“Yeah, but just by a few hours. Social media has pictures of us together at the restaurant last night. That’s what made today take a different turn because they were already questioning who he was. That’s why I came on home early,” Julia answered, getting antsy to get inside the house. She hadn’t showered since yesterday morning and hadn’t slept much in the last forty-eight hours. She needed to be in her bed before too much longer. The television show she had been working on already called for some dreaded reshoots first thing in the morning.
“He took that all right?” Tina asked, her questioning gaze finally rising to meet Julia’s.
“It took a few minutes,” Julia explained, using her hands as a teetering scale until she dropped one hand much lower while crinkling her face. “Not quite so well.”
Tina smiled, then continued to read until she turned serious, her face etched with concern. “So he shot two guys in front of you?”
“I was in the cab of his pickup, and it was dark, but I watched one of the guys’ heads flip backward and smash the passenger side window. It all happened so fast that I don’t think I fully understood what was going on around me,” Julia confessed quietly, her gaze focused on the cuticles of her fingernails, where her hands now rested in her lap.
“How do you feel about that?”
“I feel terrible. How do you think I’d feel?” she answered defensively. On some level, she did feel terrible, but she’d also completely bought in to the idea of Connor saving her from the harm those men had planned to do. Especially since Bruno had accessed their rap sheets while in the air. Those guys had arrest records a mile long and none of it was good. Even during the time of the robbery, those two were out on bond, awaiting trial on similar charges.
“I think you’d feel terrible. Connor carries a gun?”
“No…or maybe. I guess he probably does, but not during this robbery. He disarmed one of the men and used his weapon on the other. They were trying to take the truck, but when they saw me, they wanted me and the truck. That’s when Connor took over.” She tried to explain somewhat succinctly.
“Are you okay?” Tina asked and put the cell phone down on the patio table.
“I’m fine. I was pretty freaked out last night. You know better than anyone that I don’t like guns, and I’m sorry for the lives lost, but what worried me the most was Connor. He was so steady, Tina. He handled it all professionally, with no emotion. His actions were clear and straightforward to him. Immediately after the attack, I was a mess and he stayed so calm. He made sure Bruno had me, then went directly for the security video. He called 911. We were out there for a couple of hours. Connor spoke to the police very evenly—I was a crying wreck. He had control of the situation from the very beginning. He was really something else.”
“Julie, you believe in gun control. You hate guns. And you saw someone die,” Tina said, bending closer toward her. She could see the therapist coming out in her sister.
Julia gave her a small smile, knowing Tina would absolutely have her in counseling before the day’s end. Her sister was another benefit to Connor coming to stay. She’d have him assessed and participating in informal counseling within days of his arrival.
“We talked long and hard about that when we got home last night. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like it at all, but I love him,” Julia said, trying to make Tina understand. Nothing seemed too terrible as long as Connor stayed in her life.
“You love him? Does he know?” That brought her sister around and pushed the therapist to the side. Tina’s grin grew as she became excited, wanting all the details.
“Yeah, and he said it back. I didn’t even have to say it first. It was a big weekend. I’m really glad I went.” All the stress of just moments ago fled as she sat back, basking in the warmth that thoughts of Connor always produced.
“You’re in love,” Tina said dreamily, staring at her.
“Yeah,” she admitted on an exhale, smiling broadly.
“How does that feel?” This was new to both of them. Neither had ever been the kind of women to fall in and out of love and most certainly never met the “one.” How could she put all this emotion into words to help Tina understand?
“I…” Julia stopped as those endearing tingles sprang up across her arms as the mental image of a smiling Connor appeared so clearly in her mind. She inhaled deeply, letting the happiness of her love just fill her heart. When no words would come, Julia smiled at her sister and tried to explain. “It’s…. magical. Tina! I miss him so much. I can’t wait for him to get here. I don’t want to be without him.”
“How long until he can come?”
“I don’t know. He needs to stick around his hometown for his parents to get back and if anything comes up during investigation. I hate that part. I want him here. If he’s here, I know he’s safe. Isn’t that silly?”
“You can go in now,” Bruno gruffly interrupted them as he walked past them toward the side gate leading to her driveway.
“How did he do?” Tina chuckled, cocking her head toward Bruno as the gate swung shut behind him. Julia had turned too, watching Bruno go. He never gave an inch. He was disgruntled and put out anytime he was required to speak, or participate, or just be.
Julia rolled her eyes at all the attitude that always poured from Bruno. “Shockingly, he and Connor hit it off. Oh my God, you should see them together.”
“That’s awesome,” Tina said, laughing a disbelieving chuckle.
“Just wait. They talk all that real-man speak. They have conversations with a minimal use of words and yet they fully understand one another. It’s so hilarious. I just laugh.”
Bruno came back through the gate, letting it swing loudly shut in his wake, carrying two of her bags and one of his. Julia looked over at Tina, gave her a very clear watch-this look and jumped up out of her seat. “Let me help you.”
Bruno never broke his long stride or looked her way, only grunting as he passed by, making both of them laugh as they stared after him.
“Come on. I’ll help. So is he staying in your room with you?” Tina asked, unfolding her body from the patio chair and heading toward the gate.
“I offered the pool house, and then you could move in with me, but I want him to stay in the house. He thinks we’re moving too fast,” she said, trailing several steps behind as they walked across her driveway to one of her cars.
“I’m happy for you,” Tina said sweetly, turning to give Julia a big hug.
“I’m happy, Tina. Really happy,” she said, wrapping her arms around her sister, holding her tight. She and Connor had already been through so much, surely that proved they could make it through anything. The lingering doubt of Connor adapting to her world reared up in her thoughts, but she forced that down. She would make sure he had everything he needed to make this work between them. There was just no other choice in the matter.
~~~
About mid-afternoon, Connor hoisted his mother’s ugly side-chair-from-hell into the back of his pickup truck as Cole turned off the street and into his driveway. He let the chair tumble over the side, not caring in the least if he damaged the damn thing. Its end was coming. He’d stubbed his toe for the last time less than an hour ago.
As Cole got closer, Connor lifted a hand and waved before he turned away and headed back up the porch steps and inside the house. His bag was packed, sitting right inside the front door. He took one last glance around the living room, made sure everything looked in place before reaching for the duffle and shutting the front door. He tested the doorknob, made sure it held, then tossed his bag over his shoulder and took the steps down toward his truck. Cole’s dually sat between him and his target.
“Where you headed?” Cole called through the rolled-down window of the passenger side.
“Your place.” He never broke stride as he passed Cole’s truck, heading for his.
“Wanna ride?” Cole asked, no doubt thinking about Connor’s still-broken side window.
“I’ll follow. I ne
ed to dump that chair,” Connor said, pointing to the back of his truck, unrealistically happy at the demise of that particular piece of furniture.
“Mom’s gonna be pissed. That’s her watchdog,” Cole called out, stopping Connor in his tracks, making him pivot toward Cole.
“How does everyone know that but me?” he asked, throwing his hands in the air.
“How do you not know that?” Cole said, disbelieving.
“I don’t fucking know how I never figured that out. Why are you here?” Connor asked, shrugging the duffle farther back on his shoulder while both hands went to his waist, showing just how frustrated this whole day had turned out for him.
“You never answered, so I came to check on things,” Cole called out in that always good-natured way he had. That grated on his nerves too.
“The home phone’s been ringing off the fucking hook all afternoon. Then they found my cell phone number. It doesn’t stop ringing. I have it on silent,” Connor said disgustingly, then gave some sort of weird disgruntled sigh as he turned back, heading for the rear of his cab, unceremoniously tossing his bag inside.
“Come to the house. We’ll talk there,” Cole said. The diesel roared to life and he heard the truck slip into gear. Connor stepped inside the cab of his pickup and followed Cole out the driveway, only stopping to lock the seldom-used gate at the road.
His family hardly ever locked that gate, heck, they rarely even closed it, but Connor figured if anyone came lurking, it was the best chance he had at keeping them off the property. Early this afternoon, when the phone started ringing off the hook, he decided staying with Cole might give him a chance at getting a good night’s sleep. The error in that plan quickly began to mock Connor with each hour that passed without Julie by his side. He was irritatingly heartsick for her. Nothing else in the world mattered more than she did. She’d become everything to him in such a short amount of time. All the loneliness of that house had him missing her on an absurd level and became the sole reason he’d decided to head to California first thing in the morning. The serene picture she had kept mentally painting of him staying with her while finishing his military career and starting a new business turned more and more appealing until it was all he could see.
He knew the emotional baggage he’d have to deal with the longer he stayed with Julie. He only made about fifty thousand dollars a year. He couldn’t even wrap his head around the kind of money Julie had to make in order to live in Hollywood. But, ultimately, she was right, being together now would give them time to see if they could make a relationship work. He had to fight his insecurities, and if he kept his place in San Diego, then perhaps he could trick himself into believing he wasn’t living off Julie so much as spending time getting to know her. Yeah, honestly, that plan didn’t seem super solid in his head, but at least he was trying to figure all this out.
When he pulled to the front of Cole’s house, he saw both Reed’s and Ty’s vehicles parked out front. He parked beside them, lifted the gearshift into park, and tried to figure out what it meant for them to be there. In a twenty-four-hour span, just about everything that could happen had happened, causing him to question every little thing. Connor got out and went to the bed of his pickup. He lowered the tailgate to move the chair from his truck to Cole’s.
“Take this to the burn pile?”
“Are you sure your mom’s not gonna be mad?” Cole asked, pushing his ball cap back on his head, scratching at his scalp.
“I’m pretty sure she will be. I won’t tell her I had an accomplice,” Connor offered, dumping the chair in the back of Cole’s truck before cocking his head toward the house. “What’re they doing here?”
“They called you then came over here when you didn’t answer.”
Connor nodded, walking stride for stride with Cole toward the front door. “The women here?”
“Nah, they’re at the Bryant house, helpin’ Linda after Thanksgiving dinner. Ty said they have all the baby stuff out, lookin’ at the haul they got yesterday. Linda’s spread her blueprints out. She’s planning on adding a nursery wing to the house now that Ty’s moving back. She’s expecting Ty and Reed to fill that place with babies.”
“Ah, yeah. Damn, I forgot about that. I need to call Linda and let her know I’m sorry about missing her meal,” Connor said, taking each step up.
“Jerry came with Reed. I think they know your head’s someplace else today,” Cole said at the door. He stopped short of pushing it open as he added, “Bray’s even involved. He’s in Brazil, but called after he couldn’t reach you. He wants to talk to you.”
“It’s a pain in the ass not to be able to use my phone,” Connor said harshly. Cole pushed open the door, stepping inside first then letting him pass.
“I know. Ty says you’re gonna need a new phone number now.”
“I’ve had this one since high school,” Connor said, rounding the entry into the living room.
“As long as you’re with Julia, those days are long gone,” Ty answered from his spot sprawled on the sofa as he rose to his feet then crossed his arms over his chest. Concern furrowed his brow. Jerry sat in the lounger, the remote in his hand, pushing the volume down on the football game they’d been watching as Ty spoke again. “How are things going?”
“My damn phone won’t stop ringing. I hate that. Julie texted me that it’s all over the news,” Connor said somewhat disgustedly.
“Just do what she says to do. She’s good at navigating the media,” Ty instructed.
“What’s the sheriff saying?” Reed asked from his spot on the love seat. He sat up a little straighter, dropping his elbows on his knees as he stared up at Connor.
“There’s an investigation pending, but it’s pretty cut and dry. The security cameras caught it all. I’m free to move around. I just need to be available when they need me. The two have a solid rap sheet and were out on bail. They also have a long line of unsolved robberies and sexual assault cases that they’re thinking those two were responsible for all the way through Kansas,” Connor said, matching Ty’s stance in the middle of the living room.
“Weird they did it so close to home,” Jerry added.
“I’m not supposed to know, but preliminary toxicology showed heroin in their systems. They didn’t give much of a shit about anything, I suspect,” Connor added.
“Take a seat, man,” Cole said, walking through the living room, bypassing all of them as he headed straight toward the kitchen. Connor watched him go for the refrigerator and pull out a couple of beers.
“You’ll need a new phone. I went ahead and had one sent over this morning,” Ty said, reaching in his back pocket and tossing him a brand new Samsung. “They gave me the number, but I tore it up and tossed it out. You decide who you want to have it.”
“Thanks for doing that,” he said, easily catching the new phone. It was larger than his, much slimmer and lighter in his hand. He’d had his for years. Looking down at the phone, he pushed the side button and watched the screen come to life, immediately intrigued with the colorful display and easy to understand icons. Damn, it was a fancy piece of technology. He should have upgraded his cell phone years ago.
“What do I owe you?” he asked, looking up at Bateman.
“Nothing. It’s tied to one of my corporations. When you want it switched over, let me know. Until then, no one should connect it to you.”
Connor handed the phone back to Ty. “Add your number, pass it around.”
“What’re your plans now?” Jerry asked.
“I’m heading back to California in the morning. Willis is gonna meet my parents and explain everything when they get back.” Connor looked up at Cole, got the nod of confirmation, and then nodded down at Jerry. He guessed he should have verified that before speaking.
“Going back to your place or Julia’s?” Ty asked, handing the phone to Reed.
“Probably hers,” he answered vaguely. That couldn’t be a good sign. He’d already dodged the question. It made him antsy to say he plan
ned on staying with Julie. The distinction between “staying with” and “living off of” were just too similar. Oh man, he had to get that worked out in his head or they were destined to fail. “All you guys were always filled with drama. I always kept my shit simple. It’s weird being here, dealing with all this bullshit. I’ve had more chaos in the last few months than I’ve had the last ten years.”
“Your life’s gonna change. It’s the first thought I had after realizing you two were dating,” Reed said, working with his phone.
“Change ain’t a bad thing. Stop scarin’ the boy,” Jerry added, using the footrest on the chair to extend farther back as he stared at Connor. “I’m more interested in the re-up deal. What’s going on with that? I read a while back in the newspaper that some ambassador said you were unstable.” Jerry grunted out his disgust, making it clear what he thought about that statement.
“The military’s turned political now. It’s a fucking game. They’re benching me, saying it’s my head, but I’m pretty sure it’s a political move. I pissed off the wrong people.”
“Candace says that PTSD is nothing to play with. She wants to coordinate your care,” Jerry added, hooking an arm behind his head. Candace was Jerry’s youngest, an emergency-room physician and the go-to for all of them. She coordinated all their health care. He knew firsthand that she never played around when getting them the help they needed.
“I figured I’d get her involved. I just needed to set my resolve and face the facts. The whole thing pisses me off. I need to get past that,” Connor answered honestly.
“Reed told me what you were thinkin’ ’bout that business. It’s the reason I came along this afternoon. I wanna invest, son. You need to take it seriously,” Jerry said in that same fatherly tone he always used when conveying something important.
“Yes, sir, I agree, but I don’t know anything about business.”
“Me either, but these guys do,” Jerry added, hooking a thumb toward Reed, then Cole who’d been standing nearby. When Connor looked over at him, he extended a bottle of beer. Connor took it, unscrewing the cap before taking a long drink.
Mission Happy (A Texas Desires Novel Book 3) Page 26
