ONCE IN A BLUE MOON (BLUEBONNET, TEXAS Book 2) (30 page)

I wanted to go home, start the day over, skip Thanksgiving,
anything
. I couldn’t stop my tears.

"Let’s get her home to bed," Susie murmured.

With Susie’s help, I struggled to my feet. She and the girls led me out of the house. Everything felt surreal, and I still hadn’t figured out how to process it all.

Where was Ty? I couldn’t ask anyone and I couldn’t talk.

Things like that just didn’t happen.
Men were beaters not beatee’s—weren’t they?
I felt a brief surge of glee for having popped her in grocery store.
Talk about divine.

But I was gonna hunt her down and kill her first chance I got.

"Ty, honey, just let us take care of her," someone said from far off.

My husband. She’d beaten my husband. The man I’d spent my whole life loving.

Another round of sobs broke through. The nightmares, the panic attack, the insecurity, the nervousness, even the sex all made sense now.

Halfway home I collapsed.

Chapter Twenty-Six

LIVING WITH GHOSTS

Ty stood on the porch with his father watching Aunt Susie and Angi walk Bettina home when she collapsed. He paused in mid-sentence and flew off the porch and across the drive to where she lay. "What happened?" he asked, crouching down beside her and smoothing her hair away from her colorless face.

"She’s fainted."

He slipped an arm under her neck and another under her knees and made to pick her up, suddenly worried to death about her and the baby. The baby girl they hadn’t even discussed a name for.

"Need some help?" Tim asked.

"I got her, thanks. Go take care of that punk, Zan, would you? Once I make sure she’s okay, I’m coming back for my share." He lifted her and got a better grip before turning for home.

Aunt Susie’s pat on his shoulder did nothing to reassure him as he hustled home, his wife in his arms. The look on Bee’s face at Zander’s words had nearly done him in. The tears and the shriek of agony, he’d felt in his soul. In his worst nightmares he’d never imagined her finding out like this.

And here he’d been worried about Rhea telling her.

Paybacks were a bitch, and he intended to see that Zander got his.

* * *

Tim turned and stalked home, wishing more than he’d ever confess to anyone that Toni were there. That she hadn’t left him. He could have used her strength, her humor and her warmth right then.

He’d wanted to puke when Zander told Betti about Rhea.

In his living room, he found Rowdy slumped on the sofa, a half-empty beer bottle between his legs. Suddenly, Tim wanted one more than anything else in the world. He felt as if hours had passed, not less than one. He got a beer before rejoining his brother-in-law.

"How the hell did Zander know about Rhea?" Rowdy grumbled.

"Me," Tim softly confessed. "I think he knew when he came home for Momma’s birthday—"

"Ty had a black eye."

"That’s right. We talked about it when I called and told him about the divorce."

Rene wandered in from out back and silently sat between them.

They jokingly offered her a beer, but she declined, a frown on her freckled face. She’d been unusually quiet, had even let him hug her—a rarity these days.

"Why did he do that, Daddy?" She sniffled, then got all tense and quiet. She was trying like hell not to cry.

Tim pulled her on his lap and sat rubbing her back. Something else he didn’t do much of anymore either. "I don’t know, baby. I just don’t know."

She struggled off of his lap and headed for the stairs, offering up one very loud, "You suck," toward where her Uncle Zander hid out licking his wounds.

From his other side, Rowdy snorted with laughter and sipped his beer. Tim couldn’t fault his potty-mouth daughter for that one. Not after Zack and Rowdy had struggled to pull him off Zander.

"Well, Zander got off light with her." He chuckled as she stomped her way upstairs, slamming her bedroom door behind her.  "But he better get the hell outta here before Ty comes for his ass."

He was the only who knew just how close Ty and Betti had been to having it all. That they loved each other. If they could survive this, they could handle anything.

"I think he’s in the bedroom nursing that broken nose you gave him."

"Should have broken every bone in his fucking body."

"You damn near did," said the object of his anger.

Tim looked up over the edge of the couch. "Like you didn’t deserve it, fucker."

"Save it. I’m outta here."

"And don’t come back!" Rowdy shouted as the door slammed.

* * *

Zander was out the door before Tim could stop him or discover just how badly his ribs hurt. He’d end up calling in sick a couple of days for this one.

Yeah, he’d been an ass, and yeah, he’d deserved the beating, but shit. Nine years was a long time to let something fester, and he’d be damned if he’d let anyone cheat him out of his victory.

A victory that now felt a bit hollow and dry.

He slid behind the wheel of the Beemer and headed for the county road. He’d done what he came to do and he was ready to go home. Even if he had done a piss poor job of it. Deep down inside he felt a twinge of guilt. He hadn’t meant to let things get so out of hand, to let it go any further than Momma and Dad.

And that whore-spawn, Delaney.

Dad hadn’t just cheated on Momma, but broken a sacred trust made before God and man to love, honor and cherish his wife. He’d gone out and had a kid with another woman, for Christ sake.

Zander’s red-headed temper had gotten the best of him and he hoped Betti and Ty would forgive him at some point. He briefly considered turning around and at least apologizing to Betti, but up ahead he could see the highway, and that represented home.

Home, where Keilana and Darach waited.

As he zipped under the highway and turned onto the access ramp, he dialed his cell phone and listened to it ring. A sigh of relief escaped him when she picked up. "Hey, baby. It’s me."

"Hi, sweetheart. I thought you’d be in the middle of dinner?"

"Naw. I made my peace but not exactly how you had in mind." Guilt gnawed at him again. He knew she’d secretly had high hopes for this trip home. He’d done more than hurt Ty and Betti, he’d failed Keilana and Darach also.

"Alex," she scolded, her voice low. Her silky voice slid across his skin, making him even more anxious to get home. Except for Darach’s birth and last night, he’d never spent a night away from her in three years of marriage.

"Care Bear," he growled back, "how’s my little man?"

"He’s just fine, but he misses you, Daddy. Don’t try and distract me either. What did you do?"

He silently drove for a few minutes as he maneuvered the car down I-10 toward Loop 1604.

"Alexander?" she sang softly.

"Okay, okay. I was driving." So he told her—everything. With Keilana, he couldn’t lie. If he had, she would have ferreted out the truth. The bond between them was too deep.

"Shame on you, Alex."

"I know. Is that my boy I hear?" He smiled and settled deeper into the soft leather seat.

"Yes, and he misses you terribly. He’s been a fuss-monster the whole time you’ve been gone."

Zander chuckled softly. "Put him up to the phone."

"Hang on. Say hello to Daddy, baby."

A smile split his face as he listened to Darach coo into the phone. "I love you, son. I’ll be home soon, okay? Don’t give your momma too much grief now."

Then Kei was back. "Aww, he’s crying, Daddy."

"I’ll see you in four hours, five tops."

"I love you. I’m sorry things didn’t go better. Did you even tell them about Darach?"

And her. His little hula-honey. "Not this trip, baby."

* * *

"Maggie May?"

"Any word on Bettina?" she asked, turning from the kitchen sink to face Jerrod. Her heart quickened as he pinned her there with his thighs. Even after thirty years, he could warm her blood. Of course, there’d been so many of those years she hadn’t allowed him to. They’d worked hard these last few months to make up for lost time.

"Susie just called. She’s awake and refusing to go to the hospital. Says she’s fine." He kissed her long and slow with the easy familiarity that only an old married couple has.

"So much for Thanksgiving." Heartsore, she shook her head in frustration. "Did you have any idea?"

"None. Oh, he was mouthing off last night about his brothers being girl-makers. You could tell he was uptight—same as he’s always been—but I never imagined anything like this."

"My God, what are we going to do?"

"I don’t know. He’s already gone, but I’ll hunt him down if Betti loses that baby."

"Do you think Betti and Ty will be okay?"

"I do. Ty has told me to butt out, so until he comes to me, that’s that." Jerrod shook his head. "This is all my fault."

"Jerrod, you said yourself you had no clue." She hugged him, concerned at the deep lines of worry in his face. They’d taken a hard hit today. "I meant every word I said," she whispered, her head on his chest. She couldn’t look at him. She was jealous, and she
did
have regrets but that didn’t lessen the love she now felt for Delaney.

He tilted her head back so that it rested on his arm. "I know and I appreciate them, but if I hadn’t cheated on you—"

"If you hadn’t cheated on me, we wouldn’t have Delaney to remind us how to laugh and play and not take ourselves so seriously."

Jerrod sighed again and she pushed forward in a rush of words. "In truth, if Gabby hadn’t died none of this would have happened. Does that mean we blame God?"

Everything
went back to Gabby. Gabby had been a welcome addition to the family after four boys, but a heart condition had taken her from them before her first birthday. Maggie’d been mad with grief. At God, at Jerrod, at the doctors who couldn’t save her daughter and even the friends who’d come to comfort her. She’d driven Jerrod away the night of the funeral, unwilling to realize that she wasn’t the only one hurting. He’d run into Delaney’s mom, Bridgette and nine months later Delaney was born.

Maggie had withdrawn even further, emotionally cutting herself off from him and the boys. She’d never forgiven him, nor let him see Delaney. She’d been so bitter and angry for so many years, no wonder Zander had reacted so harshly.

This was all her fault.

But then Bridgette had died, and Susie had bluntly reminded her that we weren’t often given second chances. Delaney had been Maggie’s second chance.

"We can’t control the past. We can only do our best to influence our future, isn’t that what Dr. Ritter says?"

* * *

Delaney stood in the doorway, listening to Maggie. She would have snorted but she was afraid she’d blow a snot bubble out of her nose from all the tears she’d cried. "Pardon me if I’m having a hard time putting everything in perspective."

Her daddy turned and opened his arms to let her in the circle they’d created, and she threw herself at him. Maggie’s hesitant kindness had always left her off-kilter, but with Daddy, she knew right where she stood. That didn’t keep the tears at bay. Or her anger.

She’d considered snagging the keys to Daddy’s suburban and going after Zander. Running him off the road and leaving him lying in a ditch, bleeding seemed better than he deserved. Not only for her sake but Betti’s. Poor Betti still hadn’t stopped crying.

But her mother’s words came back to haunt her:
Be careful what you throw out into the Universe. It’d come back and bite you on the ass tenfold.

Maggie’s words caught her attention. "Delaney, I have to say something. We both know we’re supposed to focus on the future, the stuff we can control, but I sincerely regret the past.

"I regret that we missed so much of your life. If I hadn’t been so stubborn, all of this could have been avoided. Even the transition after your mother died would have been easier."

Delaney bit her lip against the tears that threatened, against the tears that poured down Maggie’s face.

"So you see, Jerrod, it’s not all your fault. It’s mine." She turned her tear-filled eyes back to Delaney and continued, "I know your mom meant the world to you and you two were very close and I can't ever replace her, but I love you as if you were my own."

"I miss her." She let Maggie pull her close and Dad wrap his arms around them both.

"I know," Maggie whispered. "It’ll be okay."

"Seeing you two together has done a lot for this battered old heart." He squeezed her so tight, Delaney could barely breathe. "What the hell are we going to do with all that turkey?"

* * *

Ty slumped on the couch, feeling as limp as the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. He couldn’t figure out which was worse—Zander’s treatment of Mom, Dad and Delaney or the look on Bee’s face when she’d found out about Rhea.

Dad had been right. He should have told her but hadn’t thought there was any harm in waiting one more day.

Bettina was awake and Angi and Aunt Susie were with her. She’d gotten sick again and he could still hear her crying. They’d put in a call to the midwife who finally called back and suggested they bring Bettina in if she didn’t start feeling better soon. But Bee refused.

"She’s resting," Angi said, sinking down next to him on the couch.

"How is she?"

"Well her stomach is finally empty."

He nodded and wished for just a minute that he was twelve again. At least at twelve life was fairly easy. "Does she hate me?"

"Why would she hate you?"

"I dunno." He shrugged, eyes on his hands. He’d never noticed how callused and busted up they looked

"Because of your ex?"

He nodded and buried his face in his hands. One more day. All he’d wanted was one more day.

"Ty, she could never hate you," Angi whispered, leaning closer and wrapping an arm around him.

He struggled for words. "I don’t know what to say to her. I’m just...numb." And angry and scared. "I’d planned on telling her. Honest."