Before We Kiss (Fool's Gold #14)(77)

“I have to go,” she said as she hurried to the bed. She kissed his mouth, then straightened. “I’m so late.”

“I’ll call you later,” he told her.

“I’ll answer.”

With that, she was gone.

He got up and took a shower, then dressed. He would head to his place to shave before going into the office. He walked toward the back of the house. Before he left, he wanted to make sure the back door was locked. He’d just stepped into the kitchen when the front door opened and someone yelled.

“It’s me. Are you here?”

Fayrene, he thought, recognizing the voice.

“Dellina’s already gone,” he said as he secured the lock, then moved toward the living room. “She had an early appointment.”

Fayrene stood by the front door, her little dog in her arms. She looked tired.

“Is something wrong?” he asked before he could stop himself.

“Yes. No.” She dropped onto the sofa. “The usual. Ryan and I had another couple over for dinner last night. I thought it would help him see we need to get married. But things didn’t go as I planned. Her water broke and, let me tell you, that’s a lot grosser than I ever thought.”

Sam glanced at the door and thought about bolting. This wasn’t his area of expertise. Yet even as he inched toward freedom, he realized that he knew exactly what she was doing wrong. His mother would be so proud.

He took a seat across from Fayrene.

“This has to stop,” he told her. “Put on your big-girl panties and tell Ryan what you want.”

She rolled her eyes. “I can’t.”

“You won’t. There’s a difference. If you’re not prepared to ask for what you want from a man who loves you very much, then you’re not ready for marriage. It’s a full-time commitment. It requires everything you have, and being honest about how you feel is the cornerstone to success. If you can’t be honest about this, what else won’t you be able to talk about?”

Fayrene’s eyes filled with tears. “That’s really harsh.”

“It’s really the truth. Ryan is doing what you asked. He didn’t want to wait, but he is. That is a good quality in a man. Now you’re playing some twisted game, trying to get him to violate his own code of ethics. Because you believe if he really loved you, he could read your mind. Well, he can’t. No one can. If you don’t get smart pretty soon, you’re going to lose the man you want to marry.”

Fayrene’s mouth dropped open.

Sam waited a second. When she didn’t say anything, he rose. “Good luck,” he told her, then walked out of the house.

* * *

SHELBY GILMORE STARED at the two men in front of her.

“I don’t understand,” she admitted.

It was hard to talk. Her jaw was swollen. Not broken, she thought. At least she hoped it wasn’t. She was less sure about her ribs.

Pain dodged her every step. She was exhausted from not sleeping. She couldn’t. Not only might her mother need her, but it wasn’t safe. Her father loved to sneak up on her when she was most vulnerable and do his worst.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Friends,” the younger of the two men said.

They were both big enough to be frightening. One―she thought his name was Ford―had an easy smile, but she could see the darkness in his eyes. The other man, a few years older, terrified her. He had a scar across his neck—as if someone had tried to slit his throat. Who would have been that stupid?

“A friend of ours knows your brother,” Ford told her. “We’re here to take care of you.”

Shelby told herself not to bother believing. Because nothing good was ever going to happen again. She was trapped with a monster because her mother was dying of cancer. Her mother wouldn’t leave and Shelby couldn’t leave her alone. Only a few more weeks, she told herself. But her escape would come at the loss of one of only two people she loved in the world.

“Kipling sent you?” she asked.

The two men exchanged a glance.

“Sure,” the older one said. “Here’s what’s going to happen. Your dad thinks he’s smarter than everyone else, but he’s not. We’ve collected evidence on his criminal activities. It’s enough to keep him locked up for a long, long time. The police are arresting him right now.”

Her father in jail? Was it possible? She didn’t have a whole lot of information on what he did to fill his day, but she knew it involved people who lived outside the law.

“We’ll take you to the police station later,” Ford added. “Not to confront him, but so you can know he’s behind bars. The district attorney will want to talk to you and the police will need to search the house later to gather evidence.”

Shelby struggled to take in all the information. Her father arrested? Jailed? Was it really possible he wasn’t coming back for a long time?

She only needed a few weeks. Her mother wouldn’t last much longer. Then she would walk away and never come back. After that, she didn’t care what happened to the man.

The older man, the one with the scar, sat next to her on the sofa. His gray eyes were surprisingly kind.

“A nurse will be here shortly. She’s going to help with your mom.” He pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket. “This is the name of a therapist we want you to see.”