Each word branded him like burning, hot coals.
Tears made their way down her face. “I am a doctor and I can’t do anything to help him, Lex … nothing.” She sobbed when he took her in his arms and held her tight. Her body trembled as each sob tore through her.
Lex pulled back and wiped as many tears away as he could. “He didn’t send for me until now, Thea. Had I known, I swear to you, I would have come sooner. Fuck, I should have come sooner.”
She paused, her puffy face twisting into a scowl. “You mean that crazy coot man knew how to get ahold of you all this time and never said a word to me?”
“You know Earl, always something up his sleeve,” Lex reminded her.
Yanking from his arms, Thea wiped the tears from her eyes. “Oh, that scheming old man!” She marched out of the kitchen and down the hall with Lex at her heels.
Oh, this is going to be good.
Thea burst into Earl’s room, hands on her hips and the “you got some ’splaining to do” look on her face. Lex couldn’t help but hide his smile when Earl glanced up, unapologetic. The huge smile on his face told Lex that he’d heard every moan he pulled from Thea last night and gladly approved. Earl had something cooking in the books and Thea, as per usual, was about to try and unearth his plot.
Lex didn’t recognize the man who lay in the bed in front of him. The jovial smile that had cemented itself on Earl’s countenance was still present and the same Mississippi mud pie brown eyes stared back at him, but his thin, skeletal-like frame gave a voice to his disease … one that shouted louder than Earl would have liked. Earl gave him his signature crooked smile and opened his arms wide for him. Ever since Lex was a young boy, he never denied himself the warm embrace of Earl.
Lex ambled to the bed, careful not to trip over any tubes and wires, and leaned in. “Good to see your ugly face, old man.” He embraced him, tempering his strength as Earl was frailer than he’d ever seen him.
Lex stood up straight and took Earl in. “Damn, old man.”
Earl lifted a slim, boney hand. “Hand me my cup, please.” Lex picked up the cup; his gaze met Thea’s now somber eyes before he turned back to Earl. “Here.” The cup exchanged hands.
Earl eyed Thea over the rim as he sipped. “You trying to starve me to death, girl?” Lex caught a hint of laughter in his tone. “I know you were occupied last night,” Thea’s brown cheeks tinted pink and her eyes widened, “but that don’t mean we need to get too late a start on the day.”
Lex chuckled at her embarrassment. He’d never been ashamed of sex … well, except for the hooker he’d almost had sex with, but when it came to making love to Thea, he would never feel shame.
Thea huffed. “So crude, Paw Paw.” Turning, she moved to the door. “If you wanted me out of the room all you had to do was say so.”
Earl’s laughter brought Lex’s attention from that sweet little ass as she marched down the hall and out of view.
“I see you got my letter.” Earl pushed a button on his bed and an electric whirring sound filled the room as his bed lifted.
Pulling over a stool from the other side of the room, Lex sat. “I’m wondering why you waited so damned long.” The note hadn't seemed urgent, so how did Earl know Lex would come home, and … “How the hell did you know I was in Blackwater?”
“Sherriff told me.” Earl coughed. “You know that old bastard doesn’t like you, so when he saw you trudging through the woods like a damned heathen, he called me and warned me to leash my dog.”
Lex seethed. “Mother fucker, I’m the dog? That rat bastard—”
Earl waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Don’t matter one bit and he actually helped me out without even knowing it. And watch your mouth, boy.”
Lex settled back onto the stool properly chastised. In the past, Lex would have reminded Earl that he was a man and not a boy, but Earl and time had taught him that men didn’t need to command the title, but demonstrate it in their actions, and respecting Earl’s no cussing rule in his home was one way Lex would do just that.
Head bowed he offered his apologies. “Sorry, Earl.”
“I know it sounds like a silly rule to you and Thea, but I’m sure you can come up with better words than that garbage.”
“Agreed. Now you want to tell me what is going on? Thea is telling me cancer and that she has drained her bank account. I got some money saved up, if you need it you know it’s yours.” Earl was shaking his head before Lex had a chance to continue, but Lex pressed on. “You can’t give up, Earl. Not when you have Thea in your corner fighting with you. You know that woman is in there now, not only cooking eggs, but cooking up ideas for you.”
Earl chuckled. “Son, it is not up to me and I can tell you now, the end is coming. And that’s why I want you here. I don’t need you to convince me to fight. I’ve fought and the Lord is calling me home.” The finality in his words worried Lex. “We are to the point in which we need to settle some stuff before it’s too late. That time is now.”
Lex didn’t feel right just going along with this shit. He’d only arrived this morning, so in his eyes the fight had just started even though, for Earl and Thea, they’d been in the battle longer than either cared to be.
Lex rubbed the back of his neck. “There is nothing else I can say?” Frustration built in his chest. Shit, he was going to have a heart attack soon if he didn’t get shit under control.
“No. I want to live, Lex, but I am eighty and if it is my time that’s just what it is. I’ve lived every dream I’ve ever wanted. Said good-bye to my Juliet long before her time, raised you and Thea, loved and I’ve lost, but most importantly I’ve lived.” Earl’s hands trembled as he lifted them; Lex stood and moved to the bed. “That’s why I called you. You and Thea been separated too long, and that’s my fault.”
“She and I discussed it at length, Earl. We both think you did the right thing.”
“Yeah, you were a bad ass scoundrel. And her, my little princess.” Earl pointed to the closet. “Go in there and look at the bottom. Should be a tobacco box in there, pull it out for me.”
Lex strode to the closet and began his search.
“Hurry up, now. I don’t want Thea seeing you there or that box.”
Lex looked at him over his shoulder for a moment before resuming his search and finding what he sought. Bringing it back to Earl’s bed, Lex laid it on his lap.
Bony fingers clutched the box. “Thea spent all her money, but I still have some. If I gave her her way she’d blow this money on more treatments and some experimental treatment in Mexico.” Leaning his weight against the bed, Lex looked inside when Earl opened the box. “I know you just got back, and I know this relationship with you and my grandbaby is new, but I was there all those times I caught you watching her. The tenderness and reverence in your eyes wasn’t fake, you can’t put on an act like that and it not be true.”
Lex agreed; to him it hadn't been fake. However, he wasn’t sure where the hell this relationship, if they even had one, was going. Thea tried to hold herself back from him, he felt it even as she attempted to hide it.
“I don’t know what’s brewing between us, but I know what I want. She has to want the same, Earl.” He hoped she wanted the same. It’d been ten years and though they’d easily came together sexually, Lex was positive he’d have to fight harder to claim her heart.
Looking up at him through narrowed lids, Earl stated, “She does and always has. I know you aren’t such a damn fool that you don’t at least sense it.”
Lex had more than sensed it. He’d tasted it, felt, and knew it. Now the question was if Thea was going to allow them to act on it as more than a tryst between the sheets. Lex wasn’t ready to delve into that just yet; he and Earl had more to discuss at the moment.
Rubbing his hand over his newly shaven scalp, he pointed to the box. “What’s all that?”
Pulling some papers out, Earl pointed to a few of the bonds. “You and Thea’s future. After you bury me, cash these in and t
ake the money.”
“And you don’t want Thea to know about this?”
“Heck no. She’ll drain this and you know it.”
Lex was tempted to do the same thing. There were places all over the world specializing in treating terminal cancer patients.
“I called you here to handle this, Lex. Thea is strong, but when I am gone she is going to need you.”
Lex knew this to be true. Thea could handle so much, but she didn’t need to handle this or anything else alone … not anymore.
Immersing her hands in the warm, soapy water, Thea grumbled under her breath. Her annoyance had gone unnoticed, or rather ignored over breakfast as her grandpa and Lex reminisced over the past. Lex shoveled eggs and bacon into his mouth while every now and then peeking at her over his loaded fork and catching her heated gaze. Honestly, Thea’s anger was directed at Earl and his quiet, deceiving ways. Like Lex said, the old bastard always had something up his sleeve. Only this time, Thea feared she knew what he was planning. At his last doctor’s appointment, he’d asked Thea to leave the room while he spoke to the oncologist. Later, the doctor had suggested Thea talk with someone in family counseling. She’d shrugged it off, sure that she and Earl would continue to fight. But in reality, it wasn’t Thea’s fight, so each choice made no matter how painful the outcome, wasn’t hers to make.
Lifting her hands from the dishwater, Thea dried them off on a clean dish towel and wandered over to the window. Outside, the sun was high and shone bright in the sky, birds sang, and children played, oblivious to the turmoil in her heart. Glancing up, she took in the white fluffy clouds, remembering the excitement she felt the first time she soared through the sky to land in the concrete jungle. She’d changed majors four times before realizing her dream of caring for those unable to care for themselves. It’d been a late night in the library when she’d opened her psychology book to study when she’d had the idea. Learning had always come so easy to her, so why not use that to her advantage and take on one of the toughest courses she could choose? She remembered the day clearly as if it were just yesterday.
Thea closed her eyes; dread filled her heart as she wondered if she would ever experience that rush of joy again. She wasn’t a fool, and she knew Earl couldn’t live forever, but watching him waste away, in pain and suffering was tearing her down. A movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention and Thea dropped her gaze in time to watch as the sheriff exited his vehicle, dipped his hat to her, and motioned to the front door.
Thea dropped the dish towel, and rushed toward the door, calling over her shoulder to Lex, “Sherriff’s here.” She hoped if Dowd heard her yelling, he’d assume she was letting Earl know he was showing up early in the morning. Nerves rattled and hackles rising so damned high she had chills, Thea latched the chain lock over the door before she opened it a crack for Sheriff Dowd.
Hands clutching the tops of his belt, he spat to the side, the brown liquid landing half on the ground half on the house. “Earl in there?” His thick southern accent always grated on Thea’s nerves. She truly believed the fool was thick on the drawl just to drive her nuts.
“What do you want?” Thea wasn’t in the right mindset for the day to play his games. “You know damned well Earl is here. If I am here he is here.” Thea made to close the door, but Dowd’s large hand slammed against it, stopping its progress. Thea peeked out the small crack as it grew wider from the force of his hand. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his face reddened in anger.
“Why is it every time I talk to you I get lip from you?” He leered; white teeth shone between thin lips as he took her body in through the crack of the door. His lascivious gaze made her skin crawl. “It’s not the kind of lip I want.” Waggling his brows suggestively, Dowd shoved against the door again, pushing the chain to the max and forcing Thea to release the door knob. Though fully dressed, Thea still felt icky beneath his stare. She’d opted for a pair of well-worn jeans and a ratty old T-shirt—comfort clothes—that Dowd had effectively made her feel uncomfortable in.
Unwilling to allow him to ruin her day, Thea took a calming breath. “What do you need?” Her brashness caused a shift in his attitude, and Dowd dropped the toothy grin and leering glares.
“Let me in,” he demanded. “I’m here on official business. Had some trouble over at Blackies I want to talk with him about.” Gone was the sickly-sweet flirtation, and in its place, the power-hungry jack ass she’d grown up with. Dowd placed a hand on his gun, using it as a prop instead of his hip. His gaze again moved past her, searching through the crack of the door.
“You know Earl is sick, right? Why in the hell would he know anything about what goes on in that cesspool of a brothel on the edge of town?” Thea expected his next words, but the last part shocked the shit out of her.
“I need Earl to locate his boy Lex so I can serve this warrant of arrest for assault.” Dowd smiled at her shocked gasp.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Hoping to play off the shock, Thea added, “When did Lex get back in town?”
With a disparaging glare, Dowd said, “Don’t play stupid, Doctor Montgomery.” He spat her name like it tasted bitter on his tongue. “I heard word that Calvin got a message to Lex to get his ass back home.” Thea cursed Calvin’s wife under her breath, the nosey old woman was no doubt the reason word was making it around town about the letter.
Keeping up the ruse, Thea shook her head and shrugged. “Well, if he did send notice, Lex either didn’t get it or didn’t heed it because he hasn’t been here.”
“Open the damned door, Thea. Damn, it’s hot as hell out here and I’m gonna speak to Earl today and get this shit over with.”
Thea opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of Earl’s voice stopped her.
“Let him in.”
Thea whirled around to see Earl in his wheelchair, slowly making his way into the room. “Paw Paw, for the love of …” Forgetting Dowd at the door, she rushed to him and helped him push the chair into the living room. She pulled the afghan over his legs to ward off his chills.
Earl pushed her hands away, irritated with her fussing. “Go let him in.”
Thea eyed the back hallway, looking for signs of Lex, who had obviously helped Earl into his wheelchair. Last thing she wanted was Lex to march down the hall cussing and acting up. The silly feud between Dowd and Lex in the past had been childish at best, but now with Dowd as Sheriff and the upper hand, Thea feared what would happen if Dowd found him here.
“Are you sure?” she whispered, still fumbling with the afghan. Pushing her hands away, Earl repeated himself.
Once he was settled, Thea reluctantly stood and made her way to the door. Lifting the chain, she opened the door, leaving Dowd plenty of room to come in.
Taking his hat from his head, Dowd stepped past her. “Morning, Earl,” he said as he leisurely strolled around the living room, his eyes taking in every nook and cranny.
Thea slammed the door behind him, prompting him to turn and eye her.
“Have a seat,” she motioned to the sofa, “and I’ll bring you something to drink.”
With a final glimpse around and a lingering glance down the hallway, Dowd ambled to the sofa and took a seat. “Thank you, some iced tea would be good.”
Thea rolled her eyes and trudged to the kitchen. Listening, she pulled a glass from the cabinet and grabbed the tea from the fridge. Taking the glass and tea into the living room, she placed it down in front of him.
“I’m liking what you did to the place, Thea.” She ignored his ogling stare as she poured his tea and placed the pitcher down beside it. “Hanging the new pictures of your mama around. Prettiest black woman I ever saw.”
Thea nearly stopped mid pour. She couldn’t let this simpleton’s words get to her.
Continuing to pour, Thea said, “I heard she turned your daddy down several times. Guess he thought she was pretty, too.” Rumors of Dowd’s daddy trying to woo her mother had made way around town. And as rumors often did, it turned into
a bit of a family feud.
“It’s too bad she didn’t teach you any manners.” Dowd’s derisive response was weak at best.
Earl lifted a hand, shutting them both up. “What are you here for?” he asked, his impatience clear in his tone.
A slight lift of his chin acknowledged he’d heard his words. “Looking for Lex and heard you called for him.”
Earl raised a questioning brow. “What’s me sending word to Lex got to do with Blackies?” Leaning back in his wheelchair, Earl crossed his thin arms over his chest.
Dowd moved his hat from hand to hand. “He assaulted a man over at Blackies.”
“The whore house?” Earl seemed surprised by this even as the sheriff acted as if this were typical behavior for Lex. While Lex had often found himself in trouble, Thea had been just as flabbergasted to have heard that he’d been at Blackies.
“Yes, sir.” Dowd’s gaze travelled to Thea’s. “No doubt picking up a whore. And on top of that, said whore was beat up pretty bad, too.”
Thea threw her hands in the air at the incredulity of the accusation. “For heaven’s sake, Dowd, you know damned well—”
Earl turned his sharp gaze to Thea. “Shut your mouth, young lady,” he admonished.
Leaning back against the door jam, Thea fixed Dowd with a heated stare of her own. “Sorry, Paw Paw.” Of all the ridiculous things to accuse Lex of, beating a woman was one of them.
Turning back to the Sheriff, Earl sighed. “Dowd, I know your daddy and your mama, too.”
Straightening in his chair, Dowd nodded. “Mama’s sick. They think it’s cancer.”
“Maybe so, but I also know how you and your daddy get her treatment money.”
Dowd’s eyes shot to Thea and she straightened.
What in the hell is going on? She’d heard Ellie was sick and that she’d been flown to Sweden for a new experimental drug. Too caught up in her own life, she never once wondered how Dowd and his family were paying for it.
Dowd shoved his hat back on his head. “Now, maybe Thea wants to run along and get some housework done?” More sweat beaded his brow and now his upper lip. Dowd tapped his knee with his thumb, a nervous gesture she’d known him to have all his damned life. Thea prayed she wouldn’t be sent away.
Rogue In Love: Thea and Lex: Love Against the Odds Page 7
