Texas Heat (52 page)

“The cops have gone all over this,” Cole muttered. “So have the lawyers.”

“We're it, Sawyer,” Riley groaned. “We can't prove we didn't do it. It looks like they can prove we did.”

“Unless ...” Sawyer let the word hang in the air. Both faces were so hopeful, she wanted to cry. “Unless, in that hour and fifteen minutes, or in that five hours, give or take a few minutes, Ben Simms raped his own daughter.”

Cole's mouth dropped open. Riley's jaw dropped just as far as Cole's.

“Her own father!” Cole gasped.

“That's ... that's ...”

“The word you're looking for is incest,” Sawyer said coldly. “Think about it. In all the years I lived at Sunbridge, we never, ever had anyone come on this land who didn't belong. Not up to the house, anyway. Somebody would have heard. The barn dogs would have barked. Strangers just don't pop up, even for a girl like Luana. She might have jerked your strings, but she'd never take the chance and invite someone from the outside here. There'd be a car, a moped, at the very least a bicycle, and I think we have to rule that out. We live twenty-five miles from town. Does either of you think she'd ask someone here?” At their negative nod, Sawyer continued, “That leaves Ben Simms committing the ultimate sin.”

“It makes sense, but why didn't Miss Mitchell say something?”

“Think about it, Cole. Incest. You can't accuse a man of something like that. You can't even dance around it. Look, I'm not pretending to be a wizard or anything like that. I'm sure it's occurred to everyone, but no one wants to put it into words. If we did that, we'd open ourselves to the biggest lawsuit this state has ever seen. I think we should talk to Adam. I'm kind of tired, so why don't you guys go get him and bring him here. I'm going to flop down on that straw and see if this headache will go away.”

The boys glanced at each other. “You stay with her, Cole, and I'll get him,” Riley offered.

Cole nodded and lowered himself to the sweet-smelling straw. “It's worse, isn't it?” he asked Sawyer when Riley had left.

“Yeah. I don't think I would have made it to Hawaii. I was going to give it a hell of a try, though.”

“You're nuts,” Cole said, not unkindly. “What's happening to us can't even compare to what you're going through. You have to do something.”

“Wave your magic wand and make me better,” Sawyer said nastily.

“That's bullshit. Tell your surgeon to wave his magic scalpel and take your chances. That's what I would do.”

“Well, you aren't me, little brother, so keep your opinions to yourself. If you're worried about me being around for the final verdict, forget it. I'll be here.”

“I don't care about that. If I have to lose you, I want it to be the right way. I want to know you gave it everything you had.”

Sawyer leaned up on one elbow, piercing Cole with her gaze. “And if I don't make it?”

Cole swallowed hard. “Like Miss Mitchell says, there aren't any guarantees. Not for me or Riley, and not for you. You aren't a gutless wonder, so stop acting like one.”

Sawyer groaned. “I'm supposed to be in charge here.”

“Well, shit, if you're in charge, act like it. Not just for Riley and me, but for yourself. You must be driving Adam fucking crazy.”

Sawyer burst out laughing. “Where'd you learn to talk like that? Maggie would put soap in your mouth.” Cole laughed, too, and then fell back into the hay. They were both laughing and throwing straw at each other when Riley and Adam walked into the barn.

“I wish you'd tell us what's so damn funny. We could sure use a laugh or two,” Adam said, smiling.

Sawyer leaned up on both elbows, straw sticking out of her hair and ears. When she spoke, her voice was solemn. “My brother here, this pip-squeak, says he'll put flowers on my grave if I die. He said he'd pray for me. This guy,” she said, pointing to Riley, “said yesterday he'd stay with me through the entire operation. He has one small fear: he's paranoid about the sight of blood. I have decided to go ahead and have the operation. As soon as this is all wrapped up.”

“No. Now,” Cole said forcefully.

“Wrong. It's my decision. When this is over.”

“I take it all back,” Cole said coldly. “Now or forget it. We can hang on till this is over. You don't have the time.”

“I'll think about it,” Sawyer blustered.

Riley grimaced. “That's something I'd say. Tell us now, in front of Adam, so he can make the arrangements.”

Sawyer struggled to get to her feet. It was getting worse; who was she kidding? How many more days could she take like the last few? “Okay,” she said, swaying dizzily.

“You get a free ride for this one,” Adam said, scooping her into his arms. Cole noticed that his eyes were wet. Shit, he didn't care. He felt like he'd just climbed the tallest mountain in the world.

“Did they tell you what I came up with?” Sawyer asked sleepily.

“Don't think about that now.”

“Don't tell me what to do, Adam. I can still think for myself. While you're making the arrangements, I want to talk to this family. Get them all together around the dining room table.”

“You're a real pain, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know. Just humor me and then I'm all yours.”

“Do you mean that?”

“For God's sake, of course I mean it! When we get to the house, get me one of those green pills and a shot of brandy. C'mon,” she squawked, “what's the delay here?”

“Just shut up and enjoy the ride,” Adam said. Cole grinned. Riley punched him playfully on the shoulder in return.

Maggie and Billie ran out to the driveway as they saw Adam carrying Sawyer up the walk. “What's the matter?” Maggie gasped. Billie immediately put her hand on Sawyer's forehead.

“She wants a meeting,” Adam said. “You boys explain while I get the pill and the brandy. She wants Cary and Amelia here, too.”

Ninety minutes later the entire Coleman family was assembled at the dining room table. “You're on, Sarah,” Adam called to Sawyer, who was in the kitchen. “This better be a performance worthy of Bernhardt.”

“I have something to say to all of you,” Sawyer announced.” She paused a moment to marshal her strength. ”We find ourselves involved in not one but two crises. I'm the first, Cole and Riley the second. Each is equally important. I could literally die. Their lives could be ruined. In my eyes, that's the same thing.” Again she paused, this time for effect. ”I've agreed to have the operation. At the insistence of Cole and Riley, I'm leaving this afternoon for Sloan-Kettering. Now, if I'm willing to put my head on the block, I want all of your necks on the same block. I want you—us—to accuse Ben Simms of raping his daughter. I think we all know that's exactly what happened. So put it on the line, just like I am. If I can do it, so can you.” She looked around fuzzily, blinked to regain her vision. But it wasn't working; the faces were still blurry. Her heart fluttered wildly as she gripped the edge of the table and spoke. ”Maggie? Grand? Amelia? Susan? I want an answer.” She thought she was seeing horror, dismay, fear, when actually all the faces held something she couldn't see—pride.

“Good girl,” Cary said loudly. “I'm with you and so is Amelia.”

“Me, too. And include Jessie in my vote,” Susan said happily.

“I agree and so does Thad,” Billie said, rushing up to Sawyer. “I'm so glad.”

It was Maggie's turn. She looked around wildly, tears sliding down her cheeks. Rand reached out to her. Riley handed her his handkerchief. “So, you do know how to fight. You have my vote.”

“One more thing,” Sawyer told them. “If I don't make it, I want you all to know that ... I ...” She swayed dizzily, then her knees crumpled as she started to slip to the floor. Rand was there first, his arms outstretched. Adam came around the side of the table a second too late. He bent down, his eyes locking with Rand's. What he saw there made him nod and stand up. It was Rand who carried Sawyer to the waiting ambulance.

Cole stood next to Riley in the driveway. “This is big shit, you know,” he said. “They're putting everything on the line for us.” He sat down on the garage steps where Luana always sat. “I think we just grew up.”

“My grandfather will assist in whatever way he can. I wish he hadn't come here though. I see the way he looks at me. I've caused him trouble.”

“I saw him look at you, too. He doesn't believe you did it, and no one else thinks so, either. He's...” Cole groped for the right word. “Sad.”

“Do you think Sawyer'll make it?”

“Hell, I don't know. She did real good in there, didn't she?”

“She sure did. Maybe we can still go to Hawaii when she's better.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Cole said glumly.

“I was thinking about something,” Riley said uneasily. “If I ask your opinion, will you give me a truthful answer?”

“Sure.”

“I was thinking about getting my eyes fixed, Westernized. What do you think?” He held his breath, waiting for Cole to answer.

Cole turned to stare at his cousin, looking at him closely from different angles. Finally he said, “Why the hell would you want to do a dumb thing like that?”

Riley laughed. “You mean it?”

“Hell, yes. You can't do that to the old man in there. He'd lay down and die. You're who you are and I'm who I am.”

“I'd look more like a Coleman,” Riley said defensively.

“Man, being a Coleman is being one. It doesn't matter how you look. I'm only half, too. When push comes to shove, that's when you know who you are. I hated your guts in the beginning. Guess you know that.”

“Yeah. Well, I wasn't too fond of you, either. I thought you were a real jerk.”

“I thought you were a real fag myself. You had it all. At least I thought you did. You didn't have it so easy, either, did you?”

“No,” Riley replied. He wasn't about to tell his cousin he'd had a wonderful life till he came here. They were even now, starting from square one.

“We're it, you know. The last of the Colemans. Little Jessie doesn't count, because she's ... she's different. I don't think Susan will have any more children. She might adopt. And we don't know about Sawyer. So, cousin, we're it.”

“Yeah, look where we are.”

“I have a gut feeling we're gonna make it,” Cole said with more confidence than he felt. “With a family like this, how can we lose? Your grandfather is okay, too,” Cole added generously. “Maybe that's what set me off about you. He bailed out the Colemans when the going got tough.”

“Don't you think your family would have done the same thing?” Riley asked curiously.

“Back then, when you first got here, I probably would have said no. Now I know differently.” He leaned back, resting on his elbows.

“How do you think you're going to like Yale?”

“Probably the same as you're going to like Notre Dame. I'll think of you doing all that praying.”

“Ah, shit.” Cole grinned.

“How fast does that Cougar go?”

“Just as fast as that Berlinetta. Do you drink and drive?” Cole asked curiously.

“No way, man, do you?”

“Nope. You ever score with a chick?” Cole asked slyly.

“Nope. Did you?”

“No. Guess we do have a lot in common.”

“You wanna keep in touch when we go off to college?” Riley asked.

“Sure. Maybe we can even visit each other. I think it's time we started spending some of this Coleman money. Did anyone say anything to you about allowances?”

“Don't worry. What's mine is yours,” Riley said generously.

Cole stuck out his hand. Riley gripped it. Both boys grinned.

 

While the boys were coming to terms with each other, the remaining Colemans sat around the dining room table, waiting as Valentine Mitchell opened her briefcase and took out a legal pad, then fished for a pen. “Okay, let's hear it.”

Two minutes later she got up, looked around, and said, “You want to do
what
?”

“You heard right,” Maggie said firmly. “We're all in agreement. And we're prepared for anything. You do your job, and we'll handle the rest.”

Valentine sat down heavily. “I guess I don't have to tell you—”

“No, you don't. We know. Now, who's going to the newspapers, you or us?” Valentine read the determination in Maggie's expression.

“I'll do it.” The leaf-green eyes looked around the table. “You have guts; I'll say that for you. Procedure is that I go to Simms's attorney.”

“We aren't interested in procedure. You go for the jugular,” Maggie said coldly.

“What if they want to make a deal; what if—”

“No deals. Not a penny. We want the press. We want our lives back.”

The Gucci briefcase snapped shut. Maggie thought it looked a little more worn since she'd seen it last.

The following morning every newspaper in the state of Texas carried the banner headline:
COLEMAN FAMILY FIGHTS BACK.
Maggie winced several times when she read the printed words to the family over breakfast.

The phone had to be taken off the hook shortly after the story broke. Three ranch hands, armed with rifles, stood guard at the entrance to Sunbridge. The Colemans were prisoners in their own home.

 

Maggie packed her bag carefully, putting in enough clothes for at least a week. If she needed more, she could buy them. She was New York bound. There was nothing more she could do here, and she needed to go to Sawyer.