“What was that about?” she asked.
“Um.” He flipped the card over in his fingers and then stuffed it into his back pocket as he considered lying to her. Then he decided the two of them had enough lies between them to last a lifetime. “I shot Vaughn Davis during a traffic stop earlier this morning.”
Wyatt could actually see the color drain from Tabitha’s face. She didn’t say anything, just stood there staring at him in muted horror.
It was Melody who voiced the question out loud. “You did
what
?”
Wyatt held up his hands and turned back to their crowd of spectators. It really was bad timing on the DOJ’s part. He hadn’t realized how large their family had grown in such a short amount of time until he had to announce to all of them, “He pulled a gun on me. Shots were fired. He missed. I didn’t. It wasn’t fatal. He’ll live. They were probably here to see him and happened to hear I was also in the hospital. Any shooting involving a cop requires an investigation. This is all standard procedure.”
“But Clay was with you earlier this morning,” Melody whispered, still the voice of the masses.
“Yep.” Wyatt nodded. “That was one of the unfortunate things ’bout it.”
“Aren’t you off on Tuesdays and Wednesdays?” Chuito asked.
Wyatt nodded again. “Also
extremely
unfortunate.”
“What did I say last night?” Tabitha finally asked in a quivering voice.
Wyatt bowed his head and took a shuddering breath. “This ain’t your fault, Tab. Not even a little. I pulled him over while I was off duty. It’s
my
fault.”
“Oh, Conner,” Nova said from behind them. “You and me, we gotta talk.”
“You got enough of your own problems, Moretti.” Wyatt shook his head as he turned around. “Now, if y’all will excuse us. I’m gonna take a few minutes to talk to my wife. Let me know when we can go in to see Jules. We’re going outside for some air.”
* * * *
Tabitha wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel.
There were so many overlapping horrors to deal with it was impossible to sort them all out.
Fear, horror, embarrassment, and what she didn’t want to acknowledge, but did anyway, was that small flame of anger at Wyatt. That he would risk not only the life he’d made for himself, but the kindling of hope they’d had to make a life together.
He was an elected official in the County of Garnet. He was respected and admired. Everyone in this town loved him. He should be mature enough to know better. He wasn’t a twenty-one-year-old hotheaded kid anymore. She had a right to her anger. She knew it, but the circumstances with Jules kept her from lashing out at him as the two of them sat at one of the small tables outside the hospital. Tabitha was drinking coffee. Wyatt had a bottle of water, and for several long minutes, they just stayed there in silence, both of them finally taking a moment to fully absorb the secrets that had just been torn open and laid at their feet in front of all Wyatt’s friends and family.
“You’re mad at me,” Wyatt finally whispered. “I can tell, but I swear, Tab. I wasn’t intending to shoot him.”
Tabitha arched an eyebrow. “You left in the middle of the night to make a traffic stop?”
Wyatt considered her for a second before he looked down at the table. He picked at the peeling paint at the end. “Okay.” He huffed. “I’ll admit that was my knee-jerk response.”
“Oh my God.” She shook her head as she looked at him. “Wyatt, this isn’t the Old West. You can’t just go out and shoot someone for touching your girl.”
“
Touching my girl
,” Wyatt repeated in disbelief. “Unless I got it figured wrong, he drugged you badly enough to cause an overdose, and then—”
“Don’t say it.” Tabitha cut him off.
Wyatt leaned his elbows against the table and put his face in his hands as the sadness and tension radiated off him violently enough it almost made Tabitha sick secondhand. “I can’t stop thinking ’bout it,” he whispered miserably. “I can’t stop thinking ’bout what that had to have been like for you. I can’t stop wishing for a chance to go back and take that fight back. There’s just so much.
So much
. I can’t even begin to sort it out.”
“I know.” She choked back the urge to completely break down. “We’re broken, Wyatt. You think it’s not terrible for me too, knowing that you found out what happened. I wanted to stay beautiful to you. I should’ve never come back. I should’ve let my mother die in that rotting house. Nothing was worth ruining what we were.”
“You got it all wrong, darlin’.” He dropped his hands and looked at her, with tears shining in his light eyes. “You’re always beautiful.
Always
. There’s no way Vaughn could take that away. It’s impossible. You have always been perfect to me.”
Tabitha covered her face and let out a sob, because she heard the truth in his words.
For reasons she would never understand, Wyatt’s love for her was completely loyal and unending. It didn’t tarnish. It didn’t fade. It never curved to the winds of change, and her feelings for him were the same. She should be furious at him, but when it came down to it, the anger simply evaporated under the golden gleam that always radiated off her hero, and she just adored him instead. Life handed them true love; she just couldn’t decide if it was a gift or a curse.
Wyatt stood and pulled his chair up next to her. Then he grabbed her wrist, forcing her to fall into his arms. She buried her face against his chest and sobbed for who they once were. For what they’d lost. For what they couldn’t change. She cried for them as children, young and completely ignorant of the pain one act of kindness had caused.
Life would’ve been easier if he’d never taught her to believe in heroes by handing her those cookies that day, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as magnificent either. Even in the face of yet another tragedy, Tabitha realized she wouldn’t take it back. For thirteen years she had assumed Wyatt finding out would mean some of the beauty would wilt and die, but she was wrong. It just grew stronger, making her mourn what they’d lost all the more.
Wyatt rested his cheek against the top of her head, and he cried too. In those raspy, broken sobs, she heard the same mourning. The same loss. The same appreciation for something perfect and beautiful. All the hurt in the world couldn’t destroy the love, but it could destroy them for having it.
“I’m in trouble,” Wyatt choked out when the tears finally started to subside. “I didn’t mean to do it. Clay talked me down. I was just gonna try to get him on a DUI. I didn’t want you to have to see him again, but he pulled a gun, and I shot him before I even realized I did it.”
Tabitha pulled back and studied him. “Then why would you be in trouble?”
“It’s complicated, but I just am.” Wyatt wiped at his cheeks impatiently. “There’s a lot of reasons why this is gonna be bad.”
“They seemed nice,” Tabitha argued, because there was a side of her not completely broken by life that refused to believe this was where it was supposed to end. “Those officers didn’t look like they had any bad intentions.”
“You know I was the one who beat up your brother and Vaughn in high school.” Wyatt shook his head, looking lost and bewildered in a way she’d never seen before. “All he has to do is tell them that, and it’ll launch a full-scale investigation that’s gonna unearth a whole shitload of evidence that proves he had every right to fear for his life. I have been a major thorn in his side for years. Now he’s got a chance to get me brought up on charges. I’m sorry, Tab, but I’m fucked. I guarantee you, I am not getting out of this.”
Tabitha put a hand to her eyes, fighting a fresh bout of tears when she thought about how terrible it would be for Wyatt to face something like that. His reputation would be ruined. Everything he prided himself on would crumple at his feet. She didn’t want to believe there was a world out there that would do that to him, but she had learned a long time ago that the world was unkind more often than not.
“It would’ve been better to take the bullet,” Wyatt whispered dejectedly.
There had never been a time in her life where she would agree with that—until now.
Wyatt might have been able to endure a bullet wound, but this would likely destroy him.
“We’ll get a lawyer.” Tabitha reached out and rubbed his thigh. “I can afford a really good one.”
Wyatt shrugged. “What’s a good lawyer gonna do for me? Plea bargain for a lesser charge? I’ll never be able to be sheriff again. I’m still facing jail time, even with the best lawyer money can afford. This is my business. I know a solid case when I see one.”
She didn’t have a solution for him. Like he said, this was his business. If Wyatt said he was fucked, Tabitha knew he probably was. She didn’t have a single solution to offer, so she just leaned into him once more and wrapped her arms around him. Wyatt hugged her back, and together they just sat together in the cool November morning and tried to come to terms with the fact that their lives were about to be ripped apart more violently than they had the first time they’d thought love made them invincible.
“I want you to leave,” Wyatt said in a gruff voice, as if the words were tearing out his soul. “When everything starts going down, I want you to go back to Key West. Be happy. Love life. Be amazing at everything you do.” He repeated the words she’d written to him in that letter so long ago as if he’d read it a million times. “’Cause I know you can. The whole world knows it, and I’m so happy everyone gets to see you as I’ve always seen you.”
“No.” She placed a hand over his heart, knowing it beat for her, and everything in her wanted to stay right where she was right now. “I’m not leaving this time.”
“That’s your gift to me.” Wyatt kissed the top of her head once more. “I’m sorry, Tabby, but I need to know you’ll do this for me. I can survive everyone else seeing me fall, but I never want you to see it. It’ll kill me. I know it. Please tell me you understand.”
Tabitha wanted to lie to him. They’d been so good at it for the past four months, but in the end she couldn’t do it. “I do understand.” She tightened her arms around him, clinging to what she knew was slipping through her fingers. “I don’t want to, but I do.”
“I want you to write a hundred more books.” Wyatt ran his hand over her back softly, and even through the tears she could still hear the smile in his voice. “Promise you’ll keep me a perfect memory.”
“It’s not hopeless yet,” she said defiantly, refusing to promise, because she knew what it meant. “Let’s just wait and see what happens.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“I got you a change of clothes.” Wyatt handed Romeo a pair of jeans and a T-shirt he had gotten out of his gym bag that he kept in his SUV. “I should’ve thought ’bout it earlier. I was distracted. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks, Wyatt.” Romeo took the clothes, looking genuinely grateful for them. “I should’ve changed before I left for the hospital, but—”
“Hey, no one’s blaming ya for it,” Wyatt said and then made a point to look at Romeo, who still had Jules’s blood staining his jeans and T-shirt. “But you got to change. Go take a moment. Get yourself a cup of coffee. Hell, have two. You look like you need it. I can sit with her.”
“She’s still”—Romeo raised his eyebrows—”
really
relaxed after the surgery.”
“I’m sure I can handle it. I’ve been dealing with my sister a lot longer than you have,” Wyatt reminded him. “Take your time. Go see the twins again. We got your back.”
“Okay, yeah.” Romeo nodded. “I will. I’m going to take some more pictures. Even stoned outta her friggin’ mind, she’s driving the doctors and nurses crazy wanting to see them.”
“Then go.” Wyatt gestured to the doors that led out of the ICU.
Romeo surprised him by stepping forward and hugging Wyatt in that same tight, strong-armed way he hugged his own brothers. It was obvious the chaos of the night was wearing on him. His emotions were right on the surface, and Wyatt understood completely. He patted his brother-in-law’s back affectionately as he reeled over the bizarreness of his life that had allied him with Romeo Wellings of all people.
“She’s been asking ’bout you too,” Romeo said as he pulled away. “She’s been asking for you a lot actually. She keeps saying something’s wrong with you.” He shook his head. “They got her high as a kite. It’s making her paranoid as hell.”
“Yeah,” Wyatt agreed distantly. “That must be it.”
“Tell her I’m taking more pictures. I won’t be too long.”
Romeo was halfway down the hallway before something occurred to Wyatt, and he called out, “Hey.”
He turned around, arching an eyebrow curiously. “Yeah?”
“Congratulations.”
Romeo pulled back, making it obvious that was the first he’d heard it. Then he gave Wyatt a wide, pleased smile that lit up his entire face and showed the first signs of excitement for the future rather than the stress and strain he had been dealing with for the past nine months. “Thanks, man.”
“Sure.” Wyatt gestured to the doors once more. “Go look after those boys, Dad. You might as well enjoy it now. Twins are something else.”
“Nah, they’ll be good,” Romeo said confidently. “They got half Juliet in them. They gotta be good.”
Wyatt laughed. “Whoa boy, who lied to you? Wait and see; it’s gonna be interesting.”
“I can handle a little interesting.” Romeo laughed with him before he turned once more to leave. “See you soon.”
Wyatt walked to Jules’s room. He had already checked in at the nurse’s station and had a sticker on his chest that said he had a right to be there. He could hear his sister’s voice before he stepped past the door, because it echoed off the stark walls, vibrant and demanding as always.
“Just put me in a wheelchair. Five minutes.”
“Darlin’, you just got out of surgery, and you lost a lot of blood. You need to get a little stronger first.”
“I’m strong.” Jules sounded unbendingly confident about it despite the slur in her voice. “My daddy made me strong.”
“That ain’t a lie, you know.” Wyatt stepped in the room and saw his sister, who was so pale her lips were almost blue. She had IV’s in both arms, and wires coming out of her gown that tracked the steady beat of her heart, but he didn’t doubt her words as he confirmed to the nurse, “Her daddy
did
make her strong.”