Texas Hellcat

by Shelley Stringer

  “Wow. And I thought living with a coke-head mother was hard,” I said in jest. He smiled lopsidedly, realizing I was making light of our dark conversation.

  “Touché, Hellcat. You’ve taught me life is what you make of it. I choose to make it exciting and fun and challenging with you.”

  “Right back at you, Covington.”

  Fourteen

  Liam slowed, taking an exit to a gated community high in the hills just north of San Antonio. I took a deep breath and steeled myself against my discomfort about his family’s wealth. I knew appearing comfortable might be an Oscar-winning performance. He finally turned into a winding drive. Ending half-way up a rocky hill strewn with native mesquite trees and wild Texas sage, the driveway fronted landscape intermingled with the famous Hill Country Austin white-limestone. Parking his SUV in the massive circle drive, he switched the engine off and turned to me.

  “You have nothing to be nervous about. They will love you like I do. If anything is said, it’s about me, not you. And I do love you,” he whispered as he lowered his lips to mine once again.

  I returned his kiss eagerly. He knew just what to say to put me at ease, and I realized that he just might be wise beyond his years. There was so much more to Liam Covington than just money and cocky arrogance. I’d been the only prejudice in our relationship.

  “Oh, and just so you know, my baby sister is the typical brat. You’ll get used to it. I think she’ll be great once she gets out of this mean-girl phase. Just don’t let her get to you, Kel.”

  “I think I can handle it,” I answered with a wry grin.

  “I think you can handle anything, tough girl,” he smiled back as he pressed the doorbell. He’d no sooner leaned over to kiss me again than the door flew open.

  “I should have known it was you. We only set the dining room table when the hot-shot quarterback graces us with his presence,” the gangly brown-haired, blue-eyed girl remarked snidely, all the while looking me up and down.

  “It's nice to see you too, baby sister. And I was a wide-receiver, brat. Please retract your claws, Allison; I’d like to introduce Kelly to everyone without her running away tonight, please.”

  “Whatever, hot-shot,” she shot over her shoulder and flipped her hand in our direction.

  “For the love of God and Sam Houston, Allison…Really? I promise I’ve raised them so much better than to act like this.”

  Liam’s mother was a tall, slender woman, slightly grey at the temples, who moved with a grace that screamed old Texas money. She rushed the last few steps toward him, taking his face in her hands and rising on her toes to kiss him.

  “My son, your timing couldn’t have been better. I need your sweet face to remind me all my children might just outgrow their parent’s mistakes after all,” she said as she pulled him in to hug him tightly. “Welcome home.”

  “I’ve missed you too, Mom. Where’s Dad?”

  “He's putting out some fire at the office. He phoned to say he might be a bit late, but he’d be here for dinner.” She turned to me and smiled deeply, the corners of her mouth curved with deep laugh lines that only made her face more handsome. “And this must be Miss Sanger.”

  “It must be. She came in with me a minute ago,” Liam mocked. She elbowed him playfully.

  “I’m Ellen Covington. We’ve heard so much about you, and I’m glad we’re finally allowed to meet you. You look simply beautiful, darlin’. You look too pretty to stay in! Now I’m sorry I’ve cooked instead of taking you out. It seems a waste. I should have called Liam to tell him I’d decided to cook for you instead of dragging you to downtown San Antonio.”

  “No, that’s fine Mrs. Covington, I promise. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in quite a while, so it will be a welcome change.”

  “Mom, please tell me you made stuffed shrimp?” Liam asked, sounding like a ten-year old boy.

  “What else would I make knowing you were coming home? And Grandma Covington’s homemade bread,” she gushed.

  He placed his hand on the small of my back, urging me beyond the foyer into the great room. Even though it was empty, a massive limestone fireplace centered the room and made it feel warm and lived-in. Three leather sofas framed the sitting area directly in front of the ornate stone and wood mantel, the focal point in the room. A pair of game tables and richly upholstered chairs was positioned in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows across the front of the house.

  “Your home is beautiful,” I remarked. Ellen crossed to the opposite doorway leading to a large dining/kitchen area.

  “Thank you. We built it when Liam was little, before we had Allison. It was the only house up here before the building boom,” she explained as she paused in the doorway. “Liam, fix Kelly a drink while I finish up in here.”

  “Sure thing, Mom. Kel, what would you like?” he asked, crossing over to the corner where a rustic wet-bar flanked the fireplace.

  “Something light…white wine with fish, right?” I asked, sitting down on the sofa facing the fireplace. The faint aroma of food wafted in from the kitchen, mixed with the spicy scent of the pinion pine wood burning in the fireplace. The room was romantic and inviting.

  “Speaking politically correct Vino, yes…but don’t be surprised when my dad drinks bourbon with everything,” he retorted, handing me a glass.

  I crossed my legs as I pushed back on the sofa. Although the sofa was quite oversized and I imagined could hold eight people easily, he sank down close to me and pulled me close.

  “Relax, Kel. I can feel the tension rolling off you,” he murmured, kissing my neck just below my ear. I shivered, goose bumps immediately popping up at his touch.

  “I’m sorry. I’m as nervous as I was the day I pitched the gala to the VP’s.”

  “And look how well that turned out, tough girl.” He continued to nuzzle my neck. I pulled away to look in his eyes, and was surprised his boyish demeanor had only deepened with our arrival at his family home. Thinking for so long there was tension between him and his dad, I found his mood puzzling.

  Liam reached into the left-front pocket of his jeans and fished out two boxes, eyeing me warily with a raised brow.

  “Hellcat, at the risk of making you mad at me again, here. I bought you something else at the gala.”

  He held out a small ring-sized box to me. My eyes shot to his, searching for a clue as to what he was thinking. My heart began to pound. There was no way he was giving me a ring. He’d only just begun to call me his girlfriend in the past twelve hours.

  As I hesitated, his smile faded. “I wanted to buy you the prettiest jewelry at the gala…because you were the prettiest girl there. Don’t make this about your mother,” he whispered. I took the box.

  “Okay,” I answered softly. I flipped the lid open to find the elegant diamond earrings, the ones he’d shown me as we viewed the items to be auctioned for charity.

  “Oh, gosh! Liam, no. You didn’t spend that much money on me! You can’t,” I looked back up into his eyes as panic gripped my chest.

  “You told me you didn’t own any diamonds. I was the first to buy you pearls, and I wanted to be the first to buy you diamonds,” he said, taking one of the earrings out of the box. “May I?” he asked. I swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to still my nerves. That familiar feeling like I’d suddenly been thrown into the deep end of the pool began to surface again. He painstakingly worked the diamond stud through the hole in my ear and fastened the back. I leaned up and turned while he worked the second into my ear, and then as he pulled away to look at the earrings on me, he smiled.

  “Just as beautiful as I knew they would be. Here, this goes with them,” he said as he slid the second box into my lap.

  “What have you done?” I asked, suddenly tearing up.

  “Hush, I wanted to do this. Let me have my moment. I’ve never felt like this before,” he whispered as he gazed at me and shook his head. “I just want to give you the world.”

  He opened the lid to the box himself, and took o
ut a diamond and sapphire tennis bracelet which matched the earrings. Before I could protest, he picked my hand up and draped the bracelet around my wrist and fastened the clasp.

  “Liam, it’s too much,” was all could say. He tipped my chin up to meet his lips, placing a soft kiss there as I continued to shake my head.

  “I want you to stop acting as if you don’t deserve these. I want you to get used to me buying you gifts. I want to be all of the rest of your firsts,” he murmured. I wrapped my arms around his neck.

  “You’re shaking.”

  “I’m scared.”

  He pulled back a bit to look down into my eyes. “Scared of what?”

  I shook my head, finding it difficult to put into words. “I'm scared of all of these emotions. I'm scared that I’ve…that I’ve let you in. Scared of how hard I’ve fallen. You’re going to break my heart, Covington,” I whispered. He shook his head, his grin deepening as if he knew a secret I didn’t.

  “No breaking…there will be no breaking in our relationship. Understood?”

  I smiled and exhaled, nodding quickly. He placed his lips under the earring and then caught it and tugged.

  “Well, if it isn’t the lovebirds. It’s time he brought you home to meet the folks,” the familiar sound of Ethan’s voice startled us from the front door.

  “She probably doesn’t want to meet you, asshole. Not after she heard you on my machine. Way to go, big brother. Your “c” word slip was her first introduction to our family!” Liam said as he rose to greet his brother. I followed suit, my cheeks blazing, embarrassed beyond reason at his comment. I smiled timidly at his brother, who resembled Liam but with lighter hair and a full four inch shorter, stockier build.

  “What did you do now, Ethan George Covington?” A female voice behind him sang out.

  “Oh, the usual, Chelsea. He is a lawyer, after all…always digging himself out of something,” Liam answered.

  Ethan extended his hand to me. “I’m so sorry, Kelly. Liam’s track record with girls isn’t exactly stellar, and I didn’t know he was finally dating someone seriously,” Ethan shot back at him while he shook my hand warmly.

  Chelsea Covington was short with a muscular athletic build, beautiful green eyes and thick blonde hair. Perched on her hip was the most adorable little girl with red curls I’d ever seen.

  “And here’s my Sammy! Come see Uncle Liam,” he gushed, taking the child from his sister-in-law’s arms. He turned to me with a wide grin. “Meet my beautiful niece, Samantha Ellen Covington. Luckily, she looks nothing like my ugly brother,” he teased as he covered her little cheeks with kisses. Sammy giggled, struggling around in his arms as he grazed his dark days’ worth of stubble on her cheeks. It was suddenly obvious to me why Liam had been so comfortable picking Masen up yesterday at Dana’s. He’d had practice.

  I reached a hand out to her in greeting. “Hey, Sammy. I’m Kelly. It's nice to meet you.”

  Sammy immediately leaned over from Liam’s arms and held her little chubby arms out to me.

  “If that’s not the damnedest thing,” Ethan remarked as he glanced at Chelsea. “She won’t ever go to strangers. She’ll hardly go to my own parents.”

  “Well, she knows a friend when she sees one,” I remarked as I took her from Liam. “She probably just wants to get away from his beard.” I raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Hey, I thought you liked my stubble,” he retorted petulantly.

  “Not when you’re rubbing it over her poor little cheeks. Look at them, you’ve made them all red.”

  As I held her to me, Sammy wrapped her little arms around my neck and placed her head on my shoulder.

  “They’re red all the time. I’m afraid she inherited her strawberry-blonde hair and freckles from my side,” Chelsea chimed in.

  Samantha’s head popped back up at the sound of her mother’s voice, and then she discovered my earring. Raising her hand slowly, she fingered the diamond with her index finger.

  “Oh, look…that explains it. She’s after the bling, just like her mother,” Ethan teased.

  “Your earrings are beautiful, Kelly,” Chelsea remarked as we walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa.

  “Thank you,” I replied, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks. “They were a gift from Liam.”

  “Whoa, little brother…your tastes have definitely improved! Whatever you’re doing to him, keep it up. There might just be hope for him yet.”

  A commotion in the kitchen caught everyone’s attention. A door slammed, followed by a loud bellowing voice.

  “Where’s my Sammy? Damn it, the kids got here before I did,” the familiar voice from yesterday’s disaster in Liam’s hotel room rang out from the back of the house. Their father strode into view, larger than life, looking just like Liam and Ethan. His dark good looks were hard to mistake, with thick salt and pepper, wavy hair that flopped over his forehead like Liam’s. I stiffened, knowing not only had this man confronted Liam about me only yesterday, but Liam had told him my secrets. Instead of blushing, I felt the blood rush from my cheeks, making me feel light headed.

  “She’s in here, G-paw…waiting to see you,” Chelsea answered. I rose on shaky legs, still holding the precious little girl in my arms. Liam’s eyes were on me as I stood to meet his father.

  “There she is--my little Sammy,” his father’s eyes twinkled kindly as he held his arms out to the little girl. She went eagerly, obviously adoring her grandfather. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. She laid her head over on his shoulder, just as she’d done when I’d first held her.

  “Good to see you, Dad,” Liam said, holding his hand out to his father.

  “Son,” his father answered, all the while looking at me. If it was even possible, more blood drained from my cheeks. I knew any minute I was either going to throw up or faint. Either would be mortifying.

  Liam sensed my unease and placed his arm firmly around my waist, pulling me into his side.

  “Dad, I want you to meet Kelly Sanger. Kelly, this is my dad, Davis Covington.”

  “Kelly,” Liam’s dad acknowledged me stiffly. I felt my knees go weak. His dad barely spoke to me, before turning his attention to Ethan and Chelsea. I began to panic. Liam had obviously been wrong about his father’s feelings. His attitude toward me was strained at best.

  “Um, Kel…let’s go see if Mom needs any help in there,” he urged me forward and around the sofas into the hallway. After we were out of the room, he pulled me around a corner into what appeared to be a library.

  “Kel, are you all right?” he asked. I nodded silently, relieved to be out of the room.

  “I can’t do this,” I began in a panicked voice.

  “Can’t do what, baby?” he asked softly, pulling me closer to place a kiss on my forehead.

  “This! Your dad knows about me, Liam. He doesn’t like me, it’s obvious. He doesn’t want me here,” I argued, trying to steady my voice. Taking a deep breath, I added, “I think I’d better go.”

  “No, Kel, you’re wrong. Dad did seem strange, I’ll admit. But he believes you, I promise.”

  My mind whirled, thinking of an escape. I was in full run-away mode again, just like yesterday when I’d heard him confront Liam in the other room. And just like the day I’d heard Ethan call me another “cunt” who Liam had picked up, I wanted to flee and never look back.

  “Liam?” Ellen called softly from the hallway. “May I say something?”

  I was humiliated. His mother had heard us from the kitchen.

  Ellen moved around Liam in the doorway and stood in front of me, taking both my hands in hers.

  “I promise you Davis is in no way disapproving of you. He is beyond ashamed you overhead his rant yesterday morning. He is just embarrassed, and you may have already learned, it’s sometimes hard for the men in this family to make amends once they’ve made an ass of themselves.” She paused, glancing over her shoulder at Liam. “He told me what happened yesterday and what you overheard. Davis jumps to conclu
sions sometimes, but you will find he is a fair man, and he loves his family. He’ll come around once he sees you don’t hold his boorish behavior against him,” she finished as she pulled me into her. Hugging me tightly, she whispered, “and I hope we all get the chance to know you better.”

  She pulled away, and cupped my cheek in her hand. “Now, come and help me set the table, while Liam refreshes everyone’s drink.”

  I nodded, and then turned to Liam as he leaned over and gave me a quick kiss. “I told you about mom. She likes you already,” he reminded me. I nodded and then shakily followed Ellen into the enormous kitchen. The entire thing seemed carved out of white limestone and granite, with elegant oak cabinets so tall I was sure she needed a step ladder to reach the upper shelves. Large iron chandeliers hung over both of the double islands sitting in the center of the room.

  “Kelly, dear…if you could look under the stove there, you’ll find some long white baskets to use for the bread. There are towels there to wrap the bread in,” she added as she rounded the island with a large platter full of shrimp. After retrieving the baskets she mentioned, I placed the bread in the towels and wrapped them, placing them in the baskets. I followed her into the dining room, decorated with a massive carved oak table and twelve leather arm chairs. I mentally noted their dining room reminded me of something off a western movie set.

  “This is so beautiful,” I remarked, running a hand over the rich leather of an armchair.

  “Isn’t it? This is my pride and joy…other than my kids, of course,” she said jokingly. “Davis bought it for me out of an auction right after we moved into the house. It came from a large South Texas ranch. It was originally a set built for one of the bunkhouses, but sat in storage for years because the cowboys complained it was too fancy to eat on,” she continued. “When it came up for auction, my father was going to buy us some furniture for the house. I told him about it, and he complained it was too expensive. Davis pulled money out of his own investments to buy it for me.” Her eyes became misty at the memory as she drew a deep breath. “I felt like a spoiled brat afterwards. But Davis said he’d move heaven and earth to see I had everything I ever wanted, and he always has,” she finished, shaking her head. “God, how I love that man.”