The Other Brooks Boy (Texas Wildfire Series)

by Diane Roth

  They both nodded. Cara felt unaccountably guilty for having snuck away with Greg, and hated how that immediately tarnished what had been one of the most wonderful weekends of her life.

  Ryan closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the sofa back. "God, that makes me sick."

  Cara let him settle for a moment before asking. "Why does it make you sick for me to care about someone? Especially someone you know and love? What about that is so terrible?"

  Ryan looked at her like she'd lost her mind for even asking, then turned his attention to Greg. "She's your brother's wife, man. Your dead brother's wife," he furthered. "That's low, man."

  "So you think--" Greg began, but Ryan cut him off.

  "What I wanna know is how you sleep at night. I mean, your brother's wife," he said, his voice full of judgmental wonder.

  "My brother's widow," Greg reminded him. "And I didn't plan this, Ryan. Neither of us did. It's just something that's happened to us as we've dealt with Jason's death. We grew closer and closer and our feelings for one another changed," Greg explained.

  "Yeah, well doesn't it make you stop and think ... if Dad were still alive that they'd still be happily married?" Ryan asked.

  Greg didn't have an answer for that, and Cara didn't know what to say even though she knew that the statement was most likely false. Her marriage to Jason was perilously close to over when he'd died.

  "You can't say anything to that, can you?" Ryan asked sarcastically.

  "Stop it, Ryan," Maddie said firmly. "Mom and Dad's marriage was far from perfect. In fact, I'm not sure they'd still be together even if he were still alive," she said, surprising Cara with her perception and honest truth of the situation.

  "Are you fucking kidding me?" Ryan cried. He got to his feet and paced the carpet for a moment, then turned around and faced them again, driving his hands into his hair. "Is there anything left to believe in around here? Huh? Anything at all?" His face was contorted with grief. "First my mom, then my uncle ... now my parents' marriage?" He turned to look at Maddie, shaking his head, sad and angry. "What the fu ... " he trailed off and slumped back down to sit beside his sister in disbelief.

  Maddie didn't look at him. "I just didn't want you making Mom and Dad's marriage into something that it wasn't ... something that might make it harder for Mom and Uncle Greg in the future," she said quietly.

  Ryan turned to her, disbelieving. "So you're okay with this?" he asked, flinging his arm at Cara and Greg.

  Maddie shrugged. "I don't know."

  "Well, I can tell you all for damn sure that I'm not ever gonna be okay with this," he said to no one in particular, then focused on Greg. "Not fuckin' ever."

  "Stop using that kind of language, Ryan. It's offensive."

  Ryan got back to his feet angrily. "Well, 'scuse me if I feel a little bit offended right now. I've lost respect for every freakin' role model in my life today. How do you think you'd feel, dude?" He walked across the room and jerked open the front door, walked out, and slammed it behind himself.

  They all took a moment to recover after Ryan's exit. The quiet was disquieting somehow.

  "Maddie, why didn't you talk to me about your thoughts on this before now?" Cara asked gently.

  Maddie dropped her gaze into her lap and shrugged, looking young and vulnerable suddenly. Cara couldn't stand it. She moved across the way and gathered Maddie in her arms.

  "I didn't know you were aware that things were rocky between us. I'm sorry."

  Maddie sniffed, burying her face in Cara's bosom. "I know." In a moment she raised her head to look at Cara. "I'm a lot like you, I guess. I keep the bad stuff all hidden and only let the world see the happy stuff." It wasn't a statement that really expected an answer, Cara knew, so she pressed her daughter back under her chin and closed her eyes against the pain of it all. God, what a night.

  Greg had left them alone for a few minutes, but she found him then, standing near the sink in the kitchen, head bowed, eyes closed as he pinched at the bridge of his nose. He heard her enter, looked up and opened his arms. She walked into his embrace as if it were her only safe harbor.

  "Did Ryan come back?" she asked, a muffled sound in his shirtfront.

  "No. I figured I'd best leave him alone for a little while."

  She nodded, her forehead bumping against his chest.

  Greg ran his hands up and down her back in slow, soothing strokes. "Are you okay?"

  "Not really," she said honestly, then pulled back a little to see his face. "Are you?"

  "I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck," he said.

  She nodded. "I'm sorry Ryan was so hateful, Greg."

  "I expected him to be full of piss and vinegar." He tilted his head a little. "I didn't expect he'd actually take a swing at me though. That surprised me."

  "Oh, my Lord, I know," she said, full of awe. "I'm so glad you ducked quickly. Oh, that would have been horrible." She kissed his jaw. "Thank you for staying so calm."

  "Calm, my ass. I about put him on the floor," Greg assured her.

  "But you didn't. And I thank you for keeping your wits about you." She laid her head back on his chest and she wished he could hold her all night long again tonight, protecting her from any more hurt. She'd had a bucket full today.

  "You and I need to talk about some things, girl."

  "Well, it's not going to be tonight, my love," she told him. "I'm exhausted and I'm sure you are, too."

  "I'm pretty beat," he admitted. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

  "Go home. I'll call you in the morning," she promised.

  He pushed her off his chest so he could look in her eyes. "You sure you don't want me to wait until Ryan comes home?"

  She shook her head decisively. "Nope. In fact, I think it would be better if you were gone by then. He needs some space, I'm sure."

  Greg agreed. "Okay. Come close the garage door behind me. My bag is still out there."

  She followed him to the door, and he paused to kiss her sweetly. "I love you, Cara. This will all work out, darlin'."

  "I know. Just hurts right now."

  "Call me," he said, grabbing his bag and walking to his truck.

  She nodded and pushed the button to close the garage door, then closed the door leading to the garage and leaned back against it tiredly.

  "I'm going to bed, Mom," Maddie called from the other room.

  "Okay, Maddie," she called back. Then added, "I love you."

  There was a second of hesitation. "I love you, too, Mom."

  Cara let it soothe her, those words of affirmation from her child, but it lasted only a short time before worry about her son seeped in to steal the peace it lent. She wondered where he might be, then moved to the kitchen window to peek out, relieved to see Maddie's car parked in its usual place in the driveway. Maybe he was walking to let off some steam. Or going to a friend's house. She didn't really have any idea where he might be, but she made sure the front door was unlocked and went to her room, dragging her suitcase behind her. He was a big boy ... nearly a man, she corrected her thinking, remembering how he'd taken a swing at Greg. Surely he could manage to take care of himself out there in the dark.

  In an hour or so, she heard him moving around in his room above her, and she was finally able to close her eyes and sleep, putting an end to one of the most wonderful and most horrible days of her life.

  Chapter Eleven

  The complete dearth of communication from her was not a good sign, Greg realized about eleven o'clock Monday morning as he worked in his office. Usually, they would have exchanged a text or two and possibly even talked on the phone by now. He'd tried her cell phone on his way to work and got voice mail. That wasn't a big deal. She might have been working out or in the shower. But to have gotten to this time of day and had no communication from her was not a good sign at all.

  He knew it was Ryan's reaction to their relationship that caused it. She probably couldn't call until Ryan left for school, not wanting to inflame his anger
again, then didn't want to call with an unchanged report. Greg had to admit to himself that it was pretty much as bad as she'd predicted it would be. Ryan was a hot head, reminded Greg so much of Jason as a teen. All testosterone and muscle-headed ... cocky and stubborn. Why wouldn't Ryan be like his father had been? It was in his genes, in his rearing.

  It didn't bode well for their future prospects for a happy family life.

  Not that he and Cara had really gone so far as to plan that. They hadn't. But the weekend had revealed strong feelings and bonded them in a way he hadn't expected. And the sex. Damn, the sex had been hot. The best. But it was so much more than that. He'd spoken the truth to her. It had swelled up and taken over, and he'd spoken straight from his heart. He did want her in his mornings and nights ... he wanted her on the phone when it rang, and involved in every decision he made. He had missed her last night in his bed and knew he'd have slept a hell of a lot better with his arms wrapped around her, her palm rubbing back and forth across his ribs the way she did when she snuggled up to his side go to sleep. He wanted it all.

  He shouldn't be surprised to find himself in love with her. He'd always liked her. As far back as he could remember, he'd liked Cara. You could hardly not. And he respected her. She was a great mom, a loyal and faithful wife, a hard worker. She told him he was the whole enchilada, but in truth, it fit Cara better than him. She was just so damn likeable. And years of family ties and the births of Maddie and Ryan, children he loved and doted on, especially since he had none of his own, made it easy to love Cara and appreciate her for the woman she was.

  So to wake up in love with her after all these years of liking her, respecting her, and admiring her shouldn't surprise him at all. Maybe the real surprise was that she loved him, too. That was nothing short of a miracle to him.

  His phone rang, and it made him smile ear to ear that it was her.

  "Good mornin', Sunshine," he said, happy to finally hear from her today.

  "I'd call myself partly-cloudy at best," she said, and he could plainly hear the fatigue in her voice.

  "That bad, huh?"

  She sighed. "It's pretty bad. He came home about an hour after you left, but I was already in bed. Not sleeping, but in bed hoping he'd come home. But this morning, he wouldn't even look at me, much less talk to me."

  "Still mad, I guess." It was early in the game, and this was a big deal, Greg knew.

  "I'm sure. He didn't say, but it was all over his expression and his body language."

  Greg didn't know what to say to her exactly. The silence hung there a moment as each of them waded through their own thoughts.

  She signed again. "I'm really worried, Greg. What if he doesn't get over this?" Her voice was weak and emotional.

  "He will," Greg assured her. "He's just like Jason. He's got to pitch his fit then smolder about it for a while, make everyone as miserable as he is, then he'll slowly get over it." Greg leaned back in his chair and pushed a hand through his hair in frustration.

  "I hope so," Cara said, and he wanted nothing more than to go to her and hold her in his arms and reassure her that it was all going to work out.

  "Can you meet me at Mom's tomorrow night to talk to her? I don't want to leave her hanging on this either."

  "I'll see how things are tonight. Hopefully, he'll chill and I'll feel like I can take the time away from home tomorrow. I feel badly that Barbara got sorta overlooked in the fray last night."

  "Yeah, me, too. I'll call her and tell her we'll try for tomorrow."

  "Okay," she said, her voice so small it actually made him angrier at Ryan for the worry he was causing Cara.

  "Don't worry, Cara. It'll work out, babe. Really," he said, hoping to infuse her with his optimism.

  "I hope so," was the best she could manage.

  "Talk to you later. I love you," he said.

  "I love you, too, Greg," she told him, and it made him feel better.

  ***

  They met at Barbara's house on Tuesday evening. Barbara handled it far better than Cara's children did. She was calm, certainly more so now that the shock of it had worn off. Actually, she told them that she'd suspected their feelings were changing as early as the birthday party in the summer, during which they'd had their first spat.

  Barbara adjusted a nearby throw pillow, making a perfect dent in the top, just fussing with something. "It was clear to me then that something was going on. I just didn't know what precisely," she told them. "I thought perhaps one of you was smitten, and the other not interested, and it was causing tension." She waved her hand around indecisively. "Or something like that. I could see that you all had some strong emotions between you that night."

  "Are you all right with this, Barbara?" Cara asked, and nervously awaited the answer. What in the world would they do if she said no?

  Barbara took a deep breath and seemed to consider a moment. "Well, if I'm completely honest, I wasn't at first. It felt so sneaky ... like you were cheating on Jason or something. But that's not reality, is it?"

  "No, it's not," Greg said, his voice sure. "Jason is dead."

  Barbara frowned to hear him put it so bluntly, then took another deep breath and nodded, accepting the truth of his words, regardless of how raw it rubbed. "Yes, he is. And you two denying your feelings and staying apart is foolish. He would want you to be happy, Cara."

  Cara wasn't all that convinced, but nodded just the same. No need to air their infidelity-stained laundry in front of his mother.

  "And the truth of the matter is that, selfishly, it's a win-win situation for me. I have always loved you as my daughter-in-law and have been proud of the way you've loved my son and raised my grandchildren. Why wouldn't I be happy that you love another of my sons?" She looked at Cara with such sweet devotion it brought tears to Cara's eyes.

  "Thank you, Barbara," she said, her voice wobbly.

  "I am, however, very concerned about my grandchildren and how they are feeling. This was an enormous shock to both of them. And Ryan will not handle it well, I don't believe."

  "He's not," Greg said. He shook his head in a slightly disgusted fashion, then leaned back against the sofa cushion and crossed an ankle over his knee.

  Barbara's gaze went back and forth between Cara and Greg sitting side-by-side on her sofa.

  "So it was horrible when he came home Sunday night?"

  Cara nodded. "Pretty bad."

  "That's an understatement," Greg said, and Cara knew he continued to be irritated by Ryan's behavior. And she'd downplayed some of it to him, for this exact reason. Ryan had yet to speak to Cara, and had acted hateful and childish when she tried to speak to him. Even Maddie was growing impatient with him.

  "He's dealing with a lot right now," Cara said, making excuses for him.

  Greg nodded in a way that said he'd heard it all before. "Yeah, he is. But don't coddle this behavior, Cara. There are ways to deal with him. Rewarding his tantrum it not wise," he said. It was as plain-spoken as he'd been about his feelings so far.

  "I know you feel that's true, Greg, but I know my son. And I know that if I push him further right now--" she stopped and shook her head. "I don't know what he'll do," she said honestly.

  "And that's exactly what he wants to you do," Greg said, his voice rising. "Nothing. He wants you to be paralyzed by your fear of his anger so that you are afraid to do anything he doesn't want you to do." He punctuated his strong statement with one of those authoritative looks from under his raised brows. Lord, it sounded so calculated and hateful when he put it like that. Cara had a hard time ascribing that much manipulative thought to her son.

  "I don't know, Greg. I think he's just confused and hurt."

  "By what?"

  Cara could feel her own frustration rising. "By this," she answered smartly, knowing he was leading her, but irritated that she couldn't seem to see where. "By our relationship."

  "Oh, you mean the fact that you're not willing to put aside your needs and wants and, hell, your very life? That you're not wi
lling to wear sack cloth and ashes and mourn Jason for the rest of your life?"

  She didn't know what to say to that. It was pretty much what Ryan seemed to expect of her, but again ... it sounded so harsh. "I don't know, Greg," she finally said, her own voice rising. "This is uncharted territory for us all. It's confusing and ... hard," she said for lack of a better description.

  He looked at her, but said nothing, and the room got suddenly smaller. Barbara said nothing, but watched them, a look of motherly concern on her face. Cara was vaguely aware of it, her focus on the man beside her who seemed to be filling up with impatient anger.

  "What do you want from me, Greg?" she asked, her voice growing quieter.

  "I want you to deal with him effectively, Cara. Molly-coddling him and letting him have his way when he acts like this is not serving anyone well. Not Ryan. And damn well not us."

  "I wouldn't call it molly-coddling. I just can't get past his anger right now. He won't even talk to me," she said, frustrated with him for critiquing her parenting. Again.

  "Fine. Let him stew." Greg shrugged like he didn't give a damn. "But do what you want to do. What we want to do. Let me come over there ... be there ... be present so he can get used to it."

  They had had this argument on the phone last night, but Cara still felt it wouldn't be wise, that it would only serve to irritate Ryan further. She didn't know what else to say. They were at a complete impasse about it. She looked to Barbara for wisdom, shrugging.