Dale had joined their table when she
returned, his own plate full. He collected beverages for all of
them, and Beth felt a twinge of guilt drinking her champagne when
Maddox had been sober for two years. Ridiculous, because it was one
little glass for a celebration, and he wasn’t here.
God, she wished he was here.
Tonight was not the night to worry about
that, though. Tonight was for fun. She lifted her glass to Lily’s
toast and winced as Quinn struggled through his speech. No one ever
said he was a public speaker. Beth and Linda lent a hand cutting
and serving the cake. As soon as that last tradition ended,
Trinity’s family left. They’d probably never spent such a stretch
of time inside Quinn’s.
After the toasts and the cake, Maddox’s
back-up band started playing a quiet country song. The new singer,
John Evans, one of Leo’s co-coaches, stepped up to the
microphone.
“Maddox really wanted to be here tonight but
had other obligations, and Trinity was dead-set on not changing the
date.”
Chuckles rumbled through the crowd.
“But at Beth’s request, he wrote a song for
the occasion, and I’d like to sing it for the newlyweds.”
Beth’s heart clenched as Leo rose and held a
hand to Trinity, then led her to the dance floor. She let Maddox’s
music wash over her, the song he’d played for her on the deck that
night, now with words that she couldn’t quite attribute just to
Trinity and Leo, not when they mentioned “night after night,
knowing it’s so right,” and “After all this time, can you still be
mine?” She particularly liked the lines talking about the moonlight
in her hair, reflected in her smile, and how he’d manage to be away
from her, if only for a little while.
Only then did Beth realize she and Trinity
had so much in common, in love with men whose jobs would take them
from Bluestone again and again. Well. At least she had someone to
talk to.
The song drifted to an end. The next song was
a cover of a popular love song. Trinity danced with Leo’s son, Max,
then all were invited to join. Dale stood and stretched a hand
toward Beth.
“Dance with me?”
Still regretting that Maddox wasn’t here, she
put her hand in his and smiled. “You’d better be right about your
skill. I can’t afford for you to tromp all over my toes. New
shoes.”
For a big guy, he was surprisingly graceful.
He glided her across the floor so smoothly she had trouble keeping
up. He grinned at her, and she remembered that she had once thought
he was her future. She couldn’t think that anymore. She had no
business letting him think she felt anything for him. But here and
now was not the time to make her position clear.
Her brother danced with Lily, which made
Quinn scowl. But Jonas got fussy and while people passed him around
to entertain him, Beth knew it was time to go home. She hadn’t
socialized this much in years. She packed up her sister, and asked
Adam to take them home.
Adam dropped them off in front of the house,
and she realized she’d forgotten to leave a light on. Great. She
fumbled in her small purse for her key. It stood to reason it would
be easier to find in a small purse, but it wasn’t. Finally she
pulled it free, inserted it in the lock—and a hand reached out to
drag her inside.
Beth’s throat closed around the scream that
bubbled in her throat, and she tried to push her sister back, out
of the house, even as she recognized the stench of her father. She
jerked her wrist loose, flicked on the light to make him wince, and
stood glaring, her body between her sister and her father.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
“I came for the rest of my money.”
“I don’t have it.”
His gaze traveled up and down her dress—four
years old, but not quite out of style. “Really.” He looked past her
to Linda, ignoring Jonas. “Where have you been, all dressed
up?”
“A wedding,” Linda said, sounding like a
little girl.
“Linda, take Jonas and put him to bed,” Beth
said over her shoulder. She recognized her father’s mood, and
wanted Linda out of the line of fire.
With a nervous glance at her father, Linda
tucked the baby closer to her chest and scurried down the hall.
“I need more money, and I need it now. They
aren’t going to wait any longer,” he said.
“You should have thought of that before you
borrowed money from those people,” she retorted.
His hand whipped out and he wrapped it in her
hair, pulling her toward him. Behind her, Linda cried out in
protest, and Beth willed the girl to go into her bedroom. The pain
in her scalp was excruciating, and tears burned her eyes, but she
didn’t let herself cry. She returned her father’s bloodshot
glare.
“You show respect to your father.”
“Why? You never did anything for us. The only
reason I gave you money to begin with was to keep you away from us.
We don’t have anything to give you. You need to go.”
His hand tightened in her hair and she
couldn’t stop the gasp of alarm. “Or what? You little liar. You’re
sleeping with Maddox Bradley. You can get the money from him.”
In the next room, Jonas was wailing
inconsolably.
“Linda, take care of Jonas,” Beth managed,
trying to recover from the shock of her father’s words. How did he
know about Maddox?
Jonas’s cries only heightened her nerves,
already stretched to the limit. Her father didn’t protest when
Linda went to Jonas. Earlier she’d thought to use Jonas to diffuse
him, but no, with this level of violence, she was glad to have the
baby in the other room. She hoped Linda kept him in there.
“I’m not sleeping with anyone.”
“That’s not what the tabloids say. The
tabloids say that little bastard who used to screw you in the
backseat of his car has moved up in the world and is screwing you
in a lake house now. Would he be willing to pay to keep you
pretty?”
Fear lunged in her chest. What was he
threatening her with? “You’re not up on town gossip, then. He’s
gone back to Nashville. You’re too late for that money train.”
“And he didn’t buy you any trinkets when he
was screwing you? Do you give yourself that easily?”
A tear escaped, and she preferred to think of
it as a tear of pain, not of longing.
“I’ll call him,” Linda said behind her, her
voice desperate. “He’ll pay, I know he will.”
Beth wanted to protest. Linda couldn’t have
his number. Beth didn’t even have his number. But something in
Linda’s panicked voice made Beth freeze and go along with it.
She heard Linda’s heavy footsteps cross the
floor to the kitchen, heard the click of the buttons as she dialed.
“Maddox. God, Maddox. This is Linda. Beth would never ask you this,
but we need help. My dad. He owes some bad people a lot of money.
He’s here now, and he’s not leaving until he at least has the
promise of the money.” Linda paused a moment. “How much?” she asked
her father.
“Ten thousand.”
More than he’d told her he owed. Was he in
more trouble than he had told her, or was he taking advantage of
Maddox? She whimpered a protest.
Linda repeated the amount into the phone and
added, “Please hurry. I don’t know if he’s going to hurt her.”
Linda hung up and set the phone down with a clatter. “He’s going to
send it. He’s going to send it now. You can go to the bank in the
morning and get it. He promised. You can go.”
“I don’t think I will.” He straightened, his
hand twisting tighter in Beth’s hair. “I’ll wait here until I’m
sure it’s there.”
Beth tried to twist to see her sister, but
she couldn’t. Who had Linda called? It wasn’t Maddox. So what were
they waiting for? How long was their father going to hold them
hostage?
“Do you have anything to drink in here?”
“Water. Tea.”
His hand tightened in her hair. “No
beer?”
“No. We—can’t afford it, and there’s no point
in tempting Linda. If you let me go, I’ll get you some iced tea.”
Tears were streaming down her cheeks, no matter how she fought to
stop them. She was ready to beg, but she didn’t know how he would
react.
“Linda can get me some iced tea.”
He shifted enough that she could see her
sister clench her fists. Linda was going to argue, she just knew
it. Instead, her sister moved to the cabinet and got a glass, then
pulled the pitcher from the refrigerator. Beth was hyperaware of
her father’s heavy breathing, laced with the sharp scent of whiskey
that turned her stomach, as he waited. Linda crossed the room more
slowly than she usually moved, and Beth tensed further, though she
hadn’t thought it possible.
Then Linda drew back her arm and flung the
tea in his face, ice cubes striking. With a roar, he tossed Beth
aside, her hair tearing from her scalp. Before she could catch
herself, she smacked face-first into the table by the door.
Stunned, she recovered in time to see her father backhand Linda,
sending her flying backwards and colliding with the kitchen
counter. Beth hoped the sickening crunch she heard was something on
the counter, but she very much feared it wasn’t.
Behind her, the door moved, and for a moment
she thought her father was pulling it, trying to make his escape,
but no. Someone was pushing from behind, and pounding on the door
and yelling. Dizzily, she rolled onto her hip, away from the door,
and it swung open, hard. She threw out a hand just in time to catch
it before it hit her.
“What the hell?” Quinn demanded, stepping
into the living room, filling the small space, followed by Adam.
Quinn grasped Beth’s father, wrenching his arms behind his back,
and the older man cried out.
Quinn twisted around and saw Beth. She braced
her arms behind her—ow, her wrist hurt—and wincing, tried to push
to her feet.
“Stay there,” Quinn said, and she wondered
why. “Adam, Linda.”
God, what was wrong with Linda? Beth
struggled to her knees and saw her sister wasn’t moving. Adam
crouched beside her.
“Goddamnit, I said stay there,” Quinn
snapped. “Lily!”
The younger woman appeared behind Beth, and
Quinn nodded in her direction. Lily turned to look at her and
sucked in a breath. She reached over Adam and grabbed a towel from
the counter, then crouched beside Beth and pressed it to her
temple. Beth winced at the unexpected sting and Lily made a soft,
sympathetic sound. When she drew the towel away, it was soaked with
blood. Her blood. Her stomach pitched.
“Linda?” Her sister still hadn’t moved. Adam
drew back and pulled out his cell phone, then pressed three
numbers.
Lily looked over her shoulder at Quinn, who
shrugged and turned back to her father with a snarl.
“I’m sitting you down and you need to stay
put. The sheriff is on his way. You move, and I kick your ass. Get
me?”
Her father nodded slowly and Quinn bent
beside Linda, who moved her legs.
Beth rose to her knees, nudging aside Lily.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Looks like she hit her head pretty good,”
Quinn said, his back to her, his hands moving over her sister.
“Adam, will you get the baby?”
Beth realized, past the ringing in her ears,
that Jonas was wailing, his cries echoing through the small house.
Adam brushed past her to go get him. Her father slumped on the
couch, defeated.
“You two take the girls and the baby to Dale
to get them checked out. I’ll stay here and wait for the sheriff,”
Quinn said.
“I’ll take the baby,” Lily said, standing to
scoop the wailing child out of Adam’s arms. “You see to your
sister.”
“His diaper bag is just over there,” Beth
pointed.
“I’ve got it,” Lily said, lifting it and
sliding it on her shoulder as she turned. “Here, you hold onto my
arm. You don’t look so steady.”
“I’m fine.” But it seemed to take all her
effort to push to her feet.
“Hold the towel to your head,” Lily said, and
offered the arm not holding Jonas. “We should’ve brought Dale with
us.”
Maneuvering the steps was harder than Beth
expected, and she gripped the rail in a death grip when the stairs
seemed to zoom up at her. Behind her, Adam clamped a hand on her
shoulder to steady her, but she couldn’t lean on him. He had Linda
in his arms. Her sister was limp, but occasionally made a few
grunts that let Beth know she was alive.
“Do you have your keys? We need the car
seat?” Lily asked her.
Beth wavered. “My purse. The small one for
the wedding.”
Lily nodded and hurried back in to grab it.
She looked at the small car, then at Adam and his load. “I’ll take
Beth and the baby. You take Linda in my truck. We’ll meet at
Dale’s, all right?”
Moments later, they were in front of Dale’s
clinic, which was a Victorian house. He used the downstairs for the
office and lived upstairs. He came out when the two vehicles pulled
in front, still dressed from the wedding. He hurried forward when
Beth unfolded herself, still holding the bloody towel to her
head.
She waved him toward the truck. “Check out my
sister. She was unconscious.”
She trusted Lily to take care of Jonas, and
followed Dale to the truck, though her steps were unsteady. Linda
was conscious now, but more wobbly than Beth, and Adam carried her
into the clinic. Dale hung back to help Beth up the steps, his brow
furrowed as he looked at the bloody towel. But he didn’t ask what
happened, just sat her in a chair and pointed Adam to an exam room.
He followed and closed the door.
Beth had never been in here, not since Dale
was the doctor, anyway. She looked around the tiny waiting room as
Lily sat across from her, adjusting Jonas, still sobbing, hoarse
now, on her lap.
“There should be a bottle in the bag from the
wedding.”
Lily frowned, then pawed through the diaper
bag and drew one out triumphantly.
“I’ll feed him,” Beth offered.