Texas Secrets, Lovers' Lies

Reluctantly, Brock had given up his dreams. He worked occasionally on the night shift at a local country music station, when he wasn’t running the feed store. Unlike Zoe, he’d stayed right here in Anniversary, where he had family and responsibilities. His aging mother and baby sister depended on him, as did the local farmers and ranchers who relied on the feed store for their supplies.

While it wasn’t the life he’d wanted, it was the life he had. Brock believed he’d made the best of it. He’d even managed to find a sort of happiness. Or so he’d thought, until he’d seen Zoe’s face again.

He could only hope Shayna showed back up. Maybe then Zoe would go home, Mr. Bell wouldn’t feel compelled to leave, and life around Anniversary could return to normal.

Except for one thing. Seeing Zoe again had reopened that aching, empty space inside his heart, the place only she could fill. He’d managed to forget how much he missed her. Until now.

And he sure as hell didn’t like it. Not one bit.

If not for the tantalizing scent of the chicken frying, he’d have already made an excuse to leave. Instead, he was still lost in thought when Mrs. Bell reappeared in the doorway. “We’re just about ready. Are you going to join us?”

“Yes. Sorry.” He set the flyer down on the coffee table. “I was just...thinking.”

Mrs. Bell smiled sadly and touched his arm. “You miss her, too, don’t you?”

Startled, he swallowed. It took a second, but he realized she meant Shayna, not Zoe. Again, guilt squeezed his chest. Instead of answering, he ducked his head and headed toward the kitchen.

A heaping platter of perfectly golden fried chicken sat in the middle of the table. Keeping his gaze locked on that rather than Zoe, who stood at the stove stirring something, Brock took a seat. His mouth watered.

“That looks wonderful, Mrs. Bell.”

“I made rice and butter beans to go with it,” she said, glancing at her watch. “Marshall’s late. He’d better get here soon or he’s going to miss his favorite meal.”

Brock debated whether or not to mention that Marshall had been in to the feed store, but kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t running interference for the man.

Zoe moved closer, taking a seat directly across from him. He looked up, unable to help himself, and his mouth went dry. With her delicate features and full mouth, she’d always been beautiful—now she was exquisite. Her skin glowed against a soft curtain of sable hair. She was polished and fashionable in a way that only served to remind him she didn’t belong in Anniversary.

“Help yourself.” Mrs. Bell pulled out her own chair, passing Brock a bowl full of plump butter beans. “You’ll have to take a plate to Eve. Her apartment is on your way home. I know how your sister loves my fried chicken.”

“Everyone loves your fried chicken,” Zoe teased. Her lighthearted tone reminded him of the old Zoe, the one who’d spent the day at the lake with him, worn old cutoff shorts and one of his ratty T-shirts, and let the sun warm her freckled nose. Now, as far as he could tell, not a single imperfection marred her perfect, creamy skin.

“I wonder where Marshall is,” Mrs. Bell mused again. “It’s not like him to be this late without calling.”

“Try his cell,” Zoe said, wiping her hands on one of the paper napkins piled in the center of the table.

“No, that’s all right.” A shadow crossed the older woman’s face. “He’ll come home when he comes home.”

Zoe stared hard at her, then returned her attention to spooning rice and butter beans onto her plate. When she’d finished, she slid the bowls over to him, taking care not to accidentally touch his fingers.

He was glad, he told himself. Damn glad.

Silence fell while they all dug in. The crispy chicken had been cooked exactly right, and the seasoning made the flavor explode in his mouth. He had three pieces and could easily have had more, but he didn’t want to appear gluttonous.

“That was wonderful,” he said, putting down his fork and pushing his plate away. “I’m stuffed. Thank you so much for inviting me.”

“Oh, you’re welcome, dear.” Mrs. Bell looked from him to Zoe and then back. “So.” Her smile looked a bit forced, and her voice sounded overly bright. “Zoe tells me you and Shayna were splitting up.”

He glanced over at Zoe, who shrugged.

“We were.” He cleared his throat. “She was planning on moving out. I’m sorry she didn’t tell you.”

“Apparently there were a lot of things she didn’t tell me.” Her mouth twisted and for one awful minute he thought she might cry. “I just wish she’d told me where she was going, if she did leave town like everyone seems to think. She sure didn’t take an awful lot with her.”

Brock nodded. Only a few of Shayna’s clothes were missing. A weekend’s worth, both he and Cristine had estimated. Not enough to account for the amount of time she’d been away, but indicative of the fact that she hadn’t intended on returning to the apartment right away.

Zoe reached over and covered the older woman’s hand with her own. “Don’t worry, Mama Bell. We’ll find her, I promise.”

Her words had Brock clenching his jaw against the urge to tell her not to make promises she couldn’t keep. But Zoe had always been impulsive and passionate. She truly believed what she said, he could tell. And who was he to say she was wrong?

Assuming Shayna wanted to be found.

Zoe jumped to her feet. “I’ll take care of the dishes. You go and rest, Mama.”

“Oh, no. That’s not necessary.” Mrs. Bell waved her away, her expression sad. “You’re a guest in this house. You should be the one to go sit down. I imagine you and Brock have a lot of planning to do. Though I’m grateful Cristine is organizing things, I have more faith in the two of you.”

Brock watched with interest as Zoe’s blush deepened. “You did all the cooking. Now go sit. I insist,” Brock said.

Her refusal to look at him felt like a knife twisting in his gut. He knew there was more to why she’d run off, virtually leaving him at the altar, despite her partial explanation. And now she’d come back, believing he was marrying her best friend, and treated him like a stranger.

Worse, now Shayna had gone missing right after he’d broken things off between them. He, more than anyone, knew the awfulness of that.

“I’ve got to get going,” he said, pushing to his feet. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Bell. Your chicken is still the best in Texas.”

The older woman’s eyes narrowed. “Thanks, but why are you in such a hurry to run off? I thought you and Zoe could compare notes and maybe work out a plan to find Shayna.”

His chest felt tight. Careful to keep his gaze trained only on Mrs. Bell, he shook his head. “We’ll do that tomorrow, at Cristine’s thing.”

He wasn’t sure how he felt about the way she eyed him then. As if she could see his torment, knew his guilt.

“I understand.” She patted his cheek. “I’m so glad you could stay and eat.”

“Thank you again.” He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. As soon as he got home, he planned to pop a beer, make a few more phone calls trying to locate Shayna, and work on forgetting Zoe had ever come back to town.

Chapter 3

One of the bad things about having an extremely popular blog, Zoe thought, was the need to update it every single day. Though that had become easier since the blog’s advertising revenue had enabled her to quit her day job. She’d divided her site into sections, calling one “Observations,” another one “Fashion Picks,” and a third “Things I Like.”

According to her stats, most people visited the site for the “Observations” section, where she let herself go, writing about whatever topic interested her at the moment. Since she wrote City Girl anonymously, she never held back, whether writing about matters of the heart or sniping at life’s minor irritations.

About a month before Shayna disappeared, Zoe had acquired a literary agent who’d been shopping a proposal based on her blog posts for a book deal. So far they’d garnered several rejections, but the agent remained hopeful.

Zoe already had the outline finished for a second book, in case the first one sold. She was glad she’d gotten that done before Shayna disappeared.

Now she had a few hours before she had to attend Cristine’s gathering. She wrote a quick blog post, one from the heart, talking about the value of best friends and how one doesn’t always appreciate what one has until it’s gone. After she’d finished and published it, having written it with Shayna in mind, she could only hope her friend would somehow see it and come home.

Then Zoe closed her laptop and prepared to leave. Mama Bell waited in the living room, dressed and ready.

As they arrived at the time stated on the flyer, Zoe couldn’t believe the packed parking lot. She circled until she found a space, parked and then hurried around to open the door for Mama Bell, who waved her away.

“Cristine sure got a good turnout,” she said.

Mama Bell nodded. “Everyone loves Shayna. Even though most everybody thinks she took off of her own free will, they all want to do what they can to help.”

Stunned, Zoe nodded. This made no sense. If Shayna was anywhere in town, she’d have put in an appearance before now. Together they went inside. Immediately, Mrs. Bell spotted a group of her church friends. “Excuse me, honey,” she said, patting Zoe’s arm. “You go ahead and mingle. I’m sure a lot of folks will be glad to see you.”

Though Zoe doubted that, especially since she’d left without a word to anyone, she gave a fond smile and moved away, listening to snatches of conversations as she wove through the throng. The parallel between her disappearance five years ago and Shayna’s now was worrying her. Not because she believed it, but because she didn’t. Everyone in Anniversary appeared to think Shayna had simply taken off. Zoe hoped that was true. The alternative was unbearable.

A woman came up, tall, wearing skintight jeans and a low-cut T-shirt. Smoothing her sleek cap of shoulder-length hair, she gave a faint smile and wrapped her arms around Zoe. After a second of hesitation, Zoe hugged her back.

“Zoe! So good to see you. I’m glad you were able to make it back and help bring Shayna home.”

Zoe nodded, wishing for name tags. “Of course. I’m sorry, you are...?”

At her words, the woman’s smile widened. “You don’t recognize me, do you?”

“No.” Zoe frowned. “You do look familiar, but I just can’t place...”

“Cristine, where are the sign-up sheets?” Brock said, as he came up to them.

“Cristine?” Stunned, Zoe tried not to show it. “Cristine Haywood?”

The woman’s smile widened. “That’s me.”

“Shayna’s best friend,” Brock supplied.

The sound of his voice sent a pleasurable shiver through Zoe. To hide her reaction, she focused on Cristine, who looked nothing at all like the awkward girl she remembered from years past.

“I don’t know what to say,” Zoe began. “You look totally different than you did in—”

“High school.” Dipping her head as though Zoe’s words had embarrassed her, Cristine smiled shyly before turning her attention to Brock. “The sign-up sheets are on the table by the refreshments.”

He gave a curt nod before turning away. Unable to keep from watching him go, Zoe wondered why she got the feeling he didn’t much like Cristine.

When she looked up, she noticed Cristine also silently watching him walk away, her expression a mixture of regret and dislike. Apparently the feeling was mutual.

“He can be such an ass,” Cristine said, catching Zoe eyeing her. “Seriously. If Shayna were here, she’d tell you.”

“Is he always like that?” Zoe asked, before she thought better of it. The Brock she remembered had been happy-go-lucky rather than irritable.

“Sometimes.” Cristine shrugged. “He’s pretty moody. I honestly don’t know how Shayna put up with it.”

Interesting. Zoe filed that bit of information away. She’d ask Shayna about it later, after she was found. Which she would be, Zoe had no doubt. Whether to deal with the pain of realizing her relationship with Brock would never be more than friendship, or something else, eventually Shayna would tire of hiding and return home.

The only troubling detail with this scenario was the apparent fact that either Brock was not telling the truth, or pretty much every word Shayna had told Zoe in their last few conversations had been a lie.

So what was going on? Maybe Cristine would know. Zoe just had to figure out how to ask her.

While she considered this, someone called Cristine away. “We’ll catch up later,” she told Zoe, and hurried off.

Zoe continued on, still listening rather than interacting with people. She needed to talk to Brock. See if she could get a feel for whether or not he was telling the truth.

Searching the crowded room, she found him on the other side. Somehow, their gazes locked. Even now, when she wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t had something to do with Shayna’s disappearance, a shiver of wanting ran through her, all the way from her heart to the soles of her feet.

Damn. She’d told herself a thousand times she wouldn’t let this happen. But she no more knew how to stop it than she knew how to quit breathing.

Giving herself a mental shake, she wished she could avoid him totally. But she couldn’t. She needed to talk to him, to try to discern truth from lies. Despite the fact that the old attraction still lingered, she had no choice. As Shayna’s former boyfriend, he would have a better insight than others.

She caught up with him near the sign-up table. “Do you have a minute?” she asked, after carefully penning her name directly underneath his.

He gave her a decidedly unfriendly look. “For what?”

Refusing to let his attitude bother her, she took a deep breath. “I wanted to ask you a few more questions about Shayna, if you don’t mind.”

Apparently he did. Just like that, his expression shut down. Alarm bells went off inside her. Why was he acting like this? Did he have something to hide?

“Why are you here?” he asked, sounding stiff. “And don’t tell me you and Shayna were still as close as you used to be, because she told me how you’d cut her out of your life.”

Dumbfounded, Zoe was too stunned to hide her shock. Slowly, she shook her head. “I never cut her out of my life. Sure, we didn’t talk as much as we used to, but we were still close. Or so I thought.”

He crossed his arms, giving her a look that told her he didn’t believe her. She didn’t care; she wasn’t entirely sure she believed him, either.

“What happened?” she finally asked. “I know you said you two were splitting up. What else was going on that would make her want to go into hiding like that?”

“First off, let me reiterate again—Shayna and I didn’t work out. We were never engaged. She was moving on and moving out. As to what else was going on in your best friend’s life, I can see you have no idea,” he muttered. “Really, if you’re basing your information on what she was like in the past, you didn’t know Shayna at all.”

If he thought his harsh tone and narrowed eyes would scare her away, he had no idea how far she could go.

“Then tell me,” she pushed, wishing she dared touch him. She considered herself a brave person, but even she wouldn’t go that far. “Fill me in on what was going on.”

But he simply shook his head and walked away, his entire body stiff and unfriendly. Despite that, she ached to go after him, if only for the simple excuse of touching his skin.

Damn. This yearning for the past needed to stop. Obviously, she wouldn’t be getting any help from him without a battle, which was understandable. She couldn’t blame him for still holding a grudge against her for what had happened between them five years ago. Though she hadn’t stayed in touch with him—her heart had been too broken—Shayna had kept her filled in on what was going on in Brock’s life. As far as she knew, he was happy and content with his life. He didn’t seem the type to be carrying a torch for anyone.

Unfortunately, she was definitely the type to pine for someone. Brock McCauley had been the love of her life. She’d never met anyone else who even came close to measuring up.

He’d obviously moved on. It had to be something else, some other reason he refused to discuss Shayna with her.

Again, the prickling sense of unease. No, she told herself. Not Brock. It had to be something else. Maybe whatever had driven a wedge between him and Shayna had hurt him. He had to be saying there’d been no engagement to mask the pain he must have endured when Shayna broke things off.

That made sense. Zoe looked once more for Brock, unable to find him in the crowd. He had to be lying. Because the Shayna she’d known all her life was giving and generous, happy and carefree. And she didn’t tell her best friend outright lies or keep secrets.

“Wow. What’d you do to set him off?” Cristine appeared again, right behind Zoe, as though she’d been watching and waiting for the opportunity. “Then again, it doesn’t take much these days.”

Trying not to show her irritation, Zoe shrugged. “I have no idea. I simply asked him something about Shayna.”

A shadow crossed Cristine’s face. “Oh. That would do it. He and Shayna weren’t getting along at all.”

Debating, Zoe decided against asking Cristine if Shayna had told her she and Brock were engaged. In view of Brock’s denial, and Mama Bell’s shock, that particular bit of information could wait.

“You and Shayna were good friends?” Zoe asked.

Cristine’s sallow complexion lit up. “Best friends,” she emphasized. “We ran around together every single weekend.”

Zoe cocked her head. “What did you two do?”

Cristine’s smile widened proudly. “Party. Though I tried to keep up with her, Shayna could drink me under the table.”

“Oh.” Zoe wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “So do you have any idea what might have happened to her?”

“Zoe, Shayna was worried.” Cristine looked around, her furtive behavior making Zoe tense up. “You might as well know that we—she and I—experimented a little with drugs.”

At Zoe’s dismayed expression, Cristine shook her head. “Oh, nothing serious. A little X, some weed, the occasional hit of crank.”

Nothing serious? While Zoe was still trying to process this, Cristine took her arm. “She was worried about something, but she wouldn’t tell me much more than that.”

Damn. Zoe’s heart skipped a beat. Yet again, the last conversation she’d had with Shayna replayed in her mind. She should have listened, should have done something. Maybe if she had, Shayna would still be here.

Guilt flooded her. Then, as blood rushed to her head, she inhaled deeply, trying to catch her breath.

“Zoe?” Cristine leaned in, peering at Zoe’s face. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. No,” Zoe said, taking a deep breath. “Cristine, what’s the deal with the sheriff’s office? Mama Bell says they’re not exactly helping to find her.”

Cristine grabbed her arm. “They say since Shayna’s an adult and has been talking about leaving town, she probably just took off. They won’t take us seriously.” She sounded bitter.

Zoe shook her off. “Why the hell not? Shayna is missing. How can they dispute that?”

“According to them, an adult has the right to go anywhere they want without telling anyone where they went. Without evidence of foul play...” For a second time Cristine looked around, lowering her voice. “Part of it might be that Shayna was seeing Roger Giles, the new sheriff.”

Dumbfounded, Zoe narrowed her eyes. “Recently?”

“Yes.”

Oh jeez, this really didn’t sound like the Shayna Zoe knew. “You’re telling me she was seeing someone behind Brock’s back. Was this before or after they broke up?”

“Who knows?” Cristine gave a brittle laugh. “Honey, Shayna was seeing lots of people behind Brock’s back.”

“Brock told me they’d become like roommates.”

“Okay.” Cristine gave a short bark of laughter. “But she was still living there. I told her to wait until she moved out. For Brock, I think it was a slap in the face.”

Gut twisting, Zoe nodded. “So you’re telling me Shayna was...cheating?” She could scarcely say the word. The Shayna she knew despised both liars and cheaters.

“No, not cheating. Shayna wasn’t exclusive with anyone. She made that clear up front. Roger Giles was aware he wasn’t the only one. Brock knew it, too, though he wasn’t too happy about it.”

Zoe had to give Cristine credit for sticking by her friend. In fact, Cristine actually managed to sound indignant.

“What about Brock?” Zoe asked. “You say he knew she wasn’t exclusive, but was he aware of all this?”

Cristine shrugged. “It wasn’t that way in the beginning. The two of them tried, they really tried. All I know is Shayna was pretty devastated when she and Brock didn’t work out. At first, I think she started fooling around trying to make him jealous.” She shrugged. “Or maybe she was getting even. Who knows?”

Zoe didn’t know what to say.

Again, Cristine leaned closer. “Think whatever you want to about her, but I can tell you this much. Shayna sure knew how to live life to the fullest. She and I had a lot of good times together.” Wiping a tear from her eye, she looked away. “That’s why I don’t believe she left willingly. She has to be in trouble. Otherwise, she would have let me know. We were best friends.”

So were we, Zoe added silently. Once. Only now she was finding out she really didn’t know Shayna at all. The woman she thought she knew was turning out to be a remnant of the past.

Scary thought. Just like with Mama Bell, Shayna had shut Zoe completely out of the truth about her life.

Drugs. Alcohol. Sex with random men.

Zoe’s mother had been a party girl. Zoe could only hope Shayna hadn’t gotten mixed up with the same type of people. After all, that was the reason Zoe’s mother had ended up dead, with her killer in prison.

Zoe made a mental note to check online later and make sure nothing had changed. The last time he’d come up before the parole board, he’d been denied.

Meanwhile, Cristine watched her like a hawk. A concerned, slightly ditzy hawk, but closely nonetheless.

“I’m still going to talk to the police,” Zoe repeated. “Now, please excuse me.”

Cristine stared and then nodded. “Let me come with you.”

Glancing around the crowded room full of people she should recognize but didn’t, Zoe shook her head. “Thank you, but that’s not necessary. You’ve got plenty to occupy you here. I’ll handle this on my own.”

Cristine dipped her chin, swallowing hard. “But you are signing up to help search, right?”

“Of course.” Zoe forced a smile and gestured to the line at the sign-up table. “Judging from the size of this turnout, you should have a ton of people show up tomorrow to assist.”

Cristine bit her lip. “About that. Will you help me organize it?” she blurted. “I want Shayna found, and no one else besides you and Mrs. Bell is taking her disappearance seriously.”

Surprised, Zoe considered. What Cristine said made sense. Still, until she got a better feel for things, Zoe preferred to go it on her own. “I don’t know,” she finally said. “It looks to me like you have everything pretty much under control.”

Then, before Cristine could say anything else, Zoe turned and hurried away.

Rushing outside, she nearly ran into Brock. Immediately, she felt a tingle of excitement low in her belly, which she ignored.

“Leaving already?” he asked, blocking her way and making no effort to move.

She tried to catch her breath, nodded and kept her expression impassive. It wouldn’t be a good thing if Brock learned how her body still reacted to him. “I thought I’d head over to the police station and see if I can light a fire under them.”

“Good idea.” He fell into step beside her. “It’s a short walk. Do you mind if I go with you?”

Would wonders never cease? Suddenly everyone wanted to go with her to the police department. First Cristine, and now Brock. She had to wonder if ulterior motives might be involved.