The Heart of Texas (8 page)

Chapter 17

The knock on the door was loud in the quiet apartment. It had been a long, hard, tiring week, and a virus had laid Steve low. His usual sunny outlook on life was somewhat dented. He had received final word from the lawyers on his trust fund and discovered he couldn't get access to it before his thirtieth birthday, whatever the reason. But that wasn't even all of it.

He'd been sitting in silence ever since he had received the phone call, and now he was waiting for Beth, worried to death. Seven simple words— "Are you alone? Can I come over?" —but she had sounded half defeated, quietly sad, and it sent shivers down his spine. He knew what it was like to deal with the threat of death. He had pulled through, and he thought she had too, and it was all over.

He hesitated before opening the door, twisting his hands in his hair, his heart heavy. This wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last, that Elizabeth had called or visited just to talk. But with the whole pregnancy thing, his levels of support and love for Elizabeth and her unborn child threatened to break him in half. Last time they'd met had been the worst. On his knees, with a diamond solitaire in his hand, he had proposed the best solution— "Marry me Beth." He had asked out of love, but all she saw was the age difference, seven long years that had made him a man, and the fear of why he was proposing.

She wouldn't tell him who the father was, but he had his suspicions. He'd even considered confronting the person he thought responsible for creating life with the girl he loved, but he didn't. Not when she cried and begged him to leave it, telling him that one day he would know. "You can't protect me, not from him," she'd sobbed, and then just stopped, like every word she said would be a clue for Steve's fertile imagination to build on.

Taking a deep breath and pasting on the
best friend
smile he had practiced to perfection, he opened the door. Beth was standing there on the threshold, looking like the world had been pulled out from under her. Without words, she fell into his embrace, standing still and silent, her head on his chest, her breathing shallow, and he pushed the door shut.

"Hey, princess," he began softly, "what's wrong?" He felt her full body sigh as she gripped into the soft cotton of his shirt.

"Momma knows," she said simply and quietly, so soft he had to strain to hear. Donna knew?

"Oh baby girl." He didn't know what to say to that one. "It was gonna happen sooner rather than later." Beth nodded against his chest. "How did she… What did she say?" A sob hitched in her throat, and if it was possible, she was burying herself deeper into his embrace. Had Donna not understood? Had she been angry? That wasn't the Donna he knew. "Tell me, Beth, what did she say?"

She only cried harder, and desperate to just see into her eyes, he swept her up into his arms, wincing at the slight weight of her and crossing to the sofa, slumping into the corner and holding her close. With his free hand, he tilted her head back, her beautiful blue eyes wide and full of tears, and he buried that same hand in her long dark brown hair. "Beth?"

"She was good. We talked and… She said she was worried, but she knew having children… She said it completed her. It made me feel…" She stopped, her voice choked. "I'm just so sorry…" Those simple words shattered him.

"Sorry? What for?"

"For letting her down, for letting you down, for Jack, for Josh… I've failed every one of you."

Steve tightened his grip. He couldn't reconcile her thought processes here.

"What?" He wished he could form a better sentence.

"I've done this. This is my fault. I'm a burden on my family, and I've been so stupid."

"No, never, I love you Elizabeth Campbell. Your family loves you, and you saying you have failed us is just plain stupid." His voice cracked with emotion, and her eyes filled with more tears as she half-nodded.

"I want to make it all go away, Steve."

He held her as she cried, talking and muttering, until finally, she grew quiet in his arms, her breathing steady as she slept against his chest. He reached for his cell, scrolling to find Donna's number and quickly letting her know Beth was there with him.

It was only much later that night that he remembered one single sentence Beth had added as they talked quietly.

Jack was broken when he told me he knew.

What did she mean? Had he guessed? How had her brother known about the baby? Had he guessed? He'd thought she wasn't telling him yet.

* * * *

Jack sat back on the sofa in Riley's apartment, waiting for Riley to get out of the shower, as relaxed as he could be. In less than half an hour, he'd be facing the entire Hayes clan at dinner. Riley had given him as much of a heads up as he could about each member, but none of that explained why a clearly inebriated blonde was leaning against the inside of
their
door, a glass of red wine in her hand and a thin smile on her face. Clearly this was Lisa. Jeff's wife.

Dressed in little more than what he imagined qualified for underwear, a thin silk wrap falling off delicate shoulders, she glanced towards the shower and began to walk that way. Jack stood and blocked the movement with a polite, "Ma'am?"

Carefully she leaned into him, her eyes a little unfocused. "Jus' have some business to take care of with the stud there," she all but purred, syllables lengthened and sultry as she pouted up at Jack and gestured towards the closed bathroom door.

"I'm sure it can wait," Jack offered politely, wincing as scarlet-tipped nails rested on his fresh white shirt, and her pout grew bigger.

"When I got the invite, I'm sure it didn't mention a threesome, handsome." She slurred her words, tossing back long blonde hair and tilting her hips to his. Carefully he placed hands on her arms and pushed her back, wine sloshing in the glass, her heels making her unsteady.
Jeez, talk about cliché, underwear, a little silk robe and heels. Not so much for the classy then.

"I'll be sure an' tell Riley you visited," Jack said firmly, guiding her to the door. A sudden look of clarity sparked into otherwise dead eyes, and she narrowed them.

"You're that Campbell boy, John, Justin—"

"Jack."

"Jack. Jack Campbell, what you doing here in the Hayes prison?" she finally asked, sipping at the wine and leaning into his hold, the only thing keeping her vertical.

"Campbell-Hayes actually," Jack returned. "Riley and I are married." Her eyes dropped to the platinum ring on his ring finger, and then back up to his face. In a smooth movement that belied her apparent drunken state, she thrust the wine at him. He took it out of pure reaction, releasing one of his hands and causing her to stumble.

She pulled herself tall. "You're so gonna need that, big guy," she said simply. Tottering on her heels, she let herself out of the room, leaving Jack wondering what had just happened, with a glass of wine in his hands. He was still standing there when Riley emerged fully dressed from the bathroom, his eyebrow raised in question at the wine in Jack's hand.

Jack just shook his head, silently saying,
don't ask
. "Have you been there, Het-boy?"

"Where?" Riley was clearly confused.

"Lisa."

"My brother's wife?" Was Riley being deliberately obtuse about this? After all, he had allegedly invited Lisa up here for some inter-family sex.

"Your brother's wife. Yes."

"Erm— no— you don't fuck with family." Riley was hesitant but firm, and Jack believed him. Riley may have the morals of a tom-cat, but about this, Jack really did believe him. "Ready?" Riley finally said as Jack just stared at him.

"As I'll ever be," Jack replied, placing the wine glass on the table and straightening to see a nervous-looking Riley by the door.

Riley paused, turning back to face Jack. "Just so you know, we are gonna need some definite PDAs tonight. Think you can handle that?" There was irritation in Riley's voice, a subtle change, a certain stress. Jack imagined it was a manifestation of fear, and it made him feel better to think that. In answer Jack moved carefully past Riley, sliding a hand over the younger man's black silk shirt, his fingers brushing Riley's left nipple. He heard a hiss of indrawn breath as his hard thigh touched Riley briefly.

"I can handle anything you need, Het-boy," he said, his voice low and growled. "Just follow my cues." Riley followed him to the top of the stairs, and Jack held out his hand. "Husband?" he smirked.

Riley took his hand, and they started down the sweeping staircase. "Fuck you, asshole," Riley forced out behind a covering smile.

"Not if I fuck you first," Jack said, fast and clear, smirking again as Riley stumbled on the next step. "Careful, baby," he added for any audience below. "You wouldn't wanna fall and break your neck, would you?"

"Riley, you made it."

Eden's voice. Jack looked over the side of the stairs to see Riley's younger sibling, casual in jeans and a tee, a grin on her face.

"And you, little sister, are running late."

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Eden leaned up to hug her brother in close.

"Meh, they're used to me by now," she pointed out laughing, and with a smack on Jack's backside, she scampered up the stairs, turning right at the top to her own private area. Riley had a fond smile showing. It was a new expression, one Jack hadn't seen before, and it intrigued him. In this dysfunctional shit-fest of a family, this brother and sister actually seemed to be close. Very interesting.

Riley's mom was sitting, waiting. Riley's dad, however, was notably absent, as were Jeff and Lisa's kids. Riley slid into an empty chair, and Jack pulled out the one next to him, laying a large and very warm hand on his husband's thigh.

"Evenin', y'all," he drawled in his best cowboy tone, relaxing back in his chair. Riley's mother glanced his way and then back to her discussion with Jeff, not even giving Jack the time of day. Jack just inwardly smiled, squeezing Riley's leg and causing the poor unsuspecting man to shoot suddenly upwards in his chair. The blonde, Lisa, arrived, thankfully in more clothes than before, and she sashayed to sit opposite Riley.

"Are you okay, Riley?" she simpered, her eyes like flint over the rim of her glass, half smiling and pushing her hair back with her free hand. In response Jack just leaned into Riley, pushing his long bangs to one side and dropping a small kiss on his exposed sun-burnished skin, glancing back at Lisa with a look on his face that closely resembled,
Yeah right, bitch, in your dreams
. She nodded at the win, sipping her wine carefully, then looking back at her mother-in-law and pretending to listen. Score one to Campbell-Hayes for marking his territory.

A maid hovered at the door, and she was dismissed with a curt, "Does it look like we are all here?" from Jeff. It was only when Hayes Senior, in all his dark-suited arrogance, deigned to join them that they actually began to eat. Jack didn't remember much of what he ate, but thankfully, Eden placed herself diagonally across from him, and at least he could carry out a conversation with her. A conversation beyond the usual crap centering on the Texas Oil industry and who was knifing whom in the back. It was only when he felt Riley tense beneath his hand, which had remained for the most part on his husband's strong thigh, that Jack snapped back to the conversation down at the other end. Someone had mentioned a familiar name, something had been said that caused Riley to stop eating. His knife and fork clattered onto the plate.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Riley, that Steve boy is a friend of yours, I believe?" This from Lisa, who was leaning into the conversation, a look of barely restrained glee on her face, spoiling for a fight. Riley said nothing.

"I hear your friend is seeing that Campbell girl, Madeline or something." Sandra was sipping her own wine, speaking to her husband and Jeff, deliberately facing away from Riley and Jack. "She must be so pleased to be mixing with a good family like the Murrays." This time she looked directly at Jack, who simply raised an eyebrow in response, not willing to rise to the deliberate provocation he could see was being spun.

"Seems like a family trait, Campbell kids deliberately marrying into money, but I guess that's one way to get yourselves out of debt." This from Jeff, who exchanged nods with Gerald.

"How is she to know any different?" Gerald said scornfully. "She has the good example in her brother after all. He's just married one of the richest men in the state. Poor girl probably doesn't know any better than to whore herself out to get the same."

Jack's temper went from gently simmering to boiling in seconds, but he waited for Riley to jump in and defend him, wanting just one word, like a husband would, even one that wasn't real. But he said nothing, not one single thing. Jack stood abruptly.

"Ladies," he said simply, nodding to Eden who sat with incredible stillness in her chair, her eyes wide. Then he added a single word: not a question, more a command. "Riley."

Riley looked up at him, then over at his father, who sat with a challenging look on his face, daring his son to leave. With no more hesitation, Riley stood and followed Jack out of the door. Words of disdain followed them in soft voices.

Jack virtually dragged him up the stairs, his temper still high, so many thoughts pushing through and fighting for priority: his inherent worry for Beth, the vicious words at the table, the fact that Riley had just sat there, the whole Lisa flirtation. It was all too much.

They actually made it to the room and had closed the door before Jack completely lost it, pushing hard at Riley's chest, catching him off guard and causing him to stumble back against the wall. Jack was on him before Riley could catch his balance, one hand flat on his chest, the other by his head against the door.

"Know this,
husband
, you fuckin' back down on me like that again, and I will make sure you live to regret it."

"Jack—"

"Fuck you, Riley. Fuck you and your family. You'd better make sure they leave my sister out of this!"

"Alright." Riley raised a hand, pushing against Jack's chest. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry."