Hell on Heels Christmas (3 page)

A thought occurred to
her and she pulled out her cell, ignored the blinking messages and punched in a familiar phone number.

“Hey JC it’s Regan. I picked up my car so don’t freak out when you see it’s gone. I went back to Montana. I’m sure you’ve already heard about
Daniel. I’m fine. I should’ve seen it coming. Call me when you’re back in the States.”

Despite
the lack of sleep in the past two days Regan couldn’t sleep. She heard voices downstairs rumble through the floorboards and the old home creaked around her. Two days ago she never would have guessed she would come back to White Mist, yet here she was in her old room with her mom downstairs, within hollering distance. Max and Missy had kids and she saw Brooks Hawking for the first time in ten years. She fell asleep thinking about her last glimpse of him as she drove away.

When Regan woke it was still dark.
She rubbed her eyes and it took her several moments to recognize her surroundings. There was no clock in the room so she raised her wrist to look at her watch and realized it was gone. She had a vague recollection of taking it off and she couldn’t remember why she would do such a thing. She never went anywhere without her watch. Regan stumbled groggily out of bed and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and make herself decent before she walked downstairs to the kitchen.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Valerie said. “You have an hour before Wade comes to pick you up for dinner.”

She covered a yawn. “What?”

“You slept the day away. When you didn’t
text him your number Wade called the house phone and told me y’all we’re going out tonight.” Valerie raised her brows. “You did some fast work when you came in yesterday.”

“I didn’t ask him, he asked me,” Regan said defensively. “We’re just going to dinner. We used to be friends.”

Valerie laughed. “I’m kidding. I went to the car to bring in a suitcase but all I found was a duffel of shoes.”

Regan
shrugged. “I didn’t bring anything.”

She waited for the barrage of questions but all Valerie did was point to a shopping bag on the couch.

“I got you underwear, jeans, a nice top and you can use my jacket.”

Regan blinked
in surprise. “Thanks.”

Valerie cleared her throat. “You better get going. That boy’s so excited he’s probably going to come early.”

Regan didn’t know what to say so she took the shopping bag upstairs and tried on the things her mom bought. How did Valerie know what size to buy? It must be a mom thing. When she went downstairs Wade was talking to her mom. His eyes lit up when he saw her and he enfolded her in another long hug.

“Y’all have fun,” Val
erie said and winked.

Wade had a monster truck parked on the road and Regan looked around and saw her old Honda parked on the side of the house.
Wade helped her up into his truck and revved the engine.

“Valerie looks happy
.”

“
Yeah?”

“
She’s happy you’re home. We all are. I saw Max today. He went over to your mom’s house twice but you were sleeping. I don’t think I’ve ever slept twenty four hours straight.”

“I drove from New York. Took me two days.”

He glanced at her. “New York? What were you doing there?”

“Lived there a couple years.”

“Wow. What were you doing there?”

“Worked in hotels.”

“I’m still at the hardware store,” he said with a shrug.

“That’s good.”

Wade pulled up in front of a local diner and her mouth watered. When was the last time she ate a full meal? She couldn’t remember. Wade put his arm around her shoulders as they went in and she automatically tensed. From her recollections, she remembered that Wade had always been a touchy feely guy. She inwardly told herself to relax and stop freezing up when people touched her. She had a flashback of holding hands with Wade as they walked through town. Where had that teen gone?

Wade
was greeted warmly by the hostess before they were led to their booth. Regan ordered a burger with extra fries while Wade ordered a steak.

“So, are you here for good?” Wade asked.

Regan shot him a steady look. “No. I’m just passing through.”

He
took a sip of his drink. “God, seeing you really takes me back. You got a man?” When Regan shook her head he said, “Now that we’re older we really have to think before we do shit, you know? I got a boy.”

Regan’s
eyes bugged. “You do? Are you married too?”

Wade
winced. “Nah. My boy’s gonna be two. My baby mama’s kind of crazy. I didn’t see that until it was too late. At least I didn’t marry her. She would’ve drained me dry.”

Why did nice guys always end up with bitches? She knew from experience what it was like to date Wade and the only reason
she
broke up with him was because he was
too
damn nice. She would like to talk to this crazy baby mama.

“You seen Brooks yet?” Wade asked with a sly look.

Regan eyed him coolly. “No. Why?”

He shrugged. “No reason.”

“If it’s no reason why are you asking?”

“We all know what went down ten years ago but that’s in the past. You guys are both older now. You guys were
that
couple.”

Her stomach twisted and she couldn’t stop herself from asking. “What couple?”

He gestured with his hands. “You guys had that love/hate relationship going on but you guys were solid. You actually loved each other-”

Wade was interrupted by the delivery of their food. Regan
gratefully snatched her burger and took a bite before Wade could grab his knife.

“I’m
just saying, he’s gonna hear that you’re back.”

“
Wade, it’s been ten years and he married Allison,” she said with her mouth full. Not to mention, she’d seen him with two kids.

“Yeah but-”

She set her burger down, reached across the table and pat his hand. “Wade, I really don’t want to talk about him.”

“But you should know-”

“Well, well, will you look at this?”

A girl that couldn’t be
older than twenty one stood by their booth with her hip cocked, huge earrings swinging and her hand waving dangerously close to Regan’s face as she spoke. A boy that looked like Wade climbed up into the booth. Regan withdrew her hand from Wade’s so she could pick up her burger, take a bite and watch the show. She suspected who this was and she hid her anticipation.

“I
spend two days in labor with your son and you take out this
tramp
?”

Wade
picked up his son, got out of the booth and tried to grab the girl’s arm. Wade’s baby mama jerked her arm away and pushed Wade who barely kept a hold on his son as he staggered back into the booth. Their silverware and drinks rattled and the little boy let out a cry.

“Please, Steph, can we talk about this outside?”
Wade pleaded, voice shaking with embarrassment and anger.

“No!”
Steph shouted, stomping her boot. “I want to talk about it
now
in front of this slut.”

Regan set her burger down and dusted her hands before she got out of the booth.
She looked at Wade. “Take him out.”

Steph stepped in front of her. “Don’t be telling my man what to do with my baby.”

Regan ignored her, snatched a fry from her plate and munched while she jerked her head at Wade. He shot a furious glance at Steph before he nodded and walked out of the diner. Regan turned back to Steph who was so mad her whole body trembled.

“You shouldn’t drag your son into your drama with Wade. It upsets him and you could scar him for life,” Regan said
quietly as she rummaged through her fries to find a crispy one.

“Don’t tell me what to do, you whore!” Steph shouted.

Regan grabbed her burger and took a bite. She saw Steph move into attack mode and side stepped as the enraged woman lunged at the booth and crashed into the table. When she turned on Regan with salt, napkins and lemonade splashed over her coat Regan was ready. She let her right fist fly while she clutched her delicious burger in the left. Her fist caught Steph square on her jaw and sent her staggering back, screaming and clutching her face. Servers and other diners got to their feet. Some sixth sense made Regan look at the restaurant entrance. Her new brother in law stood there with his arms crossed. Regan took another bite of her burger and sat in the booth opposite from hers and watched the commotion around Steph as she raged that she was going to kill Regan.

“She said she wants to kill me, officer,” Regan piped up when Guy came up to her.

“It must be because you broke her jaw.”

Regan cocked her head and listened to the shrew.
“Doesn’t sound like it. I need to get back into boxing. By the way, it was self-defense. She attacked first. I have witnesses.”

“Who is she?” Guy asked.

“Wade’s baby mama. She thought I was his new whore,” Regan explained with finger quotes around the last two words.

Guy’s mouth twitched. “At least I won the bet with Missy. She said you wouldn’t last twenty four hours without drama. It’s been twenty eight hours since you drove into town.”

Regan finished off her burger as Steph shoved people out of her way and was so blinded by rage she didn’t notice Guy until she threw her first punch. Guy caught it in his fist and Steph stared up at him. She paled, drew away and turned into a mouse in the blink of an eye.

“
Officer, I was with my son and this lady started attacking me,” Steph said.

“Oh my God,
bitch, he just saw you try to attack me. Trying to act innocent ain’t gonna work,” Regan said and tried to salvage some fries from her ruined dinner.

“You’re going to believe an outsider over me?” Steph said
to Guy.

“She’s not an outsider,” one of the servers said. “She’s Regan Lee Delaney.”

Steph dropped the meek act and gaped at Regan. “You beat the crap out of my sister, April.”

“You’re a Carter?” Rega
n said in disgust. “Wade should’ve known better!”

Guy stepped in front of Regan
when Steph tried to lunge at her.

“Maybe you should take off,” Guy suggested.

“Alright,” Regan said.

She threw some bills on the ruined booth and tried to find any food that wasn’t covered in lemonade. She glared irritably at Steph and noticed several people holding their phones aloft, recording the drama. She rolled her eyes and
walked out of the diner amidst loud whispers and pointing fingers. Wade’s truck was gone so she called him as she walked down the sidewalk.

“Where are you?”
she asked.

“I’m dropping my son off at my mom’s. I’m coming back for you.”

“It’s okay. I’m going to walk home.”

“What happened with Steph?”

“Guy’s handling her.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s getting arrested.”

“What?!”

“Yeah. So maybe you should just stay with your son. I’ll see you later.”

“Regan, what-”

Regan closed her phone and walked back to her mom’s house under the light of a full moon. The streets were deserted and she enjoyed the walk in the cool air. She flexed her right fist and knew she would need to put an ice pack on it before it swelled. It had been worth it though. Poor kid with a mom like that. A Carter no less. Despite the drama and the fact that she hadn’t been able to eat every last scrap of her meal she felt like whistling. She hadn’t felt this alive in years.

The night
she left White Mist so many bitter words had been said. Anger caused her to leave but it faded quickly when she found herself in women’s shelters, searching for a job and leaning on the well-being of strangers. She’d been lucky to find people willing to help her. She had friends in over fifteen states that she chatted with every now and then. Some of them were drifters like she’d been while others never ventured out of their hometown. People always asked what was pushing her. People had their theories about drifters- that they’d been hurt somewhere along the line and never recovered or they were trying to prove or find something. Regan fit all three criteria. She tried to find a place to settle but it never happened. She lived in small towns with no one around for miles and big cities where you never saw the same person twice. She never found the right balance.

Regan
tilted her head up to look up at the moon and took a deep breath as she walked up the path to her mom’s house. The porch light was on so she settled on the porch swing. She wasn’t ready to go in and have her mom grill her so she pushed the swing into motion and let night settle around her. She was so used to the noise of New York that the silence was a balm on her senses. She was still tired though she wasn’t sure how that was possible. She had to resist the urge to look through the emails and voicemails on her phone. It was a compulsion she wanted to just shrug off but it wasn’t easy. She’d been in work mode for years and to have no schedule, no agenda or responsibilities felt foreign. Honestly, she felt as if she was in an alternate universe and this was a never ending dream. If she was in her right mind she never would have come back to White Mist. 

Regan rocked slowly back and forth, b
ack and forth and burrowed into her mom’s jacket. It smelled like her. Regan’s cheeks stung with cold but she didn’t care. It was so quiet Regan heard footsteps coming up the sidewalk. A tall, dark figure came into view. He had an easy, confident stride and he walked with his hands in the front pockets of his jacket. As if he sensed her watching him he turned towards the house and stared at her. Although the moonlight didn’t show his features she didn’t need light to know who he was.