The Texan's Return

by Karen Whiddon

  They’d spent a lot of time swinging there when they’d been younger. They’d been friends in elementary school, an item in middle school and an official couple all through high school. She’d always assumed they’d spend the rest of their lives together.

  Still the hurt, still the need to push it down, to try to negate it. “A lot of water under the bridge.” She used the cliché lightly.

  “True.” He waited until she’d gotten comfortably seated before settling next to her. This time, he sat at one end and she at the other. Their thighs didn’t touch, and he didn’t put his arm around her shoulders and draw her close.

  Which was good. Because this was now, not then.

  “I know I’ll be working for you, but I want to make sure you understand that’s all it will be.”

  “Employer/employee, you mean?” He seemed to find this statement amusing, judging from the way one corner of his sensual lips quirked.

  Hurriedly, she looked away. “Yes.”

  “Just out of curiosity, what’s the difference?”

  His question had her swinging around to look at him. “The difference?”

  “Between how we are now?” Arms crossed, he tilted his head while he waited for her answer.

  “I think you should stay away from my family,” she blurted, refusing to feel foolish. Absurdly, her throat closed up the minute she finished saying the words, and tears stung the back of her eyes. Hopefully, she could blink those away.

  Not outwardly reacting to her edict, he continued to regard her steadily. “Why?” he finally asked in a soft voice. “I’ve missed you. What would be the harm in reconnecting?”

  This question so dumbfounded her that she stared, speechless. And then, while she was still trying to formulate a response, he leaned over and kissed her.

  It wasn’t a demanding kiss, or a punishing one. The brush of his lips on hers felt soft, welcoming and familiar. And because of that, sensual as hell. When he finally lifted his mouth away, she couldn’t stop shaking.

  Of course he noticed. “Are you cold?” he asked, even though she suspected he knew the truth.

  “No.” Right then, right now, she knew she should stand up, move away and demand in a forcible voice that he never do such a thing again. But it had been far too long since she’d been touched, and the cold, empty shell of a person she’d become felt like a flower opening to the sun. She wanted more. This utterly terrified her but filled her with longing, too.

  “Mac...” She spoke his name, a whisper of air. Not defeat, certainly. Not hope either. Just a weird sort of acceptance. What they’d had between them once hadn’t gone away. She didn’t think it ever would.

  “You know we belong together.” His words echoed her jumbled thoughts.

  “Maybe we did once,” she answered. “But it’s been ten years, Mac. We can’t just pick up where we left off.”

  “Why not?” His gaze warm, he scooted closer. Wise enough not to get too close, though, because he knew she wouldn’t like feeling pressured.

  Even after all this time, he still knew her. Terrifying.

  Pushing herself off the swing, she moved away toward the steps. “I can’t,” she whispered, hand to her throat. “My mother... You don’t understand what she’s like now. I’m barely keeping everything together as it is. And the fact that another girl has been killed...it’s too much, Mac.”

  He nodded, his expression kind. “How about friends, then? Can you handle that? We were friends before anything else.”

  Friends. She didn’t actually have too many of those either. It had just been easier—and safer—to keep to herself.

  “I don’t know...”

  “No problem.” He stood, dusting his big hands on the front of his jeans. Just looking at those long fingers made her remember how they’d felt on her skin, and her body heated. Friends didn’t think of things like that.

  “We’re not kids anymore,” he reminded her, carefully keeping his distance. “Our lives were in so much upheaval, we never had time or the skills to sort things out. Now, I’ve got my father to take care of, and you have your brothers and sister. I’d think friends would be simpler. I’m not sure I can act professionally toward you, whatever that means. Not right now.”

  “Simpler?” Now, that made her smile. When had anything between the two of them been simple? They’d been combustible, especially when they touched. How could she keep something like that from happening now?

  Of course, she couldn’t voice these fears out loud to him. Doing so would only acknowledge the truth she didn’t want to admit, at least not yet.

  “One thing I forgot to mention,” Hailey said, needing to get this out of the way before she forgot. “Every other Tuesday, I iron for the Widow Caribiner. I’m supposed to be there this Tuesday and I can’t cancel on such short notice. I’ll need to let her know and figure out a way to reschedule her ironing.”

  “I understand.” He nodded. “And I appreciate you agreeing to help more than you understand.”

  She kept her face expressionless, not sure how to respond, not entirely certain she’d be able to look herself in the mirror until this was over. Because she felt like a Judas, betraying her dead sister’s memory. In essence, she’d be helping to ease Brenda’s killer’s passage from this life to the next. For money.

  Countless times she’d justified her actions, if only to herself. The money wasn’t for her, it was to keep their family fed, the electricity on and their lone vehicle running. As long as she held on to this truth, she could live with herself.

  Evidently, Mac took her extended silence for indecision. “Please, Hailey.” He spread his palms, towering over her, so virile and rugged and handsome. “I meant it when I said I really need your help. My father is dying. I’m doing the best I can, but this is uncharted territory for me.”

  He swallowed and looked away. When he swung his gaze back to meet hers, she saw grief there. Her chest constricted in commiseration. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “It’s hard. He’s all the family I have left. You’re going to be here, just about every single day. As soon as I can find work, I might be gone some of the time, but for now, I’m still here. Honestly, I can’t go this alone anymore. I could really use a friend right now.”

  A friend. They’d been that, and more, until ten years ago. As she considered their shared past, she had fond memories spanning years of friendship. That was all he was asking for now. His request wasn’t about Gus or what he’d done a decade ago. It was only about Mac. He needed her, wanted her to be his friend. While she didn’t think she could open up her heart again to him, she thought she might be able to do this, at least. Maybe. She could at least try.

  “Better friends than enemies, right?” He said this without expression. This was nearly her undoing. Because she knew him. No matter how many years had passed, she still got him. She understood what it cost him to have to practically beg for her friendship.

  “Fine,” she said, going for offhand and breezy, inside hoping she wouldn’t regret her decision. “Friends it is. But you’ve got to promise me one thing. No more kissing.”

  He could have come back with some tired old cliché. Something along the lines of how he wouldn’t kiss her until she asked him to. In fact, she braced herself for that.

  Instead, he merely looked at her for a heartbeat too long before slowly shaking his head. “All I can do is give you my word to try not to. That’ll have to be enough.”

  Equally flattered and worried, she took a deep breath. “Let’s play it by ear, okay?” Jumping to her feet, she wiped the palm of her hands down the front of her jeans. “Now,” she said briskly. “Why don’t you show me what it is you’d like me to do?”

  * * *

  Mac hadn’t told Gus he’d hired Hailey to help out. Part of the reason was what he’d told Hailey—he hadn�
��t been entirely certain she’d show up. The other part—he knew what his father would think. That Mac had wanted Hailey around in order to engineer a second chance at a failed romance.

  If Mac were honest with himself, he knew Gus wouldn’t be entirely wrong. If Mac could have a second chance to regain what he and Hailey had lost, he’d take it.

  He brought Hailey inside, fighting the urge to place his hand in the small of her back as he ushered her around.

  Gus had fallen asleep, his head lolling to the side. He didn’t wake as they entered the room.

  After letting her watch his sleeping father for a few seconds, he motioned for her to follow him into the kitchen.

  “He’s still relatively able to walk to the bathroom,” he told her. “With assistance getting up and back into the bed, of course.”

  She looked askance at him. “You do know there’s no way I can lift him, right?”

  “I do.” He flashed her a slight smile. “That’s not what I need you for. If you take his arm, he can manage on his own, though it can take him a few minutes. He gets lonely, even though I check on him every couple of hours. You’ll keep him company, prepare food for him and help him eat. I should warn you, because of his disease, he eats very little. I try to get him to drink protein shakes when I can. But never force him. He’s unable to digest very much, so just let him have what he can.”

  Eyes huge, she nodded.

  “Hospice sends a nurse out two or three times a week,” he told her. “She checks on his pain level and his medication. Often she sits and visits with him for a few hours.”

  Hailey nodded, her expression equal parts miserable and frightened. “What do you want me to do during her visits?”

  Keeping his voice casual, he shrugged. “You can sit and visit with them both, or, if you want, you can come help me with whatever project I’m working on. It might be good for you to take a break from all of that.”

  Again she nodded. The myriad emotions crossing her face spoke to her inner conflict. She’d always been unable to hide her feelings.

  He waited, loving her more and more with each second she hesitated.

  “I’m not sure I can do this,” she finally blurted. “I have no nurse’s training, and I have no idea what on earth I would talk to him about. Especially since...you know.”

  He did know. All too well. And it still hurt his heart that she—and the rest of Legacy—considered his father a killer. He could only hope the police got a lead on the real killer soon, and acted on it.

  “It’s up to you,” he replied. Because it was. In the end, money or no money, only Hailey could determine whether or not she was able to perform the task at hand. He wanted her there, needed her there, but only of her own free will. He wouldn’t beg or offer more money. This was a decision she needed to make on her own.

  Especially since it would only get worse.

  * * *

  After a moment of consideration—and really, she thought long and hard about saying a firm no and getting back into her car, Hailey finally took a deep breath and told Mac she was ready to commit herself to the job. She looked him in the eye and promised she’d work until the end came, whenever that might be. No matter how difficult the tasks might be, she’d do her best to complete them.

  Their gazes had locked. Neither looked away. Hailey caught herself leaning toward him, drawn in by the warmth in his gray eyes. Therein lay trouble. The first to break eye contact, she righted herself. She needed to be especially careful now that she’d be seeing him every day. Straightening her shoulders, she’d wiped her palms briskly on the front of her jeans.

  “I’d better get to it then,” she said, still not entirely sure exactly what it might be.

  Mac nodded. “I’ll be outside working. Don’t worry about me at lunchtime. I made my own and have an ice chest. Just remember, I’m available if you need me, okay?”

  “I understand. Thanks.” Relieved, somehow she managed a confident smile before turning away. A bit of the hard knot in her stomach eased now that she wouldn’t have to worry about being distracted by Mac while she learned her way around taking care of his father.

  The most difficult part, at least as far as she was concerned, would be training herself to see him as someone other than her enemy.

  The first day wasn’t at all what she’d expected. For one thing, Gus slept most of the time. She’d had to wake him at noon, attempting to tempt him to eat some chicken noodle soup she’d made. Grimacing apologetically, he’d managed only a few bites before shaking his head.

  “My body won’t let me take in too much,” he told her, his eyes already drifting closed. He muttered something about his body not needing nourishment while in the process of shutting down before he fell back asleep.

  As she gathered up his uneaten lunch to take back to the kitchen, the rush of pity that welled up in her surprised her. She’d sort of thought she might be able to remain objective and uncaring while doing her job. After all, this man had killed her sister. Supposedly.

  For the first time in a decade, Hailey had actually taken a second look at the case. The night before, she’d spent hours reading transcripts and online accounts of the case and had come to realize Mac might actually be right. The evidence on Gus Morrison had been circumstantial at best. Photos of her baby sister had been found in Gus’s glove box. A pair of her panties had been found under the driver’s seat of his car. There was no DNA tying him to the body except for his prints on a bottle of beer found at the scene. They’d had no murder weapon, nothing but the single eyewitness who’d claimed to see Gus with Brenda the afternoon she’d been murdered.

  She’d never in a million years believed she’d even think this, but Hailey had begun to consider the possibility that the wrong person had been charged and convicted of Brenda’s murder.

  Of course, that meant someone else had killed Hailey’s sister. As usual, the familiar pang of sorrow went through her. If this was true, how awful false imprisonment must have been for Gus, knowing all along the killer had been someone else. But who? Could this actually be the same person who’d recently murdered another teenage girl? She hoped and prayed the police would figure this out soon, before anyone else got hurt.

  She thought of the girl’s family. The Lundgrens. Hailey knew how they must be feeling, all too aware of what the aftermath of such a horrific event was like. Several times, she thought about going over there, but she didn’t know them, and she thought they might find a visit from a total stranger a little intrusive.

  Still, when the hospice nurse, a nurturing, older woman with curly gray hair and thick glasses, came to tend to Gus, Hailey decided she had to at least try. Mac had told her she could run errands while Gus was with hospice.

  “Dolores!” Gus smiled and tried to sit up. “Meet Hailey. She’s the caregiver my son hired to help me. She also used to be my son’s girlfriend.” He winked.

  A broad grin split Dolores’s face. “My, you’re in fine spirits today, aren’t you?”

  Hailey left the two of them chatting happily. She located Mac before she left, feeling obligated to let him know she was leaving. She found him on the back side of the house, standing on a stepladder, hammering.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, shading her eyes with her hand and looking up at him.

  “I’m making repairs to the wooden siding so I can repaint it.” His boyish grin nearly took her out at the knees.

  She inhaled deeply, holding on to the side of the house to steady herself. “Dolores from hospice is here. I’m going to run an errand for a little bit. I should be back within an hour.”

  Instead of sending her off with a wave, he climbed down. He wore a Texas Rangers baseball cap, which brought back so many memories she had to swallow hard to get past the lump in her throat.

  “Where are you going?” he asked. “You look scared and
worried as hell.”

  “I thought I’d go see the Lundgrens,” she said quietly.

  He frowned. “Who?”

  “The family of the girl who was murdered. I know what they’re going through, so I thought I might be able to offer some comfort.” Feeling suddenly self-conscious, she scuffed her feet. “I don’t know, they might think I’m presumptuous, but I’ve got to at least try.”

  “Hailey...” A wealth of emotion in his voice as he spoke her name. Almost afraid to look at him, she forced herself to raise her head.

  “Come here.” He held out his arms. Maybe from habit, maybe because she simply wanted to, she crossed the space between them and let him pull her close and hold her. It felt good. So damn good. And right.

  Tears stung the back of her eyes as she let herself hold on to him. So solid, so strong, so reassuring.

  Wait. She tried to pull back, but he held her tight.

  And when she looked up to find out why, the words died on her lips. His gray eyes had darkened, and for one breathless moment she thought he might kiss her, despite their earlier conversation.

  Chapter 6

  “No.” Hailey gave him a little push, which made him instantly release her. “What’s up, Mac?”

  “The Lundgrens.” Now he was the one who appeared uncomfortable. “I’m guessing you didn’t hear.”

  Gaze searching his face, she shook her head. “No. Hear what?”

  “They left town. As soon as they got Lora’s body back, they all headed up north to Chicago. That’s where they’re from. I’m not sure if they plan on coming back or not. They have two other daughters, you know.”

  “How do you know all this?” Taking a step back, she eyed him. Even though, like her, he’d been born and raised here in Legacy, after ten years away, the folks in town would consider him a newcomer. Especially considering that Gus was his father.

  “Dolores told me. She’s Lora’s aunt.” He spread his hands. “I’m sure if you have a message you want them to have, she’ll pass it on.”