Redneck Romeo (Rough Riders #15)(107)

“Georgia. What are you doin’?”


She held up her hand. “Hey, Rielle, it’s Georgia McKay. Look, I’m sorry to be calling so late, but I need to get in touch with Rory. No, it’s not an emergency. All I can say is it has to do with Dalton. Okay. I’m ready.” Georgia scrawled the numbers on the notepad. “Thanks, I appreciate it. I’m sure nothing is wrong, but I wanted to check in with her. Good-night.”


Georgia immediately dialed the number.


“Rory? Hey. It’s Georgia McKay. Your mom gave me your number. Have you heard from Dalton tonight? He went out with his brothers and Tell just got home. I wondered if Dalton drove to your place afterward.” Pause. “Don’t worry; they didn’t end up in a fistfight. And Tell…he’s a bit wrecked after what went down and he says Brandt is the same way. I don’t know how Dalton is faring, or if he planned to call you, but I figured you’d want to know. Uh-huh. As far as I know. I’d start there first. If Dalton needs anything, please call us right away—no matter what time it is. Thanks, Rory.” She hung up.


“Why’d you do that?”


Georgia set down the phone. “Whether or not Dalton tells her is his choice. But if they’re involved on the level I believe they are, it’s also Rory’s right to know if he needs her. It’s her right to be there for him.”


He closed his eyes when she wrapped herself around him.


“Come to bed.”


“In a bit. I should call my mom. She needs to know—”


“And you need some time to process this. Besides, didn’t you promise Dalton you wouldn’t bring it up with her?”


“No. We said we wouldn’t bring it up with Dad. I’ll honor that. But I won’t keep this from her.”


“You shouldn’t. But Joan will have plenty of sleepless nights after you talk to her. So let her have the rest of tonight.”


Chapter Twenty-Five


The porch light was off so Rory knew Dalton wasn’t expecting her.


She’d gotten a little freaked out by Georgia’s phone call. Whatever happened must’ve been bad.


Why hadn’t he reached out to her?


Because he’s always dealt with family stuff on his own. Rory wondered if he’d ever told his brothers or even his mother how often their dad had taken a strap to him.


She remembered the first time she’d found him after Casper had finished with him. Dalton had tried to blame his red-rimmed eyes and wet face on hayfield dust, but she’d known he’d been crying. She’d never seen the marks, he’d never talked about it, but she had seen how Dalton winced sometimes when he sat down.


Except the summer he’d grown several inches. They’d met by the creek and she’d been shocked by Dalton’s giddiness. Now that he was bigger than his dad, the man no longer had the advantage and the beatings were over. Rory had hidden her horror at hearing the abuse Dalton had endured for years—she wondered if he remembered the rapid-fire way he’d blurted the whole thing out, almost like he was in shock.


She recalled crawling into her bed and crying herself to sleep. When her mom had asked her what was wrong, she couldn’t tell her.



What if Dalton didn’t want her here?


Tough shit.


Rory marched up to the door and banged on it.


No response.


She banged louder. “I know you’re in there.”


The door opened. “Rory? What’re you doin’ here?”


She ducked under the arm blocking the doorway before he could shut her out. “I didn’t hear from you today.”


“Yeah, well, sorry. I had shit goin’ on.”


“Since I’m here, let’s swap ‘how was your day, dear?’ stories.” Rory kicked off her boots and dropped her outerwear into a pile before she headed for the kitchen.


“You can’t just show up at someone’s house at ten-thirty at night without warning.”


She whirled around. “Why not? You do it to me all the time.”


Dalton stared at her.


Sweet Lord. His eyes were so…haunted. She automatically curled her arms around his waist and pressed herself against him. “I missed you, okay? Is that so wrong?”


Then Dalton squeezed her so tightly tears rushed to her eyes. “Not wrong at all. I was needing…missing you too.”


The fact he admitted he needed her, yet he hadn’t reached out to her, cut a little. She tipped her head back to look at him. “You know you can just call me up to chat about stuff any old time.”


Dalton pushed her hair back from her face. “Who called you and said I might need to chat about…stuff?”


Rory considered lying, but Dalton should know his family was worried about him. “Georgia.”


His eyes turned wary. “What’d she say?”


“Just that you had a meeting with your brothers and maybe you’d need someone to talk to. Which I took as the secret McKay code that you really needed sex. And you know I’m all over that and all over you whenever possible because you’re a beast in the sack.”