Chapter 16

Delon watched Beni skip ahead, hanging on Joe, chattering about all the things they could do together like jumping on Beni’s new trampoline, and could Joe teach him how to do that cool trick with the soccer ball? All the things Beni used to do with his daddy. Delon should be grateful this thing between Violet and Joe was temporary. Gil had suffered through nine years on the sidelines of his son’s life. No wonder he was such a moody bastard.

Violet stalked along beside him, her cheeks slapped red with anger and embarrassment. “Nice of you to mention that Tori’s back.”

“What do you care?” The question was insolent, on the verge of rude. Hurt flashed across her face before temper shoved it aside. Delon had an instant to feel like a real prick before she lashed back at him.

“Oh hell, I don’t know, Delon. Maybe because if you’d said something I wouldn’t have felt like a total ass in there.”

And she would’ve been prepared to defend herself. Or maybe not. The Tori of old would never have slammed Violet that way.

He shrugged with exaggerated nonchalance. “If old girlfriends are a problem, it must be really awkward to go places with Joe.”

Fuck you, Delon.

The unspoken words hovered in the air between them for a taut, brittle moment before Violet pulled them back with a deep, aggravated breath. She swatted a hand toward the red brick wall of the physical therapy clinic. “That is not just an old girlfriend. Don’t try to pretend you don’t give a shit that she’s back, after I watched you moon over her for months after she left.”

Months when Violet was pregnant with Beni and Delon thought she was too distracted to notice he was hemorrhaging from a chest wound. “You should’ve been thrilled. You were the one who told me to stay away, that she’d be nothing but trouble.”

“So you thought it would be better if you just dropped by and screwed her once in a while?” Violet gave a savage, tooth-filled smile when he flinched. “Who were you ashamed of, Delon? Us, or her? I assume that’s why you never brought her around.”

“What for? Target practice? Like you and Shawnee and the rest didn’t get enough shots in at school.”

Violet’s mouth opened, then closed, and he could see the shame painted on her face. “You’re right. We were assholes, and there was no excuse for the way we treated her. I’m surprised you never said anything.”

“Would it have made a difference?” If anything, he’d guessed it would make things worse for Tori, an outsider poaching on their territory. Or he’d been too much of a chickenshit to let them see how much he cared. Another Sanchez, making a stone fool of himself over a woman who was clearly going places he would never belong. Something dark and corrosive squirmed in his gut, made him feel sick. Of himself. Joe. Violet. A past he couldn’t undo, a future he couldn’t grasp.

“I can’t speak for the others, but it would have mattered to me,” Violet said.

“Whatever. It’s old news.” He unlocked the car, grabbed Beni’s overnight bag, and tossed it to Violet. “Next time, do me a favor and keep your advice to yourself.”

She snorted, loud and derisive. “Like you did?”

“I’ve never commented on your love life.”

“Bullshit.” She jabbed a finger into his chest hard enough to make him flinch away. “You sat right there at my kitchen table and told me that I’d be best to steer clear because Joe was a womanizing hound dog.”

Yes, he had. And he still wouldn’t say was.

“And you obviously paid zero attention.” He resisted the urge to rub what was sure to be a bruise on his sternum. Violet knew her own strength and wasn’t afraid to use it.

“Exactly.” She jabbed again, but Delon dodged out of range. “I heard you, but I listened to my heart, and I have no regrets. So instead of blaming everybody else for ruining your great romance, maybe you should figure out why you were so ready to let us.”

They stared at each other for a long, heated moment, broken by the plaintive sound of Beni’s voice from across the parking lot. “Mommy? Why are you and Daddy fighting?”

“It’s nothing.” Violet gave Delon one last quelling look before turning away. “Daddy’s just tired and cranky because his knee hurts.”

“Are you sure?”

Beni leaned into Joe’s leg, his eyes wide with worry. Joe put a hand on his shoulder, holding the other out to take Violet’s as she joined them. A cozy little triangle that left no room for Delon.

“Yeah. I’m sure.” Violet fired another disgusted look at Delon, then injected a heavy dose of cheer into her voice. “What are we having for lunch?”

“Pizza!” Beni exclaimed, and clambered into his mother’s Cadillac, the argument already forgotten.

He didn’t even wave good-bye.

* * *

Tori was still steaming when she got home from work that night. The latest email from her mother hadn’t helped. Tori had replied with a slightly less polite than usual thanks but no thanks, then hit delete without looking at the attached pictures of gleeful children—victims of traumatic brain injuries—who’d benefited from treatment at the esteemed institute, which was just dying to offer Tori a fellowship. In Los Angeles, for God’s sake. She’d rather move to Tibet. At least they had horses.

She jammed a baseball cap onto her head and boots onto her feet, grabbed a jacket, and slammed out the door, headed for the barn. She was almost glad Shawnee was coming to rope. She was in dire need of a sparring partner to work off the residual fury from her face-off with Violet, and Delon wasn’t around to kick.

She booted a rock instead, sending it skittering into the scruff of dead grass alongside the house as she strode into the barn and flipped on the lights. Fudge blinked from where he lounged in the wood shavings in his stall, the devil cat curled in a ball on his back.

Tori made a derisive noise. “Really? You’re that desperate?”

Fudge gazed back at her, unrepentant. The cat opened its eyes to malevolent slits and glared at her as it unwound, stretched, then vaulted off the horse’s back to scrabble up a post and disappear into the hayloft.

She fetched a halter, shaking her head. “You’re pathetic.”

Fudge vaulted to his feet with a grunt and shook, his body an equine earthquake that sent wood chips flying. Tori picked a few remainders out of his mane, slid the halter on, and led him out to the hitching rail. At the sight and sound of Shawnee’s decrepit pickup rattling to a stop in her driveway, Tori’s anger roared back to life. Shawnee barely got both feet on the ground before Tori was in her face.

“You didn’t tell me Violet is Beni’s mother.”

“It never came up.” Then comprehension struck and Shawnee tilted back on her heels with a wicked gleam in her eyes. “You saw her? Where?”

“At the clinic. She and Joe stopped by to pick up Beni—who was apparently conceived about five minutes after I left town.”

“More like a week.” Shawnee’s eyes took on an evil glint. “So let me get this straight. You, Delon, Violet, and Joe, all face to face. And Violet without a clue you’d be there.”

“You forgot Beni.”

Shawnee slapped her thigh. “Son of a bitch! And I missed it.”

“I thought you and Violet were friends.”

She shrugged. “I don’t do the besties for life thing. She went pro rodeo with Jacobs Livestock. I stick to the team ropings. And I don’t live up here in the sticks. Since college, the only time we see each other is when someone we both know gets married.” Shawnee gave a gleeful laugh. “I bet she damn near shit a brick when she saw you.”

Why? Tori was the one who’d been temporary. Violet had been a part of Delon’s life forever. And would be forevermore, with Beni between them.

“How long were they together?” Tori asked.

“A couple of hours.”

“What?”

“That’s about how long it took them to sober up and dive for their clothes.”

Tori stared at her, aghast. “She told you all the details?”

“Didn’t have to.” Shawnee flashed another evil grin. “Everybody in a hundred-mile radius of Earnest, Texas knows exactly what night she got knocked up.”

“How?”

“There must’ve been a hundred witnesses, and it was a shocker when they hooked up. Delon was at the Lone Steer drowning his sorrows. Violet, being a good friend, thought she should help him. She never could hold her booze and he’s not much better. Talk about a pair of sloppy drunks.”

“How sloppy?” That might explain why, when Delon was so careful…

“Put it this way—there oughta be a warning label on condoms.” Shawnee made a graphic, fumbling motion with her hands. “Do not attempt to operate when shit-faced.”

“Do I want to know why Delon was out getting drunk?” Please tell me it’s not what I think it is.

“He’d just got back in town and figured out you’d hightailed it without so much as a go to hell.” Shawnee gave her a wide, toothy grin. “Congratulations, Princess. You’re the reason they have a kid.”