That Last Night In Texas

Maybe he had a wife and children of his own someplace. No reason he shouldn’t after all this time. She tried to envision it, and discovered that she couldn’t. He had been an only child, a loner all his life. Hadn’t he once told her that, given his parents’ history of creating the most undesirable home life possible, he could not imagine ever having children?

Stop it. Everything will be okay. You’re worrying for nothing.

She heard the Torture Chamber’s door open. Since Mercedes had already left for the day, and Josh had moved back to River Bottom, it had to be Donny. She loved him beyond life, but lately he’d developed a disobedient streak designed to annoy the heck out of her. She refused to open her eyes and give him her attention until he behaved like the gentleman she had raised him to be.

“What happened to your manners?” she asked him over the sound of the bubbling water. “Go back outside and knock. Just because you live in this house doesn’t give you the right to trample my privacy.”

“Considering what I learned today, it seems strange to hear you talk about respecting a person’s rights.”

Startled, Cassie snapped her eyes open. She sat upright so fast that water splashed over the edge of the tub and one shoulder strap of her swimsuit slid down her arm.

Ethan stood in the doorway. He was still dressed in the suit she’d seen him in earlier, minus the tie. His collar lay open at the throat, but other than that, he looked every bit the successful businessman.

She’d barely been able to look at him that afternoon, and the setting sun had helped to mask his features. Now she saw that he was still the handsome heartbreaker. The deep-set eyes she had fought to forget were still the same intense shade of blue, the jaw still strong and square and fiercely proud. But there were some changes. The light caught a few silver threads in his dark hair, and it was no longer the reckless tumble she had once loved to run her fingers through. She supposed it was his mouth that had changed the most. No longer cocky and inviting. It was cast in such a somber line right now, so taut she could never imagine it smiling.

He came to the edge of the tub and stared down at her. He seemed taller than ever and she felt foolish, off center. Two feelings she abhorred.

She lifted her chin. She would be strong for Donny’s sake, just as she’d made herself be strong during those first terrible months of her pregnancy. “What are you doing here, Ethan?” she managed to ask.

One brow spiked. “You can’t guess?”

“Get out.”

“We need to talk.”