Blue Skies, Season 2, Episode 8 (Rising Storm) (6 page)

“And what? Wait for the sheriff to shoot me?” He tipped his head at Dillon, who was standing in the doorway, his weapon drawn.

“Put it down, Hector. You don’t want to kill your daughter. Or your wife.”

“Always trying to tell me what I feel.” He waved the gun in the air, and Dakota drew a shaky breath. “You’ve always thought you were so much better than me. But remember that she chose me. Not you. Me. She’s mine. And I’m damn sure not going to surrender her to the likes of you.” He tightened his hold on Joanne, her eyes going wide as she struggled to breathe.

Behind Hector, Marcus was coming around.

Dakota started to move toward him, but he shook his head, lifting a finger to his lips. Hector had no idea he was conscious. With a tiny nod, she swallowed and lifted her chin, determined to pull her father’s attention away from her brother. “Daddy, you need to let her go. Sheriff Murphy is right. This isn’t going to end well for any of us.”

“You going to stop me, baby girl?” Hector taunted. “Trust me, if I’m going down, I’m going to take your whore of a mother with me.”

The tears spilled hot against Dakota’s cheeks as she saw for the first time what her father truly was. “Momma,” she whispered, her gaze colliding with her mother’s. “I’m so sorry.”

“Fine time to grow a conscience.” Hector sneered. “But don’t you think it’s a little too late? Once a tramp, always a tramp.”

Hector jerked Joanne backward, the gun lowering slightly as he shifted. Seeing the chance, Marcus dove for their mother, the momentum jerking Joanne free. Hector growled and lifted the gun, pointing it at Dakota. Shock and horror held her frozen in place. She heard her mother scream her name and then the sound of another gunshot.

Hector stood for a moment, hatred contorting his face as he stared at her, and then he fell.

Dillon Murphy lowered his weapon, his face filled with anguish as his gaze found Joanne. There was so much love reflected there, it almost hurt Dakota to see it. Her mother was checking Marcus for injury. His arm was bloody, but other than that he appeared to be whole. His eyes met hers across the room, and he nodded once, then turned his attention back to their mother.

Dakota sucked in a ragged breath and looked down at her father’s sightless eyes. She didn’t belong here. She wasn’t one of the good guys. She’d been so stupid and so wrong. And so, so, so many other things.

With a last glance at her family, she turned and did the only thing she really did well—run away.

* * * *

Kristin Douglas sat on a back pew in her brother’s church. Sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows casting colored patterns across the wood-planked floor. It was quiet, with no one about, peaceful in a way Kristin hadn’t felt in a really long time. Despite all the pain in their childhood, her brother’s faith had always been his salvation. He’d never doubted that there was a higher power out there and that it would somehow always manage to make things right.

Kristin wished she could believe. But it wasn’t easy for her. Not like it was with Bryce. Although lately, even his faith had been shaken. Danny hadn’t been part of her brother’s plan for a perfect family. But slowly, with Tara’s help, Bryce was starting to understand that sometimes happiness came in imperfect packages. And that happy families took a lot of work.

All relationships took a lot of work.

And sometimes a relationship turned out to be something other than what it had promised to be. She blew out a sigh, wondering when she’d turned so cynical. Maybe when she’d decided to carry on an affair with a married man. The funny thing about it was that she’d never have thought herself the type. She’d hated her mother for all the men she’d dragged through their young lives. Many of them married.

And here she was doing the same.

Except that it wasn’t like that. She loved Travis. For better or worse—mostly worse. Because she hated the fact that she was hurting Celeste. It was easy to pretend that she didn’t care about the woman. Or to tell herself that Celeste had made her own bed. But the truth was even if she had, it didn’t negate the fact that Kristin was taking what wasn’t hers.

She dipped her head, the smell of candle wax and floor polish giving her a strange kind of comfort. At least here, in her brother’s house of worship, for an all too brief moment, she felt at peace.

“Hey, big sister, I didn’t expect to see you here this morning. Did I forget a meeting?” Despite the unusual heat, Bryce looked crisp and professional in his khakis and button down.

“No meeting,” she smiled, realizing for the millionth time how lucky she was to have him in her life. “Just wanted a quiet place to do some thinking.”

“I don’t think there’s a better place in Storm,” he agreed, settling down on the pew next to her. “Anything in particular got you down? Or just life in general?”

“I guess, I was just wondering how I managed to wind up where I am. I mean, one minute you have a plan for your life and the next you realize you’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere along the way and now you’re hopelessly lost.” She hadn’t meant to be so honest, but there was something so comforting about the quiet and her brother.

“I don’t think it’s ever hopeless, Kristin. Maybe you just got off course a little. Or maybe you just need to stop and look around and then you’ll realize you’re not lost at all.”

“But how can you, of all people, say that?” Her gaze moved to meet her brother’s.

“I don’t have all the answers. I can’t say with any surety what’s black and what’s white. There are so many different degrees. And so many nuances that go undefined. I just have to trust my heart. And my God. And follow His guidelines to the best of my ability. But the bottom line is that I’m human and so I’m going to screw up. Look what happened with Danny. I almost lost my marriage and my son because I was too caught up in the idea of a perfect family.”

“But you didn’t lose them. And you realized that you were making a mistake,” Kristin said.

“I realized what I stood to lose. That’s really what it’s all about. For me, it’s you and Tara and Carol and Danny. You’re everything to me. And I can’t let anything else stand in the way of that. Especially not my own elevated notions of what is supposed to be.”

“But what if you know you’re doing something wrong, but you also know you’re doing it for the right reasons? Which doesn’t make any sense at all, I know.” She leaned back, letting her gaze move to the large wooden cross over the altar. “In theory it seems so cut and dried. Do that, don’t do this. But in reality, it’s so messy.”

“Shades of gray,” Bryce nodded. “I think the key is to be true to yourself, Kristin. And as I said, to protect the people you love.”

“Except that’s tricky when the person you love is the reason you’re hurting others.”

“Look,” Bryce said, turning to face her, “you know I can’t condone adultery. But I also know that we can’t help who we love.”

“Which leaves me in a hole I can’t possibly get out of. Admittedly a hole I dug for myself, but nevertheless a hole. Bryce, I can’t go on like this. Even loving him the way I do. It’s eating me up inside. When we’re together I’m so happy. But when we’re apart, I feel dirty. And ugly. Like part of me is withering inside.”

“Oh, sis, I hate that you’re going through this. In fact, I’m not sure that I don’t hate him for putting you in this position. But I also know that if he truly loves you, then ultimately, this will all turn out alright.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“Hey, that’s my job.” He smiled, and then sobered. “But seriously, I’m not trying to make light of a very complicated situation. There are so many variables at play. But you need to be sure of more than just your feelings for him, Kristin. You have to be sure of his feelings for you. Because if he doesn’t love you the way you love him, then he doesn’t deserve you. And that much, at least, I’m certain of.”

Kristin nodded, her eyes filling with tears. “I love you, Bryce.”

“And I love you. And so do Tara and the kids. You have a family, Kristin. And no matter what happens, we stand behind you. Don’t ever forget that. It’s you and me, kid. Always.” He squeezed her hand then pushed to his feet. “I’m here if you need me. But in the meantime, I’ve got a sermon to write.”

She watched as her brother walked through the door leading to his office, and then slowly pushed to her feet. Nothing was going to be solved in the moment. And she couldn’t hide in her brother’s church forever.

She walked through the vestibule and out into the sunshine of the square.

“Kristin?” Her heart beat faster as she took in his broad shoulders and lined face.

“Is your brother around?” Travis asked, shooting a glance at the doors to the church.

“He’s in his office.”

Travis chewed on his lower lip for a second and then grabbed her arm, pulling her into the shelter of the church’s rose garden chapel.

“We need to talk,” he said without preamble, and Kristin felt a shiver of worry.

“We do? About what?”

Travis looked around furtively, then closed the distance between them, taking Kristin’s hands. “I signed divorce papers today.”

Her gut clenched and her heart twisted. He’d actually done it. “Today? You signed them today?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “This morning, actually.”

Her heart was threatening to break right out of her chest. “I didn’t realize…I mean, you said you were going to ask her, but…I had no idea that you—”

“Actually, I didn’t. Celeste did. Apparently she had the papers drawn up before Jacob died.”

“Before…” Kristin shook her head, trying to align the facts of what was happening. “So Celeste decided to leave you.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter who initiated it,” his smile was cautious. “The point is, I’m a free man.”

“But why did she want a divorce?” Kristin asked, her heart plummeting.

“She says she doesn’t love me anymore.” There was hurt in his eyes. Pain that wasn’t in tune with the supposed relief he was trying to convey.

“Did she know about us, Travis?”

He looked down at his hands, the silence stretching between them for a moment, then he lifted his head and shrugged. “Yeah. She knew. Apparently since the beginning.”

“But she never gave you the papers.” Kristin suddenly felt as if she’d committed an unpardonable sin. Celeste had been through so much.

“No. Jacob died, and she couldn’t face it. Couldn’t face me, truth be told.”

“And now?”

“Now she’s ready to get on with her life. And she doesn’t want me to be a part of it. She even said she wished us well.”

“You and me.” She should be feeling ecstatic but instead she felt confused. Let down, somehow. He hadn’t asked Celeste for a divorce. He hadn’t chosen her. He hadn’t done anything except lose his wife and come straight to the woman he no doubt expected to pick up the pieces. Or worse, the woman he expected to console him physically. Hadn’t that always been the way with Travis? Expecting her to be at his beck and call?

“So you had no idea this was coming?”

“No, it came out of the blue. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I had no idea she was upset about me. Or that she even knew about us.”

“So this all came from Celeste. You had no intention of doing anything yourself.” Suddenly everything seemed crystal clear, and she wasn’t certain she liked the picture.

“I told you before, I thought she was too fragile. I didn’t want to hurt her any more than I already had.”

It was always about Celeste.

“Well, I’m sorry she’s left you.” She pulled her hands free.

He frowned, clearly confused. “But I thought you’d be happy. Now we can be together.”

“And get married and start a family?” she said, not certain where the words were coming from, but knowing that they had to be said.

He blanched. “I’ve got kids already, Kristin. You know I don’t want any more. And hey, there’s no need to rush into marriage. I mean, I only just got out of this one.”

She nodded, surprised her heart hadn’t spilt out bleeding onto the floor. And then she saw the light from the windows again, this time the colors dancing across the garden path, their beauty an unexpected source of strength.

“Of course. I totally understand. And I wish you the best of luck with your new life.”

“But Kristin…”

She took one last look at the man she’d thought she loved, then turned and walked away. In the doorway at the front of the church, her brother stood waiting.

Chapter 5

“How are you feeling?” Marisol asked as she handed Ginny a cup of water.

Monitors beeped all around her as she sat propped up in the hospital bed. For the moment at least, everything was calm. Ginny’s obstetrician had verified that she was indeed in labor, but Little Bit didn’t appear to be in any great hurry to make an entrance.

Ginny sipped her water, one hand resting protectively on her stomach. “I’m fine. A lot calmer now that we’re here and settled in. But to be honest, I still keep expecting the senator to come bursting through those doors with a fleet of lawyers.”

“Let him try it,” Marisol said, eyes narrowing in anger. “Ian’s out there, which means he’ll have to get through him first.”

“Ian’s a good guy.” Ginny said, lips curling in a smile. “Luis said you guys were kissing.” Her sister deserved some happiness.

“It was just a peck. A congratulatory kiss. Ian bought land for Marcus’s ranch.” Marisol actually blushed.

“What about Patrick?” It had been pretty obvious that any interest Marisol had had in Patrick exited stage left when Ian entered the picture, but Ginny hadn’t had the chance to ask her sister about it.

“We’re good, I think.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I was a little worried that you’d called things off with him because of Logan. Or that he’d called things off with you.”

“No. Not at all. The truth is we were never really more than just good friends. We were both just ready for something more and so I think we tried to make it happen.”

“You mean Patrick tried.”

“Yeah, and I hid behind you and Luis. But anyway, we’re okay. And I’m determined not to hide anymore.”