“Beth. You’ve given up too much of your life
to her. You have to make her accept responsibility.”
If only she had any idea how to make that
happen.
“I’m going to go,” he said. “Go to the movie
tonight, Beth. One way or another.” He touched Jonas’s cheek, then
with one last glance at her bare legs, turned and walked out the
front door.
Linda came home an hour later, and after a
surreptitious sniff of her sister’s breath, Beth handed over Jonas
without a word and walked out the door. Okay, maybe not the best
way to handle her problems with her sister, but a fight would only
increase her tension and she was already nervous enough about going
down to the dock for the Friday movie. She didn’t know why. She had
no intention of hooking up with Maddox Bradley again. But him
sleeping on her couch with her nephew on his chest—that had been
the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.
Which meant going to the docks with that in
her head was a bad idea. And yet here she went. She’d even put on a
bit of make-up and left her hair loose about her shoulders.
The first person she saw when she reached the
commons was Dale Simmons. His expression brightened when he saw
her, dimples denting his cheeks, and he crossed to her.
“I hoped you’d come out,” he said, and for a
moment she thought he’d take her hand. “You hungry? Let’s see what
they’re selling. Burgers, I think. I have a spot staked out by the
water, but if you’d rather be closer--” He stopped himself. “Unless
you’re meeting someone else.”
She wouldn’t allow herself to look past him
to see if Maddox was around. No, last week, before Maddox arrived,
she would have been perfectly happy to sit with Dale and watch the
movie, maybe even share a kiss. Dale was good for her, older, maybe
by about eight years, but solid and steady, and here. He shared
custody of his daughter Alexis with his ex-wife, who lived on the
other side of the lake, and Beth and Alexis got along all right. Of
course, Alexis was eight.
“Is Alexis here?” Beth asked, hoping for some
kind of barrier. Since Maddox’s visit, she didn’t have the proper
shields up. It made her sad—she’d never needed shields with Dale
before. That was part of the reason she liked spending time with
him.
“Next weekend,” he said. “Come on.”
She walked with him to the booths some of the
local organizations had set up as fundraisers. She chose a sausage
on a stick and a pop and followed him back to a stretch of grass
along the shore, which he’d claimed with a Dora the Explorer fleece
blanket. She stopped mid-laugh when she saw Maddox watching them,
something unreadable in his expression. A tug of longing surprised
her, and she jerked her attention away from him as she settled on
the blanket with Dale. But she’d lost her ease with him. He didn’t
seem to notice, thank goodness.
They watched the romantic comedy, and she
appreciated his warm chuckle in all the places she thought were
funny. Around her, couples were leaning against each other, holding
hands. She never thought she missed that, but she did. But instead
of wanting Dale to hold her hand, she wanted Maddox.
What an idiot.
When the movie ended, Dale helped her to her
feet, his touch lingering on her arm. Of course his hand would be
strong but gentle; he was a doctor. Instead of focusing on the way
his hand felt, she gently pulled herself free. He gathered the
blanket while she picked up their trash, and they walked together
to the street.
“Want a ride home?” he asked, gesturing to
his truck.
“No, it’s a nice night. I’ll walk.” She
didn’t want to tell him how much she liked being alone. Plus, no
telling what she’d be dealing with when she got home to face
Linda.
“I’m glad you came.”
He caught her hand then, his big hand warm,
and not as smooth as she’d expect. He gave her a slight tug, and
before she knew it, her head had tilted up and his lips were on
hers, soft, dry, firm. She hadn’t been kissed in so long, she’d
almost forgot how it felt. To be honest, she didn’t remember it
being so…comfortable. She drew back and he smiled, but she couldn’t
return the gesture with the same warmth. Maybe last week she would
have been ready for a kiss, but this week—all it did was change
everything between them. She didn’t need another change in her life
right now.
“Good night,” she said before he could say
anything, and she pivoted to leave.
Maddox was watching, and the expression on
his face was unreadable before he turned away.
And she hurried home, her stomach in
knots.
The lights were on but she didn’t hear Jonas
crying as she hurried up the sidewalk. She unlocked the door,
expecting to see Linda sulking on the couch. But no Linda in the
living room, or in the bedroom. No Jonas, either. Panic welled up
in her chest as she looked in each tiny room, which didn’t take her
long. Where the hell was her sister?
A chilling thought hit her and she ran into
Linda’s rooms, opening the top drawer. Relief weakened her knees
when she saw Linda’s undergarments still there. For a moment, she’d
thought the girl had run away with Jonas in a snit. Then she
realized the stroller was missing. She hadn’t seen Linda at the
lake, but maybe she’d taken the baby out. She returned to the
living room and tamped down her anger. Jonas was Linda’s son, but
Linda hadn’t made good choices, and she was still only sixteen. She
had to trust that Linda had just taken Jonas to the movie. Still,
she couldn’t relax. She went into the kitchen, put away the dishes
from the strainer, wiped down the counter, put in a load of laundry
and was contemplating mopping the kitchen floor when the screen
door slammed against the rail of the porch and the stroller wheels
rattled as Linda muscled it inside the house.
She looked up, surprised to see Beth standing
there. “What are you still doing up?”
Beth forced her shoulders to relax, though
everything inside her was churning. “Making sure you’re okay.” She
leaned the mop against the counter and forced a smile as she
glanced down at Jonas. “Did he enjoy the movie?”
“He was fine.” Linda closed the door, then
bent down to unbuckle Jonas. Beth’s fingers itched to hold him, to
check to see if he was okay, not too cold, not too hot. Once again
she had to remind herself he wasn’t her baby. Linda straightened
with him in her arms. “Go ahead and yell. You know you want
to.”
She did want to. She wanted to demand Linda
grow up and be responsible, but really, all the girl had done was
take the baby down to the lake—where so much could have gone
wrong,but didn’t.
“No, I’m just going to go to bed. I’ll see
you in the morning.”
Linda’s expression was incredulous as Beth
walked past her, into her bedroom, and closed the door.
***
The town had come alive the last few weeks,
and it was more than the warmth and sunshine of June. The people of
Bluestone seemed to want to spend time together, as witnessed by
the Friday night movies and the formerly-impromptu-now-weekly
baseball games on the field by the church.
Beth walked past the field on the way home
from the grocery store, where she’d had to go buy the next size
diapers for Jonas. Honestly, the old ones had fit just fine
yesterday. If Beth didn’t know better, she would have suspected
Linda of bringing home the wrong baby. But no, one look into those
sweet brown eyes and she knew it was her boy. He’d just turned into
a little pig, and the diaper tape had barely fit that fat little
belly. So she had walked to the store, adding wipes to her purchase
as well—one could never have too many—and walked home behind the
back stop where a game was in full-swing. She paused, knowing Dale
liked to play and thinking she should probably say something to him
after that kiss last night. What she’d say, she had no idea. It had
been a nice kiss, one she’d replayed over and over in her head when
she couldn’t sleep last night, but…
But what, she had no idea. A relationship
with the town doctor would be respectable, and she liked him, liked
talking to him. That should be enough. So why wasn’t she more
excited?
A familiar gimme cap caught her attention and
she stopped despite herself. Maddox Bradley was on the field. He
was on third base, legs spread, ready to run, his attention on the
batter. She heard someone call, “Strike!” and Maddox relaxed a
little, pulling the tail of his T-shirt up and wiping his face with
it.
Ho-leee…Despite her better judgment, Beth let
her attention fall to his flat stomach above the low-riding
waistband of his jeans. Maybe not a six-pack, but some definite
definition there, accented by a treasure trail he hadn’t had when
he’d gotten her into the back seat of his car. Her tongue stuck to
the roof of the mouth as she remembered exactly what it pointed
to.
“Foul ball!”
She registered the words milliseconds before
something smacked her on the side of the face, sending her
sprawling in the dust. She heard cheers and shouts of alarm, and
looked up into Dale’s concerned eyes. Her cheek stung like hell and
she lifted a hand to it.
“Did the ball hit me?”
“No, I did.” Quinn crouched on her other
side, holding the ball in his gloved hand, a kind of triumphant
smile twitching his lips. He reached out to touch her cheek with
the tip of his finger. “Sorry about that. Better a glove than a
ball. Should get some ice on that.”
“Thanks, Doc,” she muttered as she let Dale
help her to her feet, to a scattering of applause. “I’m sure
there’s something in the boss’s code of ethics that says you can’t
beat up on your best waitress.”
“It’s going to leave a bruise,” Dale said
with a sigh, pressing a blue ice pack from the first aid kit
against her cheek and holding it there, even when she reached up to
hold it herself. He grinned at her, a kind of testing grin, either
to make sure she wasn’t hurt too badly, or to see if she’d given
any thought at all to the kiss. She had just bolted last night
afterwards.
“I’ll have a matching one on my butt,” she
muttered, shifting to rub the spot where her bottom had hit the
ground.
“I’ve got two ice packs and two hands.” Dale
winked.
She gave him a rueful smile. “Nice try.” She
drew away and glanced about. Great, everyone was watching her,
including Maddox. She wouldn’t notice the way his shirt was
stretched out, or the way his jeans hugged his slim hips or—was he
wearing biker boots to play baseball?
“Come on, we’ll go into the bar and sit
down,” Dale said, letting her take the ice pack and closing his
hand around her arm.
“I’ll be fine. I’m mostly stunned, is
all.”
Dale drew back a bit, the corners of his
mouth turned down. Oh, great, she’d hurt his feelings. He should
know her well enough to know she didn’t like a fuss being made over
her. Too late, she realized he’d just intended to get her alone.
Oh, dear. She was going to have to figure out how she felt about
this and then they were going to have to talk. God, she really
wished she knew if her reluctance to accept his gesture
whole-heartedly was because of her feelings for Maddox or for a
myriad of other reasons.
“I’ve got to go get these diapers to Linda
anyway.” She smiled and touched his cheek, which seemed to appease
him. “You go enjoy your game. I’ll see you at the bar in a few
hours.”
And again, she bolted.
“Dad called,” Linda said as Beth walked
through the door with her burden.
With the screen door slamming shut behind
her, Beth thought—hoped—she misheard. She set her load down on the
counter and turned to her sister. “What did you say?”
Linda stepped forward, concern furrowing her
brow. “What happened to your face?”
Beth waved her concern aside. “Got in the way
of a baseball game.” She lifted the ice pack to her face, easier to
do now that she wasn’t carrying the bags of baby supplies. “What
did you say?”
Linda rocked back on her heels, her
expression closing. Because of Beth’s reaction to her concern, or
because of the news she was about to deliver, Beth didn’t know.
“Dad called,” Linda said again.
Beth’s heart did a slow, terrified thud. How
much of her past was going to rain down on her this week?
“Wanting?”
“Money.”
She had known that was the answer the moment
the question left her lips. She did her best not to show Linda her
panic. She was barely making enough for the three of them to live.
“How much this time?”
“He wouldn’t tell me. He said he’d call back
to talk to you.”
Which meant it was a lot. Which she didn’t
have right now. But she’d have to find a way, so he’d keep his
distance. “Did he say anything else?” The last time he’d called,
Linda had been pregnant, and he’d promised to send money to them
for a change. Of course, he’d probably gotten drunk right
afterwards and forgotten. No money had arrived. She wondered what
else he’d forgotten.
Linda shook her head, no doubt thinking the
same thing.
“You didn’t talk to him about Jonas?”
Linda scrunched up her nose. “Why would
I?”
Good point.
“Why doesn’t he call Adam or Joey?”
“He doesn’t have their numbers.” Because she
wouldn’t give the information to him. Her brothers had escaped his
abuse, barely, and were free. She wasn’t going to drag them back
in.
“Well, he should. We shouldn’t have to bail
him out all the time.”
“Don’t worry about it. I can take care of
it.”
Linda’s shoulders snapped square and she blew
a frustrated breath out through her nose. “We barely have money for
ourselves. I mean, we can’t even afford to hire a babysitter when I
go to school, so you’re working nights and then babysitting. It’s
not fair.”
Beth appreciated her sister’s outrage on her
behalf—and wondered where it was the rest of the time. “We’ll be
okay. I promised you it would, didn’t I?”