Blame It on Texas (42 page)

He reached for his gun. His gaze shifted around to make sure the person responsible was gone.

Ten minutes later, Tyler called the cops just so he’d
have this on record. They sent someone over to make a report, but he didn’t expect them to do shit about it. And since he really couldn’t tell them why or who he suspected had done this, it was little help.

After the cops left, Tyler went into the office and called Mr. Bradford. The man started giving him hell for taking Zoe away from his house. Tyler interrupted the old man. “Is Windsor still working tonight?”

“Why?”

“Just answer me!”

“He didn’t come in tonight. Why? You don’t think… Is Caroline okay?”

He almost bit out that her name was Zoe. “She’s fine.” He hung up. Tomorrow morning Tyler and Windsor were going to have a long chat.

Going back into the apartment, he pulled her against him. “I’ll have it fixed tomorrow.”

“I have insurance.” Her head rested on his chest.

They ordered Chinese food and ate on the sofa with the television on. Zoe barely talked or ate. He pulled her against him again. “Need a shoulder?”

She smiled. “I think I’d better go it on my own.”

He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he didn’t like it.

When they went to bed, Tyler decided sex was out of the picture, so he’d been surprised when Zoe crawled into the bed and kissed him in a suggestive way.

He pulled back and brushed her hair from her face. “You sure?”

“Yes.” When she ran her hand down his chest, there was something slightly different in her touch. A desperation. The feeling seeped into his chest as he made love to her. This time, there was no playfulness, no talking. But
there wasn’t a spot on her body that he didn’t pass his lips over, either.

She reached for the condom and slid it over him. Then she crawled on top and with a slowness that left him breathless, she lowered herself on top of him.

She gazed into his eyes while moving up and down, easy strokes until he couldn’t stand it anymore. He placed his hands on her waist and encouraged a faster pace. She obliged. Afterward, he bundled her up in his arms and held her while she cried.

Happy tears she’d told him. But they didn’t feel happy.

Tyler lay awake watching Zoe sleep, his mind going over and over what he planned to say to her. How was he going to convince her to stay in Texas? How could he do it without making promises he swore he’d never make? Startling him, his phone rang. Looking at the time, almost midnight, he hurried to get it. His first thought was Sam. He prayed he was wrong.

He wasn’t.

“Tio?”
Anna’s scared voice came through the line.

“What’s wrong, Anna?” he asked, and saw Zoe sit up.

“Leo’s here and he’s being mean. Can you come hit him in the nose again?”

Tyler grabbed his jeans, his stomach in knots. “I’m on the way. You stay in the room. Okay? Promise me.”

By the time he’d gotten off his phone and grabbed his gun, Zoe was dressed.

“Don’t take the gun,” Zoe said.

Tyler frowned. “I’m not going there to shoot him. I’ll get much more pleasure beating his ass to a pulp if he laid a finger on her.”

“I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Someone needs to watch the kids,” Zoe said.

She had a point. “Fine, but you stay in the car until I say you can come in.”

“Stay here,” Tyler told Zoe ten minutes later as he pulled into the parking lot in front of his apartment. He heard Leo yelling when he stepped out of his car. He ran to the door and let himself in.

Leo had Sam against the wall. Tyler saw the blood on her mouth. “Take your hands off her!” he growled.

Leo stumbled back. Sam slid to the floor and started to cry. Leo was so drunk, he swayed. It took Tyler back to his childhood so fast it made him dizzy. Leo came at Tyler. And Tyler realized the difference from now and back then. He wasn’t six years old. He knew how to fight. When Leo swung, Tyler swung back with everything he had.

He gave him one right in his mouth. The man fell over the sofa and landed on the floor. But he got up and came back at Tyler.

“Stop it!” Sam yelled.

Tyler ducked Leo’s fist and swung again. The man fell. “Did I tell you what would happen if you laid another hand on her?” Leo got to his feet and took another swing. Tyler grabbed the man by the shirt.

“Stop it!” Zoe yelled from the doorway. Tyler looked back at the door and saw Zoe staring at him in something akin to fear. And for some crazy reason, he remembered Lisa staring at him when she’d told him it was over.

He shoved Leo down on the sofa and looked at Sam. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “You were right. I brought this on myself. I can’t do this to my kids. Now all I have to figure out is how to stop loving him.” She glared at Leo. “But I will. I will stop.”

Zoe walked past Tyler and knelt down beside Sam. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go in the kitchen and let me make sure you’re okay.”

It was after four that morning before Tyler returned to the Only in Texas office. Zoe had hardly said two words to him. He’d hardly said two words to her.

Hell, he couldn’t even look at her.

When they got to the apartment, she headed straight for the kitchen. He dropped on the sofa. When she came out, she reached for his hand and put the bag of frozen peas on it.

“I don’t need that,” he said.

“Yes, you do.” She held on to his forearm.

He gave up and let her hold the cold bag to his hand.

“You didn’t do anything wrong tonight, Tyler,” she said.

When had she gotten so damn good at reading him? “You were afraid tonight; I saw it in your eyes.”

“I was afraid of someone really getting hurt. Not that that jerk wouldn’t have deserved it, but…” She paused. “But I wasn’t afraid of you.”

He inhaled. “I hate getting that angry.”

“Everyone does,” she said.

Emotion knotted his throat, and he couldn’t answer. After a few minutes, she got up and went to bed. And he let her go.

Tyler stayed on the sofa until the sun was up. He might have dozed off, but mostly he thought about Sam, and about how he loved Zoe with the same desperation that
Sam loved Leo. He’d been fooling himself to believe he wasn’t in love. So now the question was, what the hell did he plan on doing about it? Logic told him to let her go. That the longer he held her, the harder he’d fall. And yet… Oh, hell, he couldn’t lose her. Was this what Sam felt? And if he was so sure that Sam was making a terrible mistake, was he doing the same? Then again, he could be worried about nothing. He didn’t even know if she would consider making this into something permanent.

However, she knew all his flaws, every single one of them. How he made lists to the point of being compulsive, how he was a bit of a nerd, how he had a whacky family that occasionally made his life hell. She’d seen him at his worst, when he was angry. And she’d stood up for him at the police station that day. So what would she say to him if he told her he loved her? Would she take a chance on him? Did he deserve her? Would she end up walking away from him like Lisa had?

The first thing Tyler did after sunrise was to call someone to come out and replace Zoe’s windshield. The second thing he did was to inform Dallas about Windsor. Austin hadn’t arrived yet.

“I’m going over there now,” Tyler added.

“I’ll go with you,” Dallas said.

“No.” Tyler put his gun in his holster.

Dallas looked at him. “I hate to say this, but you look like shit. I heard what happened. Is your sister okay?”

No, he thought. She was in love. And love was killing her. Just like it was killing him. “Yeah, it sucks.”

“I think I should tag along.”

“I’m fine. Stay here and watch Zoe. Even if Windsor tries anything, he’s fat and slow, I think I can take him.”

“Even fat old men can pull a trigger.”

“He’s right.” Austin appeared at the doorway. “About both things. You look like shit and you’re not going alone.”

Zoe was still sleeping when Tyler went to check on her the last time. He left her a note on the bedside table.
Got someone working on your windshield. Need to run out. Be back soon. We need to talk. I’m sorry.
He put a couple of Xs and Os and then drew a heart. He hoped that would be her first clue as to what he wanted to talk to her about. But damn, it wasn’t going to be easy.

Dallas followed Tyler to Windsor’s home, a not-so-good house, in a not-so-good subdivision. The house, like the neighborhood, was run-down. No one answered the door, and his car wasn’t in the garage. They hung out for an hour before deciding to go to the Bradford mansion to see if he’d gone in. He wasn’t there, either.

But Mrs. Daniels was in. Tyler questioned her about why she’d sent one of the security guards to warn off Zoe. She claimed she’d heard her father chatting with the PI about checking the redhead out, and she worried her father might be involved with a young bimbo like he had been several years ago. So when she saw Zoe following the limo, she’d thought she could take care of it herself. Sadly, he believed her. Especially when he realized she hadn’t been looking out for her father, but his money.

Tyler left there to take Sam to the police station to take out a restraining order against Leo. He wasn’t certain, but his gut said that Sam might mean it this time. She even told him she was going in for counseling.

He’d tried to call Zoe, but she hadn’t picked up. Was she angry? Or maybe just visiting with Ellen?

It was after one when Tyler got back to the office. He wanted to make sure the repair guys did a good job on Zoe’s car, but it wasn’t there.

His breath caught. As he ran inside to find her, he told himself to relax. Zoe probably had someone take the car in to get the graffiti removed.

Ellen wasn’t at the front desk. Relieved that he wouldn’t have to make polite conversation, Tyler headed into the apartment. The knot of worry in his stomach would dissolve as soon as he saw her. But she wasn’t in the living room. She wasn’t in the kitchen, the bathroom, or the bedroom. Heart in his throat, he looked in the corner of the bedroom where she’d set up the litter box.

It was gone.

He saw a note on the bedside table. Chest hurting, he picked it up.
Thanks. You were right, it was fun. Make sure you send me the bill.

She’d left. Left him. “Fuck,” he said when he realized that the reason he couldn’t find Windsor was because the asshole might be following Zoe right now.

Tyler picked up the phone and dialed her number. He wasn’t surprised when she didn’t pick up. He just hoped like hell it was because she was mad at him and not because Windsor had gotten to her first.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Z
OE HAD CRIED
as she drove out of the Only in Texas parking lot. She was also crying when she passed a sign welcoming her to Louisiana three hours later, and still crying when she hit the Mississippi line. She finally got herself under control around Hattiesburg.

Lucky meowed, and at the next rest stop, Zoe pulled over, filled the small litter box with litter, and let Lucky out of his carrier.

Giving him some privacy, she got back in the front seat. He climbed over the seat, put his paws on her chest, and rubbed his chin against hers. She started crying again.

After a few minutes of sobbing, she looked at her phone. She had sixteen voice mails. She could guess who they were from, too. She still checked.

Much to her surprise, one wasn’t from Tyler. She listened to it. It was her school principal. Zoe played the message.

“Just wanted to call and check in. Also, a Mrs. Matthews called looking for you. Her mom was a teacher here for years and she was friends with your mom. Anyway, her mom passed away a few months ago.”

Zoe remembered. She hadn’t been told in time to make the funeral, but she’d sent a card and some flowers.

“Anyway, she said she was cleaning out her mom’s things and found something that she thinks belongs to you.”

Zoe couldn’t guess what it was, not that she cared. Unless it happened to be an extra heart, because hers was completely broken.

The second the message ended, her phone rang. Closing her eyes, she debated the wisdom of talking to him. She supposed she had to sooner or later.

“Hello,” she said.

“Where are you?” He sounded panicked. “Are you okay?”

Hearing his voice, her eyes filled with more tears.

“I’m fine.”

“Where are you?”

“Mississippi. Halfway home.”

“Christ. Zoe. Look, Windsor is missing. He could be following you right now!”

Still parked at the rest stop, Zoe’s heart jerked. She looked in the rearview mirror.

“What kind of car does he drive?”

“A red Honda.” He rattled off a license plate.

Zoe looked back. Cars zipped past. “He’s not following me.”

“You don’t know for sure.”

“He’s not here, Tyler. I’m looking.”

He sighed. “Okay, I just crossed over the Louisiana line.”

“You’re where?”

“Louisiana. I want you to turn around and drive toward me. And we’ll find a spot to meet in the middle.”

“Why?”

“Because Windsor might be following you.”

“I told you, he’s not following me.” She looked again to be sure.

“Christ! There’s my phone. It’s Dallas. He might have news. I’ll call you right back. Will you pick up?”

She hesitated. “Yeah.”

He clicked off. Zoe put Lucky up, and with one tear-filled eye on the road, and one on her rearview mirror, she continued toward Alabama.

“What you got?” Tyler asked.

“We found Windsor,” Dallas said.

“What did that bastard say?”

“Nothing. He ate his gun. Left a note.”

Tyler couldn’t say he was sorry. “Did he confess?”

“Yeah. I haven’t read it, but Tony and Rick were called to the scene. Officer Dean and another cop as well as Ralph Adams’s names were mentioned.”

“Fuck.” He’d hoped Zoe’s dad wouldn’t have anything to do with this. “Okay, I’ve got to call Zoe.”

“Has she answered her phone?”