by Angel Smits
“Okay, buddy. Let’s get moving. I’ll drive you to school today since I have to turn in these papers.”
Tyler shut down the game, meticulously saving his play then grabbed his backpack. He struggled under the weight for an instant.
“What’ve you got in there?”
“Stuff.” Tyler glared up at him and Wyatt backed off.
He’d approach that issue later. Tyler still didn’t trust him completely. One step at a time. He heard his father’s memory and smiled.
Yep, one step at a time.
* * *
EMILY SHOULD HAVE known. Drew lied. Again. Last night he’d told Dianne that he’d stay until she got there. It took her longer than the fifteen minutes she’d said—it had taken her seventeen, thanks to one obstinate stoplight—and he’d been gone when she got to the office.
So here Emily sat at her desk today, waiting. She’d spent all last night awake, dreading the confrontation, because it would be a confrontation.
Now as she read through the legal briefs for Monday’s cases, her mind was only half focused on the words in front of her. He’d show up when he was ready, not when it was convenient for her.
Just like Earl.
Her phone rang and she nearly jumped a foot. As it was, she knocked the file to the floor, pages scattering across the polished wood. “Yes,” she answered.
“He’s here,” was all Dianne said before disconnecting. Emily knew she wasn’t going to escort Drew back. Dianne would happily let him cool his heels in the lobby for hours, except Emily didn’t want her clerk to have to put up with him any longer than necessary. Dianne was too good for that.
Emily straightened her desk, readjusted her skirt a couple times then grumbled at herself as she walked to the lobby.
Drew was a big man, just like his father. If anything he’d grown bigger, and not in a good way. He scowled at her, but as she looked back, she wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen him without a scowl on his face. She’d first met him when their parents had married. She’d been thirteen. He’d been fifteen...and trouble.
His father had forced him to wear a buzz cut back then; now his chin-length hair was slicked back from his forehead with something that looked a lot like...Vaseline.
“Drew. Nice to see you again.”
For an instant he looked taken aback and then the scowl deepened. “This isn’t a social visit, Emily. I’m here on business.” His voice came out deep and coated with impatience.
What kind of business could Drew have with a family court judge? “Let’s step into my office.” She didn’t wait for him to follow, knowing that he would.
Much as she had yesterday with the tall cowboy, she sought protection behind the wooden desk. Where Wyatt had completely ignored the barrier, Drew settled uneasily in the spindly wing-backed chair facing her. She resisted the urge to gloat.
“So, Drew, what can I do for you?”
“I want Dad’s stuff.” He leaned forward, apparently trying to look menacing.
“What stuff?” She had no idea what he was talking about. Mom had given away all of Earl’s clothes when he died and had tossed most everything else. Drew hadn’t asked for anything then. What was this about?
“I know your mom has moved out of the trailer. I was out there yesterday. I want the keys so I can get my half.”
The idea that he’d been out there made Emily shiver. What if Mom had still been out there alone?
“Your half?” she repeated. “Of what?”
“The ranch.”
Ranch? The single-wide trailer out in the middle of the desert, a ranch? Last she’d seen, the barn, what was left of it, was falling over. The small corral was long gone. The only thing of value might—might—be the desert land it all sat on. But she doubted it.
“That land was my mom’s before she married Earl. Besides, she’s still alive, Drew.” Even though the dump her mother had lived in was a dump it was hers as long as she was living.
“It became half his when they got married. I know, he showed me the paperwork. Anyway, it’s not like she’s using it.” His voice rose and he leaned even farther forward.
“Using what? The land or the trailer?”
“I want my half of the estate. Now.”
Emily stared across the small office. She wasn’t up to explaining that there was nothing for him. One second she wanted to laugh, the next she had to bite her tongue to keep from letting loose nearly twenty years of pent-up anger.
Estate? The man was delusional. “We don’t know that she won’t go back. Besides, there’s nothing there, Drew. Just a pile of junk.”
She forced her mind not to see the hellhole she’d moved her mother out of. The hovel she’d had to live in until she’d been old enough to escape.
“There has to be.” Drew shot to his feet, leaning over her. His eyes practically glowed with rage and he wiped away spittle from his lips with the back of his arm. “That bastard had to leave me something.”
Emily refused to be afraid of Drew anymore. She had been once. One night in the barn, she’d been hiding from Earl—again. Drew had found her, at first friendly, cajoling and soothing. Then when he’d tried to pin her down to the hard wooden floor, she did what her real dad had taught her. And the well-placed kick had kept him away from her for the rest of that summer. Months later, after Earl had belted Drew one too many times, the boy had run back to his mom’s house. He’d never returned for any extended stays.
“If you won’t tell me where it is, I’ll get the answer out of your mother.” Drew headed toward the door. Emily resisted the urge to run after him and grab him. She couldn’t let him see her fear, but she wasn’t letting him near her mother.
“Where what is, Drew? You’re not making sense.” He didn’t stop walking. “You go near Mom and I’ll have you arrested.” She didn’t move, but the tone of her voice stopped him.
“What the hell for?” He rounded on her, his hands curling into big meaty fists. Just like Earl. She refused to let memories scare her. She was a judge, a grown woman with power, not a young girl scared of her own shadow and getting hurt. And she was all that stood between Drew and her mother.
“Well, menacing an at-risk adult to start. You take anything from her and I’ll have you arrested so fast your head will spin.” The flare in his eyes told her she might have gone too far. He took a step toward her, but stopped.
“You think you’re so smart, don’t you?”
Suddenly, Dianne appeared at the office door, breaking the tension in the room. “Your Honor?”
Your Honor? Oh, how official Dianne sounded. Emily swallowed back her thankful smile. “Yes?”
“You need to leave if you’re going to make your appointment.”
“We’re not finished.” Drew ground out the words.
Oh, yes, they were. “Well, we’ll have to finish later. It’s court business.” She didn’t elaborate. Emily stood and walked to the coatrack by the door, effectively shutting off anything Drew had to say. “I’ll walk you out.” The last thing she’d do was leave him in her office unattended.
He beat her to it, stomping down the hall and slamming the outer door. His last words of “I’ll be back” were nearly cut off by the sound of the wood hitting its frame.
“Well, isn’t he a charmer,” Dianne drawled from behind her desk. “Your family reunions must be a real joy.”
Despite her nearly flippant words, Emily could see the concern in Dianne’s eyes. Emily leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths. “Lord. I need to call the facility. He can’t see Mom.” She didn’t have to explain anything to Dianne. She’d heard every word.
“He seems like the kind who will, no matter what you do. Just be prepared.”
Emily’s heart sank. Dianne was right. Earl had never listened to anyone and D
rew seemed much the same. He was after something and wouldn’t give up until he got it, or was satisfied with the results. Thinking of the pathetic balance of their parents’ combined lives, she realized he’d never be satisfied.
Slowly, Emily peeled herself away from the wall to dial the all-too-familiar number, and spoke with the administrator. She explained the bare minimum. Being a judge, she didn’t have to elaborate and she took advantage of that. She was afraid that if she said too much, she’d lose it.
Finally, with the administrator’s empty promises that Drew wouldn’t be allowed to see her mother without her permission, Emily sank into the nearest chair.
Why couldn’t things have been different? Why had her father died? Why had her mother had to meet Earl? If only...
With a determined shake of her head, Emily once again prepared to leave.
The look on Dianne’s face, however, told Emily there was more than the appointment on her clerk’s mind. She knew Dianne wouldn’t volunteer.
“Okay, what’s up?” she prodded.
Dianne tried to pretend surprise. “Why? Nothing.”
“I can see the wheels turning in your head.”
“Oh, fine.” Dianne paused. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“With Drew? No.”
“No. With this court case.”
“Of course I do.” Emily grabbed her purse and the briefcase she’d stuffed with the case files she thought she might need, plus files to read at home tonight.
“Mmm-hmm.” Dianne looked over those infernal glasses. “The caseworker has done most of the required work. Just because it’s not in the final form doesn’t mean you have to double-check it.” That look—over the glasses—said there was no escaping her questioning.
“Look.” Emily leaned against Dianne’s desk. “I’ll feel better seeing things for myself.” She really did appreciate Dianne’s concern. “Besides, you’re always after me to get out of the office.”
“I meant to do something fun. Not more work.”
“Hey, maybe this will be fun.” Emily smiled and hustled out the door before Dianne’s words could totally catch up to her.
“Someday you’re going to have to learn to trust someone.” Dianne’s words slipped through the door right behind Emily and kept bouncing around in Emily’s mind as she drove through the desert.
Warm midday sunshine poured in the sunroof and landed squarely on Emily’s shoulders. The car’s air-conditioning made the West Texas heat bearable—but she still felt the damp sweat drench her body.
She was nervous doing something she really shouldn’t, something totally out of her routine. Out of her element.
But as she’d told Dianne, she needed to do this. It couldn’t hurt, and if the little boy was at risk, as Emily feared, she’d save herself and the system a great deal of pain—not to mention Tyler.
And so she drove through the backcountry, through places that reminded her of so much hurt, risking her impartiality in a case simply to give herself peace of mind for a while.
Emily hadn’t driven out here in ages. The grasslands and desert of Southwestern Texas was a place she barely acknowledged, much less thought about. She stayed in town, lived her life, ignored where she’d come from.
The two-lane highway wound through the hills, dissecting the desert along with dozens of dirt roads and driveways that led deep into the ranches. Ten miles to the north her grandfather’s ranch sat, abandoned, its pastures rented out to another rancher up the road. The plot of land her mother had recently left sat another ten miles beyond that.
The Hawkins ranch was closer to town than Emily had ever lived. She’d looked at it on the county map. He might live modestly, but he was land rich, with a large spread that ran along one of the large rivers that bisected the area.
Her hands sweaty around the steering wheel, she tried to focus on the pavement reaching out in front of her, staring at the yellow stripes. All she had to do was get there, take a look around and head back to town.
Breathing in deep, she swallowed the panic rising in her throat. Maybe she should just turn her car around and trust in the system she’d always believed in. She slowed again, this time her eyes on the road ahead instead of the potholes in her past.
A movement at the edge of the road ahead startled her. She hadn’t passed anyone in nearly a quarter of an hour. Surely no one was out walking in this heat. It must be the shimmering illusion on the horizon.
Whatever or whoever it was ahead kept moving. She braked to slow down even more. It was someone walking. A child. She pushed the brake again.
Tyler.
Her heart sank. What had happened? Why had his uncle let him come out here alone? She envisioned the tall, handsome man who’d been in her office yesterday. He’d been very clear that he wasn’t the type to abandon anyone, but the evidence was right before her. Then another thought came to mind. What if something had happened to Wyatt?
She slammed on the brakes this time, pulling off the two-lane road and onto the soft dirt at the shoulder. Dust settled around the tires as she opened the door. Hot air slammed into her, and she wanted more than anything to crawl back into the air-conditioned interior.
But the sight of the little boy trudging along beside the road stopped her. “Tyler?” she called, not wanting to scare him.
He stilled then looked up at her. His eyes widened and rather than stopping, he broke into a run. The backpack he’d been carrying tumbled to the ground and he dragged it through the dust. The scrape of the cheap plastic on the rough rocks was loud.
“Tyler, wait!” She jogged after him. She was wearing a suit with a knee-length skirt and matching pumps. Definitely not running clothes.
But Tyler’s eight-year-old legs were short and the backpack was obviously heavy. She was out of breath and soaked with sweat when she finally caught up to him. He yelped and tried to kick her as she grabbed him.
“No,” he squealed.
“Tyler. Stop that.” Guilt almost made her let him go. Common sense told her he’d perish out here in the heat. She trudged back to the car, struggling to hold on to him. She’d have dozens of bruises, but at least he’d be alive.
The backpack scraped loudly beside them. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she tried to reassure him.
“I know that,” he yelled back, and she realized he was angry, not scared. The little rat. Her guilt faded a little.
Finally getting him to the car, she pulled open the passenger door and felt the last of the cooled air wash over them. She grabbed her water bottle and after plopping him on the seat, she handed it to him. “Here.”
He let go of the backpack, and she grabbed it and tossed it into the backseat. She pulled on the seat belt and awkwardly buckled him in. If she ran around the car, she might get in before he was loose. Maybe.
With a wary eye, she closed the door and hustled around the front of the car. He had his belt unbuckled but hadn’t gotten the door unlocked or open before she was inside. She wrestled him for the belt and finally got it back in place.
“Sit,” she commanded, and it was enough to take the steam out of the boy. She thought for an instant that he was going to cry. But he didn’t. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and stuck his bottom lip out in a huge pout.
“Thank you.” She leaned back against the seat. “What are you doing out here?”
At first she wasn’t sure he’d answer. “Goin’ back to town.”
Emily’s heart sank. What had happened? All her fears leaped out of the hot desert. She’d been right to come out here.
The click of the seat belt brought her out of her thoughts. “Hold it.” She clicked the buckle back in place again. “Start talking.” She leaned back in the seat and cranked the ignition. After a second, cool air blasted from the vents. She aimed two of them at the b
oy. Tyler’s face was flushed but he nearly emptied the water bottle, so she thought he’d be okay.
“You can’t take me back.”
“Why not? Tell me why. I promise I’ll listen. Is your uncle so bad?”
“N-no. He’s okay. Even lets me ride horses.” The sound of longing was thick in his voice. “And pet a baby cow.”
“You like baby cows...er...calves?” He didn’t say anything, but the way his eyes lit up told her he did. “Then—did he hurt you?”
“No!” He glared at her. “He’s not bad.”
“Then what’s wrong?” Only the blow of the air conditioner broke the heavy silence.
“Mama won’t be able to find me out here,” he finally whispered.
Emily’s chest tightened. She wanted to pull him close and ease the uncertainty cloaking those words, but she knew he’d never allow that. His mother wasn’t coming back for him, but Emily didn’t have any desire to tell him that right now.
Instead, she put the car into gear and pulled back onto the road, heading to the ranch. She heard him sniff and forced herself to ignore it. She was a judge. An officer of the court, sworn to protect children, not put them at further risk. Even if her heart hurt as she made the decision.
Emily’s eyes darted back and forth from the road to the boy. Tyler slouched in the seat beside her, his legs in constant motion.
“Sit still, Tyler.”
“Why?” Tyler increased the rhythm of his legs.
“I just need to concentrate, okay?” Emily muttered.
They didn’t have far to go, but it seemed to take forever. Finally, she saw the turn-in to Wyatt’s land. The metal reflectors at each side of the drive winked at her as she slowed and steered in between them.
She’d read the initial caseworker’s notes, but the neatly kept house with its yard and large trees was a bit of a surprise. It was homier than any place she herself had ever lived. The wraparound porch stole her heart.
She didn’t look over at Tyler, but saw out of the corner of her eye that his eyes were large and damp.
“It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” She knew her promise was empty but she had to say something.
