Читать книгу Texas Rebels: Elias - Linda Warren, Linda Warren - Страница 13

Chapter Four

“No.” Chase shook his head. “You’re not my father. My mom would’ve told me.”

“She told me for the first time tonight, so I’m in shock just like you. I guess she never wanted either one of us to know.”

Maribel couldn’t stand it any longer. She walked to the open jail door and faced her son. They rarely talked about Chase’s father and she liked it that way. But now her pride was going to take another hit. She had never meant to keep it a secret. It had just happened. Never in a million years had she planned to tell Chase this way.

“Mom, tell him it’s not true. He’s not my father.” Chase was not ready to hear the truth, but he was mature enough to handle it. If he wasn’t, that was her fault.

She stepped closer to Chase and spoke softly. “Elias Rebel is your father. I’m sorry. I should’ve told you more about him, but I didn’t feel it was necessary at the time. I never planned to return to Horseshoe.”

A shattered look came over his face. She’d seen that same look the day Miss Vennie had died. A part of her would hurt the rest of her life for creating this moment—for hurting her son like this.

Chase jerked a thumb toward Elias. “He says the sheriff released me into his custody and I’m now his responsibility.”

Maribel was tired and didn’t want to deal with more drama tonight. “We’ll discuss this later.” She nodded toward the doorway. “Let’s go home.”

Chase followed her without another word. Maribel was very aware that Elias was behind them. She had to make a stand and she had to do it now. Stepping outside in the early morning dawn, she turned to face Elias and all her sins seemed to hit her full force. His stern expression sent a direct message to her heart: he wasn’t going to go quietly out of their lives. Her stomach roiled with anxiety. But maybe he just needed a nudge.

“I really appreciated your help tonight. You went above and beyond what I expected and I’m very grateful my son did not have to spend more time in jail, but I can take it from here. I will make sure he’s at the hearing on Monday and he will be grounded until this is over.”

“Really, Maribel? You think I’m going to slither out of my son’s life with gratitude?”

“I’m not your son!” Chase shouted.

Elias’s lips tightened and she could see it was an effort to control his temper. “This is how it’s going to go,” he stated, his voice clear and unrelenting. “You take the kid back to Phoenix’s and get some rest. I’ll follow you out to Rebel Road and then I have to talk to my mom and my brothers to let them know what has happened.”

She should be thankful he was willing to take responsibility but she didn’t need his help now. All she wanted was for him to disappear out of their lives once again. She had raised Chase all these years and she could continue to do so without his input. She was fighting for her independence and somehow she knew it would be the biggest fight of her life.

“There’s really no need...”

“What are you afraid of, Maribel?” An eyebrow lifted toward his hat. “Are you afraid my mother might tell a different story than you’ve told me?”

“I’m not afraid. I know the truth, but there’s no need to rehash the past. It’s over and we should all move on.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” he said in a snarky tone that irritated her. She’d had enough for tonight and walked toward Rosie’s truck and got in. Chase followed. Nothing else was said as Elias went to his truck. All the way to Rebel Road she was aware of his truck behind her. He wasn’t letting them out of his sight. When she passed the Rebel Ranch house, he turned into the entrance and Maribel breathed a sigh of relief.

She had to wonder how his meeting with his mother would go. She wasn’t going to take it well. Since Maribel had been living with Phoenix and Rosie, Miss Kate had avoided her, but she couldn’t avoid her son. He would want answers. She’d love to be a fly on that wall. But then again, she’d rather forget the whole thing. She had a permanent reminder, though, who stalked behind her into the house.

“Go to bed,” she said to her son. “We’ll talk when you get up.”

“Mom...”

Phoenix came into the kitchen where they were standing. “You’re home. I have to get to work.”

Chase walked passed Phoenix without saying a word in his usual sullen mood.

“What happened?” Phoenix asked, staring at Chase’s back.

She told him most of what had happened during the night. She didn’t mention Elias, but Phoenix had to know and Rosie did, too.

“He’s out of control, Maribel. You have to do something.”

She took a deep breath. “I know. You’ve never asked me who Chase’s father is and neither has Rosie.”

“I figured that was your business.”

“Yes, well, to get Chase out of jail I had to ask for his father’s help, so this whole town will know by the end of today. I want to tell Rosie and I need your permission to do that.”

“Who’s his father?”

Her throat went dry and she had to swallow to say the words. “Your...brother...Elias.”

“What!”

“It’s true. It was a one-time thing that should never have happened. Chase is a result of that one time. I never told Elias but I had to tell him tonight because I needed his help.”

Phoenix swiped a hand through his hair. “Oh, man. Does my mother know about this?”

“Elias is telling her now.” She didn’t elaborate. She’d let Elias tell them the rest.

Phoenix grabbed his hat from a rack near the door. “Rosie and Jake are still asleep. Do you mind fixing breakfast?”

“No. Can I tell Rosie? I wouldn’t want her to hear it from someone else.”

“Sure.” He walked out the door and Maribel trailed down the hall to the master bedroom. Rosie, with her red hair everywhere, was propped up against the headboard. When she was small, Maribel had called her “Little Red Hen” because of her hair. They’d had an old hen that had had feathers the same color.

“You’re awake.”

“I always wake up when Phoenix kisses me goodbye.”

Maribel sat at the foot of the bed. “You’re absolutely glowing.”

Placing her hand on her protruding stomach, Rosie said, “I can’t lose this baby.”

“You’re won’t because we’re not going to let you. You have about three months to wait and even if the baby comes early, she’ll still be okay.”

“Phoenix and I are happy it’s a girl. We’re going to call her Grace. Gracie for short.”

“And she’ll be beautiful just like her mother.”

Rosie frowned. “Are you just getting home? You had those clothes on yesterday.”

She told her sister about the events of the night and ended by saying, “I had to ask his father for help.”

Rosie leaned forward. “His father!”

She met her sister’s startled eyes. “You’ve never asked me about him.”

“I didn’t want to pry and I knew you would tell me when you were ready.” She paused for a second. “So...who is Chase’s father?”

“Elias.”

“Elias who?”

“Rosie...”

“Oh...you mean...Elias Rebel?”

“Yes.”

Rosie shook her head. “I don’t see how that could have happened. You never went out at night or dated.”

Maribel told her the whole story and Rosie crawled to the foot of the bed and sat by Maribel. “I was so scared and I didn’t know what to do when Miss Kate wouldn’t believe me.”

Rosie hugged her sister. “With everything that was going on at that time I guess it’s understandable that she wouldn’t. But still...it makes me sad.”

“I hope Elias doesn’t get into a big argument with his mom about it.”

“Elias can handle his mother. I don’t think I know anyone stronger than Elias. He’s rough around the edges and as tough as they come.”

“And handsome,” slipped out before Maribel could stop herself.

Rosie picked up on it immediately. “Oh, do you still have feelings for him?”

“Of course not.” The words sounded hollow to her own ears and she decided to be honest with her sister. “I thought I was in love with him. Being a silly teenager, it was clear to me that after we had sex, we’d run away and live happily ever after. That naive teenager woke up quickly. It was just wrong and we both knew it, except for one little thing. I was pregnant.”

Rosie hugged her again. “Oh, Mari, I’m sorry for all that you had to go through.”

Another person called her Mari, but he pronounced it Merry. Sometimes late at night she’d hear his voice in her head and she hated that she couldn’t forget it. That she couldn’t forget him.

Maribel hugged her back. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to help you when you needed someone.” She brushed Rosie’s hair from her face. “Do you sometimes resent our mother for not helping us?”

“I did for a while, but I know she did the best she could.”

“Every day our mother would say, ‘I love you,’ over and over, but it had no meaning when it counted. When Dad would hit us, she would just cry and wring her hands. Not once did she try to stop him and not once did she take up for us. The day he found out I was pregnant he hit me so hard I fell against the wall. I was afraid I was going to lose the baby. I grabbed my stomach, trying to protect it, and I knew in that moment that I wanted the baby. I guess I’ll always remember Mom standing there with tears in her eyes, wringing her hands and not lifting a finger to help me. I stopped believing in love that day. As I drove away, something inside me died. Later, I knew what it was—my ability to love.”

“Oh, Mari.”

“I would protect Chase with my dying breath if someone was trying to hurt him.”

“Mom gave you money, as she did me. Doesn’t that count for something? She tried to help in her own way. She was just weak and didn’t know what else to do.”

“No, it doesn’t mean a thing. Shoving me off on Mrs. Peabody was not a motherly thing to do, even though it probably saved my life.”

“You can’t say that you don’t feel love. You love Chase. You love me.”

“Yeah, but I’ll never say those words to anyone again. They’re meaningless. That’s the way I feel now and I can’t change it.”

“That’s not healthy.”

“Mama. Mama. Mama,” Jake called as he ran into the room in his pajamas. “I’m hungry.”

Rosie kissed her son. “Aunt Maribel will fix you something.”

“’Kay.”

Maribel took the boy’s hand. “Come on, hotshot. Let’s see what we can find for breakfast.” Jake was almost four and he would be going to school in the fall. Rosie would have her hands full with a child in school and one in her arms. That was Rosie’s life—the one she wanted, filled with all the happiness she deserved. It wasn’t for Maribel. Maybe she was jaded. Or just smart. She would never get hurt again, though.

As she poured milk into a glass, she wondered what was happening at Rebel Ranch.

* * *

ELIAS SAT IN his truck outside his mom’s house, trying to come to grips with everything that had happened during the night. He had a son. He and Maribel had a son. Fast on that thought came one that he had to deal with: Did his mother know? There was just no way she would deny a Rebel grandchild. The only way to find out the truth was to walk into the house and ask her, which would probably be the hardest thing he’d ever had to do besides burying his dad.

Phoenix drove up and ran into the house, not even noticing Elias in his truck.

Showtime, he thought, as he got out and made his way into the house. A ball of dread wedged in his throat. Most people thought that was an alien emotion to him. He felt fear just like everyone else, even though everyone called him tough as leather. Today, he would find out how tough he really was.

Everyone, even Grandpa, was sitting around the big kitchen table eating breakfast. His mom sat at the head of the table and he could see her clearly, making sure everyone had enough food, making sure her sons were well-fed before a long day’s work.

Grandpa noticed him first. “Where have you been? You usually call when you’re gonna stay out all night.”

“Sorry, Grandpa, I didn’t have time.”

“You’ve been out all night and you plan to work today?” Falcon joined the conversation. “I hope you got some sleep along the way.”

“No, I didn’t get a wink.”

“You look strange,” Quincy added. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I spent most of the night in Wyatt’s office.” He wasn’t sure how to start the conversation so he started with the basics.

“Did you get arrested?” his mother asked.

“No. It’s a long story so I’ll try to shorten it as much as I can.” He told them about the stolen beer and the kids and Maribel’s son. “I went to the jail with Wyatt because I wanted to see what was going to happen to the boys. He let Billy Tom and Brandon go with their parents on the condition that they would be there for the hearing on Monday. And since he doesn’t know Maribel, he was going to hold her son until the hearing. Maribel asked for my help and I told her she’d have to give me a good reason to help her keep her son out of jail. She gave me one I wasn’t expecting.” He looked directly at his mother. “She said Chase was my son.”

“What!” echoed around the room.

Grandpa pointed a finger at Elias’s mother. “I told you it was going to bite you in the butt one day.”

“Shut up, Abe.”

All his hopes that Maribel had somehow exaggerated the situation died in that moment. His mother had rejected his child. That left a bitter taste in his mouth. All his life he had looked up to his mother. She was rock solid with family loyalty and love. How could she have done this?

“I guess that answers my next question. Maribel did come here to find me. What did you say to her?”

His mother clamped her lips tight in indignation.

“I’ll tell you what she said.” Grandpa was eager to take up the story. “She said to get out of her house and if Maribel spread that lie around Horseshoe she would call the sheriff.”

His mother got to her feet, her face a mask of fury. “The child is not yours, Elias. She’s playing you. I thought you, of all people, would see that. When she came here with that story, I told her my son would not betray his family. And he didn’t. I know him.”

Betrayal. Was that how she saw it?

His stomach hurt as if someone had tightened barbed wire around it. But he had to face the truth and he had to face his mother.

“I’m sorry if you see it as betrayal. It was two teenagers with raging hormones. It was a one-time thing and we knew it was wrong and we never saw each other again. We used protection but she still got pregnant and I never knew until tonight. I would have known if you had seen fit to tell me.”

“That child is not yours. How many times do I have to tell you?”

Elias pulled out his phone, tapped the screen and walked over and laid Chase’s picture in front of her. She refused to look at it. Falcon picked up the phone and stared at it.

“Oh...”

Quincy took it from him and passed it around the table. “Mom...”

“That is not Elias’s son, Quincy.”

“Mom...”

“Stay out of this, Phoenix.”

“Maybe you need to get a DNA test done,” Falcon suggested.

“I don’t need a DNA test. I know Chase is my son.”

“He is not your son, Elias,” his mother repeated in a steely voice he’d never heard before. And it brought out the anger in him.

“What is it? Is it because he’s my son? Falcon and Leah got pregnant and you and Dad then invited them into the house to live. When Leah left, you helped with the baby. There was no question of DNA. When Jude got Paige pregnant in high school and gave the child up for adoption, you hired an attorney to fight to get him back. There was no question of DNA then either. Phoenix heard he was a father and you wanted to raise the boy. So what is it? Why is my son treated differently?”

His mother carried her plate to the sink. “I’m tired of talking about this. We have work to do and it’s time we all got to it.”

Elias picked up his phone from the table. “That’s it, huh? If my son is not welcome here then I’m not, either. I’m out of here.”

“If you walk out that door, I will disinherit you.”

A powerful silence filled the room.

He turned back to look at the mother he’d loved all his life and he only saw an angry woman determined to stick to her principles of being right when she was wrong. She didn’t want to admit she’d made a mistake in turning away Elias’s child. He couldn’t change that, but he wasn’t going to stand for it, either.

All his life he’d put his blood, sweat and tears into this ranch because one day he would own part of it. Could he walk away from everything he loved? It wasn’t much of a choice. He had a son and he had to stand up for him as well as for himself. As always, though, he had something to say.

“Dad was alive back then. Don’t you think a Rebel/McCray child would have pulled him out of his malaise? It would have helped him to see that life goes on even after tragedy.”

“That boy is not a Rebel.”

His mother was taking a stance and he had to do the same.

“I’m outta here.”