Texas Strong (10 page)

The next time Jake got a break in the action was hours later. A few more members of the little girl’s family were waiting to thank him and talk about how long the little girl’s recovery would require.

Eager to talk to Laura and tell her what had happened, he headed for the wall of glass where he could obtain decent reception, then dialed his home and waited.

And waited. When Laura’s voicemail message started, he listened to her and smiled. At the beep, he began. “Babe, I wish you were here. I just worked on a five-year-old girl who was hit in a drive-by shooting.” The injustice rolled over him again. “What the hell are people thinking?” He choked back his outrage and continued. “But she’s going to make it. Her family—they treated me like I was a superhero. Her grandmother kept crying and hugging me and—” Then he remembered the purpose of his call. “I’m really sorry about Our Day, sweetheart. I’ll make it up to you, I swear.” He lowered his voice to a near growl, one he knew got to her on a visceral level. “I’d like to be doing some making up right now, if you catch my drift.”

Someone brushed past, and he cleared his throat. “Um, Gruenwald’s flight got delayed, so I have to stick around. Soon as I can, though, I’ll be home. I’m going to grab a bite while the coast is clear, then—” Sirens sounded, and he groaned. “Damn. Gotta go. I love you, Laura, so much.”

He snapped his phone shut and charged down the hall.

“How was your time off?” Brenda asked the next morning. “You look tired.”

“I am, but I’m all moved in now,” Chrissy answered.

“You moved in? And didn’t tell us, so we could help?” Jeanette complained.

Chrissy looked back and forth between the two. “I couldn’t ask that.”

“You wouldn’t have to ask. It’s what we do around here,” the older waitress stated. “Didn’t you hear about the Community Work Day?”

“Yes.”

“We come together to help when it’s needed.”

“But that’s for a clinic—”

“Doesn’t matter,” Ruby interjected as she walked in. “You moved before we could help?”

“But I don’t—it’s not like something that benefits the whole town.”

Ruby shook her head. “Young lady, you’ve lived in cities too long. Arnie will have a cow when he finds out.”

Chrissy got scared. “He said I could move in when I was ready.”

“Oh, of course you can. He won’t be upset that you’re there. He’ll actually be relieved that the house isn’t vacant anymore. Is everything working all right?” Before Chrissy could answer, Ruby spoke to Jeanette. “Let’s get the word out, and we can help her unpack.”

“No. It’s already done.”

“Wow,” Brenda said. “You’re fast.”

“I had help.”

“So you did tell someone?”

“No, not really. I—well, my car broke down, and Tank found us. He loaded everything up in his truck and brought us over, then towed in my car and fixed it.”

The three of them looked at one another.

“What?”

“Tank?” Jeanette asked. “Seriously?”

“He’s a nice man.”

Those looks traded again.

“What is it?”

Ruby touched her arm. “Honey, I’m glad he helped you, but…he’s a troubled man. Just…be careful.”

“Ruby, he’s more than troubled, and she should be warned,” Jeanette fired back. “I grew up with Tank, and he was a bully. He hasn’t really changed, and having a badge on his chest hasn’t helped. He likes to throw his weight around. His daddy was mean as a snake, and he’s too much like his father. You’d do better to stay away.”

Chrissy shook her head emphatically. “You’re wrong. He was very kind, and he was great to my kids.” She smiled. “Thad calls him Big Theo—because both of their given names are Theodore.”

“He told you that?”

“He told Thad.”

“Well, I don’t know what magic you worked, but that’s not the Tank Patton anyone else knows.”

No wonder he was so lonely. She hadn’t mistaken the cold shoulder he’d received here the other day. “Maybe he just needs a friend.”

Worried glances were exchanged. Finally Ruby spoke. “Honey, that’s very sweet of you, but—” She seemed to be trying to find the right words. “Just be careful. His daddy was a violent man, and the whole family suffered for it.” She shook her head sorrowfully. “It’s a black mark on all of us that back then we shied away from getting involved. I don’t think anyone knows just how bad it was, but…let’s just say that no one mourns Vernon’s passing.”

A chill moved over Chrissy. Her ex had turned on her twice and the kids only once before she’d pulled up stakes and left him. She would never expose her children to a violent man again.

But even as she thought that, she remembered his gentleness with Thad, his care with Becky, however awkwardly given.

And she remembered that moment she’d relived a hundred times last night, when he’d gone so still as she touched his cheek and placed that chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth.

There had been an edge of…vulnerability, she guessed. He was clearly not accustomed to touching, she’d seen that several times, such as Thad’s exuberant hug or when Becky looked up at him shyly and his hand had hovered that once over her hair…

“I don’t—” She shook her head. The man she’d seen had been silent and stoic and uneasy. But his delight at the simple meal and all the ways he’d been going out of his way to help… “I think you’re wrong.”

But even shy, sweet Brenda looked worried, and there was no way Chrissy was risking her children’s safety, ever again. They’d suffered from too many of her mistakes.

The door opened, and customers began coming in for breakfast, so she had no further chance to discuss her confusion.

He’d given her wide berth the rest of the time he’d been there yesterday, anyway, and when she’d offered to cook for him again, he’d declined. He’d left before the kids could come home, as though he couldn’t get away fast enough.

So the warnings probably weren’t needed. She’d made a fool of herself yesterday, anyway.

But she owed him for all he’d done and how he’d saved her. She had to figure out how to make that right.

“Chrissy?” Jeanette turned, eyebrow arched.

Yeah. Right now, she had work to do.

Tank had thought about staying away from the cafe today, even though he still needed to change the oil in her car. Not that she’d asked him, but he’d noticed that the oil was dirty, and she’d admitted that she knew very little about cars. Plus he was pretty sure she was on a tight budget.

She’d asked for a tour so she’d understand the vehicle’s needs better, but once he’d frozen at her touch, things had gone downhill from there.

He was good at that, turning gold into ash. Taking the good and tainting it.

What she’d never know—and he’d never tell her—was just how badly he’d ached for her to touch him again. In all his life, he’d been touched very seldom with simple affection—oh, he could remember his mother doing it when he was small, but not often, and the years of his father’s fists had beaten that need out of him.

Or so he’d thought. Since he’d been grown, he’d had physical contact during sex, of course, but he didn’t engage in that often, either, because he didn’t want to pay for sex, and normal women wanted more than just the physical.

Not anyone around here, of course, not with him, but women he met along the way, women who didn’t know his story.

Mostly he just stayed to himself. Life went smoother that way, and he needed to remember that now.

Finally, though, hunger drove him to the cafe. He had to be in Johnson City to testify in court soon, and he needed a quick bite beforehand. He called in an order that he’d just take along with him, a simple burger and fries he could eat while he drove. It wouldn’t take him long, just in and out, and he might not see Chrissy anyway.

He should hope not to.

But as soon as he opened the door to Ruby’s, he was aware that his breathing had quickened and his heart sped up.

There she was, taking orders from a booth along the side wall.

At that point, he knew he was lying to himself. He did want to see her. He wanted her to touch him again. Just that small hand on his arm, didn’t even have to be his face or his lips or—

Then she turned and saw him, and for a second, he thought he saw gladness.

Immediately, her features went still and wary.

Yeah. So…she’d been warned. Just as well. He quickly averted his gaze and headed for the cash register. “I have a pickup,” he said to Jeanette.

Usually Jeanette’s gaze just slid over him, but not today.

Her mouth opened to speak, but he didn’t want to hear the warning he saw in her eyes. “I’m in a hurry. Gotta be in court.”

Her mouth closed. One quick nod. “Be right back.” But she glanced over toward where Chrissy had been, and Tank could almost feel the eyes locked on his back.

His heart chilled, and he let the comforting curtain of ice close over him. When Jeanette returned, he paid and turned toward the door.

Keeping his eyes to himself as he should have all along.

Chrissy excused herself. “I’ll be right back.” She rushed to the door and outside. “Tank—”

His steps faltered, but he kept going.

“Tank, wait.”

He halted but didn’t turn. Had she made him that uncomfortable? “I wanted to apologize.”

He turned, a quizzical expression on his face. “For what?”

“You did all those nice things for me, and I upset you when I—” She shrugged. Such a tiny kiss shouldn’t be embarrassing, but she felt awkward and uncertain. “Would you like to come to dinner tonight? I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He glanced toward the cafe. “Didn’t they tell you?”

“Tell me what?” She was jittery because she couldn’t afford to get fired, but even if she had orders that would be ready any minute, she couldn’t just leave it at this. “I’m sorry, I can’t stay out here. I have orders coming up, and I can’t lose this job, but we need to talk.”

“No, we don’t.” Every line of his frame was rigid.

“I just mean—” Exasperation overcame her. “Blast it, Tank, just come to supper tonight. I owe you.”

“No.” A harder edge to his voice. “You don’t.”

“Of course I do—and anyway, you promised to show me things about my car.” Wow, was she ballsy or what? He’d already gone so far out of his way and she was asking for more? It was a desperation play, but all she could think of. She’d seen that first beat of longing when he’d walked in, right before he’d clammed up once more and she’d been drawn to him all over again.

Only her mind and heart were at war. “It’s only supper, Tank. I get off at four, and I feed the kids about six.”

“I might be working.”

She started to throw up her hands, but something wouldn’t let her. “Please just come. If not at six, I’ll save you a plate.”

“You don’t want to do this, Chrissy. Listen to them.”

“I have to go,” she said, urgency fighting the certainty that she had to make him come over, so she could figure out who he really was. “I’m making you a plate, Tank.” Then she turned on her heel and went back inside.