In a Texas Minute

by Bagwell, Stella

  Sighing heavily, Sierra got up from her chair, carried her plate to the kitchen sink and began to wash the dishes that were already piled there. She had to move her body, to do something or else she was sure she was going to break right down the middle.

  “Yes, I thought so, too, Mom. But it wasn’t meant to be. Alex doesn’t want to be a family man and it would be wrong of me to try to turn him into one.”

  “But he must care about Bowie,” Maria reasoned. “Why would he be so against you adopting him?”

  Sierra scrubbed at a tiny spot of dried egg on the edge of a plate. “He’s adopted himself, Mom. Remember?”

  “Yes,” Christina spoke up. “I remember you talking about him once. You said he felt very bitter about his parents keeping the truth from him and you were trying to encourage him to forgive them.”

  Sierra nodded. “That was a long time ago. And I believe, for the most part, that he has forgiven his parents. But he doesn’t want to have to be the one to tell Bowie that his real parents deserted him.”

  Gloria cast a worried look at her younger sister. “Maybe he believes Bowie would grow up to resent the two of you like Alex did his own parents?”

  Pausing with her hands in the dishwater, Sierra stared thoughtfully out the window over the kitchen sink. Her father was going back and forth on the lawn tractor and enjoying every second of it. Even though Jose was a brilliant businessman, he was a deep family man. From all that her mother had told her, he had looked forward to having children and once she and her sisters had been born, he’d embraced the three of them with all his heart. If only Alex had those same traits, she thought wistfully. Perhaps then he wouldn’t have been able to turn his back on her and Bowie. But she had to remember that her father had loved her mother from the very beginning and that was the key. Alex didn’t love her. He’d only wanted her, desired her.

  “I don’t know,” she mumbled. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m going to forget about Alex Calloway. I’m going to concentrate on adopting Bowie. And as for Alex, he can go jump in the river.”

  Leaving her seat at the table, Christina walked over and put her arm around Sierra’s slender shoulders. “Honey,” she said in a voice only for Sierra’s ears, “do you remember when I was going through that horrible sexual harassment case?”

  “Of course I remember it,” Sierra spoke quietly. “You went through hell at that time. Nobody believed you.”

  “Except for you,” Christina said with affection. “You believed in me and you wouldn’t let me give up. So I’m not going to allow you to give up and turn into a sob sister. If you love Alex, you’d better go after him. Make him see that the three of you are meant to be a family.”

  Sierra looked up from the sudsy water and stared at her sister through teary eyes. “Alex has always said I’m too soft. Maybe I should show him I’m not a complete marshmallow.”

  “Now you’re talking, sweetie,” Christina said, then happily turned to Gloria and their mother. “Relax, you two, I’ve made her see reason. She’s gonna fight for her man!”

  “It’s about time,” Gloria muttered.

  “Thank you God,” Maria said reverently as she crossed herself. “Rosita’s dream will come true now.”

  Sierra understood what dream her mother was talking about, but she didn’t bother to point out that Rosita’s dreams were just that—dreams. And Alex wasn’t a marrying man.

  Later that afternoon in Dallas, Alex was in his parents’ backyard putting golf balls into a tin cup his father had sunk into the ground. He’d never been one to play the game in earnest, mainly because he was too busy trying to keep the electric bill paid at the office so that Pauline wouldn’t have to resort to a hand fan. But his father loved the game and he enjoyed showing off his putting skills to Alex.

  “Hey, you can’t make that,” Alex challenged good-naturedly as he watched his father place the ball about eighteen feet from the hole.

  Across the yard, reclining on a lounger, Emily glanced up from the paperback book she was reading. The day was sunny and hot and his mother was wearing a pair of black capri pants with a matching shirt and a pair of white sunglasses with rhinestones dotting the rims. She looked like something out of a James Bond movie and Alex realized that next to Sierra his mother was the most beautiful and caring woman on earth. Why had it taken him this long to realize that?

  “Don’t bet on it, Alex,” Emily said. “He does this for hours every day. He’s an expert.”

  Mitch took his time lining up the shot and eventually gave the ball a solid nudge with his putter. To Alex’s amazement the ball rattled around the lip of the hole, then fell in, and he laughed as his father pumped a triumphant fist in the air.

  “I’m glad I didn’t bet. You’re getting salty, Dad. I won’t be challenging you to eighteen holes anytime soon.”

  Smiling at the two of them, Emily tossed her book aside and stood up. “I’m going in to make iced tea,” she announced. “You two want a glass?”

  “Sure. Bring the pitcher,” Alex answered.

  Once his mother had disappeared into the house, Alex walked over to his father. “Dad, can I talk to you a minute?”

  Picking up the seriousness in his voice, Mitch laid his putter aside and motioned for Alex to sit beside him on the porch steps where a sycamore dappled them with cooling shade.

  “Let ’er rip,” he invited.

  As he looked into his father’s strong face, Alex was suddenly overcome with emotions he’d never expected to feel.

  “I—this is going to sound strange to you probably. But I—” He paused and shook his head in a helpless gesture. “Have you and Mother always been glad that you adopted me?”

  Mitch’s whole forehead jerked upward with surprise. Then he studied his son’s solemn face for long moments before he finally broke into a wide smile.

  “We’ve always been very glad and very proud that you’re our son. You don’t doubt that, do you?”

  At one time he had, Alex thought. Back when he was an impressionable, moody teenager he’d had this idea that Mitch and Emily had adopted him just so they could say they had a child like the rest of their friends. Not because they loved him. And later, well, he’d dwelled on the fact that they’d kept his adoption a secret rather than concentrate on all the wonderful things they’d done for him.

  “No. I don’t doubt it. But was there ever a time, in the very beginning, that you weren’t sure about taking on a son who wasn’t conceived from your genes?”

  Mitch thoughtfully rubbed his chin. “Alex, I’ll be honest with you. There were moments, before we ever signed the adoption papers, that I worried. Raising a child is a huge responsibility. I kept wondering if I could do it right. I asked myself what would happen if I couldn’t take care of you financially. What if I suddenly died and left your mother with a baby to rear on her own. All sorts of questions like that ran through my head. But I never worried about your blood or your genes. I don’t care about any of that,” he argued gently. “The bond between us is what makes us father and son.”

  Until this moment Alex hadn’t realized how closed off his heart had been. Now he could feel a heavy door slowly creaking open and a warm light flooding him.

  “I’m lucky to have you, Dad. You and Mom both.”

  Mitch squeezed his shoulder and looked out across the manicured lawn. “Was there some reason you were thinking about all of this, Alex? All weekend I’ve gotten the sense that your mind has been occupied with something.”

  Alex nodded glumly. “There’s this woman—I’ve known her for a long time and I care about her. She’s—she’s caring for a newborn who she wants to adopt. I told her she should wait and have children of her own. We ended up arguing bitterly—and I walked out.”

  “Why?” Mitch asked.

  Alex sighed. “Because I’m a selfish bastard, I guess. Walking is easier than facing a woman with tears in her eyes.”

  “No. I mean why did you oppose her adopting the baby?”

  Al
ex shrugged. Now that his father put the question to him point-blank, his reasons seemed foolish and selfish. “I don’t really know. I just kept thinking that someday I’d have to tell him that his real parents hadn’t wanted him. And I couldn’t imagine having to see his pain.”

  Mitch gave his son’s shoulder another encouraging squeeze. “The love you’ll give him will make up for all of that. Don’t you agree?”

  Alex had to think only for a second before a slow smile began to spread across his face. “Yeah. I agree.”

  “So what are you going to do about this young woman?” Mitch asked.

  The smile fell from Alex’s face. “I don’t know, Dad. I said some pretty awful things to her.”

  “I’ve said some pretty awful things to your mother, too. But thankfully for us men, most women are forgiving creatures.”

  “I can only hope,” Alex told him.

  Monday afternoon Sierra dressed carefully in a flirty knee-length skirt and a matching blouse. She secured the left side of her hair behind her ear with a pearl studded comb and allowed the rest to fall in curls around her shoulders.

  Once she had finished with her makeup and gathered up Bowie and his diaper bag, she left the house and drove straight to the Stocking Stitch, her mother’s knitting store in downtown Red Rock.

  Upon hearing Sierra’s plans to drive to San Antonio to see Alex at his law office, Maria had insisted on keeping Bowie while she made the trip. At first, Sierra was reluctant to leave the baby with her mother. She’d intended for Bowie to be with her when she faced Alex again. After all, the baby had been at the center of their argument and she wanted him to see that Bowie was still a part of her life. But her mother had finally convinced her that she needed to talk to Alex without the distraction of a baby.

  As Sierra drove the twenty miles to San Antonio, she wasn’t sure her mother was right about leaving Bowie with her. But then it probably wouldn’t matter if the baby was right in front of Alex or back in Red Rock; she expected the man to be a hard case.

  A half hour later, Sierra entered the front door of Calloway Law Office. No clients were seated in the small waiting area and Pauline was two-stepping around the room with a feather duster while on the radio George Strait was singing about coming unwound.

  “Oh, Sierra. I didn’t realize anyone had come in,” she said the moment she spotted Sierra standing just inside the doorway.

  The woman hurried over to the radio and turned down the volume. “Sorry about that,” she said as she wiped her hands against the hips of her black slacks. “Alex is out and I’m all caught up on paperwork. And since I double as janitor, too, I thought it would be a good time to stir up some dust around here.”

  Sierra looked around the long, wood-paneled room. It was filled with a couch, several wooden hardback chairs, two lamps and three magazine racks. In one corner, a small television was tuned in to a soap opera, but the sound was turned off.

  “Alex doesn’t deserve you, you know,” Sierra told her. “You should tell him that you don’t do windows.”

  Pauline laughed. “I don’t mind. Gives me a little exercise. Besides, I feel the same way as Alex. I don’t want some stranger coming in here sniffing around our private papers and things. You can’t trust anyone these days.”

  She motioned for Sierra to follow her over to the couch. “So I’m guessing you’re here to see Alex.” The woman sank onto the end cushion and crossed her legs out in front of her.

  Sierra continued to stand. Now that she’d learned Alex was out, there wasn’t any need for her to stay. She might as well get on back to the Stocking Stitch and relieve her mother of Bowie.

  “I—was hoping to talk to him. I just took a chance that he’d be in.” She hadn’t wanted to call before making the drive over. She hadn’t wanted to give Alex the chance to snub her without facing her first.

  “That’s too bad. He had opening arguments on an insurance fraud case today. And Judge Brookings is on the bench for this one. The old judge doesn’t want to waste a minute of the taxpayers’ money. If there’s a spare half hour left in the day, he’ll try to run two or three witnesses through examination.”

  Disappointment swamped Sierra. She’d gotten herself all psyched up for this meeting. Now she felt deflated.

  “Oh. Well, I’ll try to catch him later,” she said to the secretary.

  Sierra started toward the door and Pauline jumped up to follow her.

  “Uh, you wouldn’t happen to know what’s been wrong with Alex, would you?” she asked. “He’s turned into a regular monster. I think he’s sick, but he refuses to go to the doctor.”

  Sierra shook her head. She hoped the other woman was wrong. To even think of Alex being ill caused her stomach to clench with alarm.

  “No. I haven’t seen Alex in…a few days,” she said.

  Pauline released a wistful sigh. “Well, at least he seemed better today. I guess spending the weekend with his parents helped him.”

  Sierra looked at her. “Alex went to Dallas?”

  Pauline nodded. “Yes. Surprised the heck out of me. He doesn’t go up there too often.”

  This news sent Sierra’s head spinning and she replied in an absent voice, “No. He doesn’t.”

  “Should I tell him you stopped by?” Pauline asked as Sierra reached to push open the door.

  “Uh, no,” Sierra answered. “Whenever I see him, I want it to be a surprise.”

  She said goodbye to Alex’s secretary then stepped out into the late-evening sun. A humid breeze was blowing directly from the south and it fluttered the hem of Sierra’s skirt and tossed the black curls around her head as she walked down the sidewalk toward her parked car.

  She was trying to tell herself not to feel dejected when she heard someone calling her name. Turning, she was suddenly frozen by the sight of Alex hurrying down the sidewalk in her direction.

  “Sierra, what are you doing here?”

  His tie was loosened, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled back against his forearms and his brown hair windblown against his forehead. His muscular body appeared thinner through the midsection, his face gaunt and tired. Sierra suddenly wanted to burst into tears at the sight of him.

  “I came by to see you.”

  She could see that her answer had shocked him. It was clear in the way his brows lifted and his green eyes widened ever so slightly. But after a moment he appeared to collect himself and he glanced over her shoulder toward her parked car.

  “You don’t have Bowie with you?”

  She shook her head and his expression instantly turned fearful.

  “What—you haven’t done anything, have you? I mean, Bowie is still with you, isn’t he?”

  She wanted to ask him why it mattered to him, but she kept the sharp words buried inside of her. At least they were talking. That was better than what had transpired between them these past several days.

  “Why, yes. My mother has him at the Stocking Stitch. Showing him off to all her knitting customers, I’m sure.”

  He let out a sigh of relief, then glanced thoughtfully down the sidewalk in the direction of his office. “Uh, come on,” he told her. “Let’s go back to the office. We can talk there.”

  His hand closed around her upper arm and Sierra’s heart began to trip over itself. To have him touching her again was so exciting and familiarly sweet. No man had ever made her feel as Alex did and she was absolutely certain no man ever would.

  They strode down the sidewalk and entered the law office. Alex quickly caught Pauline’s attention and jerked his thumb toward the door. “Go home,” he ordered.

  Jumping to her feet, the secretary pulled her purse from a desk drawer and shoved her chair in place. “You don’t have to tell me twice. But what happened with Brookings? I thought you’d be gone ’til six tonight.”

  Alex grinned slyly. “Brookings got mad at the A.D.A. for not turning over a piece of evidence to me. Called us both in chambers and said he was fed up and for us to go home and come back in the
morning.”

  Pauline laughed. “So now you have the judge in your pocket. I wish I had your charm, Alex Calloway.”

  She slipped out the door and Alex, who was still holding on to Sierra’s arm, dropped it long enough to lock the door behind his secretary. Once he’d finished that task, he led Sierra to his private office.

  After he’d closed the door, he took both her hands and led her over to his desk where a banker’s lamp was still burning in the shadowy room.

  “You look beautiful, Sierra,” he said softly. “Do you know how happy I am to see you?”

  Fear and pain and hope all coiled together inside of Sierra until all she could do was shake her head. “I—I haven’t seen or heard from you in days…weeks now. How can I believe that you’re happy to see me?” she asked doubtfully.

  A frown quirked the muscles around his mouth as his hands released hers and began to slide seductively up her arms. “Maybe showing you would be better,” he said huskily.

  He leaned in to kiss her, but Sierra held him off, placing both hands against his chest. “No! None of that right now, Alex. We’d wind up right over there on your couch. And that wouldn’t get us anywhere.”

  As far as Alex was concerned, it would get them everywhere. But he could see from the set of her jaw that she was resolute and the last thing he wanted to do was anger her more than he already had.

  “All right,” he gently agreed, but his concession didn’t stop him from taking a firm hold on her hands once again. “I’m glad to see you because I want to apologize, Sierra. I was wrong. Flat wrong. And I’m asking you to forgive me.”

  Alex was apologizing to her? Sierra was shocked. It was a rare thing for the man to apologize to anyone, much less her. He usually considered a wink and a pat on the cheek a sufficient apology.

  “Forgive you for what?” she asked. “Being a jackass?”

  Alex tried not to outwardly flinch. “Honey, I—” He paused long enough to shake his head, then tried again. “Yeah, I guess I was a jackass. But I’m not anymore.”