropped out of college, you’re a lo
usy rancher and you’re not much of a man. So, what do you have going for you besides chasing a skirt you ain’t never going to get under again?”
“Go to hell,” he snarled. “I should move to Dallas and leave you out here by yourself.”
Levi barked a laugh. “You don’t have a dime to your name. I could cut you off tomorrow and you wouldn’t even have a place to sleep.”
He inwardly grumbled at that bit of truth. As usual, his daddy’s words cut a nick out of his soul and made him hate him more, if possible. He was never going to be good enough for him, was he? So why did he still let him rule his life? Disgusted, he stalked to the house, slammed the door and went directly to his room.
One day his daddy would pay for treating him like a ten-year-old. He’d make sure of that.
Levi Travis snarled when his son stomped past him, sulking. The boy stalked into the house like he was hoping to hide behind the four walls. The little pissant. Who’d ever thought a weakling like him would spring from the Travis bloodline? His family were respected, hardworking, pillars of the community. Not sniveling little weaklings who couldn’t do anything besides knock up the poorest girl in town. The brat took after his mother, alright. Not for the first time, he regretted ever getting involved with that woman in the first place.
Removing his hat and slapping it against his dusty thighs, Levi wiped the sweat from his brow and turned November Rain to the barn. Before he cleared the yard, the sound of an approaching vehicle caught his attention. Within seconds he recognized Sheriff Quinn’s squad car.
“Damn,” he muttered beneath his breath. “Last thing I want to deal with today.” Crossing his arms on the pommel of his saddle, he waited for the inevitable.
The car came to a halt behind Aaron’s pickup and Lucas Quinn got out and approached. He braced for the worst. Quinn didn’t like him or his son and he rarely came out with a neighborly attitude.
