Читать книгу Lone Star Father - Marin Thomas - Страница 12
ОглавлениеScarlett sipped her coffee in front of the hotel window as she watched the sun peek above the horizon Saturday morning.
She’d caught a few winks after Reid and Jessie had retired to their room last night, but she was eager to relinquish her desk duties to the part-time employee Gunner had hired to cover for him while he helped Lydia with the baby.
Her gaze swung to the High Noon room and she envisioned Reid sprawled across one of the double beds as he slept. The cowboy had been her first crush and she’d never forgotten him or his kiss. Every once in a while she’d recall that afternoon and wonder where he was or whom he was with. But she’d never imagined him being a father.
Eventually the streaks of pinkish orange along the horizon gave way to bright sunlight. The pace of life in Stampede was turtle slow compared to the hustle and bustle of Wisconsin’s state capital. Last year she’d despised the tiny Texas town for luring her cousins away from Madison. Not in a million years had Scarlett believed she’d be living here, too.
If not for being duped by Dale, and having been forced to resign from her job, she wouldn’t have packed her belongings and moved south. Fortunately there was a need for social workers, and Family Crisis Services in Mesquite had offered her a job right away.
The door to the High Noon room opened and Jessie stepped outside with Fang. The little Chihuahua was dressed in his Superman T-shirt and his owner wore pajama bottoms, pink fuzzy slippers and a sweatshirt. Coffee in hand Scarlett left the office and followed the duo behind the motel. “Good morning,” she said.
Jessie jumped, then slapped her hand against her chest. “Crap, you scared me.”
“Sorry.” Scarlett sat at the picnic table.
Jessie walked the dog until he did his job, then scooped him off the ground and joined Scarlett, placing Fang on top of the table.
“The plastic bags to pick up his doo-doo are over there.” Scarlett pointed to the waste station.
Jessie put her hand in front of Fang’s face and said, “Stay,” then walked off to clean up the dog’s mess. When she sat down again, she removed a single-serve can of pet food from the pocket of her sweatshirt and popped the lid off. Fang’s tail twirled like a propeller as he gobbled his breakfast.
“Where did you get your coffee?” Jessie asked.
“There’s a Keurig machine in the office. Do you drink coffee?”
The preteen nodded.
Twelve was a little young to get hooked on jitter juice. After the dog finished his meal, Scarlett said, “There’s milk in the office fridge.”
“I like coffee.”
They returned to the office, where Jessie filled a disposable cup with water from the cooler and offered Fang a drink.
“You take very good care of him.” Scarlett watched Jessie make herself coffee, then dump three creamers and two packets of sugar into the cup—definitely not a proper breakfast for a twelve-year-old.
“If you like animals,” Scarlett said, “then you’ll love visiting the petting zoo at your great-grandfather’s ranch.”
Jessie sipped the hot brew, squinting over the rim of the cup. “If we’re allowed to go to the ranch.”
“What do you mean?”
“My dad said he wasn’t a very good grandson.”
Scarlett wondered how much of his childhood Reid had shared with his daughter.
“If no one wants my dad to stay, then we’ll probably go back to El Paso.”
Time to change the subject. “Are you hungry? There’s a box of instant oatmeal in the back.”
“Sure,” Jessie said.
In the makeshift kitchen behind the office, Scarlett microwaved two bowls of apple-cinnamon oatmeal. When she handed Jessie her breakfast, the girl said, “You’re really pretty.”
“Thank you.” Scarlett was aware of her beauty. She’d been blessed with flawless skin, luminous eyes and high cheekbones. As far as hairdos went, she looked good in any style, which was why she wore a wash-ʼnʼ-wear haircut, because it saved her time getting ready for work each morning.
“I used to have long hair.” Scarlett touched her lower back. “All the way down to my hips. My friend told me guys liked long hair so I never cut it.” She finished her oats. “Then I woke up one morning in college and stared at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Why do I care what guys think?’” She smiled. “I cut it all off and I’ve been wearing it short ever since.”
Jessie scratched Fang behind the ears and the dog’s eyes closed. “My mom had long hair.”
Scarlett sat down in a chair. “Were you and your mother close?”
Jessie nodded. “It was mostly just me and my mom.”
“I was close to my mother when I was your age,” Scarlett said.
“Is she still alive?”
“Yes. She taught second grade, but she’s retired now.”
“Do you have kids?”
“No.”
“You don’t want kids?”
“Someday maybe.” Scarlett smiled to cover the sting she felt when she thought of Dale’s daughter Amy. She’d loved the six-year-old as a mother not a social worker. “I have a full caseload of kids at work.”
“My mom wanted more kids, but after Mike broke up with her, she never got another boyfriend.”
Not only did Jessie have a rough time of it, but her mother had, too. “What kind of work did your mom do?”
“She was a supervisor in a warehouse.”
“I like hearing about women bosses,” Scarlett said.
Jessie sat up straighter. “Sometimes she drove a forklift.”
“Impressive. The largest vehicle I’ve ever driven is the van I borrowed from a friend to move to a new apartment.” Scarlett’s cousins had nicknamed her gypsy because she only signed one-year leases at apartment complexes.
Jessie dropped her gaze. “My mom died at work.”
Scarlett pictured a woman passing out at her desk after suffering a heart attack, stroke or brain aneurism. “What happened?”
“She backed the forklift into a bunch of wooden pallets and they fell on top of her.”
Scarlett winced.
“My grandparents died a long time ago,” Jessie said. “That’s why Mrs. Delgado had to call my dad.”
Had to call? “You didn’t keep in touch with your father?”
Jessie shook her head. “My mom said he didn’t want anything to do with us.”
Wow. No wonder Reid and his daughter appeared uneasy with each other.
“His name was on my birth certificate.” Jessie pulled Fang closer to her body as if the animal was a shield. “So I’m stuck with him.”
Stuck? That wasn’t the way things worked in social services, especially with children Jessie’s age. If she hadn’t wanted to be with Reid, her caseworker wouldn’t have forced her to live with him.
The lobby door opened and Fang barked. Reid stepped inside, wearing pajama bottoms, a rumpled T-shirt, his cowboy boots and hat.
Scarlett smiled at the pillow crease along his cheek. “Good morning.” It took immense willpower to maintain eye contact with him and not allow her gaze to drift over his muscular chest and the cotton bottoms clinging to his slim hips.
He dragged a hand down his tired face, then looked at his daughter. “I woke up and you weren’t in the room.”
“Fang had to pee,” Jessie said.
“I bet you could use some caffeine.” While Scarlett made him a cup of joe, a deafening silence filled the room. When she offered him the drink, his fingers skimmed her knuckles and tiny sparks raced up her arm. “There’s cream and sugar on the table.”
“Black is fine.” He took a sip, then spoke. “You hungry?”
“We had oatmeal,” Jessie said.
Scarlett smiled. “I can make you a bowl, if you’d like.”
“I’ll pass, thanks.”
A vehicle pulling into the parking lot caught Scarlett’s attention. “Sadie’s here.” She glanced at the wall clock. “She’s up early.”
The white minivan parked in front of the window and when the rear door opened, Scarlett’s nephews hopped out and raced over to the office. It took both boys pulling on the handle to open the door and when they burst into the lobby, Tommy shouted, “Aunt Scarlett, we got a girl cousin!”
Scarlett laughed. “I heard.”
“It sucks.” Tommy looked at his brother. “Right, Tyler?”
Scarlett frowned at the pair. “Your mom told you not to use that word.”
“I forgot.” Tommy noticed Jessie sitting in the chair and walked over to her. “Is that your dog?”
“His name is Fang,” Jessie said. “And just so you know, boys suck, too.”
Tommy and Tyler exchanged wide-eyed glances.
“You two look alike,” Jessie said.
“That’s ʼcause we’re twins.” Tommy nudged Tyler in the side. “Right?”
Tyler pointed to the dog. “Can I pet him?”
“Sure.”
The boys took turns petting Fang and then Tommy spoke when Sadie walked into the office. “That’s my mom.”
Jessie pointed to Reid. “That’s my dad.”
“We’ve got two dads.” Tommy glanced at Tyler and his brother nodded.
“Sadie, this is Reid.” Scarlett introduced the adults. “And Reid’s daughter, Jessie.”
“You and Jessie couldn’t have picked a better time to visit.” Sadie smiled. “The whole family will be here when Lydia and Gunner bring the baby home from the hospital.”
Scarlett loved her cousin for acting nonchalant about the fact that her husband’s brother had returned to town unannounced and with a daughter no one had known about. Not that Sadie’s easy-going personality put Reid at ease. His gaze swung to the door, then over to the window before returning to the door. The cowboy wanted to flee.
“Scarlett,” Sadie said, “I need you to come with me and the boys to buy party supplies for the baby’s homecoming tomorrow. I’m planning a surprise get-together for the new parents at the ranch.” Sadie nodded to Jessie. “As long as the dog doesn’t mind waiting in the van while we shop, why don’t you come with us.”
Tyler patted Jessie’s thigh. “Will you come?”
Jessie looked at Reid, and he said, “We don’t have any plans.”
“Sure,” Jessie said. “I’ll go.”
Reid’s rigid stance relaxed. He didn’t seem bothered that his daughter hadn’t wanted to spend the day with him.
Jessie scooped Fang off the chair. “I’ll get dressed.”
“Do you have a key card to get back into the room?” Reid opened the lobby door for her after Jessie flashed the card in his face. “Take a twenty out of my wallet on the nightstand in case you see something you want to buy for yourself or the dog.”
Sadie sent Scarlett a curious look when Jessie left without saying a word to anyone. “Boys, have you said hello to your dad’s brother? This is your uncle Reid.”
“I thought Uncle Gunner was Dad’s brother,” Tommy said.
“Your father has two brothers.” Sadie smiled at Reid.
“Nice to meet you, boys,” he said.
“We’re five.” Tommy walked over to Reid and squinted up at him. “My dad wears a cowboy hat but his is black.”
Scarlett hid a smile behind a pretend yawn. The boy’s forthrightness took getting used to.
“Are you older than my dad?” Tommy asked.
“Nope. I’m thirty-two.” He studied the twins. “I can’t tell you apart.”
“That’s ʼcause we look alike,” Tyler said.
Scarlett laughed. “You can tell them apart by remembering that Tommy asks a lot of questions and Tyler’s favorite hobby is reading.”
“Do you got more kids?” Tommy asked.
“No. Just my daughter, Jessie.”
Tommy wrinkled his nose. “She’s a girl.”
Reid’s mouth flirted with a smile and Scarlett was mesmerized by the twinkle in his blue eyes. “Jessie’s a girl all right.”
“Is Fang a boy dog?” Tommy asked.
Reid nodded.
“Okay, enough questions.” Sadie pointed across the room. “Pick out a book and read while we wait for Jessie.”
Tyler walked over to the refurbished post office mailbox compartments and opened one of the doors. He removed a children’s book from the slot, then climbed into a chair. Tommy sat next to his brother and listened to him read.
“When does Virginia take over for you?” Sadie asked Scarlett.
“Not until eight but Gunner said she usually shows up early.” Scarlett turned to Reid. “Virginia lives across the street from our aunt.”
Sadie laughed. “She’s what Aunt Amelia calls a colorful character.”
“Colorful is right,” Scarlett said. “Virginia is pushing sixty, but dresses like a twenty-year-old.”
Reid reached for the door handle. “Jessie’s got my number in her cell phone if you need to get ahold of me.”
“Before you go,” Sadie said. “I have a message for you from Logan. Your brothers would like you to meet them at the Saddle Up Saloon at noon.”
“Sure. Where should I pick up Jessie later?”
Sadie waved a hand. “Come out to the ranch. Jessie will enjoy helping the boys feed the petting-zoo animals.”
“See you later then.”
As soon as the door closed behind him, Sadie said, “He couldn’t escape fast enough.”
Scarlett watched Reid cross the parking lot. “I’d love to be a mouse in the bar when the Hardell brothers meet later.”
“Let’s make a list of party supplies while we wait for Virginia to arrive.”
Scarlett retrieved a notepad and a pen from the desk drawer, eager to hear how Sadie planned to decorate for both the baby and the black sheep’s homecoming.
* * *
REID PARKED THE pickup behind the old Woolworth building in downtown Stampede. It was five minutes before noon and his gut was tied into a pretzel knot.
The Hardell family reunion would be a far cry from a Hallmark movie scene. He’d be lucky if he escaped the gathering with his surname intact.
He got out of the truck and strolled along the town’s main thoroughfare—Chuck Wagon Drive. A handful of brick buildings dated back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. The feed store had closed its doors and boarded over the windows before Reid had graduated from high school. He could barely make out the words For Sale that had been spray-painted on the side of the building decades ago.
His gaze swung across the street. The old Amoco filling station had been converted into a farmer’s market. A pickup was parked in the lot, its truck bed piled high with produce. Next to the station sat the Corner Market. When he was a kid, his grandfather would drop him and his brothers off at the store to buy candy.
He continued up the next block. The town looked depressed. Tired. The white bench that had always sat in front of the National Bank and Trust was missing and weeds grew through the cracks in the sidewalk near the door. On the other side of the street the shadows of the missing letters in the Bucket of Suds Coin-Operated Laundry sign remained visible against the gray cinder block.
From the few texts he’d exchanged with his brothers over the last year he knew his grandfather was trying to sabotage Amelia’s efforts to restore the town—he just didn’t know why. He agreed with the matriarch that the place needed a face-lift. If she wanted to dump her millions into Stampede, why should his grandfather care?
Reid put the brakes on and backpedaled to Millie’s Antiques & Resale—or what used to be the business. The old rocker that had sat in the display window for decades had been replaced with an industrial-style desk and a hanging light made from plumbing pipes and old-fashioned Edison light bulbs. Lydia’s Interior Design was etched into the window glass.
Gunner hadn’t told him that his wife had opened a business in town. The canary yellow door and red flowerpots overflowing with white and purple pansies was the lone bright spot among the dreary buildings on the block.
Reid reached the Saddle Up Saloon and drew in a steadying breath. Then another. And another. But no amount of oxygen would clear his thinking enough to fabricate a reasonable excuse for ignoring his family all these years.
He entered the building, pausing inside the door to allow his eyes to adjust to the dim interior. He looked toward the bar expecting to see his brothers parked on the stools, but the seats were empty.
Reid recognized the bartender dusting off liquor bottles. JB’s ponytail was longer and mostly gray now. He wore a beige T-shirt with a picture of a saddle on the back and the bar name printed in bold, black letters. When JB recognized Reid, the corner of his mouth lifted in greeting, then he tilted his head toward a table in the back corner where his siblings and his grandfather had gathered.
Reid approached the group and waited for an invite to join them. His grandfather nodded and Reid pulled out a chair and sat. JB placed a bottle of beer in front of Reid, then refilled his grandfather’s coffee cup before returning behind the bar.
He might as well get the tongue-lashing over with. Staring at his older brother he said, “Give me your best shot.”
Logan didn’t hesitate. “You’ve treated us like lepers for years. Don’t think you can waltz back into the family as if you never left.”
“I doubt you missed me that much,” Reid muttered.
Logan’s eyes widened.
“I’m no saint.” Gunner spoke up. “I’ve done my share of letting everyone down, but I’ve never deserted the family.” He pointed to their grandfather. “Gramps took care of us when our parents didn’t. He deserved better from you.”
Reid stared at his grandfather and braced himself.
“Did I do something or say something to make you believe you weren’t part of this family?”
Reid clenched his jaw and looked away from the sadness in the old man’s eyes. “I’d rather not talk about the past.” What good would it do to list his grievances? Donny Hardell was dead and his brothers had moved on. Why couldn’t he?
“Why’d you come home?” Gunner asked.
Tell them the truth. “I didn’t know where else to go for help.”
“You having some kind of early-life crisis, boy?” Gramps asked.
Reid pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. Despite his belief that his brothers could have done more to protect him from their father’s verbal abuse, he’d missed his grandfather’s cantankerous personality. “If you consider instant fatherhood an early-life crisis, then yes, I’m having one.”
Gunner looked at Logan, then back at Reid. “What do you mean, ‘instant fatherhood’?”
“I met Jessie for the first time six months ago when social services contacted me after her mother died.”
“The girl’s mother is dead?” Gramps asked.
“Stacy died in a workplace accident. My name was listed on Jessie’s birth certificate. A DNA test confirmed that I’m her father.”
Gramps sipped his coffee. “Where’s Jessie been all this time?”
“El Paso.” Reid rubbed his brow. He’d never learn why Stacy hadn’t reached out to him after she discovered she was pregnant. Her reasons had been cremated along with her body.
“I don’t remember any Stacy that we went to school with,” Logan said.
“She wasn’t from here.”
“Where did she live?” Gunner asked.
“I don’t know. The subject never came up at Jason Zelder’s house party where we had sex. Once.” Stacy had latched onto Reid when he’d walked through the front door and hadn’t let go until after they’d made out in his grandfather’s pickup in the driveway. “Stacy left the party with her friends and I never heard from her again.”
Gramps thumped his fist on the tabletop and they all jumped. “Why’d you wait six months to tell me about my great-granddaughter?”
“I wasn’t sure Jessie wanted anything to do with me.”
“What do you mean?” Gramps asked.
“The social worker suggested a six-month probation period for us to get to know each other. I quit my job in Albuquerque and moved to El Paso. At the end of six months Jessie agreed to leave her foster parents’ home and go with me.”
“So you got custody of her,” Gunner said.
“Temporary custody. The caseworker will reevaluate our situation in the next couple of months and either recommend that a judge give me permanent custody or place Jessie back into the foster-care system.” If he wanted to keep his daughter with him, Reid had to provide Jessie with a stable home life and a decent place to live. Right now they had neither of those things.
Logan crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m surprised you’d want anything to do with your daughter after the way you wrote off your family.”
Reid’s knuckles turned white against the beer bottle. “I think it’s the other way around.”
Their grandfather sliced his hand through the air, ending the tit for tat before it escalated. “How do you plan to show the social worker that Jessie belongs with us?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know the first thing about being a father.” And growing up, his father hadn’t been a good role model.
“I won’t be any help. As a first-time daddy I’m flying by the seat of my jeans.” Gunner nudged Logan’s arm. “You’ve been a father longer than I have.”
“Only by a few months,” Logan said. “I love the twins as if they were my own, but they’re a lot younger than Jessie. And they’re boys. I wouldn’t know what to do with a preteen daughter.”
“I got plenty of experience riding herd over teenage troublemakers,” Gramps said. “How long are you staying?”
“If I can find a job and a place for Jessie and I to live, then we’ll stay until the social worker makes her decision.”
“What about school?” Logan asked.
“Jessie’s mother and foster mother homeschooled her. I don’t know anything about that stuff, so she’ll have to go to the middle school in Mesquite.”
“We can make room for you two at the ranch,” Gramps said.
Logan raised his hand. “I need to check with Sadie first to see if it’s okay with two more people moving into the house.”
Reid didn’t want to add stress to his brother’s marriage and he didn’t want to kick Scarlett out of his grandfather’s bedroom. “If you can put Jessie up at the house, I’ll stay at the motel.” He nodded to Gunner. “I’ll pay for the room.”
“How are you supposed to bond with your daughter if you’re not living together?” Gramps asked.
“It’s only temporary,” Reid said. “Once I find a job, I’ll rent an apartment.” Living a few miles away from his family would give him a little breathing room.
“You’ve finally come home after all these years,” his grandfather said. “I won’t have you living in another town.” He rubbed the whiskers on his chin. “What about bunking down in the old hunting cabin at the back of the property?”
“I appreciate the thought, Gramps,” Reid said. “But it might be easier—” and less stress on the entire family “—if we find an apartment.”
“If you want our help,” Gramps said, “then you and Jessie should live at the ranch.”
Reid liked the idea of Jessie being closer to family and if they used the cabin, he’d be closer to Scarlett, who he hadn’t stopped thinking about since yesterday. And suddenly the thought of running into Scarlett on a regular basis appealed to Reid.
“What do you say?” Gramps said. “The cabin needs a good cleaning, but Jessie would have her own bedroom.”
“Sure. We’ll give it a try.”
Logan hadn’t said a word and Reid suspected his brother wasn’t thrilled with the living arrangements.
Gramps changed the subject. “Gunner, what time are you bringing Lydia and the baby home from the hospital tomorrow?”
“At noon,” Gunner said. “Why?”
“Stop by the ranch on your way into town. The women are cooking up a surprise party for the baby.”
“You weren’t supposed to tell Gunner,” Logan said.
Their grandfather scoffed. “Men don’t care about parties.”
“I need to get back to the hospital.” Gunner stood and pushed his chair in. “Thanks again for the car seat, Logan. It was easy to install.” Gunner turned to Reid. “Welcome home.”
After the youngest Hardell departed, Logan stood. “I’ve got to get back to the ranch. A group of trail riders arrives in a couple of hours.”
Reid wanted to learn more about the changes at the ranch but kept his questions to himself. If he and Jessie were moving into the cabin, he’d find out soon enough why a cattle ranch had been turned into a tourist attraction.
Logan placed his cowboy hat on his head. “You leaving or staying, Gramps?”
“I got a meeting with the town council at the library.”
“Town council?” Reid looked at his grandfather.
“Gramps is the mayor of Stampede,” Logan said. “You would know that if you’d come home before now.” He walked out of the bar.
“Don’t mind your brother. He’s a Hardell. We’re all too stubborn for our own good.”
Reid swallowed his pride. “I’m sorry.”
“Growing up in this family wasn’t easy. I know that.” His grandfather braced his hands on the table and pushed himself to his feet. “You don’t have to like any of us, but family is family and we’re all you’ve got.”
Reid sat alone in the saloon long after his family had deserted him. Again. Gramps and Gunner had been more forgiving than Logan. Reid had some fence mending to do with his older brother.
