Authors: Ann Vaughn
“Oh,
no!” Tessa gasped. “Baseball?”
Luke
shook his head. “He’s likely done for the season.”
“I’m
so sorry, Sheriff McCanton,” Tessa cried.
“Hey,
it’s all right,” he said, hugging her. “Shane’s going to be fine.
There is nothing for you to apologize for. I’m just glad he was there to
stand up for both of you.”
“He
saved our lives, Luke. I have no doubt about that,” Mary said.
“Harrison
has a concussion,” he told her, “and he’s lost a few teeth.”
Tessa
managed a smile through her tears. “Shane got him pretty good. It
was kinda satisfying to see him get a taste of his own medicine.”
“Yes,
it was,” Mary agreed. “Linda is coming to get us. We have to get
the church finished; but will you page me and let me know his room number? We’d
like to come see him.”
“Of
course. And I would appreciate it if, after you finish the church, you
stop by the station and give Scott your statements.”
“Certainly,”
Mary agreed.
“Will
you tell Shane I’ll be there as soon as I can?” Tessa asked.
“I
sure will...and put that ice pack back on your cheek. You’re swelling
again.”
When
Shane woke up he was disoriented and in more pain than he’d ever been in his
life. He glanced to his right and saw a pretty nurse sitting near the
foot of his bed. She got up and moved closer to him when she saw he was awake.
“Hey,
there, cutie,” she smiled at him.
He
turned to watch her check an IV bag then realized it was attached to his arm.
“Where
am I?” he asked, puzzled by the hoarseness of his voice.
She
took his wrist to check his pulse. “You’re at Sinclair County
Hospital. Dr. Curtis referred you to Dr. Kinsley. He operated on
your knee to repair a tear in your cartilage.”
“Surgery?”
She
smiled again. “It’s OK. It will all come back to you in a
bit. The anesthesia makes you a little foggy right at first. Are
you cold?”
“Um...yeah,
a little.”
“OK,
I’ll bring you a warm blanket, then I’ll go get your folks, all right?”
He
nodded and scrubbed a weary hand over his face. Surgery? He knew his knee
hurt but he hadn’t realized he’d messed it up that bad.
“Here
ya go,” she said, tucking a warm blanket around him. It felt really good,
he thought as he drifted back to sleep. The next time he opened his eyes,
both his parents were beside him.
“There
you are,” his mother said, brushing her hand gently through his hair.
“How do you feel?”
“Whole
body hurts,” he replied, more awake now than he’d been earlier.
“Can
he have anything for pain?” he heard his dad ask someone.
“Shane?”
the pretty nurse called out. “On a scale of one to ten with ten being the
worst pain you’ve ever felt in your life, tell me how you feel.”
“Ten,”
he said without hesitation, “definitely a ten.”
“All
over, just the knee, what?”
“All
over. Head is throbbing. Face hurts. Knee is throbbing.
Other knee is burning. Throat hurts.”
“Throat?”
Susie asked, alarmed.
“From
the tube,” the nurse explained, “we weren’t sure if he had food on his stomach
or not. Just hang tight, Shane. Let me get Dr. Kinsley in here.”
He
closed his eyes with a scowl. “What’s the deal with my knee?” he asked
when the nurse left.
“You
must have twisted it in the fight,” Luke said. “Do you remember?”
“I
didn’t feel anything at the time. Adrenaline. How is Tessa?”
“She’s
fine. She will be here as soon as she can. They had to get the
church done for that wedding.”
“How
long is this gonna bench me?”
“Most
likely for the season, son, I’m sorry.”
He
met his dad’s direct gaze, knowing he wouldn’t lie to him.
“Will
this keep me from DPS?”
“Doctor
says you’ll be good as new so long as you don’t push your recovery too soon.”
“Are
you sure?”
“I
asked. I knew you would want to know.”
“What
about Harrison Kelly? He violated the restraining order. Will he be
put away now?”
“For
at least five years. I’m going to try to press for more. He’s a
threat to Mary and Tessa. That’ll carry some weight.”
Dr.
Kinsley came in, examined him and approved more pain medication for him.
The next time he awoke, he was in a different room and Tessa was sitting next
to him.
“Hey,
Tess,” he said, making her smile.
“Look
who’s awake! How are you feeling?”
“Like
I got the crap kicked outta me.”
She
hugged her arms closer to herself as if fighting off a sudden chill.
“I’m
so sorry about all of this, Shane.”
He
shook his head. “Not your fault and if you apologize to me one more time
you’ll piss me off.”
She
giggled in spite of being upset. “All right, no apologies. But I
will say thank you. I’m glad you were there today. I don’t even
want to think about what would have happened if you hadn’t been.”
He
reached for her hand and brought her fingers to his lips.
“Dad
says he’ll go away for at least five years. More if Dad has his way.”
She
nodded. “Yes. That would be a good thing.”
“He’ll
never hurt you again, Tess, I promise.”
“Don’t
make promises you can’t keep, Shane. He hurts me all the time. He’s
my father.”
“Don’t
let him. He’s not a father. He’s nothing more than a sperm
donor. Don’t let him mess you up.”
“He
already has, but you’re right. It’s time I put him behind me.”
“There
you go. Don’t let him break you.”
Shane’s
words stayed with Tessa. She was determined to stick to them; she would
not allow Harrison Kelly to break her spirit. She enrolled in
self-defense classes. She spent a lot of time at the Sheriff’s office,
volunteering to do filing and whatever paperwork Sheriff McCanton and the
dispatcher, Kim, thought she could handle. She and Shane continued dating
and while they remained close friends, she held back from him, not allowing
herself to become too close.
Shane
knew she held back. He could feel it in her kisses; they weren’t quite as
passionate as those first few had been. Any time he tried to advance
things between them, she held him off. He told himself she was just being
smart, preparing for when he left for college, but in the back of his mind he
knew it was something else.
But he
couldn’t stand it, so today he wanted to try to do something about it. He
hated the distance and that she was keeping him at arms length.
“Where
are we?” Tessa asked when he parked his truck.
“This
is part of the original McCanton homestead,” he said after he helped her out of
the truck. He grabbed a blanket and a picnic basket from the back and
then laced his fingers with hers.
“I
didn’t realize y’all had this much land,” she said.
“Twelve
hundred and fifty acres,” he replied, “but this is my favorite. I told my
dad this is where I want to build a house someday.”
She
looked at him, surprised. “I thought you wanted to be a Ranger.”
“I
do...but I want to come back here someday.”
They
rounded a thick growth of trees and brush and he heard Tessa gasp. He
smiled, seeing his favorite spot through her eyes. It was really
breathtaking. A waterfall roared over the limestone cliff and pooled into
a large opening of the lake.
“Shane,”
she breathed, “this is beautiful! How did I not know this was here?”
“Not
many people do outside my family,” he said, spreading the blanket on the
shore.
Tessa
smiled down at him when he sat on the blanket, a wicked gleam in her
eyes. “Let’s go swimming,” she said.
“Swimming?
Tess...we don’t have suits,” he said but froze when she lifted her shirt over
her head, revealing her white, lacy bra. She tossed her shirt at him and
then her hands went to her shorts.
“Come
on, McCanton, don’t tell me you’re chicken.”
He
cleared his throat and caught her shorts when she tossed those to him as well. It
wasn’t that he was chicken exactly, it was that he’d gone so hard at the sight
of her bra, he didn’t want to freak her out.
“Come
on, Shane, come swim with me,” she coaxed.
“In
a minute,” he said, and cringed when she stepped closer to him. She
leaned down until mere inches separated their faces, her hand reaching down to
caress him through his shorts.
“Like
what you see, baby?” she asked, leaning in to kiss him.
“Tess,”
he groaned.
She
laughed, squeezing him. “Come swim with me.”
He
cursed under his breath and kissed her, then stood and stripped down to his
underwear.
“Let’s
go,” he said, lacing his fingers with hers.
Together
they went into the water and splashed and played until Shane swam up and
snagged her around the waist and pulled her to him. Tessa was laughing
and wrapped her arms and legs around him, combing her fingers through the hair
at the nape of her neck.
“You
are so beautiful, Tess,” he whispered, his free hand skimming her face.
“Shane,”
she breathed, her legs tightening around him so that he could feel her core
pressed against him.
“Graduation
is right around the corner,” he said.
“Don’t
remind me,” she groaned.
“We
won’t have much more time together.”
“You’re
right. We won’t.”
“I
want you, Tess.”
She
smiled. “I can feel that,” she said, wiggling against him.
“Babe,”
he groaned, pressing his forehead to hers.
She
licked at his bottom lip then caught it between her teeth.
“Make
love to me, Shane.”
He
crushed her to him, sealing his lips over hers, holding her tight while he
walked to the shore. He wasn’t sure what had changed, but at this point,
he wasn’t going to question it or push his luck. Still holding her in his
arms, he carried her to his truck, pulled a blanket from the backseat and
carried her back to the shore by the waterfall. He placed her on her
feet, spread the blanket and then took her down.
“Tessa,
look at me,” he said, smoothing her hair back from her face. She looked
up into his eyes, cupping his face in her hands. “You with me, baby?”
She
licked at his lips. “I am so with you,”
“I
don’t have protection with me.”
She
smiled up at him. “Lucky for you, I’m on the pill.”
His
eyes widened. “What?”
“Regulates
my period, and I really don’t want to be talking about this right now.”
“Right,
yeah, I’ll just...”
She
wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him as he took her signal and
thrust into her. She gasped and he absorbed her cry as he felt the thin
barrier of her innocence give way. In that moment, she was finally,
really and truly his.
Later,
they snuggled together on the blanket, watching the waterfall. Tessa
turned on her side and traced her finger over his lower lip.
“This
spot would be a perfect place to build a house. Can’t you just see
it? Large, wrap around porch, rocking chairs and porch swings all
over. Swimming pool. And inside...lots of fireplaces.”
Shane
laughed. “Fireplaces? This is Texas, babe, how often does it really
get cold enough for a fire?”
She
shrugged. “Well, not often, but I don’t care. I like
fireplaces. I want one in the kitchen and in the living room and
definitely one in the master bed and bathroom.”
“So,
at least four?”
“The
one in the master suite could be a pass-through from the bedroom to the
bathroom.”
“OK,
so three.”
“Oh,
but I want one on the porch or by the pool, too.”
“Duly
noted. Anything else?”
“Let’s
see...oh, I want a sitting area in the master bedroom...and a balcony.”
“Master
sitting area, balcony. Check.”
She
rolled so that her upper body rested on his. “What about you, what do you
want?”
“A
really big bed,” he said, making her laugh.
“A
big bed, OK. How big?”
“Big,
big. Bigger than a King size.”
“We’d
have to have linens custom made for it.”
“So,
you can sew, right?”
“Shane!”
she gasped, playfully slapping at him.
“Of
course, all this depends on whether you stay here and wait for me,” he said,
sobering.
“Why
do I have to stay here? You’re going off to college, why can’t I leave?”
she asked, sitting up.
He
sat up, too. “Are you leaving, Tess? You haven’t said what your
plans are for after graduation.”
She
raked her hands through her hair. “Ugh. That’s because I don’t
know, Shane. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Like I said before,
Mama can’t really afford to send me to college. She’d try, but it would
be extremely hard on her. I can’t ask her to do that.”
“Are
you still considering the military?”
She
got up and paced to the shore, her back to him. Shane watched her for a
moment then got up and wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing her
shoulder.
“Talk
to me, Tess,” he urged.
“I
wish I had a clear vision of what my future held. I just don’t know
anymore.”
“What
happened to the little girl who told me we were going to be married one day?”
he teased.
“Life
got in the way,” she replied.
“What
was that all about, anyway? You never did explain that to me.”
“All
what?”
“You
telling me we were going to be married one day when we were big.”
She
hugged her arms over his, making him tighten his hold on her, one arm just
under her breasts, one around her waist.
“I
had a dream about you, just before school started. I didn’t exactly know
it was you. I knew it was Sheriff McCanton’s son. In the dream, we
were married and we had a baby.”
His
arms tightened and she felt him smile against her neck. “A baby?”
She
nodded. “A boy. We named him Gabriel Shane.”
“Well,
yeah, that’s kind of a given.”
She
looked over her shoulder at him. “What?”
“The
first McCanton who was Sheriff of Indian Springs was named Gabriel Shane.
He named his son Shane Gabriel. Ever since then, the oldest son is given
the name either Gabriel Shane or Shane Gabriel, depending on what the father’s
name is.”
“But...your
dad’s name is Luke.”
“He’s
a second son. My Uncle Gabe was killed in action in Vietnam before having
any kids. So, since he was Gabriel Shane, I was given Shane Gabriel...and
one day, my son will be Gabriel Shane...but how would you have known that when
we were five?”
Tessa
shrugged. “I probably just thought reversing the name was cool. Who
knows.”
He
kissed the side of her head and for a few more moments, they stared at the
waterfall, each lost in their own thoughts. Shane knew she was holding
back something. He knew that finally having sex with her wasn’t a
fix-all, but he’d hoped it would have her opening up more.
“Tess...baby,
please, talk to me,” he pleaded.
“I
don’t want to get into it all now, Shane, please.”
“Don’t
shut me out.”
She
sighed. “I’m not, I just...the world and all its problems can crash in on
us tomorrow. Let’s just have this time now, just you and me.”
“I’m
going to be leaving for Austin in a few weeks. I just...I want to know
what you’ll be doing, where you’ll be.”
She closed
her eyes a moment, then turned in his arms, rocking up on her toes to kiss
him. It was a rotten trick, distracting him with sex, but she just
couldn’t get into her future plans with him now.
Frustration
with her grew as the days melted into weeks. Tessa dodged him at every
turn when he tried to press her about her plans while he was at UT. And
even though they were intimate nearly every time they were together, he could
feel her pulling farther and farther away from him. Confirmation came on
the eve of him leaving for UT.
On
their last night together, he’d driven her two hours away to a hotel.
They soaked together in the en suite whirlpool tub and made love like it was
what it was: the last night they would be together for a while. Neither
wanted to address the elephant in the room but as the time wore on, Shane knew
the sands were running out.
“Baby...you
have to talk to me,” he said when they were back at her house, sitting in her
driveway.
She
took a deep breath and turned to face him.
“I
know...these last few weeks have been...amazing, Shane. I’ve loved every
single minute of it. And it’s going to hurt when you’re gone.”
“So,
you’re staying here?”
She
met his gaze and shook her head. “No...I enlisted in the Army. I’ll
be leaving next week for Basics.”
“What?”
he breathed.
“I
told you I was considering the military.”
“Yeah,
you did, but I assumed you would discuss it with me.”
“It
hasn’t been an easy decision...but it’s been mine. I had to be able to
make it on my own, Shane, can’t you understand that?”
“I
do understand, but that doesn’t mean you should have shut me out...where will
you...”