“That you’re safe and the kid’s safe. Where’s your head been at? You been tempted to use at all?”
“No. Not for a minute. Not even coffee until after she was born. I have it good now. Not much money, but my bosses treat me well.” Back when she’d gotten caught up in the drugs, she’d had nothing in her life. No true friends, no job, nothing worth waking up for. Now she had more than plenty.
“Where you staying?”
Like you don’t know. “With friends. But I’ll find a new place soon. Just for me and the baby.”
“What’s her name?”
“Mercy.”
A pause. “That’s nice. What’s her last name?”
“I didn’t have much choice but to give her mine. My real one.”
Another pause. “You never did tell me your real name.”
No, she hadn’t. Only that the one she used was fake. “I will soon. When you meet her, maybe.”
“When’ll that be?”
“Soon,” she repeated, brooking no argument.
“You in Fortuity?” he asked.
Seeing as how he knew precisely where she was, it seemed pointless to lie. “Yeah.” Why did you run? she wanted to ask. How did you find me at the ranch? But things felt like they’d taken a civil turn, and she didn’t want to spark a fight.
“What’s she look like?” James asked.
“She’s real pretty. Blue eyes, more like yours than mine. She was a couple weeks early, so she’s on the small side, but catching up quick.”
“Tell me when I can see her.”
“I need to talk to Casey and everyone, but maybe tomorrow.”
“Why do you need to talk to them? And who’s everyone?”
“Him and Vince, and some friends of theirs. Some friends of mine,” she hazarded. “And they’re protective. Nobody knew what to expect from you—including Vince, and he was the one who broke the news. You wouldn’t tell him what your intentions were when you wanted to find me. And you were angry, he said.”
“Because it was none of his goddamn business. I shouldn’t have to explain myself to him.”
“That’s fair. But they’ll want to be around, to make sure it goes okay. Leave me your number, and I’ll talk to the people whose place I’m staying at and figure out a time. Okay? I’ll call you tomorrow by noon at the latest.”
“Fine.”
She found a notebook and pen and wrote down his number. “Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Hope to God you do,” he said. “Good night.”
“Night.”
She stared at the phone until he ended the call and the screen went dark, then hauled her shaky butt off the bed and went downstairs.
• • •
Casey was on the couch, foot jittering a million miles a minute.
Across from him, Miah sat in an old rocker with the baby asleep on his lap. “Keep that up and your ankle’s gonna catch fire.”
“I—” Casey’s head jerked up at the click of a doorknob overhead and he watched as Abilene emerged from the guest room. She smiled down at them as she headed for the stairs.
What did that smile mean? Relief? Maybe. Though with Abilene, a smile could just as easily precede her bursting into tears, so he wasn’t banking on it. He stood and grabbed his beer off the coffee table, just for something to do with his hands.
She headed for the baby first, leaning down to touch her in some way Casey couldn’t see.
“So?” he prompted, dying of impatience.
“You want me to take her?” she asked Miah.
“Nah, she’s settled now,” he said. “You two need to talk in private?”
She nodded and turned to Casey. “My room?”
He was already striding for the steps.
“Holler if she starts fussing,” Abilene called back.
“Will do.” Miah clicked on the TV, the drone of the news offering a little extra discretion as Casey and Abilene entered her room. Casey sat on the edge of the bed, clenching his hands so tight between his knees his knuckles went white.
She shut the door and turned to him, pulling his cell from her hoodie’s pocket. “Thanks.”
“Sure.” He took it. “So what happened? How’d it go?”
“Could you hear anything?”
“Only that you were talking, not yelling.”
She sat cross-legged at the end of the bed. Casey turned and did the same so he could face her.
“Tell me.”
“He was angry. Frustrated.”
“What’d he say to you?”
“That he wants to see her. Both of us. That I owe him that.”
“He scare you?”
She took a moment to reply, staring thoughtfully at his feet. “Yes and no. I don’t think he wants to hurt us. And I don’t think he wants to try to take the baby away from me. He’s mad, but mostly because I kept so much from him. He’s an in-charge kind of guy, and I don’t think he handles feeling helpless very well.”
“Clearly not, if he came around here last night. What’d he have to say about that?”
“I didn’t ask. I almost did, but by then he seemed way less angry, and I thought maybe it was best to keep him that way. Keep him talking.”
Casey nodded. “I’m dying to know who told him where to find you.” Perhaps he could make that information a condition of a face-to-face meeting. Casey still needed to have a little chat with John Dancer, and maybe a second, depending on whether the person who’d spilled about Abilene’s location had done it for a payoff, or simply to keep all their bones unbroken.
“Miah’s gonna have words for your ex,” he said, thinking aloud. “Fuck with his property and his business, and that charming cowboy shtick falls away real fast. Maybe I’ll leave that to him, and you and I can just focus on establishing some kind of civil discourse, or whatever, with Ware.”
“I told him I’d see him. That I’d call him tomorrow to arrange a time, after I checked with the Churches.”
His heart kicked back into third gear. “You sure you’re ready?”
“I’m sick of hiding—I know that much. I’m sick of being afraid of him, and the unknown. And I want to be able to go back to work soon, get back to normal.”
He nodded. “Course you do. Tomorrow, huh?”
“For the call, maybe the meeting, too. It’s up to Miah and his folks, ultimately, if James is going to meet me here.”
“And you’re going to let him see the baby?”
“If it goes well, I said. If he keeps his cool.”
“And you’re sure you’re ready?”
“Yeah.” She curled up on her side, hair falling over the edge of the bed. “I’m ready.”
“I’ll stay close, and we’ll make sure either Vince or Miah can be here, too.”
“You going to eavesdrop?” she asked, something cagey in her expression.
Casey shook his head. “I’ll stay close enough to hear if you call for us. We’ll probably need to pat him down and hold his car keys, too. Hope he can handle the prisoner treatment.”
“He’s had enough practice,” she muttered.
Casey sighed, sensing her weariness and registering it in his own bones. He lay down, too, body curled the opposite way as hers, so they were face-to-face, upside down. A small silent laugh hitched her shoulders, a gesture of exhaustion, not amusement.
“It’s going to be okay.”
“I hope so.”
He reached up to take her hand, their fingers twining. “It’s a shame he couldn’t have explained himself to Vince, saved us all the trouble of putting you in lockdown.”
“We were . . . We’ve got an intense history. He’s mad about more than he must be comfortable sharing with anyone but me.”
Casey nodded, ignoring the way his stomach soured.
In nearly no time, he’d grown possessive of this girl, and hearing her say those words—history, intense—made his insides squirm in a way he wasn’t used to. His relationships had all been so frivolous, he’d rarely gotten close enough to a girlfriend to feel jealous this way. He’d been in love, or thought he had been. He’d said those words to a couple women over the years, and meant them. But could it really have been that deep, when he’d barely registered a fraction of this sting before, and when it had always been so easy to move on, once the fun faded and the expectations began to weigh him down?