Texas Girl Grit

by Shelley Stringer

  I woke to a soft touch on my forehead. When I opened my eyes, I took in Liam’s as he removed his lips from my brow and smiled down at me. I checked at my side when I realized I’d fallen asleep with Masen. He was still tucked safely into my side, his head upturned, his breath softly blowing in and out as he slumbered. Liam moved to kiss him as well, and carefully avoiding jarring me, eased onto the bed beside us.

  “Have a good nap?”

  I smiled up at him but winced when I stretched.

  “Sore today?” Liam asked. He reached out to cup my cheek.

  “Yeah. I feel like I’ve been in a car wreck,” I joked. Liam didn’t laugh. He shook his head.

  “I wish there was something I could do to help,” he replied as he rubbed the stitched wound on my forehead next to my hairline.

  “You are helping. Thank you for hiring Miranda to help with Masen. It seems the arrangement will help her as much as us.”

  Liam watched Masen as he made faces in his sleep. At my comment, his eyes darted back to me.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “She told me she thinks staying here will help her study and she won’t have to tutor as much with the extra money,” I informed him. His expression told me it never occurred to him money could be an issue for her.

  “Do you think she’d be open to make this a more permanent arrangement? Even after you’ve healed, we’ll need her more when my campaign gears up. And we will have to travel too.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt to ask her, Liam. Although I hate for you to pay someone to help me, I wouldn’t feel as badly about it if I knew the money helped her with school.”

  His eyes sparkled as he gazed down at me. “Then we’ll have to see if we can talk her into it. I’d do anything to put that look on your face, Hellcat.”

  “What look?” I asked. I looked down at Masen as he stirred and wriggled to sit up and rub his eyes.

  Liam reached to pick him up and kiss him as he replied, “The one you have now. Like I just saved a boatload of kids from drowning…or discovered a cure for cancer. I’d pay to see that look every day.”

  “And Miranda told me you fed Masen this morning before you went to work.”

  Fully awake now, Masen giggled as he slapped his hands against Liam’s cheeks, a clue he wanted him to blow raspberries.

  “That was for me, Baby. I love early-morning time with him almost as much as I do putting him to bed,” he replied as he leaned over to kiss me.

  I felt my eyes glisten. “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “Pregnant hormones look good on you, Hellcat,” he whispered back. Kissing me once more, this time with tongue, his lips devouring mine, he let me know how good. Once he’d convinced me, he drew away reluctantly. “I came home to have a bite of lunch with you. But I’ve got a full afternoon of meetings and I won’t be home ‘till late. I wanted you to know I phoned Stuart Drake to let him know you’ll work from home for a couple of weeks. He’ll have your assistants e-mail some stuff for you to approve. You might check it later if you feel up to it,” he said.

  “That’s great, Liam. I’ll check it after lunch.”

  “Just don’t overdo it. Work can wait,” he admonished.

  I knew he wanted me to quit my job, but I couldn’t. I’d worked as long as I could remember, and the thought of giving it up almost panicked me.

  “I won’t, I promise.”

  Liam rose and grabbed Masen up. “I’ll go see what Mother and Chelsea left for us in the fridge, and I’ll bring you a plate.”

  “Kay,” I responded as he hefted Masen up and on his shoulders. Masen giggled and bubbled all the way down the hallway.

  Chapter Eight

  T he following week found me propped with mounds of pillows in the middle of our bed, working away on my laptop. Since I’d been relegated to bedrest after the accident, I had time on my hands, and I could devote some time to Liam’s campaign and fundraising. Texanne and her brand of devotion lit a fire under my booty, and no pretty, conniving “friend of the family” would derail my part in Liam’s dream. I was in. I was ALL in. I’d worked the entire morning on ideas I had for photo ops, speeches, and anything fresh politically to make Liam’s name a household word in Texas. I wanted Texas to love him as I did.

  “Hey, little mamma,” Liam called as he duck walked backwards through our bedroom doorway. As I glanced over the top of my laptop, I caught sight of them. Liam had Masen’s hands, his fingers wrapped around Liam’s index fingers as he guided him, his steps exaggerated as he tried to “high step” like Liam.

  “He’s gonna do it, watch, Kel!” he exclaimed as he steadied Masen and slipped his fingers from the baby’s hold. Just as Masen realized Liam no longer held him, he plopped down on his diaper-cushioned butt.

  “Oh, man…I knew he would do it this time,” Liam growled, scooping our son up and flinging him up to his shoulder. “Just you wait, I think it’s gonna be this week. Yep, this is the week,” he finished as he fell down on the bed and rolled a giggling Masen toward me. I closed my laptop, and pulled our boy in for a hug.

  “Watch your ribs,” he warned. He scooted closer to me and leaned up to kiss me.

  I returned his kiss eagerly. “I hope he waits to take his first step until you are in town.”

  “I know, Baby. Keep your phone handy, and catch it on video if it happens. I’ll try to make this one short.”

  I sighed. This was Liam’s first big outing as a senator. Old friends of the Whelan’s, more specifically, a childhood friend of Ellen’s, had asked Liam for a personal visit to their South Texas ranch. They wanted a fence line drive-by with the group of Texas Senators who authored the border bill, along with a news crew, to document the escalation in damage to the property, drug activity, and the threats happening daily.

  “Would it do any good to play the wounded card?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Please don’t do that to me, Baby. You know I don’t want to leave you right now. But this outing might be crucial to the border bill, and the light this visit will shine on the problems of the South Texas ranchers and people in the border towns might be enough to push this over the edge. You know Arizona and California are waiting to see what we do. This might be our best chance at securing the border, no matter what they do nationally after the next election with the amnesty bill. Timing is everything.”

  “I know. I’m being selfish. We’ll be fine. You are leaving Scott here with me, and bonus…Tana and Jen are coming to stay with me while you’re gone.”

  He rolled to his front and placed a hand gently on my stomach as he beamed up at me. “See, you’ll have so much fun with your girls, you won’t even miss me.”

  I grinned back at him. “Yeah, probably right. Except, it’s not being lonely I’m worried about, you know that, right? I’m worried about your safety. Being that close to the border,” I started.

  “We’ll have border patrol and Texas Rangers all around. I couldn’t be any safer in the Capital building downtown,” he tried to assure me.

  I wasn’t convinced but I nodded anyway, turning back to my laptop and flipping the screen open.

  “Thought you were going in to your office in San Antonio to work on scheduling,” I deflected, changing the subject.

  “Yeah, just gonna grab a bite of lunch and change clothes. I shouldn’t be long.”

  I hit “send” on the list I’d been working on, and then turned to him.

  “Tell the boys I e-mailed them a list of photo ops for the next three weeks. Four of them have a chance for you to do an “off the cuff” meet and greet and some short sound bites for the border bill. I think there are some great opportunities there,” I informed him as his brow rose.

  “Thought you were taking it easy, Hellcat.”

  “I am. Gotta do something while I’m tied to this bed. Might as well be plotting.”

  He grinned, leaned over and kissed me, deeply. I moaned softly as he pulled away, brushing my cheek with his fingers.

&n
bsp; * * *

  My days were full and satisfying, overseeing projects from work on my laptop while contributing to Liam’s campaign. But nights were wearing on me. I had lingering symptoms from the concussion, and I wasn’t sleeping well. Nightmares were becoming more and more frequent. Tonight was a great example.

  Gasping for breath, I bolted upright in the darkness.

  “Shit, Kel…what is it? You okay, Baby?” Liam called, jerking awake beside me. He sat up and pulled me back into his chest. “God, Kel…you’re drenched. You have fever?” He brushed the back of his hand across my temple.

  “Bad dream,” I murmured, pushing the hair stuck to my damp neck away.

  “Hearts racing a mile a minute,” he continued to fret as he switched on the lamp beside the bed. In the soft light, he assessed me, his eyes traveling over my body and back to my face. I took a deep breath and winced.

  “Sorry I woke you.”

  “S’okay, Baby. Did you dream about the wreck again?”

  “Yeah.”

  I relaxed back into Liam’s embrace, letting him soothe my nerves as he stroked his hands softly up and down my arms. Pressing my head into his neck, he kissed me softly on my head.

  “Have you remembered anything else about that night?” he murmured, continuing the calm strokes on my skin.

  I closed my eyes for a minute, the dream replaying in my head. The voices coming closer…

  “They spoke Spanish,” I whispered.

  “What? Who?” Liam demanded.

  I pushed upright and turned to look at him. “The men, the night of the wreck. I heard them when I came to, before you got there. I could hear them talking, walking closer. They were speaking in Spanish. I think they were the ones who chased me…ran me off the road.

  “Shit,” Liam exclaimed, grabbing his cell from his nightstand. “What did they say?”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him, my lip in a smirk. “You know I don’t speak Spanish, Liam. But I did catch a few words.”

  “How many voices?” he asked as he scrolled through his contact list.

  “Two, I think. There could have been three, I don’t know,” I said, chewing on a nail, trying hard to remember.

  “Take your time, Baby. It’s okay,” he urged, then turned his attention to his cell as someone picked up on the other end.

  “Reyes, Covington. Sorry about the time, but you said…yeah, she did. Just woke from a bad dream, remembered…Yeah. Says she remembers voices after the crash, right before we got to her. Says they were speaking Spanish,” he paused, listening. Turning to me, eyebrows raised, he added, “no, she doesn’t speak Spanish.” He paused for several moments, studying me as he listened.

  I closed my eyes, concentrating on the memory and the dream. “They said something about sending a message…and I heard your name. Senator Covington. I heard another name, Delgado I think. I’m pretty sure I heard one of them yell, ‘Ella está muerta’ then I heard another engine roar. And soon after you were there,” I finished.

  “Son of a bitch,” Liam exclaimed into the phone. “You hear that? Yeah, I know. We already knew...this just confirms. No, same plan. This doesn’t change anything. I’m going,” he said, his eyes now on me. “Keep me informed, yeah?”

  He turned his phone off and slammed it on the nightstand. I jumped with the force of it.

  Running his hand agitatedly through his hair, he turned to me, his expression softening. “Sorry, Baby. Not mad at you,” he said gently, blowing a breath out as he pulled me against him.

  “That was the Texas Ranger working the case?” I asked, searching his face.

  “Yep.”

  “They think it’s related to the hit …the drug cartel?” I whispered.

  Liam nodded slowly.

  And I was sick. Pushing painfully up from the bed, I struggled to our bathroom, making it in time for the remains of our longhorn beef dinner to come up, and come up violently.

  “Baby,” Liam whispered, immediately at my side, pulling my hair out of the way as my stomach convulsed. I sank to the floor, hugging the porcelain as I continued to heave. I absolutely hated to throw up and would do anything to avoid it. But with a broken collar bone and cracked ribs added to the scenario, it was a whole new experience in pain.

  Liam rubbed my back, reaching to the sink to wet a rag and placing it on my neck. “Relax, Kel. Just relax. We’re okay,” he tried to soothe.

  I sank back, sitting on my feet, wiping my hand across my mouth as I reached to flush. Liam pulled me back onto his lap, his back against the wall.

  “No, we’re not okay. We know the rumors of a hit are serious. They were after me. They will be after you. You are going right to them…to the border, for Crockett’s sake! You might as well walk down the streets of Juarez with a big red bow tied across your chest!”

  Liam said nothing. After several moments, my breathing more normal, I turned to look at him. The pain and anguish I saw in his expression was too much.

  “Baby, what can I do?”

  Liam was visibly shaken, worried about the state his trip had put me in. This trip was everything to him and what he was working so hard for. I knew I had to do a one-eighty.

  “I’m sorry,” I began, shaking my head.

  “What? You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” he murmured, grasping my chin in his hand as he took in my expression.

  “I do. I did exactly what I promised I wasn’t going to do,” I whispered, searching his eyes. “I promised to be strong, and to support you. I’m going to do that. You need to go, and I don’t need to give you grief about this.”

  He blew a breath out, seeming to relax.

  “Chalk it up to pregnancy hormones. I’ve got this, now. Just promise me you won’t take any chances? Promise me you will be in contact with me constantly.”

  “Absolutely. I promise, Baby. Nothing is going to happen to me.”

  I forced a smile. It was fake, but evidently it was passible, for Liam relaxed his posture and kissed me on the forehead. He needed his entire focus on his trip and his surroundings. He didn’t need my anxiety as a distraction. I would not do that to him.

  “You know how much I love you?” he said, his voice breathy, rising and lifting me from the floor.

  I shook my head.

  “So much, if I thought I needed to, I’d give it all up. I mean it, Kel. I love you that much. Nothing is more important than you.”

  My chest contracted.

  “Liam,”

  “Nothing.” He looked almost angry.

  “Okay,” I whispered.

  Placing his arm around my shoulders, he leaned to slide the other under my knees. And with a growling kiss, he swung me up into his arms and over to the bed, where with tender caresses and warm embrace, he convinced me.

  * * *

  “Kel…call your girls. I want to know you’re all lined out before I leave.”

  Liam had more important things to worry about than whether Tana and Jen had their bags packed for our weekend “stay-cation.”

  But in the middle of photo-ops, a press conference about the border trip, and a face-off on the capitol steps with a Houston counterpart vowing to block his border bill, he had taken the time to schedule a spa home-visit for me and the girls, along with some kick-ass food to pamper us with.

  We were sitting on the patio, watching as Masen threw every toy inside his playpen at Liam. Liam would bend, reach and grab each toy and sail them back in. I smirked, thinking Liam hadn’t caught on to the fact he was, in fact, playing fetch with our son. Of course, Liam was the dog in the scenario. I wasn’t complaining. Watching Liam shirtless as his abs curled every time he leaned over…well, it was great entertainment. Better than those Chip-n-somebody guys Chelsea hired for my bachelorette party. Yeah. Way better.

  “Got any bills?” Liam asked, his eyes sparkling a deeper blue with his smirk.

  “What?”

  “Lookin’ at me like that, you’re gonna need to tuck a few ten’s in my waistband if you want
to see more,” he said, flexing his pecs in the most spectacular man-boob roll I’d ever seen.

  “I’m thinking you would wrap up the female vote in the next election if you could find a way to ride that fence line shirtless with the news crew,” I breathed, taking him in as he stalked toward me.

  “Great idea. I’d be the Texas version of Vladimir Putin. Now, Hellcat…the phone,” he urged, smirking. “The sooner you make your call, the sooner we eat. The sooner we eat, the sooner we get little buddy here down for the night, and I can get YOU down for the night,” he growled, grabbing me and pulling me up into his chest.

  “Consider it done,” I breathed, as he placed his lips on my neck.

  Once I had Tana on the phone and revealed my plans, squeals erupted. I held the phone away from my ear as protection. When they quieted several moments later, I dared put the phone close again.

  “Ladies only weekend commences tomorrow afternoon. As soon as you can get off work,” I repeated.

  “Sunni is away this weekend, but Jen and I are soooo in,” Tana purred, as Jen continued to yell in the background.

  “What did she say?” I asked, giggling.

  “Um…she wants to know if we get the ‘hunky’ bodyguard,” she replied with a laugh.

  “That would be affirmative. And that also means Liam doesn’t want us leaving the house while he’s gone out of town, and hanging here all weekend might be a bit boring for you. We’ll have the spa come to us this time. Mani’s, Pedi’s, massages…and Liam has his mom’s chef friend from a restaurant on the lake preparing a special dinner for us here at the house.”

  “Sounds great, since we never get to see you anymore. We don’t care where we are, as long as we are with you,” Tana assured me, in an unusually serious tone for her.