Play It Safe(66)

“Babe,” he whispered.

I felt the tears wet my eyes and again I deep breathed.

“Oh my girl.” Lash kept whispering, handsome face soft, eyes warm and worried. I’d eventually told him about Janie’s call. This was our way. I eventually told him everything. He also knew about Buddy’s visit last night.

I went on deep breathing.

Then I got a lock on it.

“I’m okay,” I finally whispered back.

Lash’s head tipped to the side. “Sure?”

God, I loved him.

“Sure, honey.”

He studied me. Then he leaned in and kissed my forehead. Then he settled back down and adjusted me so we were spooning again.

“Go back to sleep, babe, yeah?”

We were never home before two in the morning and we were never up before nine.

Lash was right, we needed sleep.

“Yeah,” I agreed softly.

Lash’s arm pulled me closer.

It took awhile, it was tough, too much happening in my head, too much worry gnawing my belly, too much artillery battering away at the walls around my heart.

But eventually I found sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Shot to the Heart

One day, four hours later…

The phone was ringing and I was in the sitting room, standing with Lash and his mother Rhonda, listening to them talking about how they were going to redecorate it (again). Lash had lived in his house five years and redecorated every room at least once. This would be the sitting room’s third look.

Seriously. How Rhonda didn’t cotton on her son was g*y, I had no idea.

“I’ll get it,” I mumbled, moved into Lash, leaned up and touched my mouth to his.

His hand came to my waist and gave me a squeeze.

This wasn’t fake. This was us. Affection. Pure.

Maybe that was how Rhonda didn’t cotton on. No one could see through that because there was nothing to see.

I walked out of the room, went to the phone, beeped it on and put it to my ear. “Hello.”

“Ivey?”

Shit. Janie.

“Hello, Janie.”

She was silent a second then, “I…I…oh, Ivey, I’m really sorry. I told Roan and Shim I called you. They had to know so they could find out what Gray needed but I forgot Roan has a big mouth. He told his wife Stacy, she owns the salon and her mouth is bigger. Word traveled. Got to Buddy, got to Gray. I had no idea Buddy would, he would…” she paused then went on, “do what he did. That wasn’t cool. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

“Not a problem, Janie, just as long as he doesn’t come back. Don’t worry about it.”

“It’s, I think…” another pause then, “it was really nice how you wanted to step up for Gray but he talked to me and he was kind of…” again a pause then, “not happy.”

I bet.

She kept going.

“So, he’s going to do his thing and we need to stay out of it. But, again, it was really nice of you to want to kick in.”

So Gray was going to go forth and lose his land, lose everything.

Men.

Stupid.

I tried not to let that hurt but when I failed I tried to pretend it didn’t hurt.

I was better at that.

“Right, well, I hope he works it out,” I told her.

“No chance of that,” she muttered.

I didn’t want to, I really didn’t want to…

But I did.

And what I did was ask, “Sorry?”

“Movin’ Mirry out next month, Ivey. Gray can’t afford the home anymore. They’re puttin’ her in some state funded place. Never been there but I got a coupla customers had people in there. They say it isn’t all that nice. For her, seein’ as she’s in a wheelchair, they reckon it’ll be worse. Guess it’s not super clean and the staff isn’t all that attentive.”

Shot to the heart, I stood still and steady but I was reeling.

Janie wasn’t done.

“Gray’s beside himself but what can he do? He can’t pay the bills. Got buyers comin’ in from everywhere, sellin’ all his horses. Every last one. Tryin’ to raise money to pay on the note. First time in over a hundred years that ranch won’t have mustangs on it. Town is reeling. You wouldn’t think it would be a big deal but it is. Old-timers sayin’ it’s the end of an era. And even me, only lived here half my life, still, I feel it. It’s a loss.”

Another direct hit, I felt myself going down.

She didn’t stop.

“And that f**kin’ family of his, won’t even take care of their Momma. It’s crazy. No one gets it. Leavin’ Gray to be picked over by the buzzards, that’s already totally uncool but leavin’ their Momma to go to that place?”

She stopped abruptly and went silent.

I hit the dirt, lifeblood oozing out of me.

“I’m sorry, Ivey,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t lay this on you. Sorry. Gray was seriously pi…” she stopped again and then continued, “I guess, thinkin’ on it for a spell, you had your reasons to pick up and go without explanations to even Gray. And, thinkin’ on it, you were a good gal. And I’m glad you found your place where you can be happy. I guess I just wish that was with Gray so he could be happy.”