A Texas Family

Beth’s parents’ marriage was another statistic in the marriage game. Don moved to Oregon and started another family. Beth rarely heard from her father. He was in the hospital having knee surgery when Beth died. After that, he’d called several times, but Carson hadn’t heard from the man in years. Connie married the truck driver and lived in Maine. She’d returned to Willow Creek for the funeral but soon left. Carson hadn’t heard from her since.

Even though both of their parents’ marriages had failed, he and Beth were determined to make theirs work. That was when he first thought about leaving the Marines. He and Beth needed to be together, especially since they were starting a family. Maybe Asa had mellowed and Carson could run the ranch now. So many maybes had filled his head, especially since Beth had told him that Asa continued to push Jared hard, and she feared he would leave and never come back. But then the unthinkable had happened. Jared was killed and life became a daily nightmare.

He backed out of the Brookses’ driveway and turned toward home. Tonight after he put his kids to bed, he’d think about Jena and the pain she would endure for the rest of her life.

Happiness was just an illusion, he decided. All one could do was hope for the best, and he wished that for Jena. He prayed she found peace, in whatever way she could.

* * *

“JENA.”

Jena blinked at the light on her phone. She was still sitting on the floor in the bedroom, but now it was completely dark.

Hilary flipped on the light. “What’s going on? The house was in complete darkness when I drove up. Mama’s in bed and I thought you were, too. Why are you sitting on the floor?”

Jena gripped her phone. “What time is it?”

“After ten.” Hil slid down beside her. “What’s wrong?”

She told her sister what Carson had said.

“That sorry old bastard. Someone needs to slap him.”

“I got the feeling it doesn’t matter. You can slap him, jail him, kill him and Asa’s still not telling his secret. You see, it’s his last revenge on me. He doesn’t have his son because of me, or so he feels, and so I will never have my child.”

“That’s insane.”

“Yeah, but how do you reason with someone who’s insane?”

“I don’t know, Jen-Jen. I’m so sorry.”

She lifted the phone in her hand. “I’ve been sitting here trying to call Blake. I’ve punched his number about ten times, but I click off before it goes through.”

“Why?”

“Blake is a cutthroat lawyer, and if he comes here he can cause all kinds of trouble.”

“That’s good. Maybe he can scare the truth out of Asa.”

“And he can make the whole town hate us. You have a good relationship with everyone here, and I don’t want that to change. And I certainly don’t want anyone to upset Mama.”

“So you’re going to give up?”

“I will never give up. I just haven’t figured out what I’m going to do, but I’ve come to the conclusion I don’t need Blake. I can handle this on my own.”

Hil’s mouth fell open. “You’re going to confront Asa?”

“I’m not sure yet, but by morning I’ll have a plan. If Carson thinks I’m going to quietly leave town like before, then he’s in for a shock. One way or another I’m going to find my child.”

CHAPTER FIVE

THE NEXT MORNING Carson drove into the parking spot for his office, which was part of the paved area for the convenience store and gas station next door. He didn’t need a lot of space. People rarely came to see him—when he got a call, he went to whoever was calling in a disturbance or a complaint.

For years Willow Creek hadn’t had a constable’s office, but Asa had built the current building for Bernie about thirty years ago. Back then Asa was the law in Willow Creek, Texas. Bernie did exactly what Asa wanted him to.

He spotted Ms. Brooks’s car parked to the side. What was she doing here? Reaching for his office keys from the center console, he opened the door and got out. When she saw him, she got out, as well.

He tipped his hat. “Mornin’, Ms. Brooks.”

“Morning.”

Her eyes were sad and had that cried-out look. Once again, he felt sympathy for her situation. In jeans and a white knit top that barely came to her waistband, she managed to look incredibly sexy. And that was the last thing he should be noticing.

“I’m not sure why you’re here,” he said to shift his mind in the right direction. “I told you last night there was nothing else I could do. I’ll fax my report to the sheriff, and he will take it from there.” He looked around. “Is your lawyer meeting you here?”

“I want to talk to you.”

“Oh...okay.” He walked toward the front door, wondering why she needed to talk. There wasn’t much left to discuss. But he didn’t mind talking if that was what she wanted. He just didn’t see the point.

He unlocked his office door, flipped on the light and turned on the air conditioning. The room was stuffy from being closed up. Hooking his hat on a peg, he took a moment and then sat down. She’d already taken a seat in the chair across from his desk.

When she didn’t say anything, he asked again, “Is your lawyer meeting you here?”

“I’ve changed my mind about that.”

“Why?” That surprised him. She’d been so adamant.

“Blake would come into town with guns blazing, so to speak. His investigators would be relentless in getting answers.”

“Isn’t that what you want?”

“Yes, but my sister, Hilary, has a very good relationship with everyone here, and I don’t want to do anything to change that or to hurt her. And I really don’t want anyone to upset my mother.”

“I’m not quite following you.”

“I thought about this all night, and I’m not slinking out of town like I did before. But on the other hand I can’t cause any more stress for my family.”

“So that leaves what?”

She brushed at something on her jeans with a nervous hand. “Yesterday you said the cases had been closed quickly and there was still a lot of evidence out there.”

“When I said that, you became very offended.”

“I know, but now I’m thinking about it a little differently.”

“How differently?”

“I’d like to find what other evidence is out there. There has to be someone other than Asa who knows what happened that night.”

He picked up a pencil and twirled it in his fingers, wondering how to phrase his next question. “I don’t want to upset you, but have you thought of the obvious?”

She moved restlessly in her chair, and he knew she’d thought of every scenario concerning her baby...even though it was painful. “I don’t want to believe Asa could be that cruel. That evil.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

He didn’t, either, but they had to look at the possibility, as he had for the past twenty-four hours. It was burned into his brain. Asa had wanted revenge, and Carson was so afraid he’d found the ultimate way to get it.

“What do you expect from me, Ms. Brooks?”

Her dark sad eyes found his, and he felt a catch in his throat at all the pain he saw there.

“I’d like for us to look for new evidence like you mentioned.”

“Us?” He motioned from her to him with the pencil.

“Yes. I’m Blake’s personal assistant, and I’m very familiar with these sorts of files and court documents. I can help you go through all the files, and maybe we can catch something that no one else has.”

“Don’t you think you’re grasping at straws?” He had to point that out.

“You didn’t think so yesterday.”

“Yesterday I hadn’t talked to my father. You have to remember that Asa is my father.”

“I realize that, but he committed a crime. And you are the law here in Willow Creek.”

His stomach churned with uneasiness. The line between family and loyalty and his job was clearly blurred. Yesterday digging through the files was a good idea because he’d been looking for answers. Then he got the answers he didn’t want to hear. Now he was torn in two ways. Suddenly, she did something unexpected.

“Carson, please, help me.”

The entreaty in her voice and the way his name sounded on her lips, soft and seductive, hijacked his senses and sent his thoughts spinning. He hadn’t expected that. And for a moment he was at a loss for words.

“It’s Jared’s child, too,” she added forlornly. “Doesn’t that mean something to you?”

“Yes.” Jared had created a baby with her, and they’d planned a life together. For that reason he was still talking to her. “But it’s also about my family, my father. I know he’s guilty, and there’s no way around that, but my kids adore their grandfather, and I don’t know how I’ll explain all this to them. I really think it’s best if I don’t get involved.”

She stared down at her hands, and he felt that twist in his heart again. But what else could he do?

She raised her eyes to his, and, for a moment, he was lost in those dark depths. “I have this need to see my child’s face. Each year it grows stronger and stronger. I want to know if he or she is happy and with a loving family. I have to know or I’ll never have any peace.”

“I—”

“I’ll make a deal with you.” She stopped him. “If you help me find my child, I will not file charges against your father. Years ago I would have loved nothing better than to hurt him severely, but now, as I said, I just want some peace.”

“Jena... May I call you that now?”

“Yes. I’m sorry I was testy about that yesterday.”

“Well, this is an emotional situation.” He ran his hands over his face, telling himself it was best to stay out of this mess. But his heart wasn’t listening. “Okay,” he found himself saying. “I’ll give it my best shot, but we have to set some ground rules. First, I’m in charge, and you will follow my instructions to the letter.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ll be responsible for everything we do.”

“Okay, I get that.”

“Good. And we will be civil to each other and respect each other’s feelings.”

“Okay.”

“And when I say it’s a dead end, we quit.”

She lifted her chin with renewed determination. “I don’t know if I can agree to that.”

He stared at the stubborn glint in her eyes, knowing how hard this was for her, and it surprised him that he sensed her feelings so well. “You have to accept we may not find anything.”

“I’m sorry, but I’ll never be able to do that.”

He admired her honesty. “As they say, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

Scooting forward in her chair, she asked, “Can we start now?”

The file box was still on the floor. He reached down and pulled out the file on the case. As he slid it across the desk, she moved her chair forward. For the next thirty minutes they read through the papers several times and nothing jumped out at them.

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