She had a daughter. And he had a history. Naomi might insist his past was no big deal, but the panicked look on her face when her daughter had asked where he’d been all these years proved she didn’t want Gracie to know. And he got it. Prison time wasn’t an easy thing to explain to other adults, let alone to a child. Gracie would see him differently, just like everyone else did.
“A relationship with Naomi means a relationship with Gracie.” He eyed his brother. God help the woman he fell in love with. Wouldn’t be easy to break a wild stallion. “And I’ve got work to do on that front. She doesn’t even want Gracie to know I was in prison. Not yet. And I don’t blame her.”
Levi’s cheeks hollowed with a hard look. “That’s bullshit. You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t even belong in prison.”
“But I was there.” It’d changed him, too. He wouldn’t try to deny that. “I served time for a crime. Imagine trying to explain that to a ten-year-old girl.” Actually, he didn’t want to. He’d already earned Gracie’s trust, but once she learned the truth about him, he’d likely have to start all over. “It’ll freak her out. I don’t want her to be scared of me.” If it were up to him, they’d wait until she was twenty to tell her anything about it. Until she could understand a label didn’t have to define someone.
“It’s not fair.” Levi pushed back from the table and stood. He was the tallest out of all three of them, which wasn’t saying much. “You can’t even live your god damn life because of something I did.”
Lucas exchanged another look with Lance. Not only was he the tallest, he also had the shortest fuse on his temper.
Lucas pushed away his nearly full bottle of beer. “It’s all behind us now,” he said firmly, so Levi wouldn’t get any grand ideas about dredging up the finer points of their past. They’d had that discussion and he knew where Lucas stood.
“It’s not behind us,” his younger brother argued. The man had always loved to argue. “It’s not behind you.”
Couldn’t deny that. He’d thought it was behind him until he came back to Topaz Falls. Down in Pueblo, no one gave a damn where he’d been. If anything, his stint in prison made him a “tougher son of a bitch.”
Levi ripped the chair away from the table and sat across from him again.
Lucas had to blink. He saw so much of their mother in that lost, dejected look on his face.
“You saved my life.”
He went to share another eye roll with Lance, but his older brother simply nodded.
“You saved all of us,” he said grimly. “It woke Dad up. Woke us all up.”
Lucas looked away from both of them, searching for a way to change the subject, but nothing came to him. “I’m not some savior.” He’d simply wanted to protect them. Protect Dad.
Levi waited until he looked at him. “I was already drinking. Experimenting with drugs. There’s no telling where I would’ve ended up if you hadn’t done that for me.”
That was what he’d been worried about. Levi had always been extreme, never knew how to manage his anger.
“After they took you away, I got my shit together.”
This time Lucas pushed back from the table. He didn’t do this well. The sentimental stuff. The gratitude party. “You turned out all right,” he said, carting their beer bottles to the sink. Considering those rough few years after their mother had left, Levi could’ve done a hell of a lot worse.
His brother came over and stood in front of him. “I want to fix it.”
“I appreciate that. Really.” But he didn’t need him to. “There’s nothing you can do. I’ll always have a record. You can tell everyone what really happened and it won’t matter. Won’t change the fact that I spent three years in prison.” He sidestepped his brother and glanced at Lance before Levi pushed any harder. “You guys want to get out of here? Go for a beer or something? Maybe I’ll kick your ass in a game of pool…” It might’ve been almost nine o’clock, but he had a lot more energy to burn and sitting around the table talking about the past with his brothers wasn’t cutting it.
“Yeah, sure. We can do that.” Lance didn’t like the sentimental stuff any more than Lucas did.
“Kick our asses?” Levi demanded. It was almost too easy to distract him. “You’re not gonna kick my ass,” their younger brother said, leading the charge out the door. “I was reigning champ at the Low Country Pool Hall back in Tulsa.”
“Nice to be reigning champ in something, huh?” Lance insulted, acknowledging the fact that Levi hadn’t won many sizeable purses.
“Oh, it’s on.” Their younger brother stomped out the door.
And just like that, the Cortez brothers, who’d grown up avoiding every heart-to-heart chat, were back.
* * *
The nine o’clock crowd at the Tumble Inn happened to be on the rougher side than the Happy Hour crowd. Hence the reason Lucas didn’t frequent the place after a certain time of night. These days, he did his best to stay out of trouble.
Tonight, the risk didn’t seem too great. Only a few stragglers sat at the bar, their eyes tuned into a Rockies game. No one he recognized, so that was good. Maybe they were new to town since he’d been gone or maybe they were part of that big construction crew working on the pass outside of town. Didn’t matter. At least they weren’t glaring at him with a silent message to walk his ass back out the door.
Shoulders relaxing, he chalked up his pool cue. He had to admit, it was good to get out. Hanging with Levi and Lance, shooting some pool, sharing some laughs. He was actually enjoying himself more than he’d thought he would. Even with the good beating his brother was currently handing him.
“Who’s kicking whose ass?” Levi asked, giving him a shot to the shoulder with his pool cue.
“Game’s not over yet,” Lucas reminded him, though he didn’t have a prayer. Levi had already schooled Lance in the first game and now he was about to prove he really had been the reigning champ somewhere down in Podunk, Oklahoma, whereas Lucas hadn’t played a game of pool since prison.
“Come on, man,” Lance muttered. “Knock his ego down a few hundred notches.”
That wasn’t gonna happen. “Doin’ my best,” he said, keeping up the façade. Maybe a hot woman looking for a good time would come along to distract their brother and give him a break.
Sizing up his next shot, Lucas bent to study the right angle. He had to put that solid four in the corner pocket. Shouldn’t be a tough one…
Leaning down, he lined up his cue and popped it lightly. The damn ball ricocheted off the side and headed in the opposite direction.
“Nice shot.” Grinning, Levi bumped his shoulder as he skirted past him.
“Just trying to make you look good.” He took a swig of his beer. At least there weren’t many people around to watch him get schooled by his younger brother. “Maybe we should arm wrestle next,” he suggested, knowing that, while Levi worked hard on his abs, he didn’t do much heavy lifting.
Sure enough, his brother ignored the challenge and leaned over to line up his next shot. “Eight ball. Right corner pocket,” he said smugly. And what do you know? He popped the cue ball and knocked that damn eight ball right in.
“Looks like that’s it, boys,” his brother said, strutting over to give Lucas’s shoulder a nudge. “Pay up—”
“I didn’t know it was felon night.”
Lucas didn’t have to turn around to see who’d just ruined his evening. Damn. He should’ve been paying attention to what kind of trash was walking through that door, but he’d been too busy enjoying himself. That’s what he got.
Levi pushed past him, a recognizable fire in his eyes. “What the fuck is your problem, Dobbins?”
Slowly Lucas turned to the man, taking his time to snuff the fuse of his temper. He’d had plenty of practice. And this man was not worth it.
On the other side of the pool table, Lance stood nice and straight, keeping a watchful eye on Dobbins and his two friends.
“My problem is there’s a felon in t
own. People have to start locking doors,” Dobbins slurred. He must’ve come to the Tumble Inn after getting kicked out of another establishment because the man could hardly stand up straight. His two friends seemed somewhat better off.
“You know what you need?” Levi asked, his jaw locked. “A good ass-kicking.” He lunged a step closer as though he planned to make good on the threat.
Lucas hooked his brother’s arm and reeled him back. “Not worth it. Ignore him.”
Marshal obviously wasn’t about to let that happen, though. He wasn’t about to let any of them ignore him. He strutted closer to Levi with a smirk that could’ve provoked a lamb. “Your brother shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you,” Lance said politely. “Why don’t you go on home? Sleep off the booze before it gets you in trouble.”
Dobbins steadied a hand on the pool table, his face crimson. He’d always been a mean drunk. And he’d always gone looking for trouble, too. The fact that he kept harassing Lucas only proved he was the guy who’d messed up his truck. That or he’d sent one of his kids to do it. His oldest had to be fourteen. Plenty mature enough to be vandalizing.
Lucas tossed his pool cue on the table. He’d better give Dev a heads-up. “Think it’s time to go.” He turned away, hoping like hell his brothers would follow.
“You’re trash. You know that, Cortez?” Dobbins spat behind him. “You and that whore of yours.”
The room blurred with a sudden invasion of pure, unsuppressed rage. It spilled out past the barriers he’d put in place. He whirled back to the man, fingertips already digging into palms. He hadn’t used his fists for a damn long time, but he hadn’t forgotten how.
Seeing that he’d gotten Lucas’s attention, Dobbins laughed and elbowed his idiot friend. “She don’t even know who knocked her up.”
Before he knew what was happening, Lucas’s body had lurched into motion and his arm had wound back, ready to let a punch fly. But before he could knock the teeth out of Dobbins’s grin, Levi shoved him out of the way and took it upon himself to throw the first blow.
His brother’s fist connected with Marshal’s jaw in a crack that sent the man reeling backward.
Shaking out his hand, Levi turned to Lucas. “Don’t want you to get busted. Besides, I’ve wanted to do that for a long—”
Dobbins plowed into his brother and sent him stumbling backward into a table. Lucas lunged into the scuffle, trying to get that lunatic off his brother, but the two morons Marshal had brought with him attacked, ripping him away and taking clumsy swings at his face. He ducked easily, knocking one aside with his elbow as Lance jumped into the fray, taking out the other one.
Dobbins, meanwhile, had completely lost it, and was swinging furiously at Levi, spit flying from his mouth as he mumbled insults. Lucas went for him again, but those two other bastards had come back for more.
“Fight!” someone yelled from the outskirts, and he distantly realized this would not end well but there was no stopping it now. Ripping out of one of the thugs’ grasps, he hauled off and shoved him hard. The man went reeling backward, slamming into a chair and breaking it into kindling. Blinded by the pumping adrenaline, Lucas made his way to Marshal. “Get off him.” He tore Dobbins away from Levi and stood him up straight. “This is between you and me.”
With an enraged grunt, Marshal ripped free and socked him in the stomach, which would’ve hurt if the man wasn’t so damn drunk. Still, Lucas hit back, sinking his fist into the man’s gut, which caused Marshal to double over.
There was more yelling from the outskirts, chants and shouts to stop, but Dobbins’s thugs kept right on swinging at his brothers and Lucas couldn’t let that go. He went for the shorter one, plowing into him until they were both on the floor vying for the best angle to land a solid punch. He got one in, then jumped up to go after the other one.
“Enough!” The voice of authority rang out. Officer Dev Jenkins had arrived.
Everything came to a screeching halt. Holding up his hands, Lucas backed away from the man. For the first time, he glanced around at the mess—broken chairs, glass scattered around the floor from their beer bottles.
Shit.
At some point Gil Wilson, the owner of the bar, had come over. “Get ’em outta here,” he said to Dev, looking truly pissed off. Which also meant he was likely to press charges.
Standing right where he was, Lucas waited for Dev to cuff him. Looked like he’d get to see the inside of a cell again after all.
Chapter Twenty
There wasn’t enough sex,” Darla complained, leafing through the pages of their latest book club selection.
“Of course there wasn’t.” Jessa sighed, sharing a martyred look with Cassidy. “Because it’s a historical thriller. Not erotica.”
“Well, it lost my attention around page twenty.” Darla set the book on the table and folded her hands primly.
Everyone glanced at Naomi, as if waiting to hear her thoughts, but she’d busied herself with refilling wineglasses. Given everything that had been going on lately, she hadn’t exactly had a chance to read the book. Not to mention…she had other things on her mind. Big things. Like how do you explain to your ten-year-old daughter that the man you love spent time in prison?
“Can I get anyone another brownie?” she offered, deflecting the curious stares with a smile. It was a futile attempt to derail the questions rising in their eyes. She loved hosting book club, even on a Monday night. Loved having these women sit around her dining room table sipping wine and eating chocolate while they talked books with the low hum of Adele in the background. When Naomi hosted, they always waited until after Gracie was in bed to gather, seeing as how Darla like to discuss sex scenes in great detail.
But tonight Naomi had nothing to contribute. She wished things were different. Less complicated. She wished Lucas could’ve stayed; that they could’ve made out on the couch and then gone into her bedroom. She wished he could’ve spent the night…
“Something happened with Lucas.” Cassidy tossed her book down on the table, as though she’d much rather discuss that. “Something big.”
That woman’s intuition was otherworldly.
“Ohhhhh…something sexual?” asked Darla. “Because it’s about damn time.”
“No.” Naomi infused the word with a desperate shush. “Nothing sexual.” Unfortunately.
Everyone scooted their chairs closer to the table and leaned in as if they’d just remembered there was a child in the house. Each of their eyebrows raised in a silent demand for her to continue.
“I mean, it’s not for lack of desire.” Nope, that was definitely not the problem. Her body was revving just recalling the fishing experience. She’d never thought she could like fly fishing so much…
“So what is it, then?” Jessa prompted.
A sigh gave her up. “I don’t know how to do this. With Gracie. Especially now. With Mark coming back and so many changes.” The enormity of it all rattled her again, bringing a familiar tremble of fear. She’d always been so careful, so guarded, and everything about Lucas made her want to kick in those walls. But there was a lot at stake. And not only for her, either.
“Honey.” Darla reached across the table and covered her hand with her graceful, slender fingers. “That girl is more resilient than you give her credit for.”
“Yeah,” Cass agreed. “She’s got you for a mom. And you’re the most resilient woman I know.”
Warm tears seeped into her eyes. “Tonight she asked Lucas where he’s been all these years, and I wouldn’t let him answer.” She wanted to protect him, too, but still. He probably thought she was embarrassed by him.
“What are you afraid of?” Jessa asked. “If you tell her the truth?”
“That she won’t accept him. That she’ll be scared of him.” That she wouldn’t want him to be a part of their lives. Naomi didn’t think she could bear that. Because Gracie deserved to have some say in who she let into their lives.
“But you love him,” Da
rla said. It wasn’t a question. “And if there’s one thing I do know about love, it’s that you can’t wait.” She leaned over the table, her eyes emphatic. “You’ve already lost too many years with him, Naomi. Don’t lose any more time.”
The urgency in her friend’s wise eyes tempted her to dig out her phone and call him right then. She didn’t want to wait. Couldn’t stand the thought of losing more time. “I want to be careful. To give Gracie time to adjust.” Her daughter deserved that.
“You don’t have to have everything figured out this minute,” Jessa said gently. “Most of us are figuring things out as we go.”
“Besides,” Cass added. “It seems to me Lucas has already won Gracie over.”
“You’re right.” Of course they were right. She’d handled the news about Mark so well. If she could forgive Mark for being gone ten years, surely she could forgive Lucas for making a mistake when he was high school “I’ll find a way to tell her soo—”
Jessa’s phone started blaring a Madonna concert. Humming along to “Like a Prayer,” her friend held up a finger, signaling for them to give her a minute. “This is Jessa,” she said politely.
The woman was the only person Naomi knew who answered her phone even when she didn’t recognize the number, but in a way she was always on call. No one ever knew when there’d be an animal emergency.
This time instead of her calm, professional response, a sharp gasp made her eyes bulge. “I’m sorry. What?”
Naomi exchanged looks with Cassidy and Darla.
“What did they do?” Jessa squawked, clearly taken aback.
“Uh-oh,” Darla muttered. “That can’t be good.”
“Of course,” their friend murmured into the phone. Her face was flushed. “Yes, I understand. I’ll be right there.”
She clicked off the phone and stared at it.
“I take it that wasn’t an animal emergency?” Cassidy asked.
Comeback Cowboy Page 19
