Colorado 03 Lady Luck (34 page)

“It’s a long story,” I told her.

“
Well, lucky you, your three girls got the
next two weeks off so you got
plenty
of time,” Ella shot back but my heart skipped
happily.

“You guys are here for two weeks?” I
asked.

“Alexa Anne,” Ella said warning low.

I sucked in breath and took in their angry
eyes. Well, Honey looked curious, not angry but Bessie and Ella
were ticked. And this was because they knew why I might keep a
secret from Honey but I had no good reason to keep a secret from
them. Or lie to them. And doing either would draw the wrath of
hellfire down on me. We were tight, Ella the only mother I knew,
Bessie closer than a sister. They had my back and I had their love
and I returned both.

So I had a lot of explaining to do and the
only hope I had of doing it without hurting feelings was giving it
to them straight.

I walked to the island and put my hands on
it.

Then I said, “About two days after I left, I
picked up Ty from a correctional facility in southern California.
He’d just got done doing a nickel for manslaughter.”

Bessie closed her eyes and looked away.
Honey’s eyes got huge. Ella’s head dropped to look at her hand on
the island.

I kept talking.

“It was an errand for Shift.” Bessie and
Ella’s eyes snapped back to me. “He wasn’t forthcoming about this
errand. I thought he wanted me to pick up Ty and take him somewhere
but he didn’t. He was presenting me to Ty as payback he owed. Ty
needed a wife and that was me.”

“Girl,” Ella said low.

“No, listen to me,” I whispered. “He didn’t
do it.”

“That’s what they all say,” Bessie hissed
and my back shot straight.

“Well he didn’t,” I fired back and she
blinked at my fierce tone. “You’re here two weeks, you’ll see.
He’ll show you and his friends will show you. He got framed. I’ll
explain that to you when we have cocktails but right now, that’s a
part you need to know. By the time you leave to go home, you’ll
feel it tearing at your heart like I do, that he got targeted
because he’s got color and got in the sights of a dirty cop to go
down for a crime he didn’t commit. But you’ll also leave knowing
he’s a good man and I’m in good hands.”

“You met him a month ago,” Ella reminded me
and my eyes slid to hers.

Then I replied gently and cautiously, “Spent
a lot of time with bad, Ella, I know the feel of good.”

I watched her clench her teeth. It wasn’t a
low blow, it was the truth and sometimes the truth hurt.

I pulled in another breath. “It started
fake, a deal, me being his wife and he was going to get me free
from Shift. Something happened and now it is
far
from fake. Now, we’re starting a life. It’s good.
I’m happy. I have a job and he has a boatload of friends who care a
lot about him and brought me into the fold the second I stepped
foot in that door.” I swung an arm out to the door behind them. “No
joke,
the
second
we walked in they
gave him a welcome home bash and mingled it with a wedding party.
They didn’t know we were fake and by then, it had only been a few
days, but we weren’t anymore. They don’t know what you know and I’d
appreciate you didn’t tell them when you meet them. But what you
need to know is I care about him, a lot. I’m trying to help him
adjust to being out which isn’t easy most especially because of why
he was in. And we’re starting something, something good, something
I never expected I’d have and I’m going to do everything in my
power to keep it and keep it good. Everything in my power.” I
pulled in yet another breath, slid my eyes through a trio of women
I loved and finished softly but with emphasis, “
Everything
.”

They looked at me and I let them.

Then Ella asked, “He got targeted because of
his color?”

“He’s half-black and the local Police Chief
is not a big fan of color and when he needed a fall guy and he lost
big to Ty in poker, he chose him to take the fall,” I answered.

“Local? I thought he did time in
California?” Bessie asked.

“It’s a long story that requires alcohol but
the cop business is a family business and he’s got a cokehead
brother in California who needed a problem solved. Against his
will, Ty solved it and he lost five years of his life doing it,” I
replied.

“That’s just terrible,” Honey whispered.

“
Yeah, it is,” I stated firmly.
“Unimaginably terrible.
Crushingly
terrible.”

“You’re in love with him,” Ella said quietly
and I looked to her then I held her eyes.

Then I whispered, “Yes. Falling in love,
yes, I am, Ella. Fast. He bought me diamonds. He bought me a
wedding bouquet. He bought me a Treasure Island snow globe.” I
pointed to the sill, her eyes followed my finger then I dropped my
hand and her eyes came back. “He took me to Moab. He brought me to
this house. He gave me his friends. He gave me his protection,
dragging me out from under Shift. He gave me freedom from that. The
air I breathe now is clean. Fresh and clean. And its air I share
with Ty. He gave me all that and it took over a week for me to make
him laugh.” I leaned forward, “
Over a week.
”

Ella closed her eyes slowly and opened them.
She knew what this meant. I was funny and I was funny because she
taught me how to be. The Rodriguez family might never have had much
but they always had a lot of laughter.

I kept going. “I’ve been with him nearly a
month and he’s laughed full out three times. Only three. He gave me
all that and I’ve managed to make him laugh three times. This is
what I’m dealing with. He’s generous, he’s gentle, when he talks to
me soft it’s like a gift, when he calls me ‘baby’ or ‘mama’, I feel
it in my heart, my belly. So yes, I’m falling in love with him. And
you give him a shot, you will too.”

“I’ll give him a shot,” Honey said
instantly, because that was Honey. She wasn’t bright but she was
loving, she was open and she’d give anyone a shot, sometimes when
they didn’t deserve it.

But Ty did so I looked to her and smiled a
grateful smile.

Then my smile wobbled when I looked at
Bessie. “Bess?”

“I got your back whatever,” she muttered but
then her eyes locked with mine. “That said, I do not like bullshit
phone calls. I get this was serious shit for you and your head was
probably all over the place. But I do not like bullshit phone
calls. I’ll make that point now, expect you to let that shit sink
in and we’ll move on long’s I got your word that shit has sunk
in.”

“It’s sunk in. You have my word and I’m
sorry for the bullshit,” I replied quietly.

She held my eyes. Then she jerked up her
chin.

And that was Bessie. She
was
a bright bulb, always had been.
She’d learned early to withhold her trust until it was earned and
to say it like it was so no one could mistake where she was coming
from. But once you had her trust, her loyalty and devotion were
worth every effort it took to earn it. Except, of course, as it was
with many girls, when it came to her love life. With that, as it
was with many girls, she was
all
screwed up.

I looked to Ella.

“Ella?” I whispered.

She looked away and licked her lips.

“Ella?” I called, still whispering.

She kept her eyes averted and leaned heavily
into her hand in the island.

“Ella, please,” I begged.

She looked back at me.

“Moved on. My baby’s moved on,” she said
quietly, her voice trembling. “And the last thing my son gave to
you before you moved on was the need to take flight and do
somethin’ flat out crazy to get out from under the garbage he left
you. Last thing you had from Ronnie was all you ever got from him.
Garbage.” She pulled in breath and wet glistened at the edge of her
eyes. “That stings, precious,” she whispered.

“I know,” I whispered back. “But it isn’t
true the only thing he gave me was garbage, he gave me more and
there was a lot of it that was good. And in the end, the garbage he
gave me also led me to Ty and as you can tell, I’m not
complaining.”

“
Yeah, that’s the reason I’m not
blubberin’. ‘Cause you look like I’ve never seen you look, standin’
in your fancy-ass clothes that are fancy even bein’ shorts and a
tee, in a kitchen nicer than many I’ve seen that’s in a house a
whole lot better than many I’ve seen lookin’ like you belong here.
And you always looked like you belonged to the likes of the man I
saw outside. And last you look happy which is somethin’ I’ve
never
seen, not happy like you got
right now, the quiet kind which is the best kind. So that’s why I’m
still standin’. ‘Cause I know my son taught you bad but I know
you’re
my
girl so I
trust you to move onto good.”

She got fuzzy because my eyes filled with
tears. Then I felt my way around the island. Then I was in her
arms. Then Honey’s arms came around us. Then Bessie’s. We held on
tight without laughter and swaying but with some hitches of breath
and a couple of quiet sobs.

Then we got it under control and let each
other go.

Then Ella strolled to a stool, hiked her ass
up on one and announced, “Now, I’ll take a cocktail.”

All out offensive a success, I felt relief
so I moved a grin through my girls then I moved my body to where we
kept our booze. I took the bottles down and something caught my
eye. My head turned left and I saw my heart of petals hanging in
the kitchen window. I hadn’t etched “Ty and Lexie, Las Vegas” in it
because I thought that was cheesy but I had etched some curlicues
and I thought it looked good. Out of place but I knew what it was,
Ty did too so it was in the exact right place for us and that was
all that mattered.

Then I felt the still warm, early evening
sun beating on my skin through the glass. It was bright. Colorado
was bright. I’d never experienced so much sunshine in my life.

And that’s when I knew. It had happened.
What just happened was only placing a stamp on it, making it
official.

That warm sun shining on my skin, its
brightness filling my days – the shadow of Ronnie was gone. Even
with Ty’s business in the background, nothing encroached, not even
to throw a little shade.

My life was filled with brightness.

And thinking that, I left the bottles where
they were, muttered vaguely to my girls, “Just a sec,” then walked
to the backdoor, put one foot out of it and yelled in no particular
direction, “Honey! If you’re avoiding the house, drama over, it’s
safe to come inside. It’s all about cocktails and camaraderie not
tempers and tantrums!”

Then I stepped back in, shut the door and
hit the liquor bottles, ignoring Honey’s audible snicker.

I got them their drinks. I got myself a beer
and they were all lined up on the stools, me at the side of the
island, my hip leaning against it when Ty came up the stairs from
the garage. He jerked up his chin to my family, hit the fridge and
got himself a beer.

Then he settled, hips against the counter at
the side wall, reached out a long arm, tagged my hand, yanked and I
scuttled toward him, falling into his body where his arm wrapped
around my waist and my head tipped back.

“Wood, Tate, Jonas and Deke are on their
way. You’re gonna have to direct traffic and provide payback in the
form of pizza and beer,” he told me.

I smiled up at him. “I can do that. Pizza
place in town deliver?”

“Yep,” he answered. “Head’s up. Reconcile of
Maggie and Wood means they’re attached at the hip unless he’s under
a car. Tate says that you told Laurie we got good patio furniture
so he warned me she’s itchin’ for a look and will probably find her
way in his truck. So you order, order big ‘cause Tate says Jonas
alone can eat a large all to himself.”

“He’s a growing boy,” I explained.

“He’s a growing Jackson,” Ty returned. “Tate
ain’t exactly small and Jonas is the spittin’ image of his
Dad.”

I looked to my girls who were all observing
us. Honey with a happy smile. Bessie with an assessing stare. Ella
with her head tipped to the side but her expression shuttered.

I ignored all this and told them, “Wait
until you meet Ty’s friends. They’re all white but they’re all
seriously hot.”

“
Heard word of women, they hot
and
taken?” Bessie
asked.

“Except Deke,” I answered.

“Then what do I care they’re hot?” she shot
back.

“They’re taken but they’re still fun to look
at.”

“Girl, I got an eyeful right in front of me.
More might make my head explode,” she returned.

She wasn’t wrong about that so I had no
reply. Luckily, Honey giggling covered it.

Ty’s reaction to this compliment was to take
a tug on his beer then set it on the counter beside him. I watched
his hand do that then I watched it come toward me then I watched it
until I couldn’t anymore because it cupped my jaw and tipped my
face up to his while he curled his body slightly enough to give us
a hint of privacy, not enough to be rude.

When my eyes caught his, he whispered, “You
good?”

There it was. That was why he didn’t react
to Bessie’s compliment. His mind was on me.

I grinned. Then I nodded.

His gaze roamed my face.

Then he nodded back, his hand dropped, he
curled away and grabbed his beer.

I looked to my girls. Honey was smiling her
happy smile. Bessie was looking away, blinking and I knew this was
to hide it while she fought tears and Ella’s expression wasn’t
shuttered anymore. Her face was soft, her eyes were lit with her
sweet momma light and they were on me.