The Heart of Texas (11 page)

Chapter 22

The hospital was quiet. The Emergency Department was temporarily empty apart from a few traffic accident casualties and Riley.

Beth stood in the hospital lounge, a protective hand across her belly, her daughter a gentle movement under her palm, and gave thanks. The rain may have saved the house, but Riley had saved her and her child. And he'd saved Jack as well, because she knew he would have tried to rescue both horses and would still have been in the barn when the roof fell if Riley hadn't gone in to help him.

Riley's cell was still in her other hand. She'd scrolled down the numbers to find the one she needed and held her breath until it was answered, only letting out a sigh of relief when the cheerful voice identified itself as Eden Hayes.

"Eden, it's Beth Campbell, Jack's sister. It's your brother. There's been an accident."

* * * *

Eden sat in disbelief at her brother's side, the pain in her heart overwhelmed only by the pain in her head.

Your brother has internal bleeding

He needs blood.

His blood type is A negative— accident on the highway— used our reserves— we have some flying in— need to operate soon— can you donate?

* * * *

Sandra Hayes had only done what every rich trophy wife did in defense of their social position. She wasn't going to lose her status or her money, and the promise she'd made twenty-seven years ago when she held her new baby in her arms would not be broken now.

She listened as Eden explained. "So we need blood, Mom. You need to come to the hospital, and you need to get tested for a match." She didn't know what to say; she simply passed the phone to Gerald, who was looming over her with a questioning expression.

* * * *

"Eden?" he asked.

"It's Riley, Daddy. He's in the hospital, and he's been badly hurt. He needs blood. Daddy, please help."

Gerald looked at his wife, at the stretched skin on her face, at the diamonds in her ears, and the vacant expression in her eyes. Hate built inside him. They had promised and made a deal: her silence in exchange for his support of the bastard son, the result of many one-night stands and affairs from his
untrained
wife.

Now he had her leashed and she'd been so since the day he'd agreed to pass Riley off as his son. He wasn't about to run to save Riley. Actually it solved quite a few problems for him if Riley were to die. It was certainly a solution to dividing out the business, the problem that had been plaguing him for some time. It was such a shame that the brains of Hayes Oil, the one son of his that had the instinct for oil, wasn't even his own damn blood. Fury and frustration flooded him as he listened to Eden begging for him to come save her beloved brother, talking about rare blood types and antigens. There had to be a way he could turn this to his advantage.

How could he delay going? What excuse could he use? He knew damn well he wouldn't be a match for Riley even if he did go. He wanted to say, "Well, good luck finding a match, Eden. I hope your mom is a match, because he sure as hell doesn't share my blood." But he didn't. He said nothing; he simply handed the phone back to Sandra, who assured Eden they would try and get there as soon as possible if they could, maybe…

Sandra looked at her husband, the only sign of her anxiety a faint trembling in her right hand, and he stared right back.

"They'll find out," she said, her voice low and tremulous.

"Not if he dies, they won't," Gerald said, dryly, turning back to his book and sipping his expensive whisky. "Let's face it, you should have terminated him when you found out you were pregnant but didn't know which one of your many men could have been the father."

"Gerald—"

"Enough, Sandra, enough."

* * * *

She slipped, like the ghost she was, up to their rooms. Her heart, what was left of it, was in pieces. Her son. The one good thing that had come out of her plan to escape so many years before, and now he was dying. She wished she was able to show her love for Riley. But she'd acted the part of Dallas high society wife for so long, it had become very close to reality. She had never been a real mother to her boy. So many times when she heard the hate in her own voice, looked at him as he grew tall and strong, she regretted the act she needed to keep up. She regretted it and sought some kind of atonement, throwing herself into charity works that helped the abandoned children, the homeless single mothers. She regretted it until the best champagne numbed her senses, until her money gave her prestige, until the Hayes name gave her safety. Then there was no regret.

But there was one thing she could do to give her son a fighting chance. If he needed the rare blood, then Riley's father needed to know. Contrary to what Gerald believed, there had only been one man that fall of 1981, one man who had loved her, a young intern in Hayes Oil who had worshipped the very ground she walked on and shown her what love should be.

She dialed the number she knew by heart, and he answered on the third ring.

"It's me. Can you come to the hospital? There's been an accident and —Riley— he needs you."

* * * *

It had been nearly five hours since the fire when Jack half-ran into the emergency room, sliding to a halt next to Eden. She was hunched uncomfortably on the hard plastic chairs in the lounge, Beth perched beside her.

"I had ta get the horses safe. Fuck, I'm sorry. Is he okay? What's happening, Eden?"

Eden lifted tear-filled eyes to his, seeing cuts and abrasions on her new brother-in-law's face and blood on his shirt. She could hardly string the words together, fear twisting inside her. "I don't know. He's in the operating room. They… needed blood… his blood type." She shook her head, confused, exhausted, in shock, assuming her mom and dad were somewhere in the hospital, because Riley had received the blood he needed. "We won't know for a while."

Jack pulled her in for a quick hug, his clothes reeking of smoke and horses. Then he strode to the desk, asking questions, demanding answers. Beth moved closer to Eden, and Eden felt a hand curling around her shoulders. Eden could only cry for what had happened to the brother she adored.

Jack went back to stand with them. "They don't know more than you do. Do you know much blood he lost?"

"I don't know. He has internal bleeding. Mom and Dad donated." Jack nodded. Eden knew it was at times like this that a real family pulled together. It was good to see that, despite their obvious problems, at the end of the day the Hayeses knew that family was family. A sob left Eden, and she hunched forward in her seat, murmuring just one word,
Riley
.

"I know he saved my life," Beth said softly. Eden leaned into the embrace.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Eden asked.

So Beth started to explain how Riley had pushed her away, taking the brunt of the bucking horse.

* * * *

"No one will know it wasn't the storm," Jeff said simply.

"So we can guarantee the end of the whole horse business for the Campbells then? Do you really think this will be enough?" Gerald was curious as to how this plan of Jeff's was going to work.

"It's simple; the barn will be gone, along with Jack's dreams and his two brood mares. Given that I'm assuming the pre-nup gives him no money inside of the marriage or after divorce, he'll crumble. We'll slip in, work that vulnerability, and offer him money to help."

"Then he'll agree to our terms," Gerald said. "We can arrange an annulment, and it's the end of the problem."

Jeff nodded eagerly. "Riley doesn't fulfill the terms of the contract you drew up, as divorce or annulment cancels the contract. I get to keep my controlling percentage, and my younger brother learns his place."

"Yes, that he does."

* * * *

"Can I ask how my son is doing?" he asked gruffly, his voice still thick with unshed tears and a grief cutting deep into his heart.

"He is still in surgery, sir. Would you like to go up with the rest of the family? I can take you."

He stood silently for a while, looking down at the papers he had signed, and then back at the understanding face of the blood bank nurse. He coughed. He couldn't handle sympathy or understanding at the moment, knowing it might push him over the edge.

"No. It wouldn't be…" He searched for the right word. "Appropriate," he finally offered. "I'll wait here for news." He had known. In his heart, he had known all this time that Riley was his. It was the only reason why he stayed at Hayes Oil, so he could watch his son grow into the man he was so proud of. Jim Bailey had known.

Chapter 23

Eden didn't know what to say to Steve, even as she looked for his number with shaking fingers. She knew for some reason Steve and Riley had argued, but over what she didn't know. Hell, he needed to know his best friend was hurt, and jeez, Beth looked dead on her feet. She needed her friend here, even if he didn't want to see Riley.

"You can go if you want," Eden had said to the slim woman who stood at her side. "I'll be okay."

"You're family. I stay," Beth had replied simply, warmth in her eyes.

It made Eden blink back tears, to hear those simple words. So much time had passed since the family she knew had done anything except fight and scheme and destroy. Even Riley had lost it along the way. She wasn't stupid. She could see him changing every day that Hayes Oil had him in their clutches; he'd been becoming harder and more determined to win at all costs. To have Beth next to her, showing her own brand of unconditional support, it was so easy to drift into a place where people actually appeared to give a damn about her and Riley.

She thumbed through the contacts to find Steve's number, his familiar "Yo, Eden" a jolt to her heart. She always wondered why he put up with the shit the Hayes family dumped on him. The meals where comments were made on his lifestyle, where his heart condition was laid out for discussion in cold hard facts, the times Riley just dragged him upstairs to avoid the vitriol. Still he stayed. He visited for Riley. He was Riley's only real friend, and the only one who saw through the crap. Eden always thought that Gerald Hayes liked Riley friendless. It kept controlling his middle child that much easier.

"Eden?" Steve's voice sounded puzzled. Eden wasn't usually this silent, and given it was four in the morning, it would be obvious something wasn't right, "Eden, you're scaring me, babe. Where are you?"

"It's Riley. There's been an accident. He— I need you, and Beth needs you. Can you come, Steve?"

There was no hesitation in Steve's voice. "Are you at Mercy?"

"Yes."

"I'll be there in ten."

The phone went silent in her ear, and she pulled it away as the call ended message flashed on the screen, meeting Beth's eyes full of compassion and understanding, and suddenly she couldn't take any more. They had said it would be another hour at least, that it could be many more than that, and she needed air, needed to breathe.

"I'll get coffee," she said abruptly, and before Beth could touch her, or say a thing, she fled the lounge.

"He's all she has," Jack offered quietly, encouraging his sister to come sit with him, offering her his arm to lean on. "At the house, there is no one for Eden except for Riley, and the same for Riley. He only has Eden."

"That's really sad," Beth said softly, her hand on her belly, reassuring herself that everything was okay. "To have no one left."

The door swung open to reveal a disheveled Josh standing in the doorway, his eyes frantic to find Jack, and the relief was blatantly obvious as he found him. Jack stood to greet his brother, pulling Beth with them until the three stood in a close embrace.

* * * *

Donna waited in the doorway, seeing her children there for each other, together. There was sadness inside her that Alan had never taken the time to see this love in the family. He'd never seen that she'd chosen
him
over Hayes, that her love for him was enough for her. She didn't need money and prestige and a name that mattered in the pages of the
Dallas Morning News
. For all their issues, it was times like these when she missed her husband and his wide smile. She missed the start of their relationship when they had love and affection and had run away to marry, conceiving Josh in a small no-tell motel outside the Vegas main strip. Her eyes went to Beth. It wasn't right that Josh was the only one of them that didn't know his sister was expecting. He needed to know. They were a family.

"Beth?" The siblings pulled apart, Beth's face wet with tears and the boys visibly shaken, but stronger for having each other. "It seems like maybe we should share your news with Josh."

* * * *

Eden rounded the corner, hot coffee in her insulated vending cup, heading for the blood bank. Her parents might be useless, and her family might be dysfunctional, but one of them, either her ice-cold mom or her scarlet-tempered dad, had donated the blood that Riley needed. There had to be some kind of redemption there. What she found in the blood bank was not what she expected, but it pleased her to see the man she called uncle standing with a similar cup of coffee in his hand.

"Hi, Uncle J," she said, her spirits lifting.

He glanced over, blinking steadily. It was confusing not to see his usual smile of welcome, but instead a look of shock on his face.

"Eden," he said so softly she had to strain to hear, and then he held out his arms. She cuddled in to the familiarity of the man who let her color pictures in his office and who'd been her show and tell project at school on three occasions. He was the man who had taught her to ride a bike, build a tree swing, and how to handle boys, and she loved him totally.

"Are you here with Dad?" she asked into his soft T-shirt. Her nose was tickling at the splitting logo on the front, something to do with his beloved football she assumed. She leaned back in his arms to look past his salt and pepper beard to his lips, pressed together in a harsh line, his eyes full of something. Something that almost looked like fear.

"No, Eden, your father isn't here."

"Mom then?"

"No."

"So they left?" Eden was bewildered. Surely they would have at least spoken to someone about Riley? Stayed to see he was okay? Eden felt the sigh run through Jim and the rise and fall of his chest under her hands, and she dropped them to rest on his arms, touching something that felt like… a bandage.

Eyes widening, she looked up at him in shock and sudden, instant, realization.

"They're not here, Eden."

"Why? Were they here? Did they go? Is something wrong?" Eden's voice was broken, and her eyes searched his, looking for some kind of denial or answer to her unspoken question.

"I think we should sit down, Eden," Jim said simply, guiding her to sit and half turning towards her. "I've wanted to tell Riley for so long."

"Tell him what?"

"Riley is my son." Eden stared back at him, a myriad of emotions on her face.

"Are you
my
father?" There was hope in the question.

Jim cupped her face in strong capable hands. "Oh, baby, you don't know how much I wish I was your father as well as Riley's."

Eden held out her hand, determination in her words. "You need to come with me, to be with the family."

Jim tugged back. "I can't, Eden. You don't understand. Your mom and I—"

"Just come with me Uncle J. Trust me. Riley will want to thank his daddy."

"I want to, Eden." He stopped, finally tugging his hand away. "But I won't. Riley doesn't have much from his family, apart from you, but at least he has his name, and that's important to him. I won't destroy that."

* * * *

Josh sat back on his seat, his mouth open in an O of surprise. "Expectin'?" he parroted what she had just said, paling as she nodded. "Your heart, Beth." He was only saying what everyone else had said to her.

"I've seen a specialist. It can be okay," she offered helplessly, knowing what he needed to hear, that his little sister was going to be fine, but it just couldn't be said.

"Can be okay?" Josh stood and stared into her eyes for a moment. "Who did this to you?" he finally demanded, startled as Jack made to stand between them, ever the pacifier in their sibling rows.

"She won't say, Josh, and we shouldn't push it." There was fire in Jack's eyes. Fire and determination for the matter to be laid to rest. Josh simply nodded, and she knew what he thought— there'd be time for details later, when paternity tests could be carried out with no room for error. Jack took a step back, obviously trusting their older brother to do the right thing, and in one smooth movement, Josh had pulled Beth into him for a hug, and was saying the things she needed to hear.

Releasing her, he pulled Jack into a bear hug and then stood back. "It's about time we get to share being an uncle!"

Beth smiled up at her brothers. It was good that they both knew. Very good.