Walking Straight (The Walking Together Series Book 1)

by T. E. Killian

  Matt racked his brain for something to say and would have been better off if he hadn’t said anything at all, for what came out was mighty lame.

  “Does that mean that Trish is giving me her approval to talk with you?”

  She blushed. There it was again. He sure could get used to a girl who blushed.

  “No, I really don’t think so, quite the opposite actually. She’s already warned me about you twice.”

  That certainly didn’t surprise him. But what did surprise him was that Betty Sue would tell him that.

  Now what could he say next? Again, she took that decision out of his hands.

  “You ride a Harley don’t you?”

  When he grinned and nodded, she said, “My Granny always said that any man who would ride a Hog was probably at least half hog himself.”

  Matt had been taking a sip of his own iced tea right then and he almost spewed it all over Betty Sue. Luckily, he was able to pull his napkin up to cover his face just in time. Yes! He was going to have fun getting to know this woman for sure. She was certainly full of surprises.

  “What do you do?”

  “Excuse me?”

  Did he miss part of this conversation? What was she asking him now?

  “For a living? Your job? You do have a job don’t you? You must work nights for you’ve been spending a lot of time in here during the day since I’ve been working here.”

  Okay, he could answer that question easily enough. “I’m an over-the-road truck driver. I drive for Bowman Trucking here in town.”

  She almost smiled . . . almost. “Then you must be between trips.”

  “Yeah I’m off until tomorrow morning. Got a load heading down to Dallas then.”

  He was watching her closely and was positive that she flinched at the mention of Dallas. He’d have to file that one away for later. But he didn’t think now was the time to ask her about it.

  They talked for a few more minutes. Actually, he did most of the talking, and she just sat there listening to him. He didn’t know what had come over him. He never talked this much to anyone. But it felt good talking to Betty Sue.

  “Yeah, it was just me and my little sister Grace growing up.” He frowned. “I sure do miss her. She lives in St. Louis now and I don’t get to see her very much. You’d like her. She’s the greatest. In fact, she’s coming home tomorrow for the weekend. Too but bad I’ll probably miss her again.”

  She didn’t comment on that so he felt like he’d take a chance. “How about tonight?”

  That was when he noticed that her eyes had been glazed over as if she was far away right then. She seemed to struggle to focus on him and said, “What?”

  “How about going out with me tonight?”

  Matt almost recoiled when she shot up out of her chair and was in the kitchen before he could even ask what had happened.

  Okay, he could take rejection as well as the next guy, but this was different. This was weird even.

  He sat there for a couple more minutes trying to figure out what to do next when he looked up and saw Trish coming. That didn’t surprise him none. And man did she ever have a full head of steam which didn’t surprise him either.

  She plopped down in the chair Betty Sue had been sitting in and glared at him for a full minute before saying, “If you want to continue to be welcome in this place, Matt, you will be nice to that girl.”

  When he just stared back at her, she went on. “I don’t know what you just did to Betty Sue but let me tell you something right now and you’d better remember it and remember it well. Do you hear?”

  He was afraid to say anything so he just nodded.

  “I don’t know what all has happened to her. But I do know that that girl has been through hell and you’d better leave her alone until she gets a chance to see that we’re not going to treat her the way she’s been treated in the past.”

  She kept glaring at him but he still couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

  “I want your promise that you will treat her the same way you’d treat Grace. Do you hear me?” She didn’t wait for any response this time. “If not then Smith and I may just be paying you a visit.”

  With that, she stormed back into the kitchen, leaving Matt feeling like he’d just barely survived a tornado.

  Chapter Three

  Betty Sue surely felt blessed to have found such a good job so quickly in her new town and a great place to live on top of that. But she sure was glad this was Saturday and she would be off tomorrow. She was not used to this kind of hard work.

  Dave would never allow her to work since he felt it reflected badly on him as an up and coming lawyer in a prestigious law firm. The two jobs she’d had since then had been as grocery clerk and secretary. Neither of those had been as physically demanding as waitressing. And on top of that, being so tall, and having to bend over so much was making her back hurt all the time now.

  Their shift was finally over and she and Trish were gathering their things to go home when she saw him. She could have sworn that Dave had just walked past on the sidewalk out front.

  She ran to the front door and opening it just enough to peek out, looked down the street where the man had gone. It sure looked like Dave from the back. If only he’d turn around so she could see him.

  That was when she felt Trish’s presence next to her. She looked down and was shocked to see that the woman was holding a huge gun at her side. Whoa, there was a whole lot more to this sweet motherly woman than Betty Sue had ever thought.

  “Is it him?”

  Betty Sue didn’t even try to act like she didn’t know what Trish was talking about. She simply said, “I can’t tell for sure from the back. If he’ll just turn around then I’ll know.”

  Before she knew what was happening, Trish said, “Cover your ears.” Then she then let loose with an ear-piercing whistle that did indeed hurt Betty Sue’s ears. Of course, every person outside turned their way, including the man who was not Dave.

  Betty Sue let out the breath she’d been holding and slumped against the door facing. Her legs wouldn’t hold her up anymore. Trish placed her gun in her oversized bag, grabbed Betty Sue’s arm, and pulled her to the nearest table. She quickly yanked out a chair and eased Betty Sue into it.

  Then she stood back, crossed her arms, and waited. Betty Sue soon realized that Trish was waiting for an explanation. She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh.

  “Okay, Trish, I think I can walk now. Why don’t we go on home and when we get there, I’ll tell you what that was all about.”

  Trish nodded but didn’t move until Betty Sue was able to stand on her own power and started walking back toward the kitchen.

  Thirty minutes later, Trish was sitting next to Betty Sue on a couch in Trish’s beautiful family room. She knew that she couldn’t put it off any longer. She had to tell Trish everything.

  Betty Sue looked down at the coffee table in front of her, picked up her glass of iced tea, and took a sip. When she looked back over at Trish, she could tell by the expression on the woman’s face that she was about to prompt her for the long overdue explanation.

  Betty Sue took a deep breath and began. “Okay, Trish, you might as well get comfortable because the only way all of this is going to make sense is if I start when I was a little girl. Okay?”

  Trish nodded but continued to lean slightly toward Betty Sue.

  “Well, I grew up in Dallas but my dad was killed in an industrial accident when I was two. So I never knew him.”

  She took another sip of tea and brushed her bangs back even though they weren’t long enough to get into her eyes.

  “My mom was okay I guess, but I really don’t remember too much about her either since I was only nine when she died.”

  She looked at Trish whose eyes were moist. “My Granny said that my mom had some kind of rare hereditary heart disease. I’ve looked it up since then and it’s called Short QT Syndrome. I’ve been tested for it and don’t have it but apparently it could s
how up in any children I may have.”

  Trish reached out and cupped Betty Sue’s chin. “Oh you poor dear. What did you do then?”

  Betty Sue knew that if she didn’t keep going, she’d never get it all out.

  “I went to live with my Granny, my dad’s mother. She lived on the other side of Dallas. She was really good to me but even she left me shortly after I graduated from high school.”

  She could tell that Trish wanted to say something but seemed to be at a loss for words. She almost smiled at that since it was the first time she’d seen Trish without something to say.

  Finally, Trish did say something. “If you’d rather finish this later, Betty Sue, I’ll understand.”

  She shook her head. “No, I’ve started and now that I have, I need to get it all out.” She wiped her own moist eyes with the backs of her hands.

  “Well, after Granny died, I got a good job working in a fairly nice restaurant in a suburb. Then one night a group of lawyers booked a private party there. It seems that one of them had just been promoted to some kind of partner or something.”

  This time after Betty Sue took a sip of her tea, she leaned back against the cushions and closed her eyes before continuing.

  “Their party was in one of our banquet rooms and I was serving them by myself with the help of a busboy, since there were only ten of them. Well, Dave Hamilton was the one who had been promoted and he kept after me the whole evening to go out with him. I guess I didn’t really believe him at first but then I finally consented. After all, I was only nineteen and here was this fancy older lawyer who wanted me to go out with him. He turned out to be eight years older than me.”

  She blew out a sigh that sounded more like a snort. “Well as they always say, the rest is history. It didn’t take long for him to sweep me off my feet completely. Why he bought me things I’d never even dreamed about before. And his house was . . . well it was huge and fancy. We were married almost a year later.”

  Trish reached out a hand and covered one of Betty Sue’s as it rested on her thigh. “You just take your time Sweetie. And you don’t even have to get it all out tonight if it’s bothering you too much.”

  Betty Sue shook her head again and resumed. “Well, the first five years were kinda nice. He wouldn’t let me work and we had this big house with a housekeeper and a swimming pool. I thought everything was just great including the fact that we both wanted kids badly. But after we’d been married five years and we hadn’t had any, he began to blame me.”

  She frowned. “He wouldn’t agree to us both getting checked out. He just said it was all my fault. And that was when the fights started. At first, it was just a push or a shove when we were arguing but then he began to hit me.”

  At Trish’s incredulous look, Betty Sue snorted for sure this time. “Yeah, he’s six five and works out in the gym all the time. There was no way I could stand up to him. He basically did whatever he wanted to me.”

  After another sip from a now empty tea glass, she said, “When he finally broke my arm, the cops got involved and they, with the help of a social worker, talked me into pressing charges against him and eventually divorcing him.”

  Betty Sue was surprised when Trish jumped to her feet and stomped around the room raving. “I’d have shot that varmint that’s what I’d have done.”

  That reminded Betty Sue of the gun that Trish had out before. “Trish, why do you have that big gun?”

  She laughed. “This neighborhood had had a number of break-ins before I moved in here and my friend, Hal Wallace who just happens to be the police chief, advised me to get a gun.”

  She grinned. “Well, it certainly was a good thing I did. Because I woke up one night not long after I moved in here and there was a man in my bedroom going through my jewelry case.”

  “Oh my, Tess, whatever did you do?”

  “I shot him.”

  “You what?”

  “Yep, I only winged him but I could’ve done better because Hal had taken me to the range and taught me good.”

  Betty Sue laughed and hugged her. “Oh Tess, I’m sure glad you’re my friend for so many reasons.”

  Tess wiped a tear again. “Me too, Dearie, me too.”

  She looked back up at Betty Sue. “Well, finish the story girl so we can get our supper going.”

  Betty Sue sighed again and the grin left her face. “Well, being as Dave is a lawyer and especially since his dad is a judge down there, he got off with basically nothing. But I did get my divorce and got away from him as fast as I could.”

  Trish looked into her eyes. “And let me guess, he’s been coming after you ever since. How long has it been?”

  “Two years. And every time I get settled with a half-way decent job he shows up and I have to run again.”

  Trish was shaking her head now. “Not anymore Sweetie. Between Hal and Smith, we won’t let that skunk ever hurt you again.”

  Betty Sue gave her a puzzled look. “Who’s Smith?”

  Trish reached for her bag on the floor and pulled out her gun. “This here is Smith, short for Smith & Wesson.”

  They both laughed then.

  * * *

  When Matt pulled away from the warehouse in Kansas City after having just dropped his return load, he breathed a sigh of relief. He was headed home again. And if he made good timing, he just might be able to get to the diner before Betty Sue got off. Of course, he had to hope he didn’t get stopped because he was already an hour over his driving time for the last two days.

  But he really wanted to see Betty Sue. She had been all he’d thought about for those two days. Man, that woman was turning him upside down. And the worst part was that he didn’t even know why. She wasn’t any kind of a beauty queen type. She was even a little skinny. But she just seemed right for him for some reason that he plain hadn’t been able to figure out yet. And it wasn’t all due to her height either, though that did help considerably.

  Once he parked his truck in the yard at the terminal, he jumped on his Harley and headed for the diner. Of course, he tried to keep his speed down. It wouldn’t do for Hal to catch him now. He’d never make it before Betty Sue got off if that happened.

  He parked his bike, rushed to the front door, and pushed it open. Too late! He immediately knew he’d missed her. The two evening shift waitresses were both visible and neither Betty Sue nor Trish were anywhere around.

  So he left, feeling deflated. Where could he go now? Again, he had no desire to go over to Jerry’s where he knew there was another party going on. He didn’t want to go over to his parents’ house even though Grace and Brianna were supposed to be there. He’d already told his mom he’d be there for Sunday dinner if he made it back to town in time. That was about as much of his parents as he could take for one weekend.

  So, with nothing else to do, he went back to his apartment and flopped down in front of the TV.

  He was just about to doze off when someone knocked on his door. He almost didn’t even get up to see who it was, but he finally pushed himself to his feet, lumbered over to the door, and looked out through the peephole. He immediately went from being dejected and bored to extremely excited and even happy. It was Grace.

  He tried to see if she was alone. When he couldn’t he opened the door anyway. Great, she was alone and she walked straight into his arms. Wow, did that ever feel good. At five feet ten inches, Grace was the only girl he’d ever been able to hug without getting a catch in his back. He had the sudden thought that with Betty Sue being even four inches taller than Grace, she would fit in his arms that much better.

  They pulled apart and with a big grin on her face, Grace went ahead of him over to his couch and sat down with her legs crossed in front of her. He looked her over as only a big brother can. She looked okay to him but he was pretty sure there was something she wanted to tell him. They could always tell that about each other.

  He surveyed her a little closer. Grace had not only gotten her blue eyes from their mother like he had, but she
also had that pure, silky blond hair that Linda Livingston had. Where their mom kept her hair short, Grace had always had long, long hair almost to her waist and Matt loved it that way.

  He missed her first few words and she must have realized it so she reached out and punched him lightly on the chin with her fist. “Are you going to listen to me now or are you going to sit there daydreaming. If I didn’t know better, I’d think your mind was on a woman. But no, that couldn’t be, not my love them, and leave them big brother.”

  He tried to join her in her laughter but couldn’t. He held up a big hand between them. “First, I want to know what’s up with you, Gracie?”

  She frowned. He knew she didn’t like that nickname and he was the only person who could get away with calling her that. And even so, he was very careful to never call her that with anyone else around.

  She looked up at him with those big blue eyes and shouted, “I got it!”

  When he just gave her what must have looked like a dumb look, she said, “I took a personal day yesterday and came down here to interview for an English position that’s going to be open for next year at the high school and I got the job, Matt. I got it!”

  She leaped into his arms once more and his world was suddenly right again. His little sister was moving back to town. Granted, it wouldn’t be until June, but still, she was coming home where she belonged.

  This time when Grace pulled back, she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay, big brother, your turn. Give. I can tell that there’s something going on in your life right now too. So tell me.”

  When he made a face at her, she grinned back at him and said, “You know how we can both always tell when something is on each other’s. minds”

  He shook his head and grinned back at her. “You’re right Grace. There’s this new waitress down at the diner that Trish has taken under her wing. But Gracie, that woman is something else. I think I’ve finally found the one for me.” He beat his chest with a huge fist. “I just feel it right here.”

  Grace laughed then. “Well, what’s her name? What does she look like? Where’s she from? I’m sure she’s not from around here or you would have said so.”