Under the Midnight Stars (23 page)

She began to feel light-headed in the summer heat. Making her way back across the walkway, she struggled to climb the porch steps. The front door was in her view, but it began to distort out of focus. Feeling as light as a feather, she collapsed on the top step. Overlooking the front yard, she saw a shimmer of light as the sun reflected off an approaching vehicle. It was Jack.

With the world spinning around her, Brielle tried to push herself into a sitting position but the force of gravity was too strong for her weak arms. Struggling to keep her heavy eyelids open, she watched helplessly as Jack screeched his car to a stop and bolted out of the door, toward her.

“Shit!” Jack’s panicked voice echoed through her mind. “Brielle, Brielle,” he said anxiously, rolling her onto her back.

She fluttered her eyes open and moaned, straining to focus on him through the swirling drunken feeling of her head.

“You’re gonna be okay.” Jack’s voice shook, as did his hands.

“Jack, I don’t feel so good,” she muttered weakly. She felt like a rag doll in his arms as he picked her up and carried her to his car. As soon as he set her in the passenger seat, she closed her eyes and welcomed the darkness.

Colt entered the diner, suddenly feeling more nervous than he had ever been in his life. Spotting Miranda in the corner booth, he crossed the room and slid into the seat across from her. She looked exhausted, as if the whole paternal issue had taken its toll on her.

“Hello, Miranda.”

“Hi, Colt.” She smiled wearily. “Sorry I drug you all the way into town. I just thought it would be better to talk in person.”

“It’s all right. I understand.”

Mimi approached and set a coffee cup down in front of Colt. She filled it, then topped off Miranda’s cup for her. Placing her free hand on her hip, she eyed Colt suspiciously. “Colt,” she greeted him. “Where’s Gabby?”

He sighed and pursed his lips, knowing exactly what Mimi was doing. But he wasn’t going to oblige her with any details.

“She’s at home resting. She has the flu.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. Poor thing.” Mimi sounded genuinely concerned. “When you get back home, tell her I hope she feels better. You are gonna go back and take care of her, your
girlfriend,
right after you’re finished up here, aren’t you?”

He stared at her, his patience running thin. “Look, Mimi, Miranda and I have important business to discuss. So if you’ll excuse us…”

“Oh, right.” She raised an eyebrow. “Well, coffee’s on me. Remember to tell your
girlfriend
I said hi.” She glared hotly at Miranda.

Colt forced a half-smile. “Thanks for the coffee.”

Just then Mimi glanced up and stared through the front window, squinting her eyes.

Colt glanced out the window to see Jack speed by in his car.
What’s he doing?
He’d just crossed paths with Jack not more than ten minutes ago. As he was leaving the ranch, Jack had just pulled into the driveway.
I guess he got another call.

Mimi shook her head in disapproval. “That boy is gonna get himself killed driving that fast. Then poor Gabby will be all alone.” She moseyed back to the counter.

Miranda looked surprised as she watched Mimi disappear into the kitchen. “Wow. That was interesting. I gather I’m the villain for some reason?”

“Mimi and Brielle have worked together for a while. I guess she’s just looking out for her friend.”

“Oh.” Miranda smiled sheepishly. “I guess it’s no secret that we have a history together.”

Her reply made him feel uneasy. He nodded and decided it was best to get right to the subject. “So, the results are in already?”

“Yes, they are. I sort of have connections. So they processed the results right away. I thought it’d be best to tell you face-to-face.” Her demeanor turned serious.

Colt held his breath as his gut wrenched in knots.

“Colt, you’re … not his father.” She looked at him, her eyes full of shame. “I’m sorry. I just thought maybe it’d be best to face you. It’s a small town. I just didn’t want it to be awkward next time we ran into one another.”

He wiped a hand over his mouth and exhaled heavily. He didn’t quite know what to say. He’d been so sure he was Junior’s father that the thought of the results coming back negative hadn’t even crossed his mind. He’d even bought Junior a cowboy hat as a gift. But now … he was relieved. Relieved and angry. Miranda’s mistake had brought undeserved heartache to him and the woman he loved.

“Are you mad?” she asked, biting her lower lip.

His eyes widened incredulously. “Yeah, Miranda. I’m mad as hell!”

“I’m so sorry. I was just upset all those years ago that you were leaving. I guess I found comfort in someone else.”

“You said
were leaving —
so you slept with someone else before I even left town?”

She grimaced and scratched her head, looking as if she’d made a mistake. Then she nodded. “Yeah. That’s what happened.”

“With
who?
”

“Uhhhh.” She grew nervous, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “You probably don’t remember him.”

“I grew up here. I’m sure I’ll remember.” He stared at her blankly.

She wrinkled her nose. “Shane Whitley?” she revealed, though it sounded more like a question.

Colt was dumbfounded. “Shane Whitley? My best friend? Before I even left town?”

She nodded and began to fidget with her coffee spoon. “I guess Shane was upset that you were leaving too. And we were just there for each other … I’m sorry. I’m so humiliated.”

Colt wanted to be mad at them, but he couldn’t. It had all happened so long ago that he really didn’t care anymore. All he really cared about was what was happening now.

“Look, that’s all in the past, Miranda. We were all kids. I could really care less what happened eleven years ago.” Brielle and her broken heart crossed his thoughts again. He clenched his jaw, causing his temples to pulsate.

“Then what’s the matter?” She placed her hand over his. “Tell me, Colt,” she said softly.

He tensed and pulled his hand from hers. “What are you doing?”

“I just thought … you know, we’ve had such a good history together. I just thought maybe we could reconnect. Get to know each other again. No one has to know if you prefer it that way.” She smiled nervously.

Mimi was wiping down a tabletop two booths away.

Colt leaned forward and lowered his voice.“Are you serious?” he scoffed. “I wouldn’t wanna be with you even if I
were
the father. Women like you are actually a big turnoff for me. Now if you’ll excuse me, thanks to your careless mistake, I have to go and patch things up with the only woman I’ve ever truly loved.” He threw a five dollar bill onto the table and stood to leave. “Oh,” he paused and glared at her, “and next time we run into each other … it’s gonna be awkward!”

Miranda’s eyes filled with tears. “No, wait, I’m sorry, Colt.”

Colt turned to leave, tipping his hat to Mimi as he passed by her.

As he walked away, he heard Mimi talking to someone, her tone curt. “If he didn’t set you straight, I was gonna.”

With his hands on the front door, he turned to see Mimi staring down at Miranda.

Can’t say Miranda didn’t deserve that,
Colt thought as he went outside. Crossing the parking lot, his cell phone rang.

“Hey Colt,”
Zeke said.
“I know we were supposed to meet with the contractor tomorrow, but he showed up a day early. He marked his calendar wrong, I guess. We can reschedule if you can’t make it, but he doesn’t have any appointments available for another two weeks.”

“Damn.” Colt sighed as he climbed into his truck. He was eager to get back to Brielle, but he couldn’t push the plans off for another two weeks. It would put them behind schedule on the construction. Besides, Brielle was probably resting peacefully by now. “All right. I’m just down the street. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Thanks, Colt.”

Colt started his engine and headed to the garage.

As if she were in a fog, Brielle tried to focus in on her surroundings. Jack was carrying her through automatic doors like the ones at the hospital.

“Jack, what happened?” The woman at the desk stood. “Oh my! Is that Gabby?”

“Yeah, I found her on the front porch,” he answered shakily.

The woman disappeared into the back, only to return seconds later with a student nurse and a gurney.

Brielle was laid gently on the gurney.

“She’s been awful sick these past few days, Melanie,” Jack informed the student nurse anxiously. “Throwing up a lot. Hasn’t been able to keep anything down. She said she was feeling a little better today though.”

“All right, Jack,” the student nurse replied calmly as she wheeled her through the door. “You can come back and sit with her.”

The fluorescent lights above her were too bright. Brielle closed her eyes to ward off the painful headache forming. Her head swirled. Her muscles ached. Nausea was slowly sneaking back into the pit of her stomach.

They entered one of the curtained-off cubicles in the oversized corridor. A doctor and an older nurse followed them in. The nurse took her vital signs while the doctor listened to her heart. Then the doctor lifted each eyelid, shining a light into her eyes.

Brielle squinted as her headache increased with the brightness.

“She’s been sick with the stomach flu, Doc. She’s been throwing up all week, but it finally slowed down today. Is she gonna be all right?” Jack asked worriedly.

“She’s dehydrated,” the doctor replied. “We’ll run some blood tests to rule out anything else. In the meantime, we’re going to give her some fluids. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” He looked at Brielle. “Is there a chance that you might be pregnant?”

She shook her head.

“Okay,” the doctor said. “We’ll let you know as soon as the tests are finished. Shouldn’t be too long.” He exited through the curtain.

“Jack, I think I might throw up again,” Brielle admitted hoarsely.

The student nurse grabbed an emesis container from the nightstand and handed it to her. “Just vomit in this if you need to.”

“It’s all right, Brielle. You’re dehydrated. They’re just gonna get some fluids into you,” Jack reassured her.

She nodded. “Sorry. Guess I should’ve let you take me to the doctor sooner.”

“Yeah, well, you’re here, aren’t ya? That’s what matters. A couple of bags of fluid and you should be feeling good as new.”

She smiled weakly.

The older nurse smiled with compassion. “As soon as we get you rehydrated you can go home and rest.”

“Thank you,” Brielle replied.

The nurse prepared the intravenous drip and then drew a sample of blood. When she was finished, she left the curtained room.

“And thank you, Melanie,” Jack said to the student nurse.

“You can just call me Mel if you want.” She smiled bashfully. “I think I’ve seen you in here enough that you can call me by my nickname. It’s what most people call me. Of course I don’t really like it much, but what are you gonna do, right?”

Jack’s smile cocked to one side and his eyes nonchalantly flicked down the length of her petite hourglass frame. “So let me get this straight … you want me to call you Mel like everyone else does, but you don’t like that name?”

Brielle smiled weakly, watching her brother take interest in her shy beautiful nurse.

Melanie tucked a loose strand of dark brown hair behind her ear and averted her doe-like eyes from Jack’s gaze. “I guess I’ve just gotten used to it. I don’t like my name much either way. Call me what you want.” She giggled nervously.

Jack chuckled slightly. “All right, if you don’t really like Melanie, and you know you don’t like Mel, how’s about I call you Lanie. Is that better? Are you gonna like hearing me call you by the last half of your name, or are you gonna run and hide every time you see me to avoid it?” he teased.

Brielle smiled at the all-too-familiar conversation.

Lanie blushed and pinched a smile between her lips as she looked down at nothing in particular, before she cleared her throat and met Jack’s steady gaze.“I like Lanie. You can call me anytime.” Her eyes widened at her mistake. She quickly corrected herself. “I mean you can call me
that
anytime. By that name, I mean. Never mind.” She shook her head, turning three shades of red.