Thank you so much for the reviews on the last chapter. LuvReading, Guest, FireandBlood, you guys left such sweet reviews and I appreciate you more than I can express! Guest, lol, I'm right with you! Anyone but Charlotte! I feel like heartbroken Vin doesn't make the best choices. :) LuvReading, I'm equal parts sorry and flattered that you cried your way through the last chapter. There will be some better moments in the coming chapters to make up for that, I hope! You're such a faithful reader and I want you to know how much I appreciate you! FireandBlood, I hope you know how much I appreciate you beyond just reading new chapters! You talk me through the crazy mess in my head to make the chapters coherent. :)
Chapter 58
Chris opened the truck door for Mary and held out a hand for her. She didn't need the help, in spite of the heels and white dress she wore. She was an independent woman, had been doing things on her own for a long while, something Chris admired.
She took his hand anyway.
Chris was glad he had thought to shovel the walk up to his porch that morning. It hadn't taken much for him to get ready for their spur of the moment wedding. Make sure his suit wasn't wrinkled and hunt down where his tie had gone. The only thing that had taken a good amount of time was sitting down to write a letter to Billy. The kid was young now, but Chris wanted to be sure he knew what this wedding meant. The note might not make sense to him for a few years, but it was important to Chris that Billy know exactly what his place was in their new family. He wasn't an afterthought, or an addition to his and Mary's marriage. Billy was important to Chris in every single way that mattered. Chris wasn't looking to replace the dad Billy couldn't remember, but he was going to be there for Billy like a dad. However Billy wanted to look at Chris, it wouldn't change how Chris thought of Billy. As his son.
Chris unlocked the front door. He held the door for her, flipping a light on when they got inside.
"It was nice of Orrin and Evie to take Billy for a couple days," Chris said.
"It was," Mary said. The corners of her mouth quirked. "It will be nice to get to bed early and sleep after the rush of putting the wedding together." Teasing glinted in her eye.
"Sleep?" Chris asked, teasing in his own voice.
"A full eight hours," Mary said. "No interruptions."
Chris stepped in closer to her. He brushed her wool coat from her shoulders, tossing it towards a chair. His hands found the zipper at the back of her silky dress. "Eight hours in bed sounds like a good start," he said.
Mary's eyes drifted closed as his hands started working the fabric away from her.
He felt her hands pulling his shirt free from his waistband.
They didn't speak on their way to his bed. Their bed.
#
The pale winter sun was barely working its way through the blinds when Vin rolled over.
He squinted an eye open. The big bed was empty beside him.
He heard the click of heels on wood floor and Charlotte came into the room, slim pencil skirt and demure blouse at odds with the woman he had bedded last night. Her light brown hair was styled, not messed by his hands.
"Good morning," she said. She gave him a brief smile before turning to her cherry wood dresser and opening a jewelry box. She found what she was looking for. She leaned in slightly to the mirror and fastened a small diamond earring in place. She glanced at him in the reflection.
"I'm glad you stopped by," she said. "I've missed you."
Vin knew she didn't miss him. She wasn't impressed by his life on the road. And she had made it clear what she thought of his less than humble housing. They were only good together in one way, when the lights were out. When there wasn't any reality creeping in on them.
But morning always came, inevitably.
Vin started to push up to sitting, looking over the side of the bed for his clothes.
"Stay," Charlotte said. "I have to get to work, but there's no rush for you to leave." She fastened her second earring in place and turned to face him. "You could stay tonight."
Avoiding the reality of going back home was tempting. But it just meant he'd be facing it tomorrow. And knowing that Kaylee didn't have that luxury of putting off what she was facing had him shaking his head. He wasn't going to take solace in hiding out at Charlotte's when he knew all too well that Kaylee didn't have anywhere to go for a reprieve.
"I should get going," he said.
Charlotte didn't look surprised—or disappointed—by his words. She crossed over to him and leaned down to give him a last kiss. "Take your time. There's coffee in the kitchen."
Vin nodded that he heard, but he wasn't hanging around. He found his clothes, tugging on his boxers and jeans. Charlotte eyed him appreciatively. Vin tried to hide the usual aches and pains that kept him moving slower in the morning. Shirt on, but not yet buttoned, he gave her hand a light squeeze. "It was good seein' you, Charlotte," he said. "I'll see you around."
Charlotte made a noncommittal sound. Vin followed her out to the living room, buttoning his shirt and getting his jacket from the back of the couch. He got his boots on and stepped out into the cold January morning. Charlotte gave him one last peck before going to her car, already running thanks to a remote start Vin had seen her use from the house. She pulled out without a backward look.
He groaned slightly when he climbed into his truck, his knee not wanting to cooperate with the tall step up. His old truck started on the second try, clearly not any more of a fan of the cold dawn than Vin was this morning.
Vin drove the rest of the way home in silence, nothing but missing Kaylee and wishing things were different dogging his every thought.
It was late morning when he finally turned up the long drive that would lead to Chris' and the bunkhouse he and Buck—and now Inez—shared. The sun was high above the treetops, casting diamonds across the fresh snowfall.
This was a cozy place. A tendril of smoke curled up from the chimney over at Chris'. Trees with a dusting of snow on their branches. Nothing like the trailer on the Nebraska prairie that looked like it would blow away with one stiff breeze.
Thoughts of Kaylee had trailed him all the way from Nebraska, no reason they should stop now.
He got out of his truck, pulling his duffel bag from the back. Ribs that were pretty well healed, but not without complaint, ached with the weight of the bag over his shoulder.
He climbed the couple steps to the compact house and kicked the snow off his boots before he opened the door.
He hoped Buck and Inez wouldn't be in the living room or kitchen and he could just slip away to his room without fanfare, but Buck's call put that dream to rest.
"Vin!"
Vin looked up at Buck and even tried to muster a return greeting.
Buck scooted his chair back from the table and Vin prepared himself for the hug that nearly lifted him from his feet.
"Been real quiet without you here. It's good to have you home, buddy."
Vin couldn't get out the lie that it was good to be home, so he just gave a small nod.
"How's Kaylee? You talk some sense into her? Tell her to get back here where she belongs?"
Vin wanted to tell Buck how dire things were for Kaylee. Tell him she was fixing to be a single mom. But he had promised her. He'd keep his word. He owed her that.
His face must have said enough because Buck's face fell.
"She's as stubborn as Ezra," Buck muttered.
But she would be the only one suffering.
"I'll bet you're tired, Vin," Inez broke in. Her face was gentle with compassion and Vin got the uneasy feeling she saw half the things he wasn't saying. "We'll catch up with you after you have a chance to rest."
Vin thanked her—more for the escape than the sympathy she offered—and headed to his room.
It was dark and cold, closed up for the past weeks. But it was still better than where he knew Kaylee was today.
#
Kaylee should have relished her day off work. But instead she found herself at loose ends. Without Vin there to talk to, to smile with, the day dragged. She needed to clean the trailer.
"You gotta do that now?" Tammy asked.
Kaylee turned off the vacuum cleaner. "Is your head hurting?" she asked her mom.
Tammy didn't move from where she lay on the couch, one arm draped over her forehead. "I'd sell a kidney for a hit right now," she muttered.
Kaylee bit her lip to hold back comment. If her mom hadn't been out doing who knows what with who knows who the night before, she probably wouldn't be feeling like this right now. Instead she offered what she could. "Do you want me to heat up some tea?"
Tammy made a sound of disgust. "Only if you want me to puke it up on the floor."
Kaylee sighed. She wound the cord of the vacuum up. She had mostly finished the carpet anyway. It didn't take long to vacuum when it was a threadbare covering. She wheeled the vacuum back to the hall closet and shoved it into its place. It bumped against something.
Frowning, Kaylee knelt down and reached into the dark closet. A black duffel bag, as worn as the carpet was tossed in there. She pulled it out with a frown. Had Vin left it? But she knew it wasn't his. She had spent the summer and fall traveling with Vin. She knew what his bags looked like, same as she knew exactly what Buck, JD, and the rest traveled with.
She tugged at the zipper. It caught on the cheap nylon fabric of the bag before giving way. Kaylee pulled it open and recoiled.
A plastic wrapped brick of white lurked at the bottom of the bag.
"Doggone it," she hissed out. "No." She stood abruptly, the room spinning at the sudden movement. The constant tension headache that pinched the back of her neck flared.
Cletus.
He was storing drugs at their house again. How could Tammy agree to this? After what had happened last time? The drugs in their house was the entire reason Kaylee was in the mess she was in. Finding Cletus' drugs, then selling them to keep from getting evicted. It was the reason she owed him thousands of dollars, with the ever increasing interest on her debt. The reason she had lied to Ezra.
The reason she lost Ezra.
She yanked the zipper closed with a sharp jerk of her hand.
She didn't bother to grab a jacket, just her keys.
Tammy didn't ask where she was going, didn't make a move from her place on the couch.
Kaylee threw the bag in the back of the truck. She had to get it out of here. Back to Cletus. Before her mom could find it and use and they owed Cletus even more.
She was driving toward town when she saw the first deputy drive past her. A second one passed not far behind.
Her phone rang in the pocket of her sweatshirt.
Cletus.
"What do you want?" she asked. She didn't care that her voice was shaking. Didn't care she sounded weak.
"Just checking to see if the company I'm sending you made it out to your place yet?"
Kaylee's foot automatically went to the brake. "What are you talking about?"
Another deputy in a sheriff department SUV passed her, going out of town.
A knot started balling up in her throat.
"Sounds like the sheriff's office got an anonymous tip about some drugs stashed out your way. A full kilo of heroin."
Kaylee's foot slammed the rest of the way down on the brake. The truck rocked to a stop on the side of the highway. "Why would you do that?" she asked. She could barely get the words out.
"Payment," Cletus said, his words changing from feigned innocence to fury. "I told you what would happen if you didn't pay me back. So I'm paying you back. Hope you and your burnout mom like jail." He ended the call with a click.
No. No, no, no, no.
Kaylee looked around her. Nothing but blowing snow and prairie everywhere she looked. No cars on the long, straight stretch of highway.
She got out of the truck, the wind bracing. Her fingers stung with cold as she climbed the side of the truck to reach in the bed. She pulled the duffel bag out and awkwardly jumped back down. She threw it with all the strength she could find. It made it to the far side of the ditch and snow started to blow over it.
Getting back in the truck she jammed it into gear and swung the wheel around, turning back the way she had come.
There were all three deputy vehicles parked in front of the trailer when she pulled up. She parked on the side of the highway, no space available in the driveway.
She hurried to the house, stumbling over the drifts, icy snow slipping into her boots. The front door was open, nothing but the screen door blocking her from what played out inside.
Two deputies were searching the house, opening drawers, pulling things from cabinets. A third stood near her mom.
"Tammy, if we find anything, you're really in trouble this time. You and your girl won't be able to get out of it." He sounded like he regretted having to tell her mom how things stood.
She was going to jail. If they found anything, she was going to jail. Her baby would be born in jail. And then…foster care? Was that what would happen? Her hand went to her stomach and she gripped at her jacket, pulled tight over her growing baby.
But she had found the drugs. They weren't anywhere near the house.
She shoved her hair out of her face as the wind whipped it from her braid. The deputies turned their attention from the closet that had held the bag, going into her room.
Her breath came out in short puffs of steam in the cold air.
What if that wasn't the only bag? What if Cletus had planted more than that?
Her heart lurched. She didn't know what to do.
Vin.
No. He had tried to help her—tried to care for her—and she had hurt him. She couldn't call Vin.
He had said to call. If she needed anything.
She couldn't call him.
She couldn't sort out a clear thought, panic building to near hysteria. Her mom swore at one of the deputies when he headed for her room, moving a hand like she was going to smack him. Then she was in cuffs.
They were both going to jail. Kaylee was sure of it.
She grabbed her phone. Her hands were shaking, her fingers were numb from the cold. It took her three tries to pull up Vin's number.
He answered immediately.
"Vin?" she gasped out. "Vin—it's—it's really bad."
#
Vin hadn't taken much time in the house. He had headed out to the barn with Buck. Inez had bundled up and come with them. Buck told him Inez was growing to like the horses, his pleasure at that evident in his grin towards Inez. Vin hadn't had to force his smile for Buck. He was happy for his friend. It wasn't that he begrudged Buck any happiness. But seeing Inez' growing form was too similar to seeing Kaylee's. And not being able to break his promise to her and tell anyone she was carrying Ezra's baby dimmed his smile.
In the barn, Chris was already there, two horses saddled. He looked up when Vin entered with Buck and Inez.
"Saw your truck," Chris said. "Welcome home."
Vin gave him a quiet greeting. Chris' gaze sharpened. "How's Kaylee?"
"I would assume she's doing just fine," came Ezra's voice.
Vin whirled on him. Just fine? Kaylee was living in a thin walled trailer, was almost out of food and heat when he showed up, and she had some guy making her nervous. "She's anything but fine," he bit out between clenched teeth.
Ezra's expression faltered, but just for a second before he started down the aisle toward the horses. "Well then it's good she has you for a new target…I mean friend," Ezra corrected himself.
Vin's muscles coiled. He took a step toward Ezra, but the ringing of his phone stopped him. He had forgotten it was even in his pocket. He pulled it out, brow furrowing when he saw Kaylee's name on the screen.
"Kaylee?" he asked.
He was aware of Ezra pausing and looking over his shoulder at him.
"Slow down," Vin said. "What's going on?" He tried to piece together her frantic words. "Are they arresting you?" He only caught something about drugs and jail and the cops.
"I—I don't know," she stammered. He could hear the wind through the phone and wondered if she was outside. "I don't think they found anything. But—but what if they do? What am I going to do? My mom can't go to jail. I can't have the baby in jail!"
"No one's goin' to jail," Vin said firmly, hoping he was right. He knew Kaylee wasn't into anything. But he also knew now how much her mom was into. He wished he wasn't eight hours away.
"Ok. Ok," she said under her breath, clearly taking his promise at face value. Her voice lowered. "I think they're—they're going. They didn't find…" Her words trailed off. He heard a man tell her to steer clear of trouble. Vin could picture her nodding.
He heard a distant car through the phone line. Engines starting and fading away.
"They're gone," she said. She sounded like she was about to wilt.
"Are you ok?" he asked. Buck had come to his side and stood there with worry in his eyes.
"We can come get her. Bail her out, whatever," Buck said to Vin.
"Is that Buck?" Kaylee asked.
"Yeah. Buck and Chris are here with me." He stopped himself before he said Ezra. No sense in making it worse for her.
"I shouldn't have called," Kaylee said.
"I'm glad you did," Vin said sincerely.
"I didn't mean to…you did more than enough…" she sounded like she was at a loss for words. "I just panicked," she said. "I—I don't know what I was thinking…"
"I told you to call if you needed anything. I meant it." Guilt at stopping at Charlotte's on the way home pricked at him. While he was trying to let go of Kaylee, she had been unaware of drugs stashed in her house and about to face the cops searching her place.
"I shouldn't have left you there."
"No," Kaylee said. "I'm just…I overreacted. Everything's fine. I wasn't thinking when I called you. I—I'm sorry. You don't have to take care of me."
But he wanted to. And that was the problem. She wasn't his to take care of.
"I'm going to go," she said. "I should check on my mom. She's not feeling well."
Vin forced himself to let her go. Again.
"I'm really sorry, Vin," she said quietly. He knew she didn't just mean for calling him when she panicked.
"Nothin' to be sorry about," he said. And he meant it.
The line went dead, the connection with her severed.
He caught Chris looking at him with narrowed eyes. He looked away.
"She ok?" Buck asked.
Ezra answered for him. "Of course she is. A liar with a pretty face will always find a way to land on her feet."
Vin spun toward Ezra.
"Land on her feet?" Vin repeated. His long legs carried him down the barn aisle toward Ezra. "She's barely stayin' upright! You have no idea what she's dealing with. All because you're too bullheaded and self-centered to see beyond your damn pride!"
He didn't stop to think. Swinging a fist toward Ezra to punctuate his words was something that had been building in him since he first saw Kaylee in Nebraska. Maybe since he first found out she had left. Because of Ezra. Because he wouldn't just listen to her. See what was right in front of his face.
Ezra dodged the blow, but wheeled right back at Vin. Vin let the anger that had been building toward Ezra all these weeks go unchecked. He let it vault him toward Ezra, slamming his shoulder into Ezra's chest and sending Ezra into the wall with a vicious thud.
Ezra had his own rage fueling his fight. This was nothing like the times Chris helped Buck burn off pent up frustrations by providing a target. Vin wanted to draw blood. He wanted to hurt Ezra the way Ezra was hurting Kaylee.
Vin took a knuckle to the jaw. The pain felt good. A relief from everything he had been shoving down with Kaylee.
He heard Buck hollering at them, but ignored anything but the white hot fury toward Ezra. Toward himself.
His fist connected with Ezra's stomach with a satisfying thud, Ezra doubling over, but grabbing Vin's shoulders on the way down to pull Vin with him.
Hands were grabbing at him from behind, trying to pull him away from Ezra. Vin tried shaking them off, swinging at whoever was trying to pull them apart.
He lowered his head and set to charge Ezra again, but someone got a good grip on him.
"That's enough," Buck said with a forceful shake of Vin.
Vin looked over at Ezra. Chris held onto Ezra. Ezra shrugged off Chris' grip. He glared at Vin.
"You think this is what Kaylee wants?" Buck asked.
Vin fought against his hold again. This time he got free. Buck stepped in between him and Ezra with a warning glare.
"You think she wants to be kicked out by her husband?" Vin asked, derision sharpening how he called Ezra her husband. "You think she wants to be—" He cut off the words. Clamped his jaws together to hold back from saying it. Pregnant and alone. The last thing Kaylee needed was him breaking his word to her and telling Ezra she was pregnant. No telling what Ezra would do. Probably not anything that would help Kaylee, with how he talked about her lately.
"You have no idea what she's dealing with," Vin said through clenched teeth. He took a step toward Ezra. Buck stopped him with a hand to his chest.
"Let's take a walk, buddy," Buck said. "Get some air."
Vin held Ezra's stare. Ezra's expression was hard, unmoving.
"Come on," Buck encouraged him, applying a little pressure with his hand.
Vin hesitated, then gave in. Turning away, he went with Buck to the far end of the barn, heading outside.
Buck shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. His breath came in puffs in the cold air.
"Things that bad with Kaylee?" Buck asked.
"Worse," Vin said.
Buck didn't say anything to that. Silence was heavy between them.
"I did what I could for her," Vin said. Guilt twisted. And then he had made things harder for her. He never should have told her how she felt.
"Knowin' her, she didn't let you do much," Buck surmised.
Vin huffed out a frosty breath. "Not as much as she needed."
Buck didn't offer him empty words of solace. Vin figured Buck was worrying for their friend just as much as he was. Kaylee shouldn't be alone.
#
Ezra stalked away from Chris. He made it outside, on the opposite side of the barn from where Buck and Vin had gone, before Chris caught up to him.
"Ezra," Chris said.
"Mr. Larabee," Ezra said, fighting for control. "Whatever pearls of wisdom you may have to share, I am not in the mood."
Chris didn't say anything, which is what had Ezra turning to look at him.
"She's your wife," Chris said.
"She's a con artist," Ezra burst out.
Chris held him with a measured look. "You lived with her for how long, Ezra? You know what she is."
Ezra didn't want to think of their months together. It was easier to think of her betrayal. The money she stole. The false name.
But he couldn't block the memories. Kaylee's open smile, without guile or artifice. Her laugh of joy when he finally sang along to her ridiculous Taylor Swift songs in the truck. Sunlight shining through his trailer window, into their bed. Her rolling over with a lazy grin for him, reaching for him.
He thought of what Vin had said on the phone to her. She was in trouble.
He could see the panic in her eyes when she was desperate to win rodeo money. She needed the money for something. The nightmares that had her thrashing and on edge every night.
He couldn't imagine what had Vin so up in arms about Kaylee. What he had seen. What she had done that had her scared of going to jail.
He supposed he could go and see what Vin had seen. Find out for himself what the truth really was.
His thoughts must have been easy to read because Chris gave him a look. "I'll look after your place," he said.
Ezra hadn't realized he had made the decision until he heard himself thanking Chris.
The decision was like a weight lifted from his chest. Not so much a sense of relief that things would be fixed. But seeing Kaylee. He hadn't let himself admit how much he missed her. How it felt like a part of himself was missing without her.
He was going to see his wife.
#